Chaotic Fiction

As the author of the Unforums and one of the (I imagine) leading pioneers of ARG (or has he likes to call it, Chaotic Fiction), Spacebass obviously has a lot more experience and understanding of the genre-medium than I do. And after spending enough time interacting with ARG's and understanding the theory behind them, the author grew wary of the term "ARG" itself, as it does not properly convey what the "game" is all about.

I should probably preface this by noting that Spacebass's article is called "Undefining ARG", rather than "defining" ARG. Right from the beginning, "Chaotic Fiction" is therefore considered either an incomplete term (but MORE complete than ARG) or a term embodying a type of game so intrinsically malleable and fluid as to defy all definitions entirely.  read more »

What I have gotten from Spacebass' Undefining ARG article is clearer than I expected. The author started off saying that in defining ARGs we would learn that there is no clear definition, but to me although there may not be a written in stone definition of what they are, there are commonly agreed upon components that make an ARG an ARG. It's not as confusing as I thought. In fact I see the article as a clear articulation of what ARGs are by someone who can communicate it. Basically, what I have been thinking since we've started reading and learning about ARGs, but definitely communicated and expressed more concretely and clearer. It's not as hard to understand as I had thought, given my lack of experience with ARGs. According to Spacebass, ARGs are chaotic play (an experience of chaotic fiction): Chaotic in that the end result is undetermined and play because the audience takes part in the process and they are who influence the outcome. From this experience of chaotic play comes chaotic fiction: again chaotic meaning the end result was not predetermined and fiction meaning that a work that is intended to be imagined and not real.  read more »