Reality is the leading cause of stress amongst those in touch with it. - Jane Wagner

Gupfee mentioned that quote to me earlier and it’s a perfect quote to reflect what happens in games when discussions of what’s in-game and what’s out-of-game pop up. It’s on my mind quite a bit because of the design of Deus City. On the one hand it’s trying to be a cooperative game and, on the other, it’s encouraging competition and segmentation. This, of course, results in confusion and discussion. It can work to an advantage, but unfortunately, unless or until Deus City deals with it in the game itself, I fear that it may become more of a distraction.

I’m far too busy this weekend to write a proper post on the subject - perhaps Sunday night if we get home from dinner and I’ve not had a few glasses of wine (Fogo, oh yeah!), but probably some time next week. Please, brainstorm with me if you’d like. Are there any great examples - both positive and negative? Any personal anecdotes? Any thoughts or tips on just how to harness that stress? I’m really interested in opinions other than my own and they don’t need to be ARG related - other games or media that have dealt with these issues have many lessons to teach. And, I’ll try my best to come up with a good post summarizing the comments and/or emails and/or discussions that come in. Hopefully tying it all together in soemthing coherent. So, poste em if you got em and I’ll do the same.