Of course, this also makes the grand assumption (at the beginning of a game, no less) that there will even be a live finale event for people attend. Monster Hunter Club, Holomove and Save Vulcan all ended their games strictly online. Even the Training Mission finale of I Love Bees was more about playing Halo 2 than it was about giving those specific attendees closure to the game. In fact, it was the people at home talking to people in all four cities that combined the clues to discover the online goodbye message. Sure, I didn’t get a lanyard, but I was able to take part in the puzzle solve and was able to discuss the message with all of the other players in IRC right then and there instead of hours later.

If a player believes that missing out on a single large scale live event means that the ARG is suddenly less of an complete experience, I feel for them. I feel for them because they are missing out on something – the joy of a shared community experience. But unless they’re willing to play a game that isn’t going to fulfill their every wish, they are just going to be left twiddling their thumbs constantly and wishing that a game would appear that they could play.

The objective of this article is not to guilt people into thinking that they have to drive hundreds of miles in order to attend events in major locations. The objective is to show that a: live events can and do happen anywhere and b: if you actually play a game, sometimes an event will just drop into your lap.

That said, I do understand that it’s about as difficult for a US-based PM to do something or research somewhere in the UK, as it is for me to get out there for a potential event. So while I dream of an ARG around here some day, I’m not moaning left and right because I appreciate the situation.

:)

and thanks.