Guía de Darius - League of Legends

RUNES:

Greater Mark of Strength * 9
Greater Seal of Resilience * 9
Greater Glyph of Warding * 9
Greater Quintessence of Swiftness * 3



SUMMONER SPELLS:

 

MASTERIES:

SKILL ORDER:

ITEMS:

 

 

  ooo 

CORE:

  

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Face Your Fears and Enjoy Yourself

          What makes horror games scary? What draws people toward the horror genre in any medium? What motivates a gamer to dive into an imaginary realm full of nightmarish creatures and fight their way out? These were the types of questions Jacky Tideman and I (Cody Lenox) thought about while approaching this final project. These questions have broad answers that incorporate many aspects of games, including the rules of the game that limit the amount of control the gamer has on the events occurring in the game, the imaginary world of horror games typically full of monsters and bloody corpses, and even the slowly moving narrative unveiling secrets and horrific past events. All of these elements combined create not just a game, but an experience: one must feel some sense of attachment to a protagonist, complete the objectives presented through the narrative using the rules of the game, defeat bizarre, grotesque enemies in a grim, uncomfortable setting, and gain knowledge and skill to progress to the end of the game where some resolution to all of the bad shit going on hopefully occurs. Many thrill-seeking humans search for that adrenaline rush of an enemy approaching at a rapid pace (or an eerily slow, zombie speed) and immediately reacting with the fight response, or having to hide from an enemy and blowing it up as it walks away. The satisfaction of destroying villainous creatures and saving a child or humanity itself is comparable to, if not more than, the satisfaction of completing a game reviewers call “the scariest game of the year!!” The thought, “I took on this scary freaking game and fought my way through fear and foe” is undoubtedly a rewarding one.

Haunting still from Silent Hill: Homecoming

          To truly understand the fear horror games create, one must turn to the specifics of individual games. Games focused on here are specifically of the subgenre of horror games known as survival horror games: Silent Hill, Amnesia, and F.E.A.R., among other series. In the article “Restless Dreams in Silent Hill: Approaches to Video Game Analysis,” Ewan Kirkland defines survival horror games as “action adventure games employing a third person perspective, and drawing on horror film iconography, in which a typically average character navigates a mazelike landscape, solving puzzles and fighting off monsters with limited ammunition, energy, and means of replenishing it” (172).  The Silent Hill games as well fit this definition perfectly, as do the Resident Evil games where the term “survival horror game” was coined. Amnesia and F.E.A.R., however, employ a first person perspective, and in Amnesia fighting with the monsters is not so much an option as is hide, while F.E.A.R. employs an abundance of first-person shooter gaming tactics to battle freaky crawling experimental creatures and enemy combat forces. At any rate, all of these games progress with the completion of small tasks or objectives in a multi-layered mazelike atmosphere full of enemies (e.g. monsters, enemy soldiers, demented human-like creatures) and bizarre, unsettling images (e.g. burning corpses, walls made of flesh, pools and trails of blood). While the plot of each game or series of games is unique, the expectations of a gamer playing a survival horror game span this whole genre of games because the repertoire of a gamer familiar with the survival horror game genre knows the general aspects of the games well enough to come to expect them.

Creepy enemy from F.E.A.R. 2

          These expectations of horror survival games are due to the constant returning to the same methods of frightening the gamer and typical progressive structure of the games with some slight emergent qualities. The broad horror genre of media including horror movies and novels typically has the same type of structure. For example, movies about a group of teenagers going on a trip typically end up with an enemy picking off the group one by one, with the characters who survive the longest being the main characters of interest throughout the film. This type of pattern, among other stereotypical horror plots, adds to the repertoire of the gamer playing a survival horror game. Nielsen, Smith, and Tosca assert in Understanding Video Games that a survival horror gamer’s repertoire includes “kill all monsters, pick up all objects because they might help solve puzzles, there is a boss or monster that is especially difficult to kill at the end of each level or area, ” (185) among other tasks and plot variations. Specific to the survival horror genre of game, other expectations of the gamer are created from past knowledge of horror storytelling. One of multiple defining elements in the repertoire of horror is gore. Slaughtered people and creatures, decapitated torsos with head nearby, freshly bloodied and rolling away come to be expected and treasured for their grotesque quality within horror movies, and especially in horror games, when these actions are many times controlled by the gamer.

