When a tumblr account by the name “sexygirlmax2019” started messaging random users, most thought it was a bot- tumblr has had a long-standing issue of NSFW bots adding suspicious links to posts, and sending suspect (soliciting) messages to users. However, “sexygirlmax2019” was different; instead of asking the user if they were interested in “meeting hot locals in you area” and other phrases associated with NSFW bots, this was one asking much more unusual questions – most infamously, “hey peebrain -you teleport?”.
As the name “sexygirlmax2019” suggests, this all began in 2019. I was an upperclassman in high school, and thanks to a random but extensive rabbit hole dive into famous ARGs of years past, I knew a game when I saw one. A community quickly sprung up following these strange messages, trying to figure out who was sending them, and why, and not wanting to miss an opportunity to jump on the bandwagon, I joined in.
sexygirlmax2019 was a short-lived ARG – at least, comparatively to the years-long runs that other series like everymanHYBRID, Marble Hornets, and 12tribes. Still, the community was active, engaged, and I remember checking in on a daily – sometimes hourly – basis, to see what was new with the sexygirlmax2019 puzzle.
My fascination with ARGs sprung up alongside my interests in games like Dungeons & Dragons, and my overarching passion for storytelling. Unilateral storytelling not only makes up a majority of my hobbies, but has become an academic focus, as well. The structure of these unilateral modes of play is what makes them so hard to pin down in an etymological sense; as a Dungeon Master, I’m not trying to kill all of my players and “win” the game, but I’m putting their lives (or the lives of their characters – sometimes it can feel unanimous) in danger. I plan out stories and arcs and quests, but have to be ready to expect the unexpected, “yes-and” my way through a session based on the decisions and actions of my players. I have the view from behind the curtain (most Dungeon Masters use a literal, physical partition between themselves and their players), but I am a storyteller in tandem with my players.
It challenges the common dynamics of storytelling – author and reader, actors and audience – and invites in not only a direct involvement in the progression and problem-solving of the story, but gives those who step into the TTRPG / ARG an unprecedented amount of power to bend and sway the fabric of the game, these imagined worlds, around them. It’s a hands-on experience in sometimes a very literal sense of the term – I am not orating an epic from a pedestal, but sitting at a table with my players, expecting them to push, pull, bend, break, and lead the story with their actions;
It is unilateral play, but I am not in control.
I really enjoyed reading your post. You conveyed the unique positioning an ARG/ TTRPG affords a player, and also make clear that you are not in control, or not completely. It sounds like the occupied position is interacting with the systems that the game operates on rather than a player who plays within those systems. In some sense, the dungeon master, or a similar position in another game, invokes control through their influence on the games proceduralism and subsequent playing, but this control is then handed over to the player who then navigates within the space you have carved for them.
I liked your description of the relationship between dragon masters in D&D and other players. I had never considered the more active role players take in a game’s storytelling in ARGs. I love how you explored the way players and ARG developers work in tandem and must be prepared when given unexpected suggestions. It seems like an interestingly different method of game design compared to games where the developer creates a fixed set of rules players must follow. It also seems to allow the developer to see players reactions to the game in real-time as opposed to other forms of videogames that are played far away from the developer.