If you’re not entirely underwater, you’re not submerged.
I have two coments for this:
1) Nice one ... but miles away from what i was talking about.
Since my point was: While Person-A wants total immersion ... and Person-B wants total fun ... (and i want Total Recall
) ... Larian is in position when they have to (at least try) satisfy them both.
Sure there would be people complaining about that the game is "not immersive enough" ...
But the point is that the more it would be immersive the more would the other people complaining that the game is "not fun enough".
2) Its an ongoing process (dont get mad at me, it was your example) ...
I presume you dont dematerialize abowe the water, and then reamaterialize under its surface.
Yes, you are not submerged "entirely" ... but you are 5,10,25,30,50,75,90% submerged, depending on state of that proces ...
And that should be enough ...
---
Quite honestly it seems to me that "immersion" become easy argument for people who just dislike something, and "just wants it gone" no matter what.
You are trying to explain to me what does it mean to "not being immersed" ... im aware, it may come as surprise, but i also played the game.
The problem (or the difference, scratch what dont aply) is that none of those things people are complaining about around here breaks the immersion for me not even once in my 796,5h ... so i ask those people why, or how does it work ... instead they start to explaining me what is immersion, or what does it mean to break it. :-/
Either im unable to put my question understandably, or they are simply unable to answer me ... chances are 50/50.
I mean so far i discovered that i have quite unique mindset around here, since i dont really care about things that i either dont need, or choose not to use ... i dunno, maybe im simply exceptionaly good in ignoring things that would bother me otherwise ... rather than geting mad over their bare existence.
I would really love to hear at least one good reason ...
But all i get so far can easily by reduced to "i simply dont like it" ... and that would be fine too, we dont need to like same things.
The cursor says you can burrow to a seemingly impossible spot. Wouldn’t you try it out of sheer curiosity? And if you did, how would you react when the badger appears on the far side of a chasm or in a suspended cage?
Thats a trick question!
Sure i would!
And yet i would not.
I burrowed several times to the other side of a chasm to get that lootbox in "Dragon's Lair" (that cave where Thieving Tiefling kids are living) ...
And quite honestly it never felt unimersive ... no matter the distance, its still the ground and the ground end somewhere ... sure, its a little unconsistent, since sometimes you can borrow just few feets, and sometimes you can borrow few miles (imagining you borrowed all the way down and all the way up the chasm) ... but that dont bother me.
Also im quite used that most distances in this game are actualy measured in 2D (there is no high ... or depth ... Z axis i mean) ... you can easily see that in Goblin camp, when you are attacking from the timbers in the ceiling ... many attacks (especialy spells) should not even reach their targets.
As for the cage example, nope i would not ... first of all i cant even imagine single argument for doing it ...
For one, it would be a nonsence and i dislike nonsences, so why would i ... exactly as you said.
And for two ... what would be the point? I mean does "borrowint inside hanged cage" offers you litteraly anything except just ruining your experience?
I dont think it do.
That moment shines a light on the fact that you’re not controlling a badger. You’re controlling something that looks like a badger and teleports in a way that evokes burrowing but definitely isn’t burrowing. With that shift in perspective, the immersion is broken.
I never even get there ...
For me, there are two layers when i "immerge" myself to the virtual space:
There is first layer and that are engine limitations ... ranges, rules, resources, limitations, stuff like that ... things game "allows" me to do ...
And that would be burrowing through the time and space.
And then there is second layer and that is actual immersion ... what my characters know, that they would do, what they would think ... things that would "make sense in this world" ...
And that would be that my Badger will never burrow through time and space, since i ... and in that extend the badger ... know that i can burrow through the ground ... but not through the solid stone, not through empty air between cage and ground, not through i dunno ... lava for example.
Those are things my characters would never even imagine, since they are uterly nonsences.
Thats why i never do them, thats why i never even check if i can do them, since i would not care anyway ... and thats how i keep myself immerged, no matter what game "allows me to".
And the best part is that if there is anybody who would enjoy burrowing throung lava river, to the top of statue that is hanging in middle of air, and is made from solid adamantine ... they can and i still dont care, and my immersion is still unaffected.
And we are both happy. :P
Final confession i have for this would be the reason i want us both to be happy ... its simply bcs sometimes (its not often tho, but it happens) i am the second person.
Sometimes i just dont desire serious story and full roleplay experience ... sometimes i just want to go in and wreak havoc, go wild, do shitty things, whack logic in the face and then fuck it ... why? Bcs i can!
Bcs i want to!
And bcs fuck it, thats why.
And in those moments, i dont care about immersion ... what i want is fun.
So yes, in those crazy times i go with things like full custom party of Wizards where each have their own elements, and one of them is actualy a Cleric.
My badger party is burrowing to the roofs, just to use their pushing attack, and burrow some place else.
Last time i tryed to expand my party to 8 and play with every single class that was aviable in the time ... (this one was not as fun as i expected, quite dissapointing really)
And Larian provides me option for both, so im glad they do ... there is nothing deeper in it.