Disturbing surroundings in Amnesia

           Control plays a large part in the levels of fear a game can provoke. While horror movies leave all of the control up to the directors, writers, and producers, and horror novels give control to the author to start and complete the narrative, games must give over some control to the player in order to achieve a level of interactivity that makes the player more engaged and invested in the experience than would a film or a novel. In Restless Dreams, Kirkland references Krzywinska, another video game theorist, who “relates the masochistic appeal of traditional horror genre pleasures of helplessness and loss of control, to tensions between structure and interactivity within horror video games. While horror film spectators are almost entirely subjected to the pre-determination of the cinematic text, horror video gamers, Krzywinska argues, through periods of protracted interaction, experience more intensely the loss of control when interactivity is suspended, often through intrusive violent or threatening cut-scenes” (172). This suspension of interactivity through cut-scenes or forced button mashing causes the gamer’s anxiety to rise, feeling like control being taken from them could result in immediate death. While this typically does not happen, yanking the little control given to the gamer away from them causes an immediate, negative reaction, even if the cut-scene is not all that terrifying or the actions that must be taken are oversimplified. In F.E.A.R. 2, Becket ends up in a tiny, tube-like chamber with two characters talking to him and the player playing as Becket, and all motion capabilities cease to work, except moving the camera around. The player must watch as tentacles incinerate the flesh off of soldiers nearby, and hallucinations take hold of Becket’s mind, and nothing can be done until the scene is over. This idea of loss of control coincides with the idea of general arousal theory discussed in Understanding Video Games: “video games will increase the player’s arousal level and thus increase his energy and the intensity of his actions. The increased arousal will not necessarily lead to different player actions, but more likely a heightened intensity in these actions” (228). 

Video of Reactions of Player Playing Amnesia

From real-life experience, this theory holds true, for Jacky and I both react quite intensely when surprising or daunting obstacles occur within a game. Our breathing quickens, our palms sweat, one or both of us may let out a shout, or a girlish scream. Many times, our reactions are so intense, we have to pause the game, giving us a moment to lower our blood pressure and react to the events in the game with a clearer, less frantic mind. Personally, for us, this feeling of arousal and excitement that comes with emerging oneself in a horror video game is a major factor in the desire to continually play these often unoriginal, lackluster games. However, many other factors contribute to building fear and keeping the gamer on the edge of their seat.

          The narrative of the game, or the storyline/plot, helps to engage the gamer and dish out tidbits of frightening information. In F.E.A.R. 2, the plot is moved forward by commands from the fellow active soldiers completing unseen tasks apart from the character (Becket) whose eyes the gamer sees through, as well as intel items picked up off the floor, shelves, and countertops throughout the game that inform Becket and the gamer about events, revealing secrets about the operation Becket belongs to and what events transpired that has led Becket and his surroundings to their current state. These little pieces of information seem normal and militarized at first, but as the game progresses, get more and more sinister, experiments performed on children while unconscious, and the children’s response to the events despite not having any true memory of them. The telekinetic abilities implanted in the soldiers allows for the psychic hallucinations Becket experiences, creating terror in him as well as in the gamer, unable to control when reality is replaced with Alma’s (the vengeful, seemingly all-powerful enemy of the game) projected hallucinations. 

