ABSTRACT
Two types of immersion/involvement studied in Chapter 8 are character immersion and ludic (game) involvement. The experiential mode of first-person audience, which separates RH+TRPG+LARP from SEV (site/event visitation), also differentiates each of the three from one another. The largest divide exists between TRPG+LARP, which feature personalised characters with biographies and personalities, and RH, which relies mostly on functional roles defined by costume and equipment. Character immersion and the related concept of character-to-player ‘bleed’ from role-playing studies is here linked to Landsberg’s prosthetic memory: the power of historical/heritage experiences to imprint other people’s memories of in the audience’s minds. Ludic immersion into game, by contrast, may compromise character-immersion by absorbing too much player’s attention. It may create a dissonance between player’s in-game actions and other layers of immersion, particularly into character, narrative, and environment. If it does, it will also compromise the illusion of a consistent historical ‘cultural presence’ shared between objects, spaces, humans, and actions.
