Immersion?

[Thomas Shey]

Unlike a lot of other "theorycraft" gamer jargon, I don't feel like "immersion" means whatever the person saying it wants it to mean in the the context of the current argument. I feel like I understand what other people mean when they say it. I can agree or disagree with how other gamers seek immersion, or what sustains or shatters it for them... but I feel like we're talking about the same things.

I do feel like, in the last twenty years, there's been a sea change in how people talk about "immersion"... not in what the word means, but in the sense that the argument that immersion isn't important is a recent development that I just can't come to terms with.

I do have to point there were people who were of that opinion 40 years ago. Heck, there were some who claimed that for many people it wasn't really possible.

 

[1QD]

I think it depends on the group tbh. Like a lot of my players don't really do romance or get into the core of their being at all. I on the other hand have had other players who speak with accents, or in terms native to how they see a race being played. One of my players addressed the group as "Little Rock Brothers". He was a giant. I facilitate the kind of my group shows an interest playing but admittedly wish I could see more in depth character role play and immersion.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Agree with this. I prefer when players make choices that drive the story and conflict forward, rather than chasing "immersion".

I prefer when players make choices that make sense for their characters to make in the given situation within the setting, rather than chasing "story".

 

[Micah Sweet]

The more AP I watch, the less it resembles actually playing an RPG.

Yeah, in my experience many Actual Plays are so twisted up in providing an "entertaining" experience (so they can get all the clicks and that advertising $$, perhaps?) that they often barely even look like a real game.

 

[Micah Sweet]

The other thing I've noticed about the word "immersion" is that it is often used in the context of "when (my pet peeve occurs) it breaks immersion."

Examples are:

• "Somebody talks about their character in 3rd person"
• "A character falls a long way and doesn't die"
• "Characters sleep in their armor"
• "A player uses knowledge their character wouldn't have"
• "A player of a Dwarf speaks with a Scottish accent"
• "A gnome paladin dual-wields rapiers"
• "A halfling is a strong as a half-orc"

And so on. The sources of supposed immersion-breaking are endless.

Well...many of those things do annoy me. Maybe there's something to what you're saying here.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I've been thinking about immersion a lot lately as I get more into Draw Steel, mostly because other people keep bringing it up any time the game parts of the system butt against people's perceptions. It mostly seems when someone says 'this doesn't work the way I think it would work in real life', and much like when this sort of thing came up in 4th edition, I'm landing on the position of "Immersion is nice but your own immersion is your own problem." I don't think any TTRPG can ever be 100% immersive in the way a lot of people seem to mean so I guess I just...don't see much point in worry about it. It'll happen, or it won't.

But if it doesn't happen, and it's important to you that it does, then you're not going to enjoy that game much. If you're the GM, you're probably going to have a hard time running it.

 

[gnarlygninja]

But if it doesn't happen, and it's important to you that it does, then you're not going to enjoy that game much. If you're the GM, you're probably going to have a hard time running it.

Well, sure. There's nothing wrong with not playing a game. I just think that some people put all the weight of immersion on the DM or the system, but imo some of it is on the player.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Sure, I can claim it does so. But I was trying to show that even as I was starting to claim exactly that I started wondering if I was conflating "breaking immersion" with "I just don't like it."

Maybe you don't like it because it breaks immersion for you?

 

[Bill Zebub]

Maybe you don't like it because it breaks immersion for you?

No, not really. (Every game I play has it, so I would never feel immersed…)