Reading an intel item in F.E.A.R. 2

As in this game, other games with plots heavy with gaps and uncertainties leave the gamer with a sense of dreadful uneasiness. Survival horror games love messing with the psyche of the main character and the gamer, oftentimes starting a game out with the character in a room with no idea how or why he/she is there, just as the gamer is uncertain about what got the character there. This interactivity the gamer has with the plot of the game makes the narrative aspect of survival horror games important, albeit difficult to analyze. Narrative helps instill fear in gamers, but would not be able to do so without the limiting rules of each game.

A memo discussing a lobotomy; not completely readable

          Rules play a significant part in adding to the fear a gamer feels while playing a horror game. When playing Silent Hill, if one could just curl up in a ball and wait for the lights to come on and the nightmare of Silent Hill after the sirens to disappear, or run through a wall instead of fight a hoard of zombie nurses without faces, the game would not offer significant challenges that motivate the player to continue on in the horrifying journey. Juul discusses many definitions of rules by other gaming theorists, but clarifies his definition of rules with parameters: “Rules limit player action. . . [yet] also set up potential actions that are meaningful inside the game. . . Rules specify limitations and affordances. . . [and] rules give games structure” (58). While this is certainly not the only definition of rules, it is a respectable one. It is applicable to almost all survival horror games. In Silent Hill: Homecoming, the only rules are that the player can walk around, attempt to open doors, fiend off enemies with a combat knife (in the early stages), and read pamphlets, memos, maps. These limiting rules keep the player from making the character jump and run, but require the player to make him try to go into every room, reading every piece of paper possible, and finding information that will further the player into the game. While many rules in games are frustrating, Juul also discusses Sid Meier’s assertions of “interesting choices” which Juul calls enjoyable rules which force the player to make a choice, and make it unclear whether one single option is better than another choice, even though the choices should not be equally good, but the player should be able to make a somewhat informed choice (92). An example of this would be the rule in F.E.A.R. 2 that allow Becket to carry only four guns even though there are seven or more types of guns. The player must choose what type of arsenal to haul around, depending on the effectiveness of the weapon or the shooting time or the amount of ammo available. This type of decision fits all of the criteria for an “interesting choice” or “enjoyable rule.” Another example is in Amnesia, where light attracts the monsters toward you, but staying in the dark depletes the character’s sanity, as does staring at the enemy too long. As an example of an “interesting choice,” it fits, for each one has equally negative side effects: draw the monsters to you or deplete your sanity. In both of these games, these choices affect the gameplay and the player’s interaction with the game world, and add to the overwhelming anxiety caused by survival horror games that something is going to go horribly wrong at any moment.

          Finally, and possibly the most terrifying aspects of survival horror games, is the world of the game. Every survival horror game we have played does not let us down in this regard: the images seen as the player guides his or her character through the game are disturbing and stick with the player. Possibly because we are relatively inexperienced playing survival horror games, when we first started playing F.E.A.R. 2, both Jacky and I were taken aback by the sheer gore and unpleasantness awaiting us in every room, around every corner. Heaps of dead bodies with organs trailing and pools of blood made us cringe at first, the environment making us physically uncomfortable. We soon learned this is a staple for games of this nature. Nothing is scarier than walking into a dark room with one fluorescent bulb flickering, showing glimpses of a contorted corpse lying in the corner, mouth wide open or cryptic messages written in blood on the walls. Silent Hill preys on these fears as well, with empty, caged rooms in a hospital full of rusty equipment, bloody everything, corpses in body bags strewn about, and bodies cut in half, one half in an operating room, the other up a flight of stairs, one hand clutched around a key you must find to progress. Grotesque images left and right, horror games fill every nook and cranny with perverse images, creepy writing, and disturbing artifacts. The world of Amnesia looks like a cabin in the olden days, calling to mind areas haunted by civil war soldiers or the angry, bloodthirsty ghosts of slaves. Any horror game is less frightening when the surroundings are totally normal, the only abnormalities being the creatures. Attention to detail adds the seriously important creepy-ass ambiance needed for the full, fearful effect of a truly horrifying horror game.

