Total Immersion: Think YOU Can Handle It?

"Mom, you know PVP in Runescape?"
"Yeah..."
"You know how you have to fight & activate prayer & fight & activate more prayer & eat swordfish & eat & fight & eat & eat everything in your inventory just to stay alive-"
"Yeah..."
"Well now, in the new Runescape, the Runescape Classic 2006 that's coming out, there's this--"

But that probably doesn't mean anything to you. 

As a side benefit to being the mother of boys, I am becoming something of a linguist.  Sadly, these languages don't have much value out in the real world (my husband would prefer I learn French!).  For example, I consider myself almost fluent in Runescape (already on the verge of becoming a dying language in our house, as the oldest son finds himself moving on).  I am also near fluent in Dragon Age: Origins.  I have a smattering of Skyrim & Halo, with my weaker languages being Assassin's Creed & Mass Effect.

These are, for the most part, XBox games, if you have not guessed.

I do not study these languages - I absorb them via a consistant onslaught of background noise.  If I walk thru the living room & hear my son saying something like, "Get in that wart-hog!  Sniper by my X!"  I know that he is speaking "Halo".  He is telling a fellow online player to jump into a certain vehicle (not a pig!) & to come & kill an enemy sniper where my son's character was last standing, which is marked on the game mini-map with an 'X' & my sons 'gamer tag', which is the word 'BEST'.  Why doesn't my son kill the sniper himself?  Because he is dead & is waiting to respawn (the dead always come back to life - no wonder kids all think that they are gods!)

Of course, my other son, when it is his turn on the XBox, might be involved in a conversation in which I hear his character's companion say, "I used to be an adventurer like you, but then I took an arrow to the knee."  I know without looking that he is playing Skyrim, a medieval/Scandinavianish RPG (Role Playing Game) in which his character completes many quests while heading for the ultimate finale - the ridding the country of dragons.  Along the way he speaks to (& usually kills) many people.  In fact, I often ask him if he could try - for once! - to get his character thru an entire village without some sort of carnage.  "What would be the point of that?", he wonders.  It goes without saying that his character spends a lot of time dying & coming back to life as well.

I am a fan of the role playing games, myself.

Upon my sons completion of Dragon Age: Origins last year, they convinced me to make my own character.   "Come on - you can make your own girl - like you did on Runescape!"
"I don't know..."
"& she can be a Human, an Elf, or a Dwarf!"
"Hmmm.  I like Elves..."
"& she can be a mage, a warrior or a rogue!"
"I like magic..."
"Okay then!"

So, my Elvish magician Qfornis came into being.  She had green eyes, strawberry blond hair & very pointed ears.  The details in the making of her character were quite intricate - down to such specifics as skin tone, chin width, the spacing of eyebrows & even what her voice would sound like.  Of course I made her into one hot mama!  I turned her loose & before I knew it she had joined the elite group of Grey Wardens & had set upon a quest to rid the land of the evil Darkspawn, while at the same time trying to bring her country back from the brink of civil war!

Qfornis' career began innocently enough.  She recruited a party & set out on her quest.  Along the way, Qfornis had conversations with a multitude of NPC's (non-playing characters).  When it was Qfornis' turn to speak, I would have to choose between 4 choices of answers.  Depending on my answers, the play of the game would adjust accordingly.  Qfornis also had to make sure to keep her friends 'approval ratings' up, so they would continue to accept her as leader of the party.  I was having a great time, until one day...

Qfornis was travelling along as usual, with her magician's staff at the ready, wearing a fetching gown of green velvet with a jewelled gilt girdle & matching collar.  Nothing could muss her extravagant hair & sparkly violet eyeshadow!  Along with her on this trip was a big beefy guy named Sten, a Qunari Warrior, whom she had rescued from a cage where he was being held prisoner by the Fereldons.  I was sure that Sten would remain forever grateful & loyal to Qfornis, & would wield his massive battle ax on her behalf at all times.  It never occurred to me that Sten might have plans & ideas of his own!

Qfornis was trying to decide whether to go into Orzammar, the city of the Dwarves, or to continue on into the Frostback Mountains, when Sten began to exhibit signs of dissent.  He didn't want to be distracted from the main quest of killing Darkspawn, but Qfornis had previously shown a penchant for wandering off on side quests of her own & dragging along her party whether they liked it or not.  Eventually Sten had had enough.  He told Qfornis he had no choice, hefted his massive battle ax & struck her down!

I couldn't believe it!  My heart was pounding!  (Monopoly & The Game of Life were never like this!)

"Stop!" I shouted to my son, who was operating the XBox controls.  I had to pull myself together.
"Jeez, Mom, pull yourself together!"
"Did you SEE that?  Sten KILLED her!  Just pulled out his ax & WHACK!  Should he be ALLOWED to do that?  To the main character?"
"It's just a game, Mom."
"And with no warning!  Poor Qfornis didn't even have a chance to lift her Magic Staff to defend herself!"
"We-e-ell," my son disagreed, "There was warning.  You could see that Stens approval rating of Qfornis had been dropping..."
"I didn't know that actually MEANT something!  I just can't BELIEVE it!  Sten!  I LIKED Sten!  I TRUSTED him - & now," I mourned, "Qfornis is dead."
"Mom!  It's no big deal.  We can just go back to the last 'save' & make Qfornis choose a different option."
"But it won't be the same."  I shook my head.
"What do you mean?"
"We'll never be able to trust Sten again!"
"Mom...!"

Okay, so I got a little caught up.

These days, my background noise consists of the ceaseless gunfire of Halo & the adventures of Ezio in Assassin's Creed.  My foray into RPG game play has taught me that knowing the language is not all there is to know about a game.  & that there is more to these games than we might think; Qfornis had to make lots of 'moral dilemma' type decisions & she paid the price when she didn't take her companions thoughts & feelings into consideration. 
I also learned that it never pays to get too attached to a character, even if they DO have the capability to die & come back to life! 

So now I just try not to get involved. 
It's better that way.