You're in a game. Choose one, Borderlands, Call of Duty, Medal of Honor... the list goes on. I'm choosing Borderlands for this. We'll be going through how being immersed in the game would feel if I were truly a character.
I just got off the bus. Some Angel spoke to me about some Vault that has lots of treasure! Man oh man, cannot wait, going to Fyrestone! And there's a Clap Trap and everything, we got ourselves a HUD and have registered in the New-U... let's get to treasure hunting!
Now we're at the gate and... wait, bandits???!! They're firing everywhere, hooting and hollering... but they can't reach me. Good. Now, to wait for that cowardly Clap Trap to open the gate... Okay. We're in. Now we're OMIGOSH I'M BEING SHOT AT!! This HURTS!!! Grrr, die mother f**ker!! *gunfire* Okay, I'm bleeding but I'm okay overall... man this town f**king sucks...
So there's some more of these pieces of garbage. I'm sick of... OOO SHINEY!!!! So I'm gonna open that chest and... repeater guns. Where the **** is the good ****?
^You only wish it was this good
Well I guess I'll... what do you mean this gate won't work? You're one useless dude Clap Trap. I'm gonna keep following you but... oh I gotta crawl through this? Fine, I'll... now I gotta jump? You're just f**king with me aren't you? No? Well there's some more bandits, now I'll OH F*** ME I'M GETTING SHOT UP AGAIN!!! When on earth DOES IT STOP? You mean the entire game is like this? I'm jarred, shaking, hurt, bleeding... f*** this.... *turns off system*
This is sort of what I imagine how an FPS feels like to a player. I don't feel as if this is the most immersive experience, but at the same time I feel that we take for granted the conditions our players/avatars go through. They really do get ate up, damaged, destroyed... do we really notice? Sure we're all watching our health or shields or what have you, but is it on your mind that you think "Well gee, do I care?"
If we had one of these each, I'm sure we'd have a better time. This isn't how the games work though. We're not invincible, we "die" and we just plod on. Do we stop to consider this, however? Yeah, they're just games, characters, but this could be translated to your real life. I do hope that this isn't a sign that people will become reckless with their lives. I don't like sounding preachy, so I'll end with...
