A while ago (it must have been before last year's revival) I stumbled across Lifeline's Twitter account with vague memories of playing it several years ago. It hadn't posted anything for a while and I think the most recent tweets must have been to do with the sequels/spinoffs unrelated to the original game. Under it was a long string of replies from fans anxiously demanding another game featuring Taylor, with several talking about how the game had helped them feel less lonely. I was struck by their tone that suggested they weren't just campaigning for more of a gameplay/story experience they'd enjoyed - they were asking when they could speak to their friend again.
I think there's some interesting implications with this style of IF in regards to parasocial relationships - the idea that people could feel they have such an intimate connection with someone who is explicitly a work of fiction. I can't think of anything in a similar vein that's blown up so much since (perhaps related to the decline of ARG formats generally?), but I wonder if it's only a matter of time before large corporations attempt to recreate its success with more malicious aims. But I'm interested in more creative uses of the format regardless.
A while ago (it must have been before last year's revival) I stumbled across Lifeline's Twitter account with vague memories of playing it several years ago. It hadn't posted anything for a while and I think the most recent tweets must have been to do with the sequels/spinoffs unrelated to the original game. Under it was a long string of replies from fans anxiously demanding another game featuring Taylor, with several talking about how the game had helped them feel less lonely. I was struck by their tone that suggested they weren't just campaigning for more of a gameplay/story experience they'd enjoyed - they were asking when they could speak to their friend again.
I think there's some interesting implications with this style of IF in regards to parasocial relationships - the idea that people could feel they have such an intimate connection with someone who is explicitly a work of fiction. I can't think of anything in a similar vein that's blown up so much since (perhaps related to the decline of ARG formats generally?), but I wonder if it's only a matter of time before large corporations attempt to recreate its success with more malicious aims. But I'm interested in more creative uses of the format regardless.
A while ago (it must have been before last year's revival) I stumbled across Lifeline's Twitter account with vague memories of playing it several years ago. It hadn't posted anything for a while and I think the most recent tweets must have been to do with the sequels/spinoffs unrelated to the original game. Under it was a long string of replies from fans anxiously demanding another game featuring Taylor, with several talking about how the game had helped them feel less lonely. I was struck by their tone that suggested they weren't just campaigning for more of a gameplay/story experience they'd enjoyed - they were asking when they could speak to their friend again.
I think there's some interesting implications with this style of IF in regards to parasocial relationships - the idea that people could feel they have such an intimate connection with someone who is explicitly a work of fiction. I can't think of anything in a similar vein that's blown up so much since (perhaps related to the decline of ARG formats generally?), but I wonder if it's only a matter of time before large corporations attempt to recreate its success with more malicious aims. But I'm interested in more creative uses of the format regardless.
A while ago (it must have been before last year's revival) I stumbled across Lifeline's Twitter account with vague memories of playing it several years ago. It hadn't posted anything for a while and I think the most recent tweets must have been to do with the sequels/spinoffs unrelated to the original game. Under it was a long string of replies from fans anxiously demanding another game featuring Taylor, with several talking about how the game had helped them feel less lonely. I was struck by their tone that suggested they weren't just campaigning for more of a gameplay/story experience they'd enjoyed - they were asking when they could speak to their friend again.
I think there's some interesting implications with this style of IF in regards to parasocial relationships - the idea that people could feel they have such an intimate connection with someone who is explicitly a work of fiction. I can't think of anything in a similar vein that's blown up so much since (perhaps related to the decline of ARG formats generally?), but I wonder if it's only a matter of time before large corporations attempt to recreate its success with more malicious aims. But I'm interested in more creative uses of the format regardless.