Frightening images in the world of F.E.A.R. 2

          What keeps the gamer playing through these unsettling worlds full of terrifying obstacles? The constant supply of motivation. The continuous minute additions to narrative, the imminent vanquishing of fearful foes, the anticipation of the next room, the next surprise, and the next horrifying sight, as well as the satisfaction gained from the completion of each objective to the completion of each interval of the game, an abundant amount of aspects must be utilized to keep the player motivated, engaged, and interested in the game. Horror games are especially good at giving the gamer a sense of relief, watching the twisted, horrible creatures of the game suffer by the hands of the character as the creature surely inflicted pain and suffering onto other, innocent beings. Another element that keeps gamers hooked to survival horror games is the feeling of piecing together the plot themselves, not spoon-fed a story in cut scenes that the gamer would do anything to skip over. Giving the story up piece by piece in optional pieces of intel or memos keeps the gamer wondering throughout the game, “Why am I here? Am I ever going to get out of this hell hole? WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!?” and increases the hope for resolution. Every person wants a story to have an end, be it good where everyone makes it out of danger happy and alive, or the character dies or realizes the whole mess of events was in their head. When a story concludes, the gamer experiences catharsis, a release of all the anxiety and intensity created from playing through the game. Any resolution must be worked toward, and that final resolution will keep the gamer going until whatever horrible events conclude and the character he or she has grown attached to meets their fate and the credits roll.

          Horror games must be deeply analyzed to figure out what makes them creepy and what keeps the gamer coming back for more uncomfortable gaming sessions. Key contributing factors are starting the game unknown and to uncover the grim plot piece by scary piece, like in F.E.A.R. 2 or the Silent Hill Games, vanquishing disturbing monsters and other creepy-crawlies or zombies, like in Resident Evil or Silent Hill, the hype of experiencing a truly scary, masterpiece of a game like Amnesia, and the gruesome, frightening worlds of each of the games. Motivation to continue through these games involve attachment to the character, facing fears most likely unconquerable in real life, resolving whatever horrors are occurring within the game, and the intense feelings and increased intensity the gamer experiences when a loud grunting occurs from an unseen location or a demented creature leaps forward from behind a crate. Horror games are not for everyone, but they are for those who enjoy some creatively disturbing environments, heightened, intense reactions, and just love the feeling of being creeped the hell out.

Sources:

Egenfeldt Nielsen, Simon, Jonas Heide Smith, and Susana Pajares Tosca. Understanding Video Games: The Essential Introduction. New York: Routledge, 2008. Print.

Kirkland, Ewan. "Restless Dreams In Silent Hill: Approaches To Video Game Analysis." Journal Of Media Practice 6.3 (2005): 167-178. Art & Architecture Complete. Web. 23 May 2012.

Juul, Jesper. Half-real: Video Games between Real Rules and Fictional Worlds. Cambridge, MA: MIT, 2005. Print.

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Xenoblade Chronicles: Gamer’s Inside Analysis

The Xenosaga series gave the imagination of a story, with epic action and adventure with a feel of Japanese anime, into a different game that is equally large, if not larger, to the Xenosaga series on the PS2. Gamers that play Xenoblade Chronicles will think back to them playing Xenosaga, if they played any of them, and compare to Xenoblade Chronicles by amount of gameplay, the story, and the entire layout of the game itself.

The story starts on the creation of the world the characters live in, which are two giants, locked in battle, over a vast ocean and under an endless sky. The common denominator is the sea and the sky, because they exist in reality, but it’s clear 2 giants are fictional. One is called the Bionis, and the other is called the Mechonis. Then, all of a sudden, they are mysteriously frozen in time. So, “Eons” later, life and machines rise from these giant titans. It’s clear that the name Bionis has the prefix bio- which means life, and the prefix of Mechonis is Mech- meaning machine. With that being the case, life rises from the Bionis and machines rise from the Mechonis. Humans called Homs try to defend the Bionis, their home, from these evil machines from the Mechonis called Mechon. The Homs tried everything to stop the Mechon, but nothing was effective. However, there is only one weapon the Bionis used to fight the Mechonis that the Homs now have. It is a mystical blade called the Monado. Its power is said not only to easily cut Mechon, but to let its chosen wielder see into the future. Unfortunately, if someone else uses the Monado, its power will be so strong; it will control its wielder.

