Immersion?

[CleverNickName]

I don't know about you, but I'm going to vote for the option that makes me sound the smartest. ;-)

Joking aside, the concept of "immersion" in a game is important to me. Being able to suspend my disbelief long enough to believe in the fiction is pretty much the whole point of telling a story, or playing a storytelling game. It's the main complaint I have with combat in D&D, actually: it always feels like an interruption.

 

[Swarmkeeper]

Immersion to me means that I’m so enthralled with our game play that 3 hours zip by without me worrying about work or my phone or anything else really.

Since things that break immersion have been mentioned, I’ll add another:
When the VTT isn’t working as intended and we spend any amount of time trying to “fix” it during our precious game time rather than just immediately pivoting to Theatre of the Mind and/or our physical dice and character sheets.

 

[el-remmen]

For me immersion means what @Swarmkeeper said above + when the choices being made in-game align with the stakes as the characters would understand them.

I also agree with those who have suggested that immersion is not something that is toggled on and off, but a spectrum of affective and intellectual focus on the game at hand.

 

[Bill Zebub]

Immersion to me means that I’m so enthralled with our game play that 3 hours zip by without me worrying about work or my phone or anything else really.

Since things that break immersion have been mentioned, I’ll add another:
When the VTT isn’t working as intended and we spend any amount of time trying to “fix” it during our precious game time rather than just immediately pivoting to Theatre of the Mind and/or our physical dice and character sheets.

Yeah I agree with this.

The irony is that something that might increase one person’s immersion might be for another the equivalent of the needle being dragged across the record.

 

[Swarmkeeper]

For me immersion means what @Swarmkeeper said above + when the choices being made in-game align with the stakes as the characters would understand them.

I also agree with those who have suggested that immersion is not something that is toggled on and off, but a spectrum of affective and intellectual focus on the game at hand.

100% the bolded keeps me enthralled!

 

[gnarlygninja]

When the VTT isn’t working as intended and we spend any amount of time trying to “fix” it during our precious game time rather than just immediately pivoting to Theatre of the Mind and/or our physical dice and character sheets.

This has been a big part of why I tend to hate VTT play. And it almost always seems to be something that doesn't even matter, like a town map not showing up when we're in town just talking to people.

 

[Bill Zebub]

I think my definition of immersion would have to include "I feel what my character feels." At least in some small way.

So, for example, if I know perfectly well that trolls need to be burned, then when a troll starts regenerating I don't personally feel any of the horror and fear my low level character would probably be feeling. Not immersed. But probably the first time it ever happened I had a small "oh $%#&" moment. Immersed.

 

[Thomas Shey]

I think my definition of immersion would have to include "I feel what my character feels." At least in some small way.

So, for example, if I know perfectly well that trolls need to be burned, then when a troll starts regenerating I don't personally feel any of the horror and fear my low level character would probably be feeling. Not immersed. But probably the first time it ever happened I had a small "oh $%#&" moment. Immersed.

One of the really helpful tools there--and to be clear, one not everyone is good at, as its not a very natural thing for people--is firewalling/siloing, so you separate off the parts of your knowledge a character doesn't have. This tends to require being able to construct a psychological emulator for a character with different knowledge and perspectives than your own.

The fact this is as difficult as it is probably explains in part why a lot of people don't even try to play in an immersed and non-avatar posture; just staying in character is more than enough work for them, let alone trying to get that deep in.

 

[Ulorian - Agent of Chaos]

But the moment my buddy Alex tries to "act" being a horny bard my immersion goes immediately away.

I know my immersion immediately went away as soon as I read that.

 

[Bill Zebub]

The fact this is as difficult as it is probably explains in part why a lot of people don't even try to play in an immersed and non-avatar posture; just staying in character is more than enough work for them, let alone trying to get that deep in.

Clearly only homo sapiens superioris is capable of such deep and nuanced play.

/eyeroll