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Avatar vs Immersive RP - Printable Version

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RE: Avatar vs Immersive RP - Aaron - 07-28-2017

You ever watched a tv show so good time flew by and all your attention was glued on the tv until it ended with you having binge watched everything?

That's what people mean by being "immersed" in RP, basically.

RE: Avatar vs Immersive RP - Kaiverta - 07-28-2017

(07-28-2017, 11:51 AM)Aaron Wrote: You ever watched a tv show so good time flew by and all your attention was glued on the tv until it ended with you having binge watched everything?

That's what people mean by being "immersed" in RP, basically.

That's how I'd use the word 'immersed' too, yep.

RE: Avatar vs Immersive RP - Sophia_Grave - 07-28-2017

Immersion's about convincing yourself in some small way that what you're experiencing is real (or at least engaging and demanding your full attention), but isn't necessarily happening to you. Its perfectly reasonable to be immersed and be a passive observer, reader, or viewer as some people have already mentioned. Your character can be representative of you and you can be immersed, but they aren't necessarily related.

RE: Avatar vs Immersive RP - T'ahlia Chelewae - 07-28-2017

I guess everyone has their own way of approaching things. I taught acting for a long time, and I view rp (for me) as a mixture of acting/writing/improvisation. There are a lot of different theories on how to get results as an actor. I never taught a specific style, but rather showed my students a variety of them, because what would work for one actor might not work for another. Personally, when I act I require very little time to "put my character on" before I hit the stage, but other actors need to focus, think the character's thoughts, and take time to be ready before they go out. I've seen amazing results from both styles, so I don't think there is a "right or wrong" way. But an actor should always know that even though they are putting themselves into the character, that they are NOT the character, they are just temporarily feeling their feels. But there are plenty of debates about this sort of thing in acting circles, just as there are here in rp circles.

RE: Avatar vs Immersive RP - Fox - 07-28-2017

(07-27-2017, 01:45 PM)Firefly Wrote: I think it's not really a 'you are or you aren't' thing; it's more of a sliding scale. If it were binary, I'd say the distinguishing factor is the immersion-trending RPer's meticulous consideration of their surroundings.

The thing to consider though is that it's not really about becoming one's character, but knowing, completely (and I stress completely; or close to it as possible), the context of their actions.

But yeah I can see the sliding scale; and I can get the idea of being 'immersed' in roleplay- ie focusing yourself on it and understanding how your character would do something or another vs. the point of method-acting; and everything inbetween. But its just the way that I was taught back in Ayenee.

It's interesting to see how folks interpret it. I personally have always considered myself more of a writer than a rper. And while I do know how my character will react; it's just for me- I don't play a role so I don't involve myself with the 'immersion' aspect. The way I was always taught? Immersion/Roleplay was getting into a specific role and acting. I do find it fascinating how people do see different ways. So I do respect and I can understand your thoughts on the matter; it's just something I personally don't consider myself participating in even though I do highly detailed writing and understanding how the character reacts to xyz.

I do write into details with my character; often their mindset and the things they do. When I have written for a character for longer than six months I can easily know what the character would do when broached with something; but that honestly just takes time in writing and conceptualizing the character- which I do a lot. However a lot of this highly-detailed writing? I only do with an RP partner. It's difficult to do something like that in a tavern setting or a group rp setting. I really approach this as writing rather than acting as many might do it.

To add on; it feels like immersion is a sort of method acting- something I personally avoid because I have seen this go incredibly bad. I just feel, personally, that a lot of OOC/IC blur can happen this way. So I do tend to distance myself in the role of a writer vs. actor. It's not for everyone, but this is an interesting topic.

I suppose the one time I would use "immersion" would be almost synonymous with "setting". And while this isn't technically correct I have found myself saying when Douchebag McGee comes up and starts spamming emotes, abilities, etc as "breaking my immersion". But at that point its more of it breaks my focus of what I'm doing. It's just really interesting to me how "immersion" can have all sorts of different definitions dependent on the individual.

RE: Avatar vs Immersive RP - Teadrinker - 07-28-2017

(07-27-2017, 09:49 AM)Niamh Wrote: I mostly read RPC to pickup information to help learn RP in the FFXIV environment, and get ideas on how to develop a character in said environment.   I keep seeing the word "immersion" pop up in threads.   My exposure to RP in the past always treated the character as being a separate entity/avatar.

Am I just misunderstanding the context and avatar / immersion are the same thing?

If they are separate:

How do you create the line between IC and OOC if you are truly "immersed"?

Do you play in 1st person view to maintain your immersion?

Do you declare that you are "immersed" to others during RP interactions, or is it something participants should just pick up on?

Is the etiquette for interacting with an "immersed" player/character different than the etiquette for interacting with an avatar?

You can be engrossed and interested by a fictional world, be it of your own creation or anothers, and still be aware it's fictional. This, in no way, damages quality of writing or how a character would reasonably act in a situation.

1st person in RP is gross and just looks weird to read. (opinion)

Uh. Heheheh. I'm just imagining RP pausing now for someone to announce "I'M TOTALLY FEELING IT NOW." (can you feel it now, Mr Crabs?) No, this doesn't occur that I have seen. Sometimes there is commentary on how awesome a situation or scene might by but that's about all I've seen.

