Deus Ex Machinatio

2010 ARG SIG Survey Results

Remember way back in February when I asked you to participate in the first-ever IGDA ARG SIG demographic and salary survey? Well, the results are in! Woo!

I've put together a pretty slideshow giving you the full results, but if you want my witty analysis (or the Excel document upon which my pretty slideshow is based) you'll have to see the post at ARGology. Thanks for your help, guys!

2010 IGDA ARG SIG Survey

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Take Our Survey, Please!

Over at ARGology, I've posted a link to the first-ever ARG community demographic survey, which has an added-on salary survey for those of us who participate in making ARGs for money. But please, take the survey even if you're a player who's never remotely wanted to make an ARG. The information on who ARG players are is just as important!

We're going to be very open about the results from this survey. I'm hoping to get a rough picture of who ARG players are, who ARG developers are, and hopefully also get some public information out on what kind of rates ARG professionals are charging. This should help freelancers like me judge if their quotes are in line with the rest of the field, and help employers with a ballpark in budgeting, so hopefully a net good all around. 

Please, go and take the survey now! And help spread the word to other ARG players and creators. The more participation we get, the more reliable our data will be. Thanks so much!

Booked Solid -- How About You?

Thanks, everybody, it looks like I'm booked through about the end of the year. I'm still getting inquiries, though, so if you're an ARG writer or designer -- particularly in New York -- and you're looking for projects, go ahead and leave me a comment. I'd be happy to pass along names. 

For that matter, if you're an ARG freelancer, be you a designer, programmer, artist, or video producer, drop me a line to get added onto the list over at ARGology. I'm traveling for the next few days so I can't promise I'll hop on it with record speed, but I'll definitely get to it!

ARGology! It Lives!

And now that I'm a solid three weeks behind the news, I'd like to officially announce ARGology! This site is a volunteer effort by members of the IGDA's ARG SIG to create some much-needed resources for people who are trying to learn about the genre, or trying to tell others about the genre.

The ARGology effort has been spearheaded by the priceless-beyond-rubies Christy Dena with hosting and technical matters generously taken care of by the equally irreplaceable John Evans. This is in no way meant to minimize the contributions of the other volunteers who made ARGology a reality, name-checked along with their contributions in our announcement notice.

One thing about ARGology you may not know without poking around a bit: There's a listing for developers, including both studios and freelancers in the field. If you're interested in being listed here, drop me a line and I'll add you in.

ARGfest '09: Totally Awesome, Dude

So a couple of weeks back I went to ARGfest, right? And things have been incredibly crazy for me since then. Far, far too crazy to post. Coincidence? YOU be the judge!

But seriously, ARGfest was an amazing time. I work in my little office in my house in suburban metro New York, and between the time-sucking demands of work and family (and that creative muse that whispers in my ear at all the wrong times) it's easy for me to feel disconnected from the ARG community. ARGfest was a fantastic opportunity for me to meet a lot of the players and developers who are all making this beautiful thing we do a living, breathing concern. I got to see a lot of old friends, hear a lot of new voices, and finally attach a flesh-and-blood person to a lot of screen names of people I've read and emailed and respected from afar for a long time. I loved every minute of it.

I was also pleased to be able to announce ARGology while I was there; video of this fumbling announcement of mine should be forthcoming, as I understand it. I'll talk about ARGology a little more in a future post, and I have a few other things on my mind to talk about in the coming days, too. Keep an eye out for posts on crossing the magic mirror to puppetmastery, plus a critical look at secrecy in ARGdom.