VLB to air TV episode before TV does
This is important, and yet another sign of convergence.
The Daily Graze » Blog Archive » Laguna Beach Episode Premieres in VLB
On Tuesday, September 26th at 9:00 PM EDT, MTV will premier next week’s episode of Laguna Beach a day early in the virtual world of Virtual Laguna Beach. The in-world airing of the “Winter Formal” episode will be followed by a virtual Winter Formal event.
VLB is already using video a lot within VLB, with episodes, behind-the-scenes segments and extra interviews and the like, airing in the in-game theater. But this takes it a step further.
I know that lately I have talked a lot about the mainstream game industry getting marginalized by the big media companies. But if it’s any consolation, for years now I have also been saying that TV, like other passive media, is going to be a broadcast medium transmitting events created within, and about, the virtual worlds. A case of the tail wagging the dog, essentially. How long is it until VLB is the Laguna Beach that matters? (Arguably, the real Laguna Beach is already second on the totem pole, behind the fantasy construct created by clever editing in the MTV studios).
One can easily envision all the drama of the shows being played out online; if anything, the heightened passions and disinhibition that online brings may make for better drama, if the visuals can be brought to the level that makes for compelling TV.
In her TerraNova post about VLB, Betsy Book states,
VLB is the type of project that could probably only work in a social virtual world. While gaming-focused worlds like World of Warcraft, Everquest, or (perhaps a more accurate “entertainment brand” comparison) Star Wars Galaxies are more amenable to a personalized experience of an epic novel or cinematic hero’s journey, the open-endedness of a social world environment is more compatible with the more fragmented, closure-resistant format of episodic television. Indeed, as a themed virtual space for fans of Laguna Beach to both consume MTV-produced content and produce their own content, Virtual Laguna Beach is the direct result of a net-fueled accelerated evolution of television fandom. Fans have historically exhibited unparalleled mastery of the internet as a tool for cultural production. Now there’s a virtual world that succinctly represents the new relationship between media producers and consumers. The once-dreaded Mary Sue is no longer taboo. In fact, here’s an entire virtual world that blatantly encourages the fans to become the stars of their own personal online dramas.
Although this paragraph starts from a point that is mistaken to my mind (I have never seen anything in a social world, from a human interaction point of view, or social drama point of view, that I haven’t also seen in a game world — and in fact, I’ve found that the stakes of games have often made the drama greater, not less. Nor have I seen any difference in the amount of closure), I think the paragraph’s ending is particularly important and apropos. “The once dreaded Mary Sue” indeed. Fandom is all about Mary Sues, and reality TV, in particular, is especially about Mary Sues. I am willing to bet that a sizable fraction of the American Idol audience hums some of the songs to themselves during or after the show, imagining themselves performing the tunes.
In spirit, though not in scale, this sort of use of Laguna Beach is very much like what we see and have seen on PernMUSHes going back quite a long time. (Did you know that Pern worlds have shared collaborative semi-canonical dragon name databases for years now?). The difference between something like a VLB or a PernMUSH, and say, a Star Wars Galaxies, lies more in the willingness on the part of the IP owners to open up their universe and permit it to change and react to the input of fans.
Ironically, it may be old-fashioned linear media from TV and movies that get this idea better than the game guys do, or at least move to embrace it sooner. TV in particular has grown immensely sensitive to the audience in recent years, learning the evanescence of content (particularly when it appears bootlegged before it airs!) and the intense attachment fandoms form very intimately. On the Vegas to Burning Man spectrum for virtual worlds, I think a lot of the mass media ventures into the space are going to lean a bit more towards the Burning Man despite their heritage, precisely because so many of the early ventures will be like VLB, adjuncts to a master narrative played out linearly, but not slaves to replicating specific canonical experiences.
Don’t get me wrong — VLB is still more Disneyland than user-built village in the desert. But I think seeing it as “just like EverQuest, but with oversexed privileged teens as a theme instead of elves” is missing the point a bit. The actions of VLB players are likely just as “real” as the actions in the “reality” TV show, which is something that we cannot say about the dragon slaying.
