RP and how if AFFECTS OUR LIVES

[Lady Crankenstein]

I would like to suggest and introduce some terms that we may all benefit from.. unless this has already been done.

1.   Immersion Emotion - this is what all stories can do for us... movies, plays, books, ... all allow us to experience events and emotions of characters... we can cry at the pain and sorrow, we can laugh at the joy, we can feel the love and passion, ache for revenge, and know the fear... and so much more.   These are things we need and love in our lives.  For me, I keep certain movie moments alive in my mind as if they were part of my life...  jokes from Young Frankenstein, for instance.

2. Spill Over - When the IE ( immersion emotion ) lingers into the next day or so... i call that spill over... several times I wake up for work and still have something from a movie or even a RL event still in my emotions, and it carries over into my next day. Motivational speeches, Sermons, Political Rallies and such depend on this.

3. Spread - When spill over becomes more long lasting than usual , and affects the underlying emotions that we have during non-related events.    Do the underlying emotions happen during work?  ... times with family?  ... sitting in traffic ?

4. Saturation - This relates to the degree of all the above. Do we think of our lives In Game even when we are tying to live  Real Life instead?  Do we have much of life that is not In Game?

  I would love to share discussoins on this... being new to it, I am learning... for me.. I have experienced Spill Over, that has Spread into my work days... at one time with heart ache and other times with loving joy.... wow.
  ... a few times I even hit Saturation levels of IE
   OK, I have way too much respnsibility to let that get too far out of control.. but I would appreciate others sharing their experiences, so perhaps , we all can benefit and keep healthy as we enjoy this wonderful  and involving form of entertainment.

 La Crank

[Sarras Volcae]

i have to say that maybe spillover isn't so good. because there are some things that could bother people IRL. like, a lot, to the point they can't roleplay anymore.

don't know. that sounds ridiculous.

[Wavan Levironk]

The key word in your post is game.

This is a game, it's not real. Every emotion ends when the immersion does. If it makes its way to your real life, it's time to quit.

[Dannae]

This "game" is part of real life. We are real living players aren't we? Of course it can and will effect our emotions as will any kind of game worth playing. If you're playing a sport and you or your team wins, doesn't the elation and feeling of achievement continue after the game is over? Why should it be any different for a computer game? I see nothing wrong with developing friendships and real feelings for players we share our time with here in PS. Ultimately, doesn't that make this particular game even more worthwhile? I sure as hell think about some of the occurrences from particularly immersive RPs long after I've shut off my computer, and many that put a smile on my face every time they come to mind. As long as a player is able to keep the distinction between IC and OOC emotions clear, it only adds to the enjoyment.

This quote speaks for itself:

I did realise there were much better things to find of course
My RL behavior is nowhere near to the things Chessire does; i can safely say now PS changed me in RL by having me see things i could potentially be or do. The fact i'm able to play out something means i could BE that after all. And the fact anything can happen and be just a lie makes RPers feel safe. You may play afraid or play angry or hurt but as long as the person behind the char sees things clearly there is no danger because nothing is real. Here, you may even die.
And then i found out it is also possible to feel things for real through your character... you helped me too with that, Dannae. I admit it was hard for me to keep track of what's IC and what's OOC at that point.

What can I say Chess... that is without a doubt one of the best compliments I could ever imagine and really made my day!

[Sangwa]

It affects my life by being so capable of entertaining me that it makes me stay 3, 4 hours at it in a row while I should be doing productive stuff of other nature. Besides that, it doesn't have much of a lingering effect, besides the fun part of imagining what I'll do next, or what happened. It can be a good distraction between trips. If Gartheiz "spilled over" me, I'd be dead and gone.

[Aramara Meibi]

spillover is unavoidable. character immersion builds empathy in the player. I like Dannae's quote from Chessire, through this game we get to test out different aspects of our personality no matter how big or how small. Our characters dwell within us, they are our creations. This game has totally changed my approach to RL. Aramara and Icerra are both idealized versions of myself. The things that I admire about their character I admire about my own.

I spend much of my time not playing the game thinking about the game. I don't like to use the word game, but our lexicon lacks the proper word. Maybe someday I will find it.

