How immersive can you get? How immersive have you gotten?

This is something that came up with a conversation with a friend over our thoughts on some specific alts we have. Bear with me, I’m probably gonna start sounding really weird really fast. =^-^=

I have quite a few alts, most people know this. In general, they’re for crash recovery in events and quiet time when I just want to watch the pixel grass grow. But, I did something different lately. (^_^)

It started with the availability of the Gearz surname. I know a few clockwork doll AVs that were created with the Gears and Gearz surnames and figured I’d join the bandwagon a bit. I worked my way through the name sites and Glass Gearz was born. At first, she was a bit of an art project. I did a major edit of Eloh’s new skin templates and ran a shopping trip to find the whitest of white hair and clothing. I’ve been meaning to make scripted doll keys for a while, so I took the opportunity and used her as the crash-test-dummy of my ideas on how the key would operate. In the end, the scripts were a success and my keys have worked out to be pretty good sellers. (^_^)

After all that, I decided to turn Glass into a character. I spent a week or so writing her back story and put together a personal rules list of how she should behave and interact with people. I’ve introduced her to my friends as a creation of mine. And, she interacts publically consistent with the story I’ve given her regarding her past and present. She’s typically in Caledon sims and carries a pepperbox while waiting for a mysterious something or someone that she believes is also trying to find her. To complicate things, I made her antithesis, another clockwork doll with nearly an identical appearance that may appear after she leaves spouting off with general frustration that she knows “the white one” has been around.

Okay.. Enough of that detail... You can see I’ve put a lot of effort into the characterization of Glass as an RP figure for me to spend my non-Immy time in. But, here’s the thing...

She’s taken on a life of her own... (O.o)

I know I’m the one behind the keyboard, but, I’ve found myself observing her as though I’m truly a 3rd person. Actions she does, statements she makes, directions she goes... These things sometimes baffle me. She has an odd gift of frightening people. She’s very bright white, from head to toe, but has been able to appear in a crowd unnoticed for up to a half hour at a time. I have had people genuinely startled by her ‘appearance’ in a crowd. Such things wind up startling and frightening me as well. It’s just bloody odd. (O.o)

I’ve found myself watching her do something bizarre or silly, laughing at it, and wondering what’s going on in her head... Only to realize later that it was me controlling the actions. It’s like operating in a zone. Like actors and actresses that take on a character after the makeup goes on. It fascinates me. (^_^)

Really, spending time inworld as Glass feels much like an observational role on my part. She really has taken on a life and personality of her own. There are times when she surprises me, makes me laugh, frightens me, and it’s all amazingly amusing. I’m not the only one too. She has kept people fascinated for hours on end telling her story or conversing about her situation as a windup clockwork. On my own part, I’ve become a mere accessory to her presence inworld. There have been many times when on with her that the fourth wall stays intact and I get a feel of immersion like I’ve never experienced before. (^_^)

Now... How about you? In your main account or using an alt. In RP or general day to day. How immersive can you get? How immersive have you gotten? Have you ever had a head-spinning experience where you feel the need to step back a bit and tell yourself “I’m here, not there.”? Have you ever RP’d to the point of discomfort? Fear? Confusion? Have you ever had a moment where the suspension of disbelief has been so intense that you needed a glass of ice water tossed at you to bounce back to reality? And... Out of all this... Was it good? =^-^=

I get immersed like that in reading books.. so I kinda know what you are feeling. But I've never RP'd before so cannot imagine getting immersed like that in SL.

Perhaps Glass will show up to talk about how she sometimes feels like she's not in control of her own actions?

I've had characters with rich backstories that have taken on a life of their own. Argent, for example... though I haven't tried to bring Argent fully into SL because SL isn't technically capable of rendering him/them adequately.

In a previous virtual reality, I had to build quite a large habitat to give Charles Rennie Mackintosh (not a Scottish architect, but a free-fall-adapted otter born on a comet in the outer Solar System) a place to live, and for quite a while I found myself in the midst of unfinished chapters from the story of his life. I haven't been able to bring him into SL either, not properly, though he's not nearly as much of a challenge as Argent.

For me the 3d nature of SL makes it harder to really be immersive. I can write "Argent sends a couple of themself over to investigate Glass. The smaller member of the pack sits down at a safe distance while her big brother stretches up to paw at the key on her back." but I can't show that happening in 3d... nor can I ignore the 3d environment completely.

So I have to fall back on a simpler Argent, a hologram manipulated by the pack who still lives in the textspace of SPR.

I hope she does, I'd love to meet her, maybe need to pay a visit to Caledon. She sounds fascinating, I was immersed just reading about her.

I used to be a lot more immersed than I am now, when the majority of in-world dialog I get is people attacking the real me.

