The only question I just have: is it inteded only for commercial ARGs? Or also for ARGs, whose goal is not to promote a product/movie/book, but to be a product itself – I mean, if I am writing a story, playing characters and making the whole project without any commercial goals, am I excluded from this credit?

I know the whole difficulty of this non-commercial sector, I know the danger of (mis/over)-using of this credit, and I also know, that PGA is actually focused on the commercial projects (where perhaps the grasstoot experiences wouldn’t be attested in the “curriculum vitae” for for further commercial purposes). I wonder, if there were some niche for such situation…

Even if this situation reminds me on the discurs between writers beeing published in publishing houses and writer using “print on demand” services about their “writer” status.

But, again, this is great news and it will bring more stability and future to the ARGs.

To elaborate… If one can create three very distinct stories each told on a different platform but rooted in the same universe – is that transmedia? I don’t know. How I look at it, of course, it’s not. The stories are related only because of the universe and there’s no real give and take between the media platforms. They are singular and unique and yet they qualify here as transmedia.

The narrative threading between or across media platforms is, in my mind, instrumental to the definition of transmedia. I don’t see that anywhere in the PGA’s definition. And that is what concerns me. But it’s a good step forward and, hopefully, in time these definition issues will become more clear instead of less so.

Great work, Jeff.

That said I do agree with you christy on a too strictly formulated rule on numbers of storylines and narrative that needs to be included. IMHO a transmedia production can encompass game elements with very low levels of narrative up to full-lineair storytelling. What is central is an attribution/building to the ‘art of world creation’ for the property.

The hazy understanding of the word storyline seems to leave plenty of room for manoeuvre, particularly if you like the idea that a narrative (or several narratives) arise from witnessing storylines colliding.

Since one’s point of witness can be manifold and the storylines multiple in TM, this definition shouldn’t produce problems for TM architects.

The point about cleaving TM production from simple movie/website marketing is well made.