For cases of gamers or players willing to try the game, I will not reveal any of the characters or spoilers of the main story of the game. It’s meant to grab the attention of a gamer to have a curiosity and passion to be willing to play the game. Every gamer has a certain imagination and curiosity with different games they discover. In the Introduction chapter of Jesper Juul’s Half-Real book, he talks about how players find the rules with the perspective of being inside of a game to give the imagination of the player actually being a character inside a game. Players have their own unique imagination and personality to discover games with different set rules that sets a complete comfort zone for that specific player. For example, I like to play different RPGs that give lots of room to customize my play style with limited rules so it can feel like I’m inside the game. I sometimes like to play some action/adventure games that increases set rules to fit my play style without much customization.

This game fits my play style perfectly. It has a nice amount of gameplay that can give different styles of customization. First, characters can learn new arts to use in battle, along with using Art Points (AP) to increase the level of those arts. Characters accumulate AP by defeating enemies and completing quests. There are plenty of arts that a player can assign a character to help out with different battles. Along with Experience Points (EXP) and AP, characters also accumulate Skill Points (SP). SP is used with a current set skill tree for a character to gain active or passive skills when enough SP is accumulated. Passive skills are used constantly like an enhancement to the stats of that character. Active skills are activated when certain conditions are met. When a character levels up, an art can be learned, but they also get an affinity coin (AC). Characters use those to set skills attained by other characters to gain the benefit of the skill. For example, if another character’s skill requires 5 ACs to set it to your base character’s skill set, and you have 15 ACs, setting it will subtract 5, leaving you with 10 ACs left. However, to increase the amount and types of skills for one character to another, you need to increase the affinity, or bond, between those two characters. Affinity can be accumulated by starting and completing quests with the right characters in your party, or by supporting each other in battle by helping up a character from certain ailments and encouraging a discouraged character.

All of these elements will help progress further into the story, as well as the game itself. Some elements can be optional, such as side quests and item collecting, or collectopedia. Collectopedia is a section where you can put in items to make a library of collectables from different areas in the game. If a category in an area is completed, you get a useful item or piece of equipment. If an entire area is completed, then you receive a better item. Even an achievement system is in the game, because of its expansive gameplay.

It is also a game that presents tutorials as you progress into the game. If a certain point in the game comes when content unlocked or hints are necessary, a quick tutorial pops up to inform you and guide you through those points. There are not many games that give rules on gameplay, so players will be lost when they play a game with rules or tutorials to guide them.

Even though it’s licensed by Nintendo, Japan has its own version or import of the game, but the North American version still has variations of word pronunciations Japan used since they could not understand English words well. For example, instead of using “learned,” they used “learnt,” not “defense,” but “defence,” and not “armor,” but “armour.”

There was an early tragedy in the story, but worse was seeing the future of that

happening, but can’t do anything about it. That was disappointing to me, but going out

for revenge made me felt better. A small spoiler is not too bad, but I don’t want to

ruin the imagination of the game. For those that are not sure, watch the YouTube videos of the trailer and the opening to game. I hope you would enjoy this game as much as I do!


Here are the links to the trailer and the opening in the game.
US Trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7Xc6in86rs&ob=av3e

Game Opening (Title Intro)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pI_Wybd82V8

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Never Enough: A Look Inside Video Game Addiction

Video games. Kids tend to think they are amazing while parents generally disagree. The argument adults reach for first and foremost is that games “rot your brain“ or “turn you into a zombie“. This is completely an exaggeration, as we all know. This dispute’s prevalence has even died down in our culture in the past five years.

