The Anti-Immersive Theatre of Role-Playing Games Michael Ryan Skolnik York University

Evaluating Live and Digital Role- Playing Gaming Experiences Janet Murray positions live role-playing as an interactive narrative experience in which “the events [that role-players] portray often have the immediacy of personal experience.” (Murray 1997, 43.) ‏ Janet Murray positions live role-playing as an interactive narrative experience in which “the events [that role-players] portray often have the immediacy of personal experience.” (Murray 1997, 43.) ‏ Murray also argues that digital media offer a more meaningful experience of interactive narratives because of a more immersive experience in the fictional world presented. (82.) ‏ Murray also argues that digital media offer a more meaningful experience of interactive narratives because of a more immersive experience in the fictional world presented. (82.) ‏

Defining Immersion Murray: Total Immersion Murray: Total Immersion “The experience of being transported to an elaborately simulated place […] the sensation of being surrounded by a completely other reality, as different as water is from air, that takes over all of our attention, our whole perceptual apparatus.”

Brown & Cairns’ Three Stages of Immersion Engagement: The player invests time and effort into the game. Engagement: The player invests time and effort into the game. Engrossment: The player becomes emotionally involved in the game. Engrossment: The player becomes emotionally involved in the game. Total Immersion: Presence. The player feels/becomes present exclusively in the game world. Total Immersion: Presence. The player feels/becomes present exclusively in the game world.

Total Immersion is a Prominent Game Design Goal Questions: - Should we be concerned with the ideological implications of total immersion? - Is total immersion a design goal that will deliver a more meaningful game play experience for the player, as Murray asserted? Examining critical and meaningful RPG gameplay.

Immersion in the Theatre Immersion is the underpinning for Aristotelian catharsis in the drama. Immersion is the underpinning for Aristotelian catharsis in the drama. Catharsis as ideological corrective. Catharsis as ideological corrective. Spectator – Protagonist representative relation. Spectator – Protagonist representative relation.

Two Anti-Immersive Theatre Aesthetics Brechtian Epic Theatre: Alienation effects break high-level immersion in favour of political engrossment. Brechtian Epic Theatre: Alienation effects break high-level immersion in favour of political engrossment. Boalian Theatre of the Oppressed: Spectactorship as a paradigm for critically distant interactivity. Boalian Theatre of the Oppressed: Spectactorship as a paradigm for critically distant interactivity.

“In aristotelian drama the plot leads the hero into situations where he reveals he innermost being. [… He] then of course begins to stand for Man with a capital M. Everyone (including every spectator) is then carried away by the momentum of the events portrayed, so that in a performance of Oedipus one has for all practical purposes an auditorium full of little Oedipuses, an auditorium full of Emperor Joneses for a performance of The Emperor Jones.” (Brecht 1979, 87.) ‏

Alienation Effects as a Means to Politically Empower Spectators Critical distance must be offered at key junctures in a performance. (e.g. The recantation scene in Brecht's Galileo). Familiar  Unfamiliar, Comprehensible  requiring inquiry. (see: Shkolvsky) ‏ Immersion can be used as a way to build up to this.

The intended result: to show up adverse social circumstances as human contrivances and not the action of a tragic deterministic fate (Aristotle). - Brechtian drama: Tragic fate on stage is a human contriving, encouraging social action on the part of the spectators to fix the problem.

Brechtian Game Play A tabletop RPG example: Child Abuse Scenario A tabletop RPG example: Child Abuse Scenario Digital media offer a lot of opportunities for the use of alienation effects. (Fission Mailed) ‏ Digital media offer a lot of opportunities for the use of alienation effects. (Fission Mailed) ‏ The player needs to be alienated from a representation of an everyday social/political circumstance. The player needs to be alienated from a representation of an everyday social/political circumstance.

Boal and the Theatre of the Oppressed Audience interactivity and participation. (Spectactorship) ‏ Audience interactivity and participation. (Spectactorship) ‏ Action no longer taken for granted. Action no longer taken for granted. Forum Theatre Forum Theatre

“Forum Theatre is a theatrical game in which a problem is shown in an unsolved form, to which the audience, again spect-actors, is invited to suggest and enact solutions. The problem is always the symptom of oppression, and generally involves visible oppressors and a protagonist who is oppressed. [...] After one showing of the scene, which is known as 'the model' [...] it is shown again slightly speeded up, and follows the exact same course until a member of the audience shouts 'Stop!', takes the place of the protagonist and tries to defeat the oppressors.” (Jackson, xxiv.) ‏

An Alternative to Catharsis Aristotle: Theatre for emotional purgation Aristotle: Theatre for emotional purgation Brecht: Theatre for critique to lead to social/political action Brecht: Theatre for critique to lead to social/political action Boal: Theatre for dynamisation – the empowerment to social/political expression and action. (Includes Brecht's ideas in a participatory way) ‏ Boal: Theatre for dynamisation – the empowerment to social/political expression and action. (Includes Brecht's ideas in a participatory way) ‏

Dynamisation “when an actor carries out an act of liberation in a normal play where intervention by the audience is not allowed, he or she does it in place of the spectator, which event is thus, for the audience, a catharsis. But when a spect-actor occupies the stage and carries out the same act there, he or she does it in the name of all the other spectators, because they know that, if they don't agree, they themselves can invade the stage and show their opinion – and the event is thus for them not a catharsis but a dynamisation.” (Boal 2002, 25.) ‏

The Role-Playing Game of The Oppressed Forum Theatre is very similar to role-playing games in a number of ways, (arguably, it IS a role-playing game) including but not limited to: Participatory and performative storytelling. Participatory and performative storytelling. Improvised action in a prepared scenario. Improvised action in a prepared scenario. Adjudicators (RPG: GM, TO: Joker) ‏ Adjudicators (RPG: GM, TO: Joker) ‏ Live RPGs can easily adopt Boalian aesthetics.

Toward Digital Boalian Gaming Technological constraints make creating digital games with Boalian aesthetics difficult. Frasca Participatory gameplay: open-ended code that players can alter quickly. (Second Life?) ‏ Improvisation: fluid and emergent rule systems.

Conclusions Immersion does not necessarily make for a more meaningful game play experience. Immersion does not necessarily make for a more meaningful game play experience. More immersion does not necessarily make for a more meaningful game play experience. More immersion does not necessarily make for a more meaningful game play experience. Immersion can be a hindrance to certain kinds of meaningful game play experiences as well as a problematic ideological device. Immersion can be a hindrance to certain kinds of meaningful game play experiences as well as a problematic ideological device.

Brechtian and Boalian aesthetics can be applied to game play to foster meaningful and critical gameplay experiences. Brechtian and Boalian aesthetics can be applied to game play to foster meaningful and critical gameplay experiences. The critical position afforded has profound ideological consequences. The critical position afforded has profound ideological consequences.

Thank you! Blog: spectactor.wordpress.com Blog: spectactor.wordpress.com