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• • An essay on immersion in massively multiplayer gaming.

  • Originally posted by GreenChaos
    

    Tip:  If you want me to read your post don't put “essay” in the title.
    
    Just for the record I don't want immersion in a virtual world, I want immersion in a game – more specifically a computer game.  I love games, I have all my life (that's 40 years of gameplay).
    
    When I game, I want to be in a game not in a world, for that I'll read a fantasy novel – which I often do.
    
    And for me loading, and zones and instances are all a part of computer games, I played my first computer game in 1977.  There has always been loading and waiting – this is a machine, that what it does. 
    
    And when the computer does things a computer needs to do, my computer game immersion is not broken, yes I am still playing a computer game.
    
    So when you get pissed off that a computer is doing things a computer needs to do, perhaps computer game immersion just isn't for you.  Perhaps you should try reading a book.

     

    Books are but prequels to games. Every fantasy book you have ever read would be a lot cooler if you were the main character, and that is where a game (a simulator more or less) steps in and takes over.

  • Posted: 7/24/08 12:20 AM
    General Discussion
• • An essay on immersion in massively multiplayer gaming.

  • Originally posted by leshtricity
    

    Another important factor for immersion is audio. Often overlooked, in my opinion, I believe strong production values in auditory development is crucial. While I don't  think that background music, or a soundtrack, is required, it can add a lot to a game. What's more important are the sound effects. The violent clashing of swords, the mystical buzzing of a cast spell, the foreboding 'click' of an empty ammunition clip, or the thunderous engines of a starship. Also oft overlooked are ambient sounds. You would be surprised how much you miss in day to day living. Another issue many players, myself included, have with auditory values of MMO's is the level of repetitiveness. This is a reason I don't feel confident an MMO should have a soundtrack, unless variation can be guaranteed. Variation should, optimally, also be present in the sound effects. When you fire a gun or swing a weapon, it doesn't always sound the same. I believe and hope that in the coming years developers will step-up production values of sound.

     

    I am going to disagree with you here and say that a soundtrack is actually incredibly important. That theme song that rings the bells of war as you surge in to battle seems to seep itself into your subconscious. I believe that the subconscious is the key to immersion, it is the thoughts that you don't even you are thinking that really keep you going. When you are surging into battle, you most likely will never even notice the soundtrack that is playing in the background, but if I play it on a CD, I guarantee that you will know right away what it is from.

  • Posted: 7/24/08 12:17 AM
    General Discussion
• • Look for FFA PvP

  • you like that?

  • Posted: 7/23/08 11:57 PM
    General Discussion
• • MUPPETS! MUPPETS! MUPPETS!

  • Something is going on here! The newest featured video on youtube happens to be muppets singing, but look a little closer in and you will notice that the profile of the poster of this vid http://www.youtube.com/user/meepmeepmeepow has 4 other videos favorited, all of muppets. 2 of which were released the exact same day as the feature, and the accounts all created on the same day as well! SOMETHING IS FISHY HERE! The muppets are plotting, this is the kind of subliminal advertising we see all the time now. SO WHAT DO THE MUPPETS HAVE IN STORE?!!?!? COULD IT BE? a muppet MMO! O yes, you heard here first folks! The muppets are on the move and they have an mmo o golly o golly o golly!

  • Posted: 7/23/08 8:19 PM
    General Discussion
• • Whos in highschool and still plays mmorpgs?

  • lawl Im a junior in high school, play football, wrestle, have a 4.2 gpa and I play mmos. Honestly studying is a joke, I have studied twice in my 3 years, and both times were for finals. Besides, isn't 7 and 1/2 hours of school per day enough as it is.

  • Posted: 7/23/08 3:00 PM
    General Discussion