General Discussion

Take a look at this picture:

It's The Bridge of Khazad-Dum by Paul Monteagle.  Have you ever looked intently at a painting hanging on a wall and thought to yourself, "Geez, I wish I were there right now."  It's probably one reason artists make drawings like this.  I know I have done it when working in an office and seeing a calender with a picture of a beach or magestic mountains.  How I wished I could have transported myself into that picture and gotten out of my actual location.

Well that's what an MMO does.  It lets you transport yourself into that world and interact with it.  That's what is meant by immersion.  Take a closer look at the picture.  Don't you wish you could be that character standing at the foot of the bridge (that's probably Gandalf) and experience the adventure of crossing it, taking the path up to the exit and seeing what lies beyond?

That's the advantage MMOs have over a picture or a movie.  You experience that world, not just wish you could be in it.  MMOs expand on what the artist shows you or what the director films.  How I wish I could step inside this picture and turn to the left so I could see what lies down that giant hallway.

I don't know if there's a point here, I just felt inspired to share this.

It's not as cut and dry as you might have portrayed. The last time for me it was Fable that "lets you transport yourself into that world and interact with it.  That's what is meant by immersion. " had dealt the package. And that's like one title haters would love to loathe since it's actually a porta porty off console. Heck any older offline CRPGs can make the cut FAR MORE EFFECTIVELY than most MMOs.

It's more accurate to say that both immersion and social aspects' interplays that gives MMOs the edge. Barring circumstances like our ongoing preferential disagreements of course.

I agree with you 100%.  I have often looked at a painting and wanted to see what lies within. 

I think you have a very positive and creative outlook on our hobby. 

I think what you are saying is true, the sense of escaping reality and not only seeing the picture (like a movie)  but also interacting inside the picture is one motive to play MMOs.

But there's also others, like the sense of community. The one thing that differentiates MMOs from mere RPGs. Being alone in that picture, or being with others in it. And this community also generates another motive, pride. If you accomplish something that many are trying to accomplish, you feel good.

And there's also the sense of "growth". It's written on our neural system; when we feel as if we are growing, we feel good. When your character gets that new sword that will make you hit much harder and looks cooler, you feel good.

Good point. When I play Syberia or The Longest Journey, I WANT to be there.

But, I don't want to be here tho (see attached image). This is from AOC.

i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk28/magdalene2008/concept15.jpg

That screenshot seems to have been touched up.

Don't worry, that boat won't stay afloat for long ;)

Originally posted by Xasapis

That screenshot seems to have been touched up.

Don't worry, that boat won't stay afloat for long ;)

http://fan.theonering.net/middleearthtours/bridgeofkd.html

I certainly know what you are talking about, OP.

I disagree, though, that a movie or even a picture doesn't (at least sometimes) actually put you in the world like an MMO can (and I say can because it seems harder and harder to find one that does, at least for me). For example, in the LOTR:FOTR, the scene with the bridge of Khazad-Dum sucks me right in every time I see it. Especially the first time though... I'm pretty sure I was sitting in the theatre staring into the furnace that was the balrog's maw with my chin on the floor and my eyes wide with a mix of awe and terror. I wasn't just wishing I was there, let alone watching something happen to someone else... that fiend was about to crisp me :)

Originally posted by Zindaihas

 

Originally posted by Xasapis

That screenshot seems to have been touched up.

Don't worry, that boat won't stay afloat for long ;)

It's not a screenshot, it's a drawing by an artist named Paul Monteagle.  It can be found on this website:

 

http://fan.theonering.net/middleearthtours/bridgeofkd.html

I don't believe he was talking about the work in the OPs post.

Originally posted by fischsemmel

I certainly know what you are talking about, OP.

I disagree, though, that a movie or even a picture doesn't (at least sometimes) actually put you in the world like an MMO can (and I say can because it seems harder and harder to find one that does, at least for me). For example, in the LOTR:FOTR, the scene with the bridge of Khazad-Dum sucks me right in every time I see it. Especially the first time though... I'm pretty sure I was sitting in the theatre staring into the furnace that was the balrog's maw with my chin on the floor and my eyes wide with a mix of awe and terror. I wasn't just wishing I was there, let alone watching something happen to someone else... that fiend was about to crisp me :)

That may be true for a movie that is made as well as Peter Jackson made The LoTR, but the problem is that the feeling lasts only as long as the scene lasts, which is a few seconds or a couple minutes at most.  When it's over, the best you can do is think about the moment which also only lasts for a brief time.  Of course, if you have the DVD, you can play it over and over again, but that results in turning a spectacular scene into an ordinary one if you beat it to death.

In an MMO you experience the moment as long as you are in that world.  That's why playing for hours can seem like only short time.  But just as a movie or a picture or a novel has to be great to let you capture that feeling, so an MMO also has to be great to do the same.  And this is why so many people are crying out for that particular game which creates that feeling.  So far, it has proven to be elusive.