The Interplay Between Immersion And Appeal In Video Games by Georgios Christou

http://www.sciencedirect.com.libproxy.abertay.ac.uk/science/article/pii/S0747563213004391

In preparation for the Research Proposal and later on, the dissertation, I have been looking at some credited journal articles for references that I can use in my proposal/dissertation. Currently I am not looking to begin writing them yet however I do want to begin a basic draft by the end of the week. This blog's purpose is too note down some interesting references from this article that I may or may not use.

This article discusses the relationship between 'immersion' and 'appeal' for player experience of games. It goes on to introduce the concept meanings of immersion and appeal stating that,

'Immersion is generally accepted as one of those constituents of player experience...'

After a quick introductory argument on the importance of appeal is in a game Christou states,

'...appeal is a major factor of the gameplay experience, However, in the literature it is only mentioned incidentally, without deep examination of its impact on the other gameplay experience aspects, such as immersion.'

Interesting Quotes

Whilst reading this journal I came across many interesting quotes:

'...there is no immersion unless a player decides to play the game and engage into the process of willing suspension of disbelief.' - a wonderful explanation of what immersion requires - the user to want too believe and want too feel and pretend that the experience is real.

'...three successive levels of player immersion - engagement, engrossment and total immersion. Each of these levels suggests that the player further loses touch with the real world and becomes more involved both physically and psychologically in the virtual world of the game.'

'GameFlow framework offers several characteristics which could be seen as incremental in their application to understand the state of immersion. These are (I have changed format for a more readable list):

1. players should become less aware of their surroundings
2. players should become less self-aware and less worried about everyday life or self
3. players should experience an altered sense of time
4. players should feel emotionally involved in the game
5. players should feel viscerally involved in the game'

This is an extremely accurate list in my opinion of what immersion involves. This is definitely something I wish to pursue and research further. This is what I am aiming for in my interactive experience.

'Knowing that appeal is considered to be the driving force behind the act of choosing a game to play, as well as the driving force that drives players to continue playing  a game...' - appeal is just as important as immersion when getting a user to continue within an environment.

'...players who find a game appealing will also find it more immersive, and the opposite: players who find a game immersive, will also find it more appealing.' - the is what the study managed to show.

'Immersion is not affected by the players' amount of playtime of the game in question...This may suggest that immersion is a player trait rather than a game trait...' - this could easily make sense with relation to the quote above  that mentions that immersion is a willing suspension of disbelief.

'The lack of difference hints to the supposition that players may initially evaluate a game, and the initial perceived appeal decides their further relationship with the game...therefore, first impression may play a big role in whether players will adopt a game or not.' - This statement supports a passage I read a while back relating that in immersion and environment storytelling, first impressions are very important.

The conclusion of this article highlighted a few important links and features of appeal and immersion for games. He counters their findings by highlighting that first impressions help appeal a player hence if the first impression  of appeal is high, then 'the player should experience a high level of immersion'  and vice versa - low appeal equals not immersed. However considering this theory in reverse - immersion leads to appeal - then this would require the player to take the time too get immersed in the game before feeling the appeal. This reversal would require the player to be patient in the idea of wanting to be immersed - again, this lovely phrase comes too mind, ' a willing suspension of disbelief'.