                                             Just one more level and I'm done, I swear.

Video games, if leaving any negative effect, might cause a sort of desensitization in gamers young and old. While I know that hardcore, lifelong gamers would beg to differ, I also have had many psychology classes and have completed research projects proving otherwise. Consistent stimulation through any medium, be it games or other sources, causes a person’s brain to constantly be primed or seeking the next thrill. When something comes along that doesn’t satiate that need or if the thrill isn’t satisfying, humans are wired to pass over it until they find something else that gives them the response they crave. I’m sure I’ll catch criticism for this, but this need for constant stimulation is similar to illicit drug use.

                                                      Which will Mom hate more?

Video games are fun, don’t get me wrong. I have dedicated tons of hours throughout my life to games. I’ve used them as an escape from reality, as a time killer, and just for their entertainment value because I enjoyed them. You know what else my previous statement regarding video games as an escape, time killer, and entertainer applies to? Drugs. Drug addicts worldwide have been using these reasons to explain and/or rationalize their drug use for years. Not to say that gamers are addicts, just to elucidate the similarities between the two.

On our second class meet, we discussed if it were possible to be addicted to video games. I believe it is. I also believe the percentage of people who are actually addicted to games is a very small number. Like a single-digit-percentage-for-the-entire-world’s-population small number. There are some people who are completely, one hundred percent immersed in video games. They can’t eat, sleep, think, or breathe without the electronic stimulation video games provide. It’s not a nonexistent problem but then again it’s not a widespread problem either. Video game addiction is somewhere in the middle. Most gamers fit within the happy medium between addicted and indifferent. Some would argue that an addiction to video games is harmless compared to something like drugs, but addiction of any type has the potential to become dangerous.

                                                      Must beat game. Must beat game. Must beat game.

If a person doesn’t realize that they are engaging in a behavior that can be hazardous to their health or wellbeing, they’ll never know they’re in danger until they’re already hurting. For example, a person who has been fired from their job because of their preoccupation with games becomes reclusive and doesn’t leave their house for anything. They’ve depleted their bank account buying game related items and/or games. They are so fixated on getting that next achievement or beating that “impossible” boss fight that they haven’t eaten, slept, showered, etc in days. Their body is literally shutting down along with their cognitive functions, and they had no clue because they were so wholeheartedly immersed in that game that reality became a distant past.

I realize that the scenario I’ve presented seems ridiculous and farfetched. If it were, gaming/internet addiction would not be on the list of additions to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5 i.e. the book the American Psychiatric Association publishes and counselors, therapists, psychiatrists, etc use to diagnose mental illness. The key to maintaining that happy medium is as it is for a lot of things, moderation.

                                                               The DSM 5 is due out May of 2013.

In conclusion, video games are not monsters. They are also not saints. Games can become an addiction or just remain a hobby. The differential between those two extremes is mainly a matter of the person involved, much as it is with drug addiction. Nothing can take over your life without your participation or permission. With that being said, I wish you all happy gaming!

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Skyrim // The Psychology of Spatial Immersion

There has been a long history of people being drawn into games as a pastime in modern society one might call this a lifestyle. People who participate in this lifestyle are usually given the title gamer. Playing video games is very common these days, almost everyone I know plays them. It is no longer an obscure hobby that is seen to be what it was twenty years ago.

This medium is at its apex in terms of norms or social acceptance. One might ask why it's so popular or why gaming is such an tedious hobby that it could be described as a lifestyle on its own. It's simple: video games are designed for pleasure and with pleasure one can certainly lose track of time with it. In my experiences I usually blame this loss of time on something about the game that draws me in: immersion.

                                   but

• What exactly is Immersion?

Feelings of immersion can be present in almost every medium, but what exactly makes something 'immersive'? What does it mean to be immersive?

