Martin Aggett is the protagonist in an independent Alternate Reality Game (ARG) scheduled to launch later this year. The character will be the modern day guide for players as he tells his autobiography through multiple media. Martin Aggett is a complete work of fiction,but I imagine you might have suspected that already. So,why did I feel compelled to confess this fact to the world? Well,that’s a little longer story,but if you’re willing to indulge me I’ll share my motivation behind creating this character and why I’m letting him wander around on the internet.
Too many ARG characters exist solely as a mechanism to deliver puzzles to the players,and in this genre of storytelling it’s difficult to create characters with any amount of depth or complexity. Once an ARG launches,the story progresses at such a quick pace that good character development becomes problematic. I decided that the best way to create depth for my main character was to build an online persona to contribute to communities that matched his interests. For example,because Martin is a photographer and a technophile (that’s someone who enthusiastically adopts new technology not someone who dates robots) I started by having him contribute to the iphoneography blog.
Since Martin is aware of the Alternate Reality Game genre and will be using an ARG to tell his own autobiography it made sense for him to become a part of that community. His involvement in that community was met with mixed feelings because of the less than honest way that engagement was orchestrated. I’ve acknowledged my mistakes and appologized to the people who felt betrayed,hurt,or foolish for believing that Martin was a real person. That experience has reshaped how I will continue with this project and has been an incredible learning experience.
