Processes of roling : mechanisms for adopting subjectivities in the gameworld

Abstract

This text focuses on what we shall term processes of ‘roling’ – that is, those practices, experiences, and activities by which the player is led to form an understanding of, and to internalize, a particular subjectivity or role in relation to the virtual world of a game. This subjective existence in the gameworld is determined by a variety of factors, including the capabilities and limitations the player is given towards the gameworld– and, resultingly, the affordances available to her (Linderoth 2013), the goals she has set or has allowed to be set for herself, and the ways in which she can be affected by other entities in the gameworld. This understanding of the player’s in-game subjectivity is grounded in theorizations, within existing game studies literature, of notions like embodiment (Taylor 2002; Grodal 2003; Klevjer 2006; 2012; Bayliss 2007a; 2007b; Gee 2008; Gregersen and Grodal 2009; Martin 2012; Keogh 2018), the Game Ego (Wilhelmsson 2008), incorporation (Calleja 2011), the gameplay situation (Kania 2017) and ludic or virtual subjectivity (Vella 2015; 2016; Vella and Gualeni 2019).