The city which stood out the most to me was the city of Fedora. Besides the name that reminded me of the hat, Fedora had such an interesting and abstract approach to the construction of cities and desire. It was stated that the city takes on many forms based on historical “what-ifs” and this reminded me of the alternate timeline concept in the Black Mirror episode “Bandersnatch”. In a way, the alternate timeline concept is something that I relate to every city I’ve lived in, and in the case of Abu Dhabi I was thinking of how the smallest histroical detail could have changed how the city is constructed otday (i.e. if they never discovered oil). The city wasn’t particularly described in vivid detail, but was explained in a more abstract way, as inhabitants of the city can visit the metal building with the crystal globes and “choose the city that corresponds to his desires”. This can easily translate into a virtual environment through narrative, RPG games, virtual reality experiences, etc. I would be very invested in creating a virtual environment based on the choices that users make, and have different scenarios ready depending on these choices.

Time plays an important role in the construction of Fedora as a city, and in many ways the city depends on the passage and abstraction of time. I’ve always been fascinated by how timelines and reality could be altered by the slightest changes. The storyteller conveys that the city is a gray metropolis, but mentions that due to different choices people made over time, and how due to these choices the Medusa pond dried up, and elephants are banished from the city.

“Looking into each globe, you see a blue city, the model of a different Fedora. These are the forms the city could have taken if, for one reason or another, it had not become what we today”.

It was interesting to me how the author approached the notion of agency in games or immersive environments; stating that the more realized these environments are, the “more active we want to be within [them]”. This made me think of the games I’ve played in my childhood vs. the games that I’ve played recently, and the ways in which they are different and similar. I remember that growing up, playing quest-oriented games such as Crash Bandicoot and fighting games such as Tekken, the purpose and orientation of these games were very clear – and although very enticing the games didn’t offer much agency beyond beating your opponent or moving on to the next level. However, as time passed and games became more active and immersive, the player could find themself situated in worlds where they are free to ignore the main quest for a while. This concept reminded me of the anime Sword Art Online; where players (after being trapped in a video game) decide to live exploring and settling in the territories within the environment. It’s fascinating to imagine that this (on some level) could be possible, and players can have completely different and lives and personas within these immersive environments.

The potential of the labyrinth as a participatory narrative form would seem to lie somewhere between the two, in stories that are goal driven enough to guide navigation but open-ended enough to allow free exploration and that display a satisfying dramatic structure no matter how the interactor chooses to traverse the space.

Janet Murray

Although most of immersive environments and games nowadays follow a linear trajectory, some give the player the impression that they have more agency in shaping their experience. Speaking to this, I found interesting points in Giving Shape to Anxiety, where Murray states that “The multithreaded web story achieves coherent dramatic form by shaping our terror into a pattern of exploration and discovery”. I feel like this is what attracts users to most modern RPGs and immersive environments – because beyond the main purpose of the narrative and what the player is meant to achieve, they are given the ability/agency to explore the terrain and immerse themselves further into the experience. This is seen in games like Legend of Zelda, Fallout and even Grand Theft Auto (GTA), where the player can walk around for as long as they want to just explore the environment. Notions of agency and ‘orienteering’ were definitely not on my mind when I would drive my car into the ocean in GTA, just to see if I would die.

What drew me the most to this chapter on ‘Immersion’, is the active and continuous creation of belief, and how the participant must always participate in the “willing suspension of disbelief”. On. deeper level users are not only suspending disbelief, but they are constantly creating it and reinforcing the reality of the entire experience. We tend to consume different forms of media in a very similar way, and digital environments are no different; as we often apply our own experiences to the world we are digitally inhabiting.

We bring our own cognitive, cultural, and psychological templates to every story as we assess the characters and anticipate the way the story is likely to go.

Janet Murray

Another method used in fictional worlds that is meant to actively create belief, is the construction of worlds and narratives with vivid details and intricacies. This is meant to help participants in said worlds to further immerse themselves in the narrative, due to the fact that there are many elements to keep track of. This is also a system of participation and reward; as the user’s attention to detail is rewarded with a consistency of imagination and world building. It is quite interesting to observe how these participatory environments immerse their users and help them bring life to imaginary narratives and objects.