Why Does Immersion Matter?

[Saetha]

So I gotta ask - after years of hearing comments such as "I don't like X because it broke my immersion" or "VR is great because you get really immersed," I still have no idea why immersion is important, and or how people even get it.

I don't know if there's just something wrong with my head, but I don't think I've felt "immersed" in a game, to the point where I magically forget it is, in fact, a game and I am, in fact, a pudgy twenty-something staring at a computer screen. So comments on immersion, praise for games that cause it, obsession with finding games that preserve it, is something that's never made a whit of sense to me. What even is immersion? What causes it? Why does it matter? Does it really heighten the experience that much? Why do people laud it to such a degree?

Also - seriously, am I the only person on the planet that doesn't care about immersion? Because people talk about it like it makes or breaks a game experience.

 

[MrCalavera_v1legacy]

Because it changes experience that you merely enjoy to one that you will fondly remember years after you've finished it.

 

[Saetha]

Have you heard of the concept of suspension of disbelief? Immersion is basically that.

Eh, I disagree there. Suspension of disbelief is more, like, how much ridiculousness that can be allowed according in the story's rules. Harry turning Ron into a rat is impossible, but it's believable in the story because the story has established that wizards can turn people into animals. Harry revealing himself to have been a purple unicorn in an outfit all along is unbelievable, because there's nothing to suggest that was probable or even possible.

Immersion, at least from what I understand based on how people talk about it, seems to be less about how the story makes sense according to it's own rules and more about making the player feel like everything's actually happening. I think probably the biggest demonstration of the difference between the two is that suspension of disbelief is brought up in regards to almost all media, but I hardly see anyone talk about their immersion outside of gaming.

Because it changes experience that you merely enjoy to one that you will fondly remember years after you've finished it.

But what IS it? Because I don't seem to get immersed in games, but there are plenty I adore regardless.

 

[Saelune]

Well, I suppose there are two different types of immersion.

One is feeling like you're there, a sense of reality to it. Your actions have logical outcomes, things react as they would in real life. Footprints in snow, water making you wet, etc. I like wondering if I can do X, and it being possible because the world is real enough like that.

The other is caring about the world. Some cross-over I feel, from the first, but somewhat distinct. I love The Elder Scrolls for this reason, because I get immersed in caring about the world. Sure I could kill this person and get a neat sword, but that would be wrong and my character is a hero. I could complete the quest this way and get the best/optimal reward, but my character will do it this way because it suits their views. Things like that.

I love both examples in gaming.

 

[Saetha]

Well, I suppose there are two different types of immersion.

One is feeling like you're there, a sense of reality to it. Your actions have logical outcomes, things react as they would in real life. Footprints in snow, water making you wet, etc.

The other is caring about the world. Some cross-over I feel, from the first, but somewhat distinct. I love The Elder Scrolls for this reason, because I get immersed in caring about the world. Sure I could kill this person and get a neat sword, but that would be wrong and my character is a hero. I could complete the quest this way and get the best/optimal reward, but my character will do it this way because it suits their views. Things like that.

I love both examples in gaming.

Then why do people say that things like, for instance, HUD displays break immersion? How does a HUD display keep you from caring about the world?

Sorry if I'm coming off as rude but this is something I've legitimately never understood.

 

[Saelune]

Well, I suppose there are two different types of immersion.

One is feeling like you're there, a sense of reality to it. Your actions have logical outcomes, things react as they would in real life. Footprints in snow, water making you wet, etc.

The other is caring about the world. Some cross-over I feel, from the first, but somewhat distinct. I love The Elder Scrolls for this reason, because I get immersed in caring about the world. Sure I could kill this person and get a neat sword, but that would be wrong and my character is a hero. I could complete the quest this way and get the best/optimal reward, but my character will do it this way because it suits their views. Things like that.

I love both examples in gaming.

Then why do people say that things like, for instance, HUD displays break immersion? How does a HUD display keep you from caring about the world?

Sorry if I'm coming off as rude but this is something I've legitimately never understood.

I think a HUD challenges my first example, not my second. I also think some people are too nitpicky about it. I personally have little issue with HUDs ruining my immersion either way. Though it is better when HUDs are worked into the game, like in Metroid Prime or Halo.

Edit: I don't think you're being rude, its not rude to ask questions and want answers.

