Just Tripping Along The Freakazoid

this looks really interesting, but alas $60 is not something right now I can part with. I wonder how well this will do. The idea of having the puzzles delivered is cool and I wonder if there will be connections between players or if all players are essentially going through the same puzzle? I wish, to, there was a transmedia/puzzle site kinda like trip advisor that could be used to rate people and organizations that run these events, especially as more and more are popping up - kinda part catalog for what is out there and part user comments about whether the person/group is valid, delivers good product, etc. Hmm - is there a transmedia/ARG/stuff like this ratings site out there? I started to rate things with my transmedia maps - maybe I should go back to that. Anyhoos, here is the game - let me know peoples if you play and if you know of a ratings site. http://www.blacklettergame.com/faq.html

Read a nice article at www.thewrap.com/blog-entry/critical-shortfall-who-rates-transmedia-15492 and left the following comment great article and a topic I have been wondering about myself for quite some time - rating/evaluating transmedia (archiving and the lasting ability of these projects is another topic I think a lot about). Rating/evaluating come in two forms - one is related to access (one might argue success is a touchy word) - as you mention how many people view the transmedia, how many people view a portion of the transmedia and how many people UNDERSTAND the whole story. Then there is another area, one I started a small rating concept for (more as an attempt to work through the ideas than as trying to say, as you point out, oh I am qualified and an expert - I am neither IMO) - but that is rating the necessity of each piece to understanding/experiencing the whole and thus the true transmedia nature of project. I think a grid of ratings are needed for any transmedia proj...

I would like to thank @zenfilms via twitter for this link - http:// remotedevice.net/blog/arg-readings-and-reflections-an-annotated-bibliography/ - it is a great list for ARG resources and maybe doing something like that or like the ehow for Augmented Reality I just posted for transmedia would be good Also need to work on working visuals into the story maps and oooohhh I need to step back and add some disclaimers warning people that the TSM have spoilers and do reveal the story a bit.... - was thinking about that yesterday..... in wanting to collect resources, am I unintentionally messing up the writer's story????? also - a neat article from @mangababe vis twitter regarding social media - taliadevault.wordpress.com/2010/02/18/the-how-tos-of-social-media/

Found a good article by Carlos Scolari on transmedia - it makes my head go poof in a few places and need to reread it a few more times - especially the parts about semotics and narratology - uses the show/universe 24 as an example and does a good job - I like a couple of the figures and also the table he uses got me to thinking that for the transmedia story maps I am working on - if possible, a universe timeline might be cool if it could be created - it could not be a complete linear feature because some things happen concurrently - so using geology dating principles, more of a relative tiem scale than an absolute one - although many sources might include multiple time points - so how to organize those???? a visual transmedia map more refining on the website it seems ; ) http://ijoc.org/ojs/index.php/ijoc/article/viewFile/477/336

I have been following this the last few days and will be curious to see the ripples - but it begs the questions I have been swirling around of late - how durable are transmedia narratives in terms of longevity and having all parts of the story available. Here is a recent victim and the lesson of nothing is really free - Reise (an awesome series and hopign it comes back) news.tubefilter.tv/2010/02/05/riese-pulled-down-from-web-by-new-distributor / - but now, is the ARG that goes with Reise stranded? Will it become a condition where part of the story is more accessible than others? I am working on a transmedia story map for Port City PD and it is another example - the original podcasts are gone as it has been picked up by a European TV station - so yes, it has new life, but... parts are now missing or being reworked - which again as we have seen time and time again, reworked, rebooted, re what ever you call it series are not really a full transmedia narrative but an adaptation. So as we...

Ohhhhh as I think about this more - a map could be a cool thing and could tie in the Transmedia Necessity Rating. I work with maps through my job and studies (science, tech and GIS) as such, the idea of a map is a cool concept. It visually represents spatial relationships. And spatial thinking is more than geography - it is a new way of thinking and relating things. It is about patterns and links and connections and organizing and managing and ooo I am getting shivers ;) Map can tell you location, direction, but they also tell stories. That is why merging transmedia and the concept of a map fits. But what is cool - you could have a concept map setup, but with the different sources... their spatial relationships would tell the user how NECESSARY they are to the overall narrative as well as each other (a spatial representation of my transmedia necessity rating) - OMG this could be so cool - if a user could start with the general map and then use it to find the different pieces - can...

Oh also - this is an interesting concept - need to look at it more - anyone know more about this???? maybe this could be used to make a Transmedia story map that is transmedia in nature - hahaha - narrativedesign.org/2007/04/story-maps-and-the-sandbox/ Seriously - what if you have a system that tracks what the user does and makes a map for them so they know where they have been and where they need to go.... ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh wait that could be a good idea - has someone done it already? I mean not as anal as a checklist of things to visit and see (although I like checklists myself), but what about a tour guide vacation idea of what should be done if you want to "experience" the geographic location - plus that could help the user who does not have lot of time but comes and go - ok i log on and look i've visited this site and this site and talked to this person and this person - kinda like Facebook - BUT ONLY IN THAT UNIVERSE - you could have a page/transmedia story map for...

Ok - someone commented and emailed me about some thoughts on transmedia and thinking long into the future about making the story accessible.... Some big productions weather time (the Matrix) and some have vanished.... (a nice blog on The Matrix - geektheory.wordpress.com/2009/04/08/the-matrix-10-years-later/ has a vague mention of the author - "mapping" the transmedia experience) there is so much to think about on this subject - lots of wheeeee fun I am working on organizing my thoughts - but - one possible way to archive, at least, the story basics and experience, is to use the concept of a wiki and other guidebook sources that have existed for MYST and many ARG games, this is basically to create a guide to the "game" (story) - since games are a major transmedia source, it follows to use an idea from that world (as the first to venture into full transmedia expereiences are thoe who are gamers or more open to that type of story narrative. Story Maps and guides in...