thread: 2005-06-02 : Immersion
On 2005-06-02, Sven Holmstrom wrote:
I liked the article and I agree somewhat. Immersion is definitely possible in an ordinary game with mechanics and dice rolls. Tons of facts about world is definitely not necessary neither.
But I must say (and here I should admit that I have somewhat the same background as Jonas Barka above, even the same gaming group) that there are are different degrees of immersion and it also works different for different players.
As an example I have several times seen people cry for real in game and those who do this seem to really enjoy it and even see it as a major goal in play. I remember one girl who had never role played anything and three hours into her first effort she cried for fifteen minutes and talked while sobbing, about her man beating her and her kids. The girl who was comforting her joined her in crying.
According to all experience I have this does not happen in ten minutes between mechanics handling. For most people that would make this kind of play impossible. I definitely don't want this kind of play everytime I roleplay, but it's one kind of play which I enjoy very much (even if I can't cry in game myself). I should also add that this play is not only seen in larps, it can also be seen in some types of freeform.
Among people who do seven-day larps (I read somwhere that this is uncommon outside of the Nordic countries, but I'm not sure if that's true) I have heard the opinion that it takes at least 24 hours without any input from the real world to 'get in character'. This sound insane to me too, but I see no reason not to believe them.
My only real point with this rant is: It depends on the goal of immersion and which kind of immersive play you seek. Vincent is basically right, but there are degrees in heaven.
/Sven Holsmtrom
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