There is a lot of confusion about is Paranormal Paranoids an ARG? Is the Paranormal Paranoids real?
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What is the Paranormal Paranoids?
Jess is Searching posted on Twitter – Jun 22, 2021 – asking about The Paranormal Paranoids. A youtube ghost hunting group from 2005-2008 who have been missing since then. She wants to know what happened to them. She started posting video clips from the series that she had on old CDs.
Several popular Youtubers started to cover the series….. But the big question… Is the Paranormal Paranoids real?
SPOILERS AHEAD…
Turn back now if you don’t want to know more…..
Let’s pull back the curtain for a second, break character, and tell you a little bit about ARG and Unfiction.
It seems the Paranormal Paranoids is likely an Unfiction, and perhaps an ARG to cover the upcoming movie “Shelby Oaks” by Chris Stuckman. Unfiction is lesser-known than ARG, but what do Unification and ARG actually mean?
What is Unfiction?
Although definitions vary, here is a good one.
Unfiction is a realm of storytelling (mostly based on the internet) that defies conventions of the medium or website it’s working with and the characters stay in character to tell a story.
In Unfiction, the story is not dependant on audience-author interaction. The audience can (and will) still interact with the characters, and that can be an enjoyable part of the story, but it is not required to advance the plot.
It might be helpful to think of Unfiction as the genre as a whole, while ARG is just one part of it. ARG is a much more popular term that people throw around all the time, but Unfiction describes the genre as a whole better.
Some examples of Unfiction (although many may debate) are Gr3gory88 and Dear David
In these examples, we have a main character who interacts with the audience on Twitter, but nothing is required from the audience for the story to move ahead. At times the narrator chooses, the story will move ahead. There are no puzzles to solve. There is instead a complicated and interesting story that is slowly revealed.
What is ARG?
An ARG stands for Alternate Reality Game. Typically an ARG will tell a story over many different platforms. Internet, phone, email, going to real-world locations, and real mail for example. There will be core “game masters” who control characters that players will interact with. The story is usually directly affected by the players themselves. There are challenges and puzzles to solve, some are quite complicated and difficult and require the brainpower of a community working together to figure it out and advance the story ahead. You could perhaps think of it as a kind of Dungeons and Dragons where what the players do changes what the Game master has planned depending on the actions they choose.
Part of the fun of an ARG is to ‘pretend it is real’, roleplay, and go along with the story to see where it goes. It is not a new concept, although it might be new for you. It is a storytelling medium that goes back to at least 1999. Many have been created by major brands and corporations like McDonald’s, Valve, Gravity Falls, and even the band Twenty One Pilots. Many people accidentally come across one on the internet and get involved in the game play.
Some examples of an ARG are I Love Bees, The Lost Ring, and Cipher Hunt.
Before anything else… let’s clear one thing up…
So you think it is an ARG? Don’t ever post “THIS IS AN ARG”.
There is no need to EVER post on a possible ARG… “This is an ARG” or find the actor’s real names or anything of that nature.
It is basically equal to watching a movie, figuring out a plot twist, standing up in the movie theatre, and announcing it is in fact “a movie” we are all watching and this is the killer to everyone in the theatre.
Don’t ruin the fun.
Most people understand that doing the above situation would be pretty frowned upon by people in a movie theatre, but for some reason, this get’s lost on people when it comes to ARGs. Very frequently you will see people angry, upset, or pretending to be smart in the comments of possible ARGs going “This is an ARG” or “This is stupid and fake and it’s an ARG”. Nice shooting Tex… you figure out it was entertainment! Paranormal Paranoids are no exception to these types of comments. You might want to link them to this page when you see people doing it.
If you think something is an ARG… well then you should see where the story goes and what will happen next. Your theory might just be wrong if the game master has anything to say about it. 🙂
Is the Paranormal Paranoids real? Where are the Paranormal Paranoids? So is Paranormal Paranoids an ARG?
So after all of that little history lesson… You should already be aware, The Paranormal Paranoids is an act of fiction. No one is actually missing or hurt. This is entertainment.
For the other ARG question….
At this time, Jess and Noir have interacted with real players, but so far the story has not changed based on those interactions that we can tell. There also have not been any “puzzles” to solve yet. YET is the keyword. ARG’s take time to evolve and we are just getting started.
Paranormal Paranoids is definitely Unfiction, but it is yet to be seen if it will fully evolve into an ARG. Either way, it is really fun to get together with other players and analyze what is going on and predict theories.
Now that is cleared up…. Let’s get back into roleplaying and enjoy the site!