 

[ArcadianDrew]

Honestly OP, I feel exactly the same as you. I think immersion is just a buzzword publishers use in marketing; you'll be immersed because it's 1st person or it's the character you've created so it's really you walking round Cyrodiil or this new planet etc. I don't get that. I've always played games as though it was a film IE; this character (whether created or preset) is doing this thing because THEY have the agency, I just guide them and have fun playing the game - emphasis on play, it's still the character's journey, not mine only this time I'm not just watching them.

I will say thought that I think the majority of people when talking about immersion mean how well the game keeps them focused on the game. Are the mechanics and controls intuitive? Is the UI easy to read but not too in-the-way? Does character dialogue sound natural/believable? Even something like difficulty can add to that, an uneven difficulty curve increases frustration and yanks you out of the experience.

But yeah, I've never really got that whole 'personal immersion' thing.

 

[Saelune]

Honestly OP, I feel exactly the same as you. I think immersion is just a buzzword publishers use in marketing; you'll be immersed because it's 1st person or it's the character you've created so it's really you walking round Cyrodiil or this new planet etc. I don't get that. I've always played games as though it was a film IE; this character (whether created or preset) is doing this thing because THEY have the agency, I just guide them and have fun playing the game - emphasis on play, it's still the character's journey, not mine only this time I'm not just watching them.

I will say thought that I think the majority of people when talking about immersion mean how well the game keeps them focused on the game. Are the mechanics and controls intuitive? Is the UI easy to read but not too in-the-way? Does character dialogue sound natural/believable? Even something like difficulty can add to that, an uneven difficulty curve increases frustration and yanks you out of the experience.

But yeah, I've never really got that whole 'personal immersion' thing.

You can often replace the word "Immersion/Immersed" with care. You don't have to be the character to be immersed in their story. If you care about them though, then I would say you are immersed.

Red Dead Redemption was very immersive for me, on both cases I presented in my first post. I'm not John Marston. But I got immersed in his world and story. I cried when he finally is reunited with his family, cause I cared about John and I wanted him to be happy and to get his family. If I wasn't immersed, I wouldn't have cared about that, or the events that followed.

He is a fictional character, a punch of pixels, but the game "immersed" me to the point that that didn't matter. I cared.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

It's about escapism *nods up at URL* ...escaping into another world. Some people have different tricks that work best for their escapism. Like the HUDless thing you mention, others want also character building, strong story...some want great graphics, sound and Dolby 7.1 surround or headphones.
I loved metro 2033 because of its' way of remaining hudless yet giving you ways to always know what you need to know. But I do not demand it from other games (other than its' sequel...damn Deep Silver!), but the jist is; a consistent escapism. If somebody's moaning about just wanting HUDless mode with everything, then they are being silly (and a twat).

 

[Joccaren]

Immersion is a complex beast and means different things in different games.

Its also made of many components. Suspension of disbelief is one of them. Smooth controls are as well.

Overall the feeling of immersion I guess is treating the entity you play as in the game, as yourself. They're not their own distinct character, they are you in this world. Their decisions are the decisions you personally would make. Their actions your actions. How they feel is how you feel. You don't think about controls or such, simply actions.

Naturally, many things can interfere with this. World isn't believable or internally consistent? Yeah, you're gonna get flung out of the experience. Controls are wonky and you have to think about them rather than intuitively using them? Yeah, you're not gonna be able to get into the experience. Character and story beats don't actually match your own feelings? You can be really engaged like you are with a movie, but its more difficult to become fully immersed. UI can be a factor - if it takes up the whole screen and makes you think about it being there and actively notice it, rather than being a minor bit of information, or like some games blended into the world itself.

Its a difficult thing to describe, because it differs from game to game, and person to person, but I guess the best equation overall I could give would be its the combination of suspension of disbelief, added to the sense of agency a player has in the game, minus clunky or flow breaking components of the game [I.E: Huge UI that is intrusive rather than helpful, controls that make it hard to play, difficulty that keeps killing you every 3 seconds].

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Have you heard of the concept of suspension of disbelief? Immersion is basically that.

Eh, I disagree there. Suspension of disbelief is more, like, how much ridiculousness that can be allowed according in the story's rules. Harry turning Ron into a rat is impossible, but it's believable in the story because the story has established that wizards can turn people into animals. Harry revealing himself to have been a purple unicorn in an outfit all along is unbelievable, because there's nothing to suggest that was probable or even possible.

