#for a few years now ive wanted to write an unfiction story styled as a wikipedia website

[banavalope]

Hello! I wanted to tell you that was an incredible dissertation over the evolution of ARGs, from the Traditional ARG style games to the now modern ones where the locations are more digital and web-based than physical, especially since the most famous Traditional ARGs were, ultimately, marketing campaigns for Games/Series/Films.

I do admit I was ready to jump on the inclusion of Doki Doki Literature Club, only to realize it is a culmination of other small games where the Alternate/Augmented Reality aspects were self-contained digitally within one's computer files and-or sites (one example being the IMSCARED remake, that although is mostly known for 4th Wall Breaking, has ARG-like elements when it comes to engaging with aspects of the story)

I used to know a bunch more of them, and participated a lot more via scouting and initial investigation to discern whether something was more of a Meta story or a legitimate "needs players badly" ARG, but the complete loss of the Unfiction Forum made a dent in my motivation to continue pursuing them. I wonder what kind of discussions they would've gone in terms of the evolution of the genre.

Thank you! You know, I was worried I was spinning my wheels a lot since there's really so so much I could talk about with analog horror, unfiction as well. You definitely shorthanded my words way more eloquently, lmao.

Man, I can't believe I forgot about the Unfiction Forum, see that's exactly what I mean when I say there's so much. Another interesting topic to get into - and my apologies that I'm about to severely digress - being how youtuber's like Night Mind, Nexpo, Wendigoon, etc., have become to modern ARGs what Unfiction Forum was to traditional ARGs. It definitely adds to the overall conversation on how the differences in environment, between the Then and the Now, changes the way an audience learns to engage with works of unfiction. By no means do I mean it in a bad way, either, forums just bring a different energy out of you, I feel like. A collaborative kind of energy. Our approach to the genre most certainly would have been impacted by the loss of the Unfiction Forum as a hubspace, but so to would an artists enthusiasm for making these types of ARGs. With nowhere for people to properly gather at like they used to, barring reddit I guess, you have to alter your creative perspective to fit the changing landscape. A rather fascinating observation you've brought up that I didn't take into account.

People are certainly testing the limitations of the genre, perhaps in part due to this, in ways that continue to be exciting to see and hard to actually define. I hesitated to include Doki Doki as well - in my first draft, I didn't - but it's an example a majority of people would have "learned" off of and base their knowledge of ARGs on. As you said so aptly, it utilizes a culmination of ARG elements enough to make itself mnnnntechnically an ARG. Technically, Doki Doki is a creepypasta, nobody (including me) is going to call it a creepypasta, but it's technically a creepypasta when you take into consideration things like Catastrophe Crow 64 and Petscop, which it's closer in relation to. Taking the extra mile to really fuck with your local files, place hidden messages, and whatelse is what places it squarely in augmented reality territory. Never again do I want a video game to speak my god given name at me, that shit rules.

One thing I didn't mention, mostly because it is and was irrelevant, was Hypnospace Outlaw. I feel like that game does a really good job being an alternate reality game simulator. Like, it evokes that kind of feeling out of me whenever I play it. No clue how popular it got by comparison to others I might name sooner, definitely not trying to claim it had a hand in the evolution of the genre as a whole.

I do think about that game a lot as more people explore website based unfiction as a medium for storytelling, though, because it reminds me so strongly of what I see happening in the analog horror scene now.

Thank fucking god for neocities too, because this is my favorite flavor of analog horror, I want more of it. Welcome Home is such a breath of fresh air in terms of web based horror and makes me very enthusiastic for more projects to venture the same. I want every website to be weird cosmic horror with a shiny enamel coat. Freak me the fuck out in HTML my dude and I will be your biggest fan forever.