A thread over in Game Theory talks about Deep Immersion In Character as a state wherein you think as the character. Isn't that one of the many flavors of insanity?

Does anyone ever actually think as their character rather than thinking about the reaction their character would have?

Quote from: James McMurrayA thread over in Game Theory talks about Deep Immersion In Character as a state wherein you think as the character. Isn't that one of the many flavors of insanity?

Cue Sir Lawrence Olivier to Dustin Hoffman during the filming of "Marathon Man".

I have to admit that I'm uncomfortable with deep, deep in-character immersion, but there are times in really good, flowing RPG sessions where I drift in and out of conscious awareness of the difference between myself and my character.  It's method acting, not madness.  It doesn't happen too often, but it's usually a very positively memorable experience when it does.

!i!

Quote from: James McMurrayA thread over in Game Theory talks about Deep Immersion In Character as a state wherein you think as the character. Isn't that one of the many flavors of insanity?

If I ever lost control of the character or lost touch with reality, absolutely.  Since I don't lose control or lose touch with reality, I don't think it qualifies.  

Quote from: James McMurrayDoes anyone ever actually think as their character rather than thinking about the reaction their character would have?

Yes.  I do.  Quite a few other poeple do, too.

Quote from: Ian AbsentiaCue Sir Lawrence Olivier to Dustin Hoffman during the filming of "Marathon Man".

See Pundit's Avatar for another good example.

Quote from: John MorrowSee Pundit's Avatar for another good example.

You mean Liam Neeson's comments that seemed to suggest that he was...bemused...by Daniel Day-Lewis' total immersion into character?  Yeah, that was kind of creepy.

!i!

Honestly, the closest any gamer I know gets to this "immersion" is when they get annoyed at their dice and throw them across the room.

I've known plenty of players get a bit emotional about the game, but only in the same way you get emotional about a movie on tv - not a movie on the big screen, in the cinema with it dark around you, you can get more wrapped up in the movie than if it's on a tv in a bright room with other people around you doing stuff.

Once a player had nightmares from the game session, does that count?

Quote from: James McMurrayA thread over in Game Theory talks about Deep Immersion In Character as a state wherein you think as the character. Isn't that one of the many flavors of insanity?

Does anyone ever actually think as their character rather than thinking about the reaction their character would have?

I don't think immersing yourself makes you insane. It's more a question of control, intensity and length.

Consider, a lot of people recount each others horror stories (around a firecamp, in litterature, in movies) and you can suspend disbelief and really get scared, for instance. Doesn't mean you're crazy. Doesn't mean you wouldn't snap out of it whenever you want to.

Now it's another thing if after the experience, you can't separate fiction from reality. Or if you totally can't snap out of it during the experience.

Deep immersion in and of itself is not insanity at all, no.

I've only come across one Deep IC player in all the years I've gamed. I've got to say, her roleplaying really takes the rest of the crew to the next level. And the interesting thing (to me anyway) is that she is new to gaming.

Regards,
David R

If actors can do it and not go insane, I don't see why gamers can't.

But in any case, there's another issue at play here, and its that most people don't actually go into immersion as in "walks around and talks in his Rangor the Barbarian voice" or starting to dress up as the character, etc. etc., but that's the boogeyman that Forge Theorists throw around in order to try to claim that ALL immersion (by which they mean playing in character) is useless at best and dangerous to your mental health at worst, rather than oh, say, the essential point of playing RPGs.

Why do they do this? Because their theories allow no room for immersion as a concept.  They can't explain it, they can't use it, and worse, its existence and importance to most gamers ends up directly contradicting the reasons they CLAIM people game for according to their GNS essays. It makes GNS's criteria into something largely irrelevant, if not false.

Not to mention that if people actually just rely on acting in order to play in character, they won't need any of the stupid gimmicky mechanics and social mechanics the Forge is so fond of.

So, until you start LITERALLY wearing a viking hat, go wild. Immersion is the fucking point of playing an RPG, switching your character on and doing what HE would do, not what you would do playing him.

RPGPundit

Quote from: RPGPunditIf actors can do it and not go insane, I don't see why gamers can't.

Arguably, some actors don't avoid it.

As for the obligatory Forge reference, I'm afraid that's lost on me.

All told, I think the most dangerous element of so-called "deep immersion" is the degree to which the other players are comfortable with it, and whether or not it is going to be more disruptive to a gaming session than enhancing it.  As usual, this is really a matter of assembling compatible gaming group -- an expression of the dreaded "Social Contract".

!i!

Thanks for the anti-forge threadcrap. :rolleyes: Just so I'm clear on the part of your post that applies to the thread: you're all for deep immersion, and don't think it's a flavor of insanity?

I gots no problem with it.  I've even been there a few times.

I mean, beyond the already repeated method acting comparison, there's that almost cliche story of the writer whose character seems to take on a life of their own, and winds up directing the story perhaps more than the author intended.

I don't think that sort of immersion in and of itself is at all unhealthy, so long as you remain able to switch it off when the game comes to an end.  

I would even go so far as to compare your OP, MR. McMurray, to the infamous "brain damage" statement, as they're both roughly as insulting.

Quote from: J ArcaneI would even go so far as to compare your OP, MR. McMurray, to the infamous "brain damage" statement, as they're both roughly as insulting.

I didn't take it as an insult, because I think I know where he's coming from.  Yeah, I can get into "deep immersion", but I've also been embarrassed as hell when someone in the room really gets into it, totally out of synch with the mood of the rest of the players.  I can imagine that a lot of players never get into it.  In fact, this underscores the divide between tactical roleplayers and dramatic roleplayers, each often being uncomfortable or just plain disinterested in the other's playing method.

!i!

It wasn't meant as an insult, but it's definitely what my friends would wonder if I started acting like I was a different person. Not just in character, but as the character. My group has nobody that was in Drama in High School, and all guys, so that's just our style.

Thanks for the replies, and honestly no insult was intended.

Quote from: James McMurrayThanks for the anti-forge threadcrap. :rolleyes: Just so I'm clear on the part of your post that applies to the thread: you're all for deep immersion, and don't think it's a flavor of insanity?

Not to derail the conversation, but IME the rules don't really matter to a deep immersionist....although since I've only come across one, it's just an opinion, not an informed one

Question. Where do you draw the line between damn good roleplaying and deep immersion?

And "flavour of insanity" James...

Regards,
David R