Interesting times are ahead… 🙂
11 Responses to “VLB to air TV episode before TV does”
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One of the hidden costs of the productivity growth of America has been the fragmentation of the family and community social structures, until we reach the point where even the nuclear family is commonly fragmented. I think there is a crying need for a virtual space that allows geographically fragmented relationships to be maintained in an online venue, with some unifying, but secondary, activity, such as a simple gameshow (to allowed scaled levels of interactivity to tie the audience into the event at a level of involvement the audience members control) or fictional presentation.
VLB is marketing to an audience which is exploring freedom from its family bonds, as a prelude to forming new ones, but I think there is a larger audience seeking a reunion with those ties. The obvious obstacles are establishing common and adequate technical and bandwidth capabilites, creating a format which services this interest, and creating an understanding of the capabilities and value of such an event to the mass market. If you could do it, you would create a virtual family room, combining the phone call, the television show, and the video game into a single destination presentation.
I think that VLB is a movement toward this from the TV side, just as playing with a partner or friend is a movement to this from the game side. I think this is a logical extension of playing games with friends via a console, and consoles could be one way to bring such an experience into the typical home at a reasonable price point, addressing the first of the three requirements for such a space.
It would be a bit ironic if video games were a part of restoring the ties to friends and family that our modern life have so often sundered.
“It would be a bit ironic if video games were a part of restoring the ties to friends and family that our modern life have so often sundered.”
I’m not sure if I blogged or posted a comment somewhere sharing an observation I’d made about Second Life some time back; namely that families living in different geographic locations would come together inside the virtual space – sometimes just to chat but other times to watch a movie together (say, from the Prelinger Archive). It had occurred to me to do the same thing some time, as I’m separated from my family by a significant distance. I was aware that some military families were doing it, but actually being – virtually – among a family that are actually doing this now is an interesting experience.
I wanted to iterate a bit further Raph because it occurred to me how nifty it would be to actually kill a character via fan interactivity…
Lets assume this is the direction of the convergence, now lets empower the fans via in game events (poll/vote) (at the virtual night club?) to effect the plotline of the actual series.
Tag: “Who got killed in the LB drive by shooting: Cameron, Tessa or Jessica?”
Talk about a change from passivity, viewer empowerment by killing off cast members 4tw! (Note: actors might not care for this mechanic much lol)
(Note to MTV: First ones free, next time I’ll expect my own Game Review Show, kthx)
We did see the death of a Superhero from fan interactity. People were given the chance to kill or save the second Robin (Batman’s sidekick) by calling an 900 number way back when. For more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman:_A_Death_in_the_Family
[…] [UPDATE 2: Raph continues to write interesting thoughts about VLB] […]
oh well that just takes RMT in a virtual space to a whole new level….99 cents a vote?
Having been around VLB for months now, it is interesting to note the things lacking that one would have expected to see very early. MTV could definitely take some lessons from the online gaming world and major gaming fansites in regard to what fans want and how often.
Beyond the video aspect which they have a pretty diverse library already, there is virtually no fan related material to be found in the world. There are no in-world places one can visit to read (or spread) the latest gossip about this or that character. There are few, if any real pictures of the cast, locations, bloopers, etc. The things any die-hard fan loves to find and explore (show history, cast bios, etc) are still lacking at this point.
While I’m quite understanding to the time it takes to develop anything, these are things that MTV should have at their disposal and I’m surprised how little is being used at this point. One lesson I suspect they are going to learn the hard way is that a virtual world is a 24/7 activity and content cannot be offered in once a week doses. People want things to occupy their time every day.
Overall, it has been quite interesting to watch not only a new world that is attracting young women at a rate of probably 40 to 1 (a guess), but that have a strong common bond (the TV show) that is actually rarely heard talked about in-world. It is a culture shock though for anyone over 30 🙂
Still waiting for your next entry in the on-line world Ralph, but I’m patient 🙂
Meret
Geez, I did it again, sorry for adding the “l” in your name. I’m never going to get that right even after this many years.
Why not 99 cents a vote? Commercial democracy seems a valid approach in a space that is clearly defining itself as a commercial entity.
Heck, apply the concept to politics boards online. Make the cost of a post a literal 2 cents worth.
I’m not surprised to hear that MTV isn’t getting the 24/7 thing yet, but I am abit surprised that there isn’t more in the way of fan extras. That seems like Fan Club 101.
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