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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 8321892" data-attributes="member: 42582">Abstraction is a relation - the abstract thing has been abstracted from ("detached from") something.[USER=16586]@Campbell[/USER] has already replied, but I can elaborate. The abstraction in the presentation of the gameworld - which Campbell goes on to describe as "detached and academic" in contrast to the "personal and immediate" - is abstraction from the experience of and life of the character. There are a number of ways this typically occurs in RPGing. Campbell gives one - the presentation of space in terms of bird's eye or even god's eye views and precise measurements (as in the classic wargaming or gridded battle mat) rather than in terms that characterise the character's perception ("near", "far", "right up on top of you!", etc). Another would be the presentation of information about the setting in the form of an encyclopaedia or travel guide entry, rather than as the sort of recollection and cultural experience that is a person's source of knowledge about places they are not a tourist.These two things can intersect: I live in an inner suburb of a city that is more than one hundred years old. The streets were laid out in the nineteenth century, and still include many lanes that once facilitated "night soil" collection. Despite having lived in the same suburb for over 20 years, I can still go for a walk and be surprised by encountering a little side street or lane that either I've never noticed before, or have certainly forgotten about and (eg) could not have directed anyone to had they asked me. On the other hand, if someone asks me for directions to a cafe or pub or chemist or supermarket or which tram to take to go where, I can easily tell them. This is basically the opposite to the traditional RPG map-and-key method, where - if the players are shown the GM's map - knowledge of the layout is perfect, while being able to actually find one's way around the place (the inns, the apothecaries, the butchers, etc) depends on quizzing the GM about his/her key.Describing things in terms that do engage with the character's perception may involve abstraction - eg "near" and "far" abstract away from the physical quantity of distance; "the place you remember from your childhood" abstracts away from the physical quantity of time; "after a few weeks travel through the woods you make your way from Kent to Warwick" abstracts away from both those physical quantities. But by doing so it actually (at least in my experience, and I believe also [USER=16586]@Campbell[/USER]'s) it enhances immersion, because that is how people engage with their lives. I can't tell you exactly where I was and what I was doing on this day three weeks ago without looking at my diary or my receipts or some other external reminder of how I spend my time!</blockquote>

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