ARG Design
World Building: Transmedia, Fans, Industries
Marta Boni (ed.) 2017 13 references
Academic framework for analyzing and designing fictional worlds across media — covers narrative theory, franchise economics, fan co-construction, medium specificity, and the politics of world building.
worldbuilding transmedia fan-studies media-theory franchise-management narrative-theory cultural-studies
Overview
The Core Framework
- Worlds have replaced stories as the primary unit of media production and analysis
- World building is collaborative and contested — industries, creators, and fans all co-construct worlds
- Each medium contributes something irreducible — transmedia is not repetition but unique actualization
- Discontinuity is productive — contradictions between versions drive fan engagement, not destroy it
- World building is political — the demand for coherent, branded worlds carries ideological implications
Quick Lookup
| Situation | Do This | Avoid This |
|---|---|---|
| Designing a new fictional world | Build the world first, let stories emerge from it | Starting with a single story and retrofitting a world |
| Expanding across media | Give each platform unique contributions | Treating cross-media as mere repetition or adaptation |
| Managing franchise contradictions | Design managed multiplicity strategies | Demanding impossible total consistency |
| Understanding fan engagement | Treat fans as co-constructors who project worlds | Assuming fans are passive consumers |
| Launching transmedia | Establish platform infrastructure first (media a priori) | Developing content before distribution mechanisms |
| Analyzing world building | Consider theory, economics, media, fans, AND politics | Treating it as purely a narratological problem |
The Key Insight
"Worlds, not stories, are the primary engines of transmedia franchises." — Marta Boni, Introduction
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