I have never RP'ed and imagine the degree of concentration to create and enact a backstory must be amazing! I too have several alts but really only three ever participate in anything. Hera has her own life and is Damien's partner and pet but she is me and i am she - just a different me. Sort of going to a ball and acting one way and going to a BBQ and acting another- still you - but with different social constraints. And Amara is sort of keyboard me-plus. And Noir is just me with different clothes

Nehehe... Careful though.... She can be pretty frustrating to deal with. She's surely not the product of a sane mind and often bows to the whims of voices whispered in the wind. =^-^=

Everyone should totally immerse and/or roleplay....at least once....opportunity for discovery there....don't miss it.



My friends that know of my alts will sometimes ask how they are doing, as if they are a third person....which they are. When I speak of them I refer to them by their name or "she"....they are not me....they are characters. Some times I don't like them, even.....some times I laugh at them and wonder what is going on in their head, like you do. It's bizarre.

One had quite a story line going for months....it involved her husband...his secretary....a personal assistant....their interior decorator...an auto mechanic....the pool boy....the plumber....the auto mechanic's girlfriend....some neighbors....and a bunch of other people we picked up along the way....most scenes took place in her home....kind of similar to a desperate housewives theme.

The people who started out were my friends...none of them knew each other...but over a few weeks they all became close friends. Even the guys became friends and would talk to each other....which is hard to get guys to do here.

Most of it was just pure comedy....some of it was really intense. It was a blast...most fun I've ever had in SL. Everyone stayed in character at all times. It went on for several months....and we kept adding people to it. Everyone had their separate story lines going on, too. People couldn't wait to log in and see what was up for the day....always something going on.

The more involved it got....the more time required...it was like living a 3rd life....so it kind of fizzled out because everyone had to get back to RL....but everyone still misses it, and often ask if we can start it up again.

I highly recommend it. It was much better than going to a role-play sim...and much better than watching TV.

I signed up for the RL beta recently. I'll let you know how I get on.

Rock

They're a pain, they only let qualified architects build.

I'm always 'me' but in the course of knowing thousands of people and helping them with estate stuff (or RL paypal issues or whatever) I have come across some rather unique people.

For instance, roleplayers that, as far as I can tell, have no "me" character but have a few, or several radically different characters. All played brilliantly. You would *never* know unless told.

I suspect the satisfaction gained that way is one of the most selfless: creating spectacular fun and entertaining scenarios for others. If there's any common thread I've noticed, generally such folk tend to stay clear of truly dark themes and relationships.

Odd, I build in RL all the time without having any kind of certification. I wish prims were cheaper, though.

I am the author of all my alts, but thier stories are thier own.

I can get very immeresed and love when that happens. I use my alts to express and explore different aspects of myself. It is strange but just by using a particular account I can change the way I percieve and feel about things. Some of the charastics that change are: how outgoing I am, how fierce, how protective, how emotional. I kind of pick and choose what account I might want to use depending on what I want to explore, who I want to be.

Do any of them do classes?

I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.

~ Michelangelo

Oh ya, Marianne can take on a life of her own at time. Been a bit harder to do that since mid 2007, though, with all the kerfluffle over kid avvies, then the stuff with my inworld family going south, but definitely. Not discomfort or fear -- or at least none that can't be settled by clicking command-Q and enjoying First Life.

Damn, and they won't let you fly around either, something about a license. And then there was that busybody who took offense at me just because I was roasting a naked girl on a spit over a fire, and in the privacy of my own home too!

Nah, back to SL for me.

Rock

None that I know of. But I would say this: just watch, and see what people do. Some of it is quite remarkable

It's not a skill I have; these are clearly highly intelligent, and highly emotionally intelligent people who can fill roles and respond with an ease and naturality that is rare. Except for perhaps if they were professional actors and actresses, maybe?

Oh.

It's a skill you can learn. You have to start by turning off the little voice that says "I can't do this".

The thing that stops me, personally, is the fact that I'm in a business relationship with a zillion people on my estate.

There's normally some level of 'smack talk' against a region owner no matter how good he or she is, which is quite honestly natural and often just in good humour. But it might be icky if I was running around playing a character in my own back yard and 'spying' no matter how inadvertent it might be.

Better to just not know about it except on an intellectual level. Other themes don't really 'do it' for me and comparably themed estates are still full of people I know... not like I really got time anyway, which is sad.

No, I suppose you don't want to immerse yourself in your own backyard... but perhaps there's other people reading this who might want to throw on an alt and see what they can do.

Sometimes long-time Deadwood players give classes, though they're usually kind of Old West-specific I think. Probably some other groups have similar events.

Like a lot of fun stuff, the hardest part is to not be scared, just jump on in!