D&D General The History of 'Immersion' in RPGs

D&D historian Jon Peterson has taken a look at the concept of 'immersion' as it related to tabletop roleplaying games, with references to the concept going back to The Wild Hunt (1977), D&D modules like In Search of the Unknown, games like Boot Hill, and Forgotten Realms creator Ed Greenwood speaking in Dragon Magazine.

Immersion and Role Playing in the 1970s

The idea that role playing involved a property called "immersion" occurred to the early adopters of the 1970s fairly early. The earliest e...

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[Bedrockgames]

Where I would love all that! If all the NPCs sound (and look*) pretty much the same it quickly gets difficult to remember which one said what; and I don't want to have to be taking notes all the time.

* - a DM who doesn't do voices well can still make NPCs distinctive and memorable by tying specific physical actions or habits to them and, where possible, acting those out at the table. A classic example of such comes from what a player in my game once did for a Dwarf PC: every time this Dwarf said something - anything - the player would raise his fist to his mouth as if quaffing from a mug of beer. An otherwise short-lived nothing character became instantly unforgettable!

Different strokes. I tend to run NPCs pretty dry, and any real distinction is between their actions, the words they speak, and how I describe them (I just am not into acting, and don't really do things like adopt tics or mannerisms). I am told by most of my players, can can track the NPCs well enough, because I tend to make them pretty eccentric and give them pretty clear motives and personalities. But just not an actor GM, and I don't really respond that strongly to the style, except when the GM doing it is adding humor and fun. I guess for me, I don't typically take a lot of enjoyment in watching the performance aspect of RPGs. I do like the social interaction, but I get a bit bored when it feels like people are performing on a stage (again, handful of exceptions to that rule of course)

 

[Hussar]

Because characterization is only one of the ways players can engage with the game world. A player could enjoy the setting lore and political machinations without putting much effort into making their PC distinct. Some players get most of their enjoyment from immersion in the immediate game setting, like a movie playing in their imaginations. I've had players who devote most of the session to drawing illustrations of the locations and enemies they're encountering in play; they're deeply immersed and engaged with the game world. I find that very rewarding as a DM, because it means the effort I've put into creating evocative locales is being noticed and appreciated.

Totally agree with this.

At least the player is doing SOMETHING besides just passively sitting at the table, consuming whatever it happens to be that I'm serving up this week.

I'd be over the moon if the player was that engaged in the game. However, players who play characters like I see being advocated in this thread, generally won't even put in that much effort. They think that the simple fact that they have shown up this week, dice in hand, is enough. Playing a character shouldn't be easy. It should take some effort. ANY effort and I'm ecstatic. My bar is so low that it's practically lying on the ground. Moles bump their heads on it.

But, so many players over the years take the "Oh, well, I'm just playing a game. I'll show up every week, react to whatever the DM puts in front of me, put in zero effort into giving anything back to the DM, and that's okay." I'm so, so, sick of those players. I'm totally done. You folks can complain that I'm badwrongfunning all your like, but, those players? The ones that show up, put in zero effort into the game beyond the barest minimum? They are not welcome at my table anymore. Give me something, ANYTHING to work with as a DM and I'll move heaven and earth to include it in the game. But, passively sit there and expect me to do the DM Monkey Dance week after week after week? Bugger that. No thank you anymore. I'm so done with that.

 

[clearstream]

players who play characters like I see being advocated in this thread, generally won't even put in that much effort. They think that the simple fact that they have shown up this week, dice in hand, is enough. Playing a character shouldn't be easy. It should take some effort. ANY effort and I'm ecstatic. My bar is so low that it's practically lying on the ground. Moles bump their heads on it.

A few thoughts come to mind when analysing this claim. One possible doubt might be whether you are a reliable witness? Might your strong convictions affect your perceptions? Another doubt might be whether you have sufficient experience? Have you played with a sufficiently large sample of RPG players?

I raise those doubts not in order to say that you are an unreliable witness or lacking sufficient experience, but to point out that you would presumably need to be taken to be as a reliable witness with sufficient experience before accepting your claim. And there would need to be no other parties just as capable of meeting such criteria while reporting versions at odds with your own.

The latter points to another way of assessing your claim, which is to ask whether it chimes with one's own?

But, so many players over the years take the "Oh, well, I'm just playing a game. I'll show up every week, react to whatever the DM puts in front of me, put in zero effort into giving anything back to the DM, and that's okay."

My experience with such players is that they simply don't meet the terms of immersion that either of us is advocating. They're not construing their character's actions given the pantheon of gods is real and they have a direct line to one. They aren't responding in an immersed fashion to the terrifying or mysterious creatures around them. They're not considering their paladin oath and refusing to lie or cheat, or let their words be their promise. Some might be enjoying a non-immersive, pushing-pawns, mode of play... or possibly not even that, if they are truly putting in zero effort.

I believe your complaint has nothing to do with preferred mode of immersion. It can be addressed by players adopting any mode of immersion.

 

[loverdrive]

I'm, as always, gonna be a rebel without a cause (just got myself a shotgun, so I guess that's fitting). I think that "full immersion" is not only not necessary, but actually detrimental to the game, since the most important tools on your toolbelt lie outside of the game world.