I recently read an essay by Ragnhild Tronstad called “Character Identification in World of Warcraft” and she wrote about how players can feel like they are present in the game when they know the game controls and their character’s skills so well that they become unconscious to their use of the mouse and the keyboard.
She also talked about the feeling of identifying with your character because of the story being lived out through him. I think this can happen through the game’s story and through our memories that we make with other players.
Personally, I don’t identify with the in-game story so much, but I find that I feel most immersed when I the gameplay becomes second-nature and I get to play with friends from real life or from a guild, especially in a PvP setting.
I’m curious to know if anyone else feels this way too. Does this match your experience while playing Classic?
I was thinking that Classic might be better than Retail in this regard since players can’t as easily ignore each other. What do you think?
Edit: It won’t let me link the amazon pages, but Tronstad’s essay is featured as one of the chapters in the book Digital Culture, Play, and Identity. There are a lot of other psychological studies on the mmos that are very interesting. Another one I’ve found interesting is called Virtually Sacred by Robert M. Geraci, who discusses how WoW can function as a religious experience for many players. If you start following the footnotes and looking up who has referenced them on Google Scholar, there is a pretty large rabbit hole to explore.
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I dont really relate with my character unless theres a tense situation, or pvp.
My heart rate speeds up and my chest gets heavy very suddenly when I get attacked out of nowhere, or I manage to somehow outlive my attacker.
I feel like it’s the same emotion I might feel if I were truly in that situation, but outside of that I don’t really identify personally with my big 8ft tall Tauren toon
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I just really love orc shaman ever since WC3. Farseer was my second favorite hero class behind brewmaster
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I used to be like that with my Shaman from Vanilla through Cata but haven’t felt that way with any character since.
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That feeling of identification is why I keep playing my druid main, despite not always enjoying druid class mechanics.
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Yeah man druids of the claw in WC3 made bears very appealing in wow
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That’s interesting, because Tronstad calls this kind of experience “flow” and she says that it happens most often in moments of intensity. I wonder the immediate need to act automatically pushes the awareness of controls out of our consciousness for a moment.
I don’t, that’s the whole point of playing a 7 foot tall purple elf with boobs.
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I would actually be interested in reading this study that you’re referencing. Is there a link you could paste?
I’d be very intrigued to learn about the psychology induced when exposing yourself to roleplaying games. I imagine a system like WoW would help some people quite a bit with self expression issues.
In a world where you can be anything, be who you want to be. WoW gives me that feeling. I wonder if other people feel it more strongly than I do
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I’m curious. Do you have any ideas as to why you haven’t felt that way since Cata?
I truly feel as if I’m a cow that’s a bear when I play
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I like it. I feel like a blueberry with a tail that can wield the power of the elements! In all honesty though, I think there are probably different levels of identification. While I may not feel like I am physically a fantastical creature, I do feel like the fact that I play a Draenei Shaman or my Night Elf Shadow Priest really does feel like part of who I am as a player. In that sense, I am not subsumed into my character’s identity, but my character is subsumed into my identity. Would you all agree with that, or do you see it differently?
Druid on Druid crime is a real issue that Druid Lives Matter always ignores. I was told that if I vote for Thrall last election it’ll turn me into a paladin. These are truly confusing times for us druids.
There’s druids killing druids in moonglade. smh
Well I quit playing in MoP and missed all of WoD and Legion. I tried BFA for a couple of months but didn’t like it. Maybe I’ll get that way on this warlock but I doubt it.
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I used to get the sensation in my stomach of falling when id jump off the org flight master tower.
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When I was playing regularly, I became this shaman.
That’s the story media always ignores.
I work out and train a lot IRL. I guess I’ve always thought of myself as a modern day warrior, so I made it even easier on myself to get into character by making this human warrior.
We both have amazing beards.