In essence immersion is the state of being deeply engaged, involved, or absorbed. That definition being established it's safe to assume that there are various ways one can be engaged (etcetera) through the concept of immersion, especially with a popular medium such as video games.

Psychologists and researchers have identified and categorized the types of immersion as well as how immersion is experienced within books, cinema and even video-games for decades

Earnest W. Adams (2004), author and consultant on game design, separates and outlines immersion into three categories: strategic, tactical, and narrative.

Strategic Immersion: Strategic immersion is associated with mental challenge. Players of Chess experience this type of immersion when choosing a correct solution among a vast array of possibilities.

Dude this game is so immersive

Tactical Immersion: Tactical immersion is experienced when faced with tactile operations that involve and require skill. This type of immersion is very physical and immediate, survivability is more valued than strategy. Usually rhythm games utelize this type of immersion. Tactical immersion should not include any strategy and should be fast paced to get players "in the zone".

Yay Joy Division!

Narrative Immersion: Narrative immersion is experienced when a player is invested in the story aspect. It's similar to what is experienced while reading a book or watching a film. It's also generally common that a player ignore game play flaws if they are invested into the story.

Your dark-side is showing James.

These three types of immersion are very prevalent in video games. Similar to Adam's outlining, Staffan Björk and Jussi Holopainen (2004) in Patterns In Game Design also categorized immersion in similar ways except they referred to the three categories above as as sensory-motoric immersion (tactical),cognitive immersion (strategic) and emotional immersion (narrative).  In addition to these they add another category that they identify is also a type of immersion within video games: Spatial Immersion

• Spatial Immersion

The theory of "spatial presence" commonly referred to by psychologists like Dr. Wissmath happens when “media contents are perceived as ‘real’ in the sense that media users experience a sensation of being spatially located in the mediated environment.” (Wissmath et. al, 2009, pg. 116).


Based on Wissmath's definition it's safe to assume that spatial immersion (or rather 'Spatial Presence' as some psychologists would say) in video games is experienced when a player feels that the virtual world presented is so stimulating and almost photo realistic that it's perceptually convincing. 
This type immersion would brings feelings that he or she is really "there" and that a simulated world looks and feels "real". 

Does it feel real? I think.

• Skyrim and Spatial Immersion

Skyrim is a game I found to have prevalent qualities that facilitate spatial immersion. Although it's common for me to be hunched over for hours playing games Skyrim has an allure that makes me seem to really forget the time. I find myself (and many others) so easily consumed by this title.

Having this said let's have a look at what characteristic and elements Skyrim boasts to facilitate spatial presence: 

A cognitively demanding environment:  Whenever playing Skyrim you're faced with so many different things to perceive and attend to. You're scanning for threats, looking for treasure, and sometimes the correct pathway. 

A whoooole new worrrld.

On a personal note I feel that when wearing fancy headphones during a Skyrim session actually improves this cognitive demand. While I was wearing them I was so sensitive to the sound that I could hear the footsteps of a sabre cat stalking me. This made me be wary of not just my visual processes but also the auditory aspect of this 

and speaking of sound with visuals

Coordinated sources of sensory information: The soundtrack, the environment ambient, the intrinsic sound of a blade or an arrow as it juts through the soft carelessly exposed flesh of my enemy. Maybe even the visuals of a fire spell and the sound it makes as it scorches the skin of anything it comes in contact with. This is just with the battle system-- don't even get me started on the actual environment. Needless to say Skyrim's audio aspect is very coordinated and beautifully done. I feel that this would be a major factor when it comes to spatial immersion because when I hear and see these things part of me really feels like I'm there.

Did I just hear bones cracking? How enchanting

Completeness of sensory information: This has to do with the mental model of the game world itself and by mental model I mean the game’s fictional virtual world and how it's perceived. By looking at various cues in the game we, usually unconsciously, create a mental model for a fictional world-- and this doesn't only stop in video games this type of thing is also very prevalent in other mediums such as film and books.

