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Elsewhere on the forums, @clairebuch posted this comment:
Any first timer tips you think might be helpful?
Rather than going off topic over there, I figured this warranted it’s own thread. Many bits of advice carry over from various immersive experiences in general, while some are very Tension specific.
First timers please feel free to inquire.
Tension veterans please chime in.
I’ll start…
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In the past “only the active move forward” was a bit of a mantra. So, make yourself known in meaningful ways. Don’t be afraid to comment on forum or to directly address a character via writing or call if the opportunity arises and makes sense for you.
Don’t be afraid to take chances and make moves, but always remain aware of the boundaries and sensibilities of The Creators and actors. Beyond common sense matters (example: never lay hands on an actor aggressively), boundaries can be hard to determine. In those cases don’t be afraid to push forward a little to see how that sits, or just straight out ask what you are allowed to do. You might get yelled at and told they aren’t here to hold your hand. Take that in stride. It’s part of the immersion of it all.
During Tension, we were told repeatedly this is not the Coddle Experience… They don’t cater to the weak. Keep that in mind as it might be relevant again. It’s part of the experience. Their coldness, aggressiveness, lack of concern or reply is normal, and not intended to insult you in a real world sort of way.
There can be large gaps of time between content. Be patient. The pay offs are worth the wait.
~Good luck to all!
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Biggest piece of advice I can offer from my Tension experiences would be to deliberately take two steps out of your comfort zone whenever possible. These things work best when you allow yourself to be vulnerable.
Don’t be afraid of breaking anything, don’t be afraid of going off script, don’t be stress out about “playing a part.” Be yourself and be true to your feelings.
Also, be active. The more you put yourself out there with meaningful contributions to the community, then it’s likely that you’ll see more interaction. Or not. Whatever needs to be done to further whatever needs to happen will be done. We’re all just pawns in the OSDM’s master plan anyway.
come at me, michelle. BOS for life.
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I’m glad to help however I can @bruinbown, also, don’t you mean Thank Anoch? ?
I imagine most have already read this, but if not, take a look at the official Tension Timeline here: Tension Timeline
I’m sure The Creators have some new tricks up their sleeve but at least you can see what sort of participant interactions occurred during the first round ARG.
If anything in the Timeline doesn’t make sense (which is very possible since the content was twisty and turny and sometimes dense) feel free to ask.
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It’s tough to give advise when already so much has been dispensed but here goes, apologizes for overlap. None of this is IG ARG character stuff, just advise from someone who did Tension Mar ’16-The End.
1.) Be active. You earn your keep by doing what you can.
2.) Be kind. Nobody wins when fellow participants become dicks over something that should be for funsies.
3.) Be patient. The game runners have lives too.
4.) Think outside the box. “Nothing is random”. “This isn’t what it appears to be”.
5.) Don’t go nuts. Like you know, going to actor’s homes (nobody has done this that I know of) but my point is that there’s a line in the sand of going to far. Use common sense and you’ll be fine.
6.) Consult with fellow participants on theories–by going here and giving us what you got.
7.) SHARE YOUR FINDINGS HERE. Because nobody likes a clue hoarder.
8.) If you have critique, be constructive*. Complaining about something without any content won’t get you anywhere.
9.) You won’t die if you don’t get anything special.
10.) JUST. HAVE. FUN. Don’t let this overtake your life.*approach with caution on this one–Noah doesn’t seem to have any wiggle room with “bitching/whining”. š
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4.) Think outside the box. āNothing is randomā. āThis isnāt what it appears to beā.
One tiny caveat: Nothing is random… unless it’s a fuckup (like getting a Tension call from an unblocked number… and then calling that number back.) Fuckups can happen, it’s best to overlook them when they do.
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I like to live by the rule: Don’t expect anything and then you can’t be disappointed. This rule definitely applies here ?
And during Tension, I certainly found the more open I was, the more of myself I gave, the more I was rewarded. That wasn’t why I did it, it was just a happy outcome.
And one final thing, don’t take anything personally. It’ll only make you miserable. Always be aware of the bigger picture. And that others will be just an invested as you are – people can act in a variety of ways when they feel vulnerable.
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@kipsie memory slips me what exactly your referring but yes, forgive fuck ups. Nobody is perfect. Anoch knows I broke the very same advice I gave (see above) during Tension. “Live and learn”.
You hit on a good point though on how the makers of Lust have the challenge of nudging participants “hey this is LUST related”. If they do phone calls again it will be tricky to go down the “private call”/unknown call route simply because the ARG itself is kinda built up on, well, spam. For the participants we may have a difficult time discerning what is actual caller spam vs LUST related. (here’s where the advice comes in) I personally put Noah Sinclair’s number into my contacts–just in case they use that number again in the future. Can’t hurt, right?
