I agree — I think it’ll be interesting to see how this plays out and how the structural shifts and the simplifications change how the audience interacts.

I think it might be interesting to think of it in a tactics v. strategies way, in the sense that they seem to be employing ARG-style tactics, without necessarily committing to a full ARG strategy. Kind of like the difference between writers who employ fantasy in their work as a narrative tactic, but don’t write Fantasy novels.

This is definitely an interesting campaign. Are you saying that it is a bad thing if it is a competition? I agree that ARGs are usually “more complicated” but it seems like this is still a novel way to get people involved in a branded game, ARG or otherwise.