Video Game Avatar: From Other to Self-Transcendence and Transformation

paper
Authorship
  1. 1. Mary L. Tripp

    University of Central Florida

Work text
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The aim of this paper is to establish a model for the
relationship between the player of a video game and the avatar
that represents that player in the virtual world of the video
game. I propose that there is an evolution in the identifi cation
of the player of a video game with the avatar character that
performs embodied actions in the virtual world of the game.
This identifi cation can be described through an examination of
theories from a variety of subject areas including philosophy,
literary studies, video game theory, and educational theory.
Specifi cally, theories in hermeneutics, literary immersion,
embodiment, empathy, narrative, game ego, play, and learning
theory are synthesized to produce a broad picture of the
player/avatar relationship as it develops over time. I will
identify stages in the process of feeling immersed in a game.
This feeling of immersion can, but may not necessarily will,
occur as the player engages in game play over a period of
time. I will identify this process in stages: “other”; “embodied
empathy”; “self-transcendence”; and “transformation.” At the
fi nal stage, the game play can offer a critique of the player’s
worldview, to call into question the player’s approach and even
presuppositions about the world. I suggest here, the player
no longer sees the avatar as an “other” a character to be
understood in some way, and not as some virtual representation
of the self, something apart from himself, and not even as some
sort of virtual embodiment of himself. I suggest that the player
transcends even the avatar as any sort of representation, that
the avatar disappears from the consciousness of the player
altogether. A result of this critique is a transformation that
takes place within the player that may actually transform one’s
self-understanding, thus providing the player with an authentic
learning experience.
There is a sense of embodiment that goes along with controlling
an avatar in a virtual world that, I believe, is not present when
becoming immersed in a fi lm or a book. In a video game, the
player’s actions have direct and immediate consequences
in terms of reward or punishment as well as movement
through the virtual world. The narrative effect helps drive the
character through this reward and punishment. The idea of
affordances is often used in terms of game design and the use
of emotional affordances to help propel the player into the
virtual environment. Thus, with a video game, there is a more
complete immersion into the constructed imaginary world—
an embodied immersion and an emotional immersion.
I would like to clarify the defi nition of this feeling of immersion
that happens as a video game progresses. Various terms are
used in the fi elds of literary analysis, psychology, video game theory, and philosophy. Terms like literary transport, fl ow,
presence, immersion, identifi cation, and self-transcendence
are often used to describe the feeling of the self moving out
of the real world and into a constructed imaginary world.
I use Janet Murray’s offers a commonly accepted defi nition
used in the gaming industry for this term, a sense of being
physically submerged in water (Murray 1997, p. 99). My goal
here is to illuminate the idea that there is a process to gaining
this feeling of immersion. The player proceeds step-by-step
into the game world. The work of Gallagher in philosophy
of mind acknowledges that there is a growth process that
takes place in developing an understanding of other people,
through primary and secondary interaction. Gallese offers an
alternative argument that the biological basis of this growth
in understanding happen initially as a neural response from
the mirror neuron system, then as a more mature empathetic
response. Ultimately, I would like to establish a sequence that
combines the work of Gallese and Gallagher with the work
of digital narrative theorists Ryan and Murray. The sequence
of immersion could be stated as: other→empathy→selftranscendence→
transformation.
The fi rst stage of approaching the avatar is learning the
mechanics of the game. In this stage the player sees the avatar
as “other,” as an awkward and theoretical representation of the
self. Initially, the avatar is a picture or symbol for the self. The
player learns to manipulate the keyboard, mouse, or controller.
The avatar is “other,” a foreign virtual object that must be
awkwardly manipulated by the player. In this stage there is little
personal identifi cation with the avatar, except on a theoretical
level. The avatar cannot function effi ciently according to the
will of the player, but operates as a cumbersome vehicle for
the player’s intentions.
I propose that the player in the second stage the player begins
to view the avatar as a character in a world, and the player
begins to empathize with the character in a novel or in a fi lm.
Let me clarify, here, that at this stage the avatar is still viewed
as Other, but a component of empathy now emerges through
the use of narrative. The player now has learned to effectively
manipulate the character, to move the character through the
virtual world. I believe, here, embodiment plays an important
biological role in helping to establish this feeling of empathy
for the character. There is also an important component of
narrative that drives the player toward empathy with the
avatar. The work of Marie-Laure Ryan is an important theoriest
in this area.
In the third stage, which I call “self-transcendence,” the player
experiences full identifi cation with the avatar, not as empathizing
with another character, but embodying the actions and world
of the avatar as if it were his own. On this point, I will refer to
Gadamer’s idea of the self-transcendence of play as well as his
article “The Relevance of the Beautiful” and several authors
working on the concept of immersion and game ego in video
game theory (Murray, Wilhelmsson, Ryan). The literature
on video game theory uses the terms immersion, fl ow, and
presence in a similar way, but I feel Gadamer’s term “selftranscendence”
more aptly fi ts the description I will offer.
At the point of self-transcendence, transformation can happen.
Learning theory and the philosophy of hermeneutics, especially
as stated in the work of Gallagher in Hermeneutics and
Education and the hermeneutic theories of Gadamer
(specifi cally his fusion of horizons), can establish how
understanding happens and how transformation of the self can
take place more completely in the virtually embodied world
of video games.
View of the avatar character by the player of
a video game as game play progresses.
References
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Hall, L. “Empathic Characters in Computer-Based Personal
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Gallagher, Shaun. Hermeneutics and Education. Albany: State
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Conference Info

Complete

ADHO - 2008

Hosted at University of Oulu

Oulu, Finland

June 25, 2008 - June 29, 2008

135 works by 231 authors indexed

Conference website: http://www.ekl.oulu.fi/dh2008/

Series: ADHO (3)

Organizers: ADHO

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