In Skyrim's case, on a subjective sense, I feel that it was based on an area likely Iceland or Norway. 

A side by side comparison of Skyrim and Norway

In this case abstractions and improvisation are ill concepts and likely enemies of spatial immersion; the fewer blanks about the mental model we have established for our virtual realm the better. In Skyrim the towns are cluttered with townsfolk. "Assassin’s Creed 2 was immersive because its towns were filled with people who looked like they were doing …people stuff." (Madigan 2010) 

Skyrim simulates its own convincing society by having npcs walk around the town, by being black smiths, shop owners, jarls, and housecarls. It feels lively and it makes sense. If towns were barren for no explanation ever-- this sort of thing will cause the player to improvise different reasons as to why this occurred, this type of thing reduces spatial immersion because instead of letting you make comfortable assumptions you're pulled out of the world wondering why that specific town was so barren.

Lack of incongruous visual cues in the game world: Usually when I play an rpg (especially mmos) it's common to be bombarded with a vast amount of numbers and words on the screen. Maps, menus, profiles of my party members to the left with their health and mana gauges all these things are fairly common.If you're constantly reminded you're playing a video game how would you feel spatial presence? Even Juul takes this into consideration when he mentions the blue arrow in GTA.

Concerning the UI you can strategically immersed in mmorpgs but likely not spatially

In contrast to the design above

Myself, my compass and the romantic northern lights of the night sky. For a moment I forgot I was playing a game.

Skyrim definitely excels at limiting incongruous elements from the screen. In combat you're shown minimal user interface such as your health, mana, and stamina bar. That's pretty much it excluding menus that aren't forcefully pasted on the screen at all times. Although this goes with its flaws, players will often find themselves walking around with diseases for days without knowing. Dovahkin is so tough that he/she doesn't even notice-- I mean you have something called bone break fever and not even a single stur. However, when you are around other NPCs they do comment about your how 'sick you look' and sort of give hints for you to check if you're diseased so you can go pray at an alter to cleanse yourself and then move on with your life.


Extensive interactivity: You can interact with almost everyone and everything in Skyrim. You can keep a collection of wooden bowls in your inventory if you liked, or put buckets over people's heads, sit on chairs, use the forge to craft weapons and armor. These interactions give feedback to the player's actions. Simply talking to npcs, using the lumber mill, chopping wood and fiddling around makes it seem like various pieces of the world fit together consistently. I feel that this aspect of the game facilitates spatial presence wonderfully.

I did this sort of thing with cabbages

One last word:

There are developers out there that take spatial immersion and incorporate it beautifully into their games. In specific I feel that Bethesda Game Studio's Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim incorporates spatial presence wonderfully into the virtual world of Skyrim. I truly got lost in this game. I pre-ordered and "no life'd" Skyrim for a few weeks, with an understanding of immersion I feel that my experiences and joy with Skyrim are more pronounced and defined. 

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References:

- Adams, E. (2004). Postmodernism and the Three Types of Immersion. Obtained May 18th 2012 
from: http://www.designersnotebook.com/Columns/063_Postmodernism/063_postmodernism.htm

- Björk, Staffan; Jussi Holopainen (2004). Patterns In Game Design.
Charles River Media. p. 206. 

- Juul, Jesper. (2011). Half-Real: Video Games between Real Rules and Fictional Worlds.  
Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 

- Madigan, J. (2010). The Psychology of Immersion in Video Games. Obtained May 18th 2012    
from: http://www.psychologyofgames.com/2010/07/the-psychology-of-immersion-in-video-games

- Wissmath, B., Weibel, D., & Groner, R. (2009). Dubbing or Subtitling? Effects on Spatial            
Presence, Transportation, Flow, and Enjoyment. Journal of Media Psychology 21 (3), 114-125

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