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@mkarrett In my case, the OSDM ‘cleaner’ called me using Sabrina’s cell to carry out their threat. As I called the number the next day, I kept telling myself “But… but… nothing is random!”
So, in short… sorry, Sabrina! XD
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While we’re on advice to newbies this is more like forum etiquette thing:
If you edit your post on a thread, clean up the original post(s) in activity log so the log itself isn’t clogged up with basically the same post but with edits. Pretty please? š
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I think one of the most important ones would be “Don’t take things personal” like @blondie mentioned. Lust will find its own rhythm, pay attention to that. Remember that this will develop into a story, so any actions that other participants and/or the creators decide to take, will influence the story, it may or it may not benefit you, keep that in mind and go with it, react to it. Interact, it won’t matter what part of he planet you live in, you will gain an experience from it.
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In regards to immersion (and also slightly touching on the “how far is too far” question), on one of the episodes on their My Haunt Life podcast, @mike and @russell address this: when an actress’s real name was revealed within the context of the game as part of the story, some folks decided to seek her out IRL, and/or tried to find out more about her. This is not a good idea 1) for the privacy of the people involved in the production, and 2) because it takes away from your experience of the story being told.
(I forget the exact episode and can’t look it up now, but if you haven’t been listening to the podcast you should be. Great discussions like this all the time.)
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Some awesome advice in here!
“Only the active move forward”/”Be active” is an all around type of mantra, not just based here on the forums. When Tension started, people made flyers and handed them out, they made videos for school projects, they had photoshoots, people created blogs just to write about their experiences, etc etc. Granted, all of that made sense to the overall story since we were basically recruiting for a cu…..organization.
“Nothing is random” – some things actually are. Mistakes happen, typos happen, things can be forgotten
Have a passion for this. Let yourself go into this world that is created for us and have fun. Life is too short for regrets.
Like @blondie and @ah-lay mentioned, try not to take things, or make things, personal. If there comes a point where sides are chosen and lines are drawn, keep it all in game. Don’t personally attack another member of the community via something within their personal life. What they’re portraying on the forums may not be what they’re like in real life.
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@mkarrett That list is awesome. I wish there was a way it could be “pinned” to the top of this thread.
Melissa hits on some extremely good points, as others do in this thread. Use common sense, don’t take things personally and respect others…. all key aspects of this. More than likely, if you fully invest, you may find some of the things you read in this thread hard to actually put into practice, though. So. “Don’t go nuts,” is also good advice. Respect what are seemingly logical boundaries as you try to explore possible clues or leads.
Emotions will probably fly, things might get messy. @mike points out some of what goes on in these Forums might be just done for the world of LUST and should not be taken to heart in our “real lives.”
During Tension, I tried to honor @addisonborn’s comment “Be true to your feelings.” It led to awesome emotional rewards and some big disappointments here and there, as well. It is all part of the “game.”
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Most of what I’d recommend has already been said here, but I’d like to reinforce a point that others have touched on:
The point of all of this is to become immersed. It’s the strength of this medium and what makes it great. But you must remember that we operate in an entirely different world than the public. We are literally playing a game, and even though our immersion may make us feel certain ways or want to explore certain avenues, we need to limit our footprint in the non-Immersive world.
For example, we are constantly looking for clues and new sites, locations and people that may be involved in Lust. That’s amazing and you’d be hard pressed to find a person who is as fanatical as I am in this hunt. However, sometimes you may find a link to something that looks obvious to you at first that is a false link.
Verify every path you take. If you think you’ve found a clue that leads to a business, check online to see if there are reviews that suggest that the business might be real. If the clue leads you to a location, check to make sure that the location isn’t off limits or in the middle of some kid’s tee-ball game or something. If it’s a residential address… Seriously don’t go harass someone at home unless there’s literally an invite explicitly stating that it’s associated with Lust.
Our hunt for the truth in Lust does not mean that we can interrupt others’ lives, even if only for a minor inconvenience. Any time that the public world interacts with us because they’re the target of a mistaken clue is a failure on our part. They should know about us because of marketing, word of mouth, and reviews, not because a series of coincidences turned up a string of numbers that happened to be their email address and suddenly they’re being harassed by a well-meaning crowd of game players
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Absolutely agree, @thegilded. There is a rule of gameplay that sets up the concept you do not engage or force a scene on someone who clearly has not been given the option to “opt out” or may be innocent and UNAWARE of what is going on.
