Dollplay ARG Stumbles From The Start

Dollplay, the ARG (or “participation drama” as they’re calling it) for Joss Whedon’s new TV show Dollhouse, failed from the first step for me.

At first I was excited.  I really liked Dollhouse’s first episode.  I tend to really like Joss Whedon stuff.  And I really, really like ARGs.  So what went wrong?  The very first freakin’ introductory paragraph, that’s what.

I can’t get it to load for me now, perhaps it knows my IP address.  But when I first went to the ARG’s website, do you know what it said?  Roughly, it told me that I was about to enter an ARG and that I should pretend it was real, and that everything on the website after that point would be “in game.”

Well, that’s fine and dandy, thanks.  Except now it’s no longer an ARG.

An Alternate Reality Game (concatenated to ARG for brevity’s sake), is a game that can arguably be defined by two rules.  1) The game designers should not acknowledge that it is a game.  2) The game designers should not create a playing field.  Purists might insist on putting up rule 3) The game designers should not create a game.  I consider rule 3 to be something of a hair-splitting thing, though: even if you’re “just creating an experience”, I still classify that as a game.  But I can certainly see why someone might disagree with me depending on your definition of game.

Anyway, that first introductory paragraph broke the first two rules of what an ARG is.  Part of me wants to be bitter at the ARG.  Part of me wants to be bitter at executive meddling.  Part of me wants to be bitter at the laws of England.

Why England?  Because a few years ago, when Perplex City still had some life in it, a law regarding the treatment and definition of hoaxes was passed in England.  Due to the wording of the law, many ARG fans wondered if it would negatively impact the future of ARGs as the classical idea of what an ARG is would now be deemed a “hoax.”  Ever since then, whenever I see a promising ARG, I see it ruined by Microsoft logos or disclaimers in the screens.  It’s removed the mystery, the sense that maybe you made a wrong turn and are actually in over your head, and a definite flavor of fun.  Other fun can be had, of course, but the feeling that you were actually involved in a real-life drama was absent.  More to the point, even American based ARGs can be affected if the ARG’s puppetmasters want the game to be playable to much of an extent in other countries.

And while I’d hoped that this ARG would be promising (after all, if I were to, say, see Dollhouse logos everywhere, it would make sense in this ARG), the opening disclaimer both told me that it was a game, and also established the playing field as existing only on the website.

So it makes me sad.

Now, I’ve not had a chance to look at more than a few of the file histories and things on this website.  It could be that there’s a good ARG here (this is one of those times where my difficulties watching videos on the web will really, really hinder me).  However, whether from executive meddling, a concern over the laws across the pond, or other reasons that aren’t yet clear, Dollplay has, it seems, not granted a positive first impression.  Here’s hoping, though.  Here’s hoping.