For the first project, I plan to use the “Play and the Player” prompt to explore the player’s relationship to both their character and to the game world in assorted RPG’s. In particular, I wish to examine how through the creation of an immersive game-world and play system a game temporarily creates a new identity for the player that subsumes the player’s real world identity for the duration of play. The game’s through which I plan on exploring this are open-world rpg’s like Skyrim and the Fallout series, and more narrow rpgs like Dragon Age. A quick search uncovered a wealth of information on Skyrim, with articles like “Unbroken Immersion: The Skyrim Experience” (Simkins, David, Seann Dikkers, and Elizabeth Owen. “Unbroken Immersion: The Skyrim Experience.” Well Played–Vol. 2, No.: 13.) being ubiquitous.