You don’t “role-play” publicly in a manner where innocent people are forced to be engaged in what you are doing, it is unfair to them and could reflect badly on the entire community engaged in the game. -
do not engage or force a scene on someone who clearly has not been given the option to āopt outā
Unless it’s a telemarketer calling your private cell, though, right?! @thegilded & @russell
It can feel like sweet, sweet revenge when you pick up for a telemarketer and turn the tables on them when all they wanted to do was sell you a timeshare. I’ve preached the Book of Anoch, ranted about the evils of the OOA, desperately begged for their help in finding Jake. Good times
::troll::
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@electrichippo telemarketers are fair game. Everything up to and including crying into the phone, firing off fake guns and then having the line go silent or reciting scripture nonstop until they eventually hang up is all okay when it comes to motherfuckers who call you you like that
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LOL @electrichippo I preached from the Book of Anoch hahahaha XD
Frantically screaming like you’re having an epic melt down is also a good way to go.
…or just start breathing heavily into the phone to make things really uncomfortable.
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@russell @thegilded @mike @mkarrett @addisonborn You all make very strong points.
Being new to immersive and ARG, when/if does one decide to be one’s self or create a persona that game ‘me’ would do things ‘out of character’ of real me?
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I equate immersive events being similar to murder mystery dinner theater, where I can chose how deep the rabbit hole I want to go – I can act as myself or I could chose a character in the confines of the game – knowing that there are no ‘real world’ consequences to my actions. Are there ‘real world’ consequences to an event as this?
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@dawsonc – I agree entirely with your murder mystery analogy. People that I interacted with in Tension seemed to either form a persona or acted as themselves, choosing one path or the other based on personal reasons and whichever allowed them to get into it more. I played a bit of a persona because I needed it to get immersed into a world that I wouldn’t normally be a part of. Others were completely true to themselves because they couldn’t become immersed if they were “living a lie” to so speak. That decision is one you have to make on your own, whichever would help yourself and the community the most.
However, keep in mind that this is a bit different than a murder mystery. Remember that this is two sides, Us and Them, telling a story together. They present it and we influence it by uncovering it and responding to it. There is no real world ramifications if you, to use an example from Tension, to call for Gatekeeper 2’s death. By doing so you are influencing the story from within the story, something that is encouraged. However, if you try to kill Gatekeeper 2 by showing up to an event and lunging at her, you are acting out bounds for what we are allowed to do. At that point you are no longer attacking the character, you are attacking the actor. The same goes for if you show up to an event and start kicking over tables and chairs. You are ruining an event even if you have in-character motivations for them.
Immersive events have explicit boundaries you cannot cross, unless explicitly invited to do so. You cannot cause damage to anyone, actor or participant. You cannot cause damage to property. You cannot negatively impact the Real World due to in-game motivations. You cannot harass other participants.
It ultimately comes down to realizing that you are in a production. You are free to do things that are “in bounds” for that production – look for clues in a room, present a stuff bear to a woman in a Red Dress, speak with a leader of a rogue anti-OOA group daily and influence his actions – You are not allowed to hurt the production itself or anyone uninvolved with the production
The immersive world is a world “beside” the Real World, so actions done within it have few real world repercussions. However, anything you do that causes Real World damage will still come back to bite you in the ass.
Make sense?
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@thegilded Very well put and exactly true!
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Great topic idea:
Suggestion, Follow the first rule of improv. Yes and… Accept what’s offered, interact with others, get involved the experience you’ll have will equal how much you put into into. In hindsight, I didn’t interact as much as I wish I did the first time I went to Tension, I went totally blind with one of my best friends from the East Coast on a whim “this is really cool, and those that have done it can’t talk about it” is how I introduced it to my friend that was an interesting and unique experience.
Also the other important thing to keep in mind, more so then the first even is PAY ATTENTION! This is very important and will seriously affect your experience in anything you do involved in any of this type of stuff.
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Advice to First Timers:
#1 Bears don’t have long tails (unless you’re a red panda), but also bears aren’t actually bright pink in color. Tread lightly when labeling inanimate objects. Hearts are delicate! ( @russell )
There’s no #2.
I resemble this comment @thegilded :
speak with a leader of a rogue anti-OOA group daily and influence his actions
It was a really rewarding path. I highly recommend this sort of blaze you’re own trail “gameplay” as long as The Creators are amenable, of course.
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Let a natural hate develop between you and a character. You might just be able to hate-strangle them into the void.
Or just be as active as humanly possible.
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Thank you so much to ALL for all of these amazing tips and insights into this crazy world. This already seems like a really lovely community! Super excited to become a part of it. I’ve been starting to listen to the “My Haunted Life” podcast too and MAN! I am sad I missed the first one. Thank you all again for the tips!! Taking them all in. š
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