There is no separation or etiquette here. What it sounds like you might be looking for is someone who likes to get as deep into your RP as you do. I've had people comment to me that as far as character depth I tend to play at about a 12 while most people play at around a 5. My suggestion would be just keep hunting until you find a person or people who enjoy writing on the same wavelength you do. You'll likely know it when you find it.

RE: Avatar vs Immersive RP - Verad - 07-28-2017

Somebody already mentioned Method acting, and I think that's a useful comparison - not only because of the desired goal, but because, like Method acting, immersing in RP is romanticized to its own detriment, treated as a goal in and of itself

While many people use the above-stated definition that it just means "being really engaged in the work," I have seen players in both tabletop and freeform define it as a kind of shared dream-state, describing the state in quasi-spiritual terms whereby they leave themselves behind and embody their character. At least one WoW RPer I know of insisted they were engaging in a totally different personality with different sets of emotions and beliefs when they were playing; I think they were fronting in a "It's what my character would do!" kind of way, but assuming good faith for the sake of argument, that's a sentiment I've seen expressed by a number of players over a period of years.

I say it's romanticized because, again like Method acting, it is often seen as a more authentic and true form of play, despite being a state of being that is largely internal and not easily seen by others. The recent thread about pre-arranged romantic RP, wherein a number of players expressed their distaste for it because it didn't feel "organic," comes from a similar place. In both tabletop and freeform alike it leads to fights over what mechanics or RP etiquette are appropriate on the assumption that good examples of each allow for maximum immersion with a minimum of interruptions.

It's for the above reasons that I don't use "immersed" to mean "engaged," and just say "engaged." If I like the play, but don't feel part of it (which is constantly), I just say that, to avoid confusion from a small-but-significant number of players who really will think I mean I felt like my character more so than usual.

I can't answer some of the OP's questions accordingly, but I can say that "declaring you are immersed" in a play on an OOC level is for some, unnecessary, and for others a bit like faking an orgasm.

RE: Avatar vs Immersive RP - Fox - 07-28-2017

(07-28-2017, 06:17 PM)Verad Wrote: <snip>

This is where I personally sit myself. I prefer the term engaged; and I've just seen too much go wrong with "immersion" like the examples you gave Verad (ie. your spirituality comment... but further extreme). I've been stalked by these types of people (those who say 'I am a methodactor/immersion rper; this isn't to say that all immersion rpers are this way and I have close friends who are immersion rpers but- it seems to happen more frequently where people cannot disconnect themselves from their character.) and I personally do not want to involve myself with the term because for me it's become almost a negative term. Which is unfortunate but it also goes back to the method acting I had mentioned; there's something even 'negative' when people discuss method acting. I remember seeing this in some debate with Jared Leto- because he became very psychopathic with his Joker role; even off screen and would terrify his fellow actors sometimes. It's stuff like that which I just prefer to divert myself from the term 'immersion'.

One thing to add on (yet again) is that; unlike method acting- where you go through professional training (ie. acting school etc) a lot of times- the person has a 'cooling down period' which method-rping/immersion rpers often do not have and a lot stay in that sort of mindset continuously and it starts becoming a problem. However there's also been a lot of controversy with method acting where actors take it too far as well. Apparently; Anthony Hopkins dislikes method acting.

RE: Avatar vs Immersive RP - maoilmhin - 07-28-2017

I should clarify that the intent of asking was to better prepare myself to interact with "immersion"? RPrs.  Time is finite, and I want to be respectful to those who spend some of it RPing with me. 

I am far too inexperienced to declare myself any type of RP'r other than Novice.

My sincerest thanks for the wealth of information you all have provided.

RE: Avatar vs Immersive RP - Verad - 07-28-2017

(07-28-2017, 09:08 PM)Niamh Wrote: I should clarify that the intent of asking was to better prepare myself to interact with "immersion"? RPrs.  Time is finite, and I want to be respectful to those who spend some of it RPing with me. 

I am far too inexperienced to declare myself any type of RP'r other than Novice.

My sincerest thanks for the wealth of information you all have provided.

That being the case, here is some more practical advice for accommodating immersionist RPers:
  • As other posters have noted above, write in third-person. This makes it easier to use the /emote command. Past or present-tense is largely a matter of preference.
  • Avoid writing anything that could be construed as describing what your character thinks if the other character couldn't notice it. The common version of this is to avoid actions like "Niamh thinks Verad is being a jerk right now," because Verad isn't a mind-reader and couldn't possibly notice that - it's a statement made for the writer, not the character. At the more extreme end, some players dislike it when you write anything that could be considered interpretive: "Niamh clearly looks annoyed."
  • Minimize OOC communication. Although there will inevitably be some communication for the sake of establishing your boundaries as players, you should avoid spending a lot of time chatting about the scene as it's happening.
  • Watch out for "bleed" between the character's feelings and the player's feelings, especially if the player of another character gets flirtatious right after starting an IC romance with yours.
  • Avoid getting mixed up in IC combat until you have a clearer sense of how the people you play with resolve conflicts.