Immersion, at least from what I understand based on how people talk about it, seems to be less about how the story makes sense according to it's own rules and more about making the player feel like everything's actually happening. I think probably the biggest demonstration of the difference between the two is that suspension of disbelief is brought up in regards to almost all media, but I hardly see anyone talk about their immersion outside of gaming.

Immersion is suspension of disbelief as applied to game mechanics.

Lets take an easy example, video game weapons. Developers who make shooters spend a lot of time making sure that a weapon "feels" a certain way when it's fired. Everything about the weapon, the weapon animation, the amount of recoil it has, the sound, the damage, the way the controller vibrates when the weapon is fired, everything is tweaked over and over until the developer thinks that the gun feels the way it looks like it "should" feel.

Now having shot many firearms in the past I can tell you that shooting a gun in a game does not feel anything like shooting a gun in real life, and guns in games don't sound anything like guns in real life (for the sake of your eardrums).

Despite that different games' guns definitely have certain indescribable characteristics that make them feel good to use, and that's what we talk about when we say that the game feels immersive to play.

When the gun kills enemies at what you think is the proper distance, with the proper amount of shots, and it sounds like you expect it to sound, and moves on the screen like you expect it to move it feels immersive, even though it's nothing like real life.

 

[Myria]

I'm not really sure myself what exactly people mean by 'immersion', I suspect the exact definition depends on whom you ask.

What's important to me, and at least similar to what people often describe their sense of immersion as, is internal consistency. Whether it's a book, movie, TV show, or game doesn't really matter, breaking internal consistency tends to pull me out and dampen my enjoyment.

Game-wise a HUD, first-person view, third-person view, VR, whatever, none of it really plays into things. Just your game world needs to make some sort of sense internally and needs to do so in a consistent manner. Do that and I feel "immersed", at least as I understand how the term is commonly being used, if not necessarily invested.

Then again, for me being invested is more important than being immersed. I can and will continue playing a game even if I'm occasionally annoyed by what I feel is a lack of internal consistency at points as long as I feel invested in the game, character(s), and/or story. Whereas if I don't feel invested there's a good chance even minor breaks in internal consistency are apt to kill whatever interest I may have in continuing.

 

[Saetha]

Have you heard of the concept of suspension of disbelief? Immersion is basically that.

Eh, I disagree there. Suspension of disbelief is more, like, how much ridiculousness that can be allowed according in the story's rules. Harry turning Ron into a rat is impossible, but it's believable in the story because the story has established that wizards can turn people into animals. Harry revealing himself to have been a purple unicorn in an outfit all along is unbelievable, because there's nothing to suggest that was probable or even possible.

Immersion, at least from what I understand based on how people talk about it, seems to be less about how the story makes sense according to it's own rules and more about making the player feel like everything's actually happening. I think probably the biggest demonstration of the difference between the two is that suspension of disbelief is brought up in regards to almost all media, but I hardly see anyone talk about their immersion outside of gaming.

Immersion is suspension of disbelief as applied to game mechanics.

Lets take an easy example, video game weapons. Developers who make shooters spend a lot of time making sure that a weapon "feels" a certain way when it's fired. Everything about the weapon, the weapon animation, the amount of recoil it has, the sound, the damage, the way the controller vibrates when the weapon is fired, everything is tweaked over and over until the developer thinks that the gun feels the way it looks like it "should" feel.

Now having shot many firearms in the past I can tell you that shooting a gun in a game does not feel anything like shooting a gun in real life, and guns in games don't sound anything like guns in real life (for the sake of your eardrums).

Despite that different games' guns definitely have certain indescribable characteristics that make them feel good to use, and that's what we talk about when we say that the game feels immersive to play.

When the gun kills enemies at what you think is the proper distance, with the proper amount of shots, and it sounds like you expect it to sound, and moves on the screen like you expect it to move it feels immersive, even though it's nothing like real life.

Hmm. That definition makes a little more sense, although as I understood it that's called "game feel." Meh.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Have you heard of the concept of suspension of disbelief? Immersion is basically that.