[Phantomboy86]

I find spillover is avoidable, but you need to take an extremely detached view of the whole thing, something most people just simply cannot do (I can't either though I try.) Though having a character less like yourself helps with this, because any insults or events happening to them feel like less of an attack upon yourself. Trav isnt as like myself as some might think (though i don't like enki's either, nor do I have a general nice disposition) So it isnt as much a feeling of things happening to 'myself' 

[Lady Crankenstein]

I hardly care about anything on Television or even movies anymore....ya just sit and stare like a zombie at a screen...  passive
    THIS on the other hand... is a BLAST.   It reminds me of when we were children and would play pretend games... which were totaly harmless ...  until my big brother thought he was and indian and tied me to a tree. Mom whipped him for that.
   All the boys in my first neighborhood that I can remember loved to play "WAR"... they started off with toy guns... then went to "Cap Guns", which actually made a bang from a roll of paper with little blobs of something that popped like a tiny firecracker.... and later... they started using starter pistols used in sports, which used "blanks", then, my brother actually cut the shot out of real shot gun shells and used the cap and powder, in a real gun,  to "Shoot" the other kids in the area... and they "shot" back.
   OK , that was what kids did back then...
    I think this is a WHOLE lot better.

[Aramara Meibi]

aah, the endless hours spent in my room with all my he-man and ninja turtles mounted on my little ponies fighting each other in huge, epic, Tolkien sized battles. Or sending legomen on personal Odysseys up staggering mountains (stairs) to the land of the Gods (the second floor) or into dense jungles (potted plants, or god forbid outside).

that's a little off topic, but the point is, these stories are intrinsic within us. they emerge from us and thus are part of ourselves. what affects our characters should affect us. the danger zone, I think, is when a player confuses their character's emotions for another character (be they good or bad) for their emotions toward another player.

i think if we all play with the proper respect for other players, and the knowledge that all we want is a good story, we should be fine.

[gnomebuddy]

I don't think I would say that Role Playing really affects my Real Life i any way, I mean its just a game, sure going to work is awesome, and raising these kids forces one into a deep immersion which sure helps pass the day, but in the end I  just turn it off , and go hunt some Ulbers

[Sangwa]

I don't think I would say that Role Playing really affects my Real Life i any way, I mean its just a game, sure going to work is awesome, and raising these kids forces one into a deep immersion which sure helps pass the day, but in the end I  just turn it off , and go hunt some Ulbers

Haha, lovely!

Aramara, I think it also depends of the characters / time you've been playing. At a certain time this "influence IRL" becomes sort of stable and stops happening in a visible way.
I don't think it's the character that "spills over" either, rather that some learning takes place in the player through the interaction his character has with other characters and the settings. I learned a lot with Sangwa (my first character), not so much with Gartheiz and Morwen.

[miomo]

Here's my term to add to the list:

Cognitive dissonance - The difference between what your character knows, and feels, and how he/she acts versus what you as a player know and feel and how you act in real life.

For me cognitive dissonance poses probably my biggest challenge in keeping my role play consistent and to a high standard that I demand of myself.

For example I knew that there was no GM available to allow Miomo to visit Miomai in jail, so I didn't even bother role playing Miomo's attempt to visit.

[Sangwa]

Here's my term to add to the list:

Cognitive dissonance - The difference between what your character knows, and feels, and how he/she acts versus what you as a player know and feel and how you act in real life.

For me cognitive dissonance poses probably my biggest challenge in keeping my role play consistent and to a high standard that I demand of myself.

For example I knew that there was no GM available to allow Miomo to visit Miomai in jail, so I didn't even bother role playing Miomo's attempt to visit.

That is generally the biggest obstacle for every RPer. Or at least it's the most permanent one. When roleplaying reactions, specially when it's done in a quick fashion, sometimes you end up tapping into your own person, or into the character you roleplay the most (i.e. what you're used to do.) These aren't usually too relevant though and they add a certain randomness that's necessary for anything to feel genuine (even if it blurs the lines between your characters.)

As far as your example... Considering both characters are yours, I can't see why you would bother the GM's in the first place. Morwen and Gartheiz are on the same account (since I'm old fashioned and as such have only one), so everything that happens between them happens automatically. It may allow for less interaction in their relation, but the fluidity I earn from it certainly pays off.

[Catlemur]

I am not a total addict so it is not affecting my life.Seriously you guys\girls must spend more time in real life.

[Sangwa]

What's so good about real life anyway? You do it.