relating the message to the player increases its power

This note last modified June 4, 2022

Games didn’t match participant’s lives exactly, but there were occasionally rough parallels or a simple “I was interested in this game’s themes!”. What happened more often was media - projection

what are the benefits of immersion
- Well, relating the message to the player increases its power, but even beyond the message itself, I feel that if a player likes a game, that they are immersed, then they are much more likely to listen to its message. A message has to be subtly built, so immersion is valuable to build up “trust” before you bring in the intense, emotional scenes. This is all my personal opinion, no real research to back it up unfortunately.
externalization with game avatars
- relating the message to the player increases its power
Reflective Elements In Mass-Market Games-Gandhi
- Relating the message to the player increases its power
NPC parasocial relationships
- If you feel like you have a parasocial relationship with an NPC, you’re more likely to listen to them. I guess it’s a specific instance of relating the message to the player increases its power
Games For Non Gamers-Garcia
- similarity to their own lives