Eh, I disagree there. Suspension of disbelief is more, like, how much ridiculousness that can be allowed according in the story's rules. Harry turning Ron into a rat is impossible, but it's believable in the story because the story has established that wizards can turn people into animals. Harry revealing himself to have been a purple unicorn in an outfit all along is unbelievable, because there's nothing to suggest that was probable or even possible.

Immersion, at least from what I understand based on how people talk about it, seems to be less about how the story makes sense according to it's own rules and more about making the player feel like everything's actually happening. I think probably the biggest demonstration of the difference between the two is that suspension of disbelief is brought up in regards to almost all media, but I hardly see anyone talk about their immersion outside of gaming.

Immersion is suspension of disbelief as applied to game mechanics.

Lets take an easy example, video game weapons. Developers who make shooters spend a lot of time making sure that a weapon "feels" a certain way when it's fired. Everything about the weapon, the weapon animation, the amount of recoil it has, the sound, the damage, the way the controller vibrates when the weapon is fired, everything is tweaked over and over until the developer thinks that the gun feels the way it looks like it "should" feel.

Now having shot many firearms in the past I can tell you that shooting a gun in a game does not feel anything like shooting a gun in real life, and guns in games don't sound anything like guns in real life (for the sake of your eardrums).

Despite that different games' guns definitely have certain indescribable characteristics that make them feel good to use, and that's what we talk about when we say that the game feels immersive to play.

When the gun kills enemies at what you think is the proper distance, with the proper amount of shots, and it sounds like you expect it to sound, and moves on the screen like you expect it to move it feels immersive, even though it's nothing like real life.

Hmm. That definition makes a little more sense, although as I understood it that's called "game feel." Meh.

That's not the only component of immersion, just the easiest to explain.

 

[Zhukov]

I don't know if there's just something wrong with my head, but I don't think I've felt "immersed" in a game, to the point where I magically forget it is, in fact, a game and I am, in fact, a pudgy twenty-something staring at a computer screen.

Nobody does. That's not what immersion means.

Although I can forgive your confusion given that the term has become an overused buzzword.

 

[sXeth]

Have you heard of the concept of suspension of disbelief? Immersion is basically that.

Eh, I disagree there. Suspension of disbelief is more, like, how much ridiculousness that can be allowed according in the story's rules. Harry turning Ron into a rat is impossible, but it's believable in the story because the story has established that wizards can turn people into animals. Harry revealing himself to have been a purple unicorn in an outfit all along is unbelievable, because there's nothing to suggest that was probable or even possible.

Immersion, at least from what I understand based on how people talk about it, seems to be less about how the story makes sense according to it's own rules and more about making the player feel like everything's actually happening. I think probably the biggest demonstration of the difference between the two is that suspension of disbelief is brought up in regards to almost all media, but I hardly see anyone talk about their immersion outside of gaming.

Its a similar concept. If the interface with the story results in oddities that don't make logical sense with the characters interaction with the world, it results in a break in the immersion.

This could be basic things like your ability to hear things behind you or level of peripheral vision. Or things not casting shadows. These are limitations of the interface that affect immersion because they result in your character having reduced perception that is not part of the character themselves. Another example would be in 2d side-scrollers, when there's multiple layers, the character should be able to see that there's a treasure chest to one side of a wall, but the forced perspective means the player can't.

The other usual set is the character having inexplicable abilities or levels of competency. While often done to streamline a game (to take the positive approach on the topic), it creates a break with the characterization when a random guy inexplicably has competency with weapons use/tactics/high end athelticism/medical training/technology/etc that's never explained in universe. Or the very common trait of the character having some sort of natural GPS and compass (in modern games, explained by technology, but in Skyrim for instance, just kind of odd)

 

[Casual Shinji]

Immersion is simply good gameplay, good visual/character/sound design, good pacing, good physics etc.

That's really it. It's not some magical mindset that lifts you up to a higher plain of existence. It's just you enjoying the game.

 

[Bilious Green_v1legacy]

From my observation of internet discussions, immersion seems to be a word that means "caters to my personal gaming preferences". So when people say X is more immersive than Y, what they really mean is they like X more than Y, and therefore X is inherently better than Y, and everyone else should agree that X is better than Y, and if you don't you're wrong. Basically, it's a meaningless buzzword. It's only real use is as marker for when people are talking bullshit.