Hello and welcome to another Side-Quest episode of Talk This! It’s Dangerous to Podcast Alone! This week, we’re talking about player identification with characters in video games. Did you die recently? Or was it the character who died?
As always, you can listen to our podcast basically anywhere you want. Check it out on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and Pandora (or head over to our episodes page for even more options). Or just listen below!
The Topic
What does it mean to identify with a character? What characters do we identify with? Is there any way to actually quantify identification other than self-report surveys? What’s the benefit of encouraging or discouraging identification with a character. How does this play out with named characters versus silent protagonists versus avatars?
The Actual Discussion
We talk about why people like characters in games, and what we think causes identification versus just attachment. Despite thinking about it, we can’t really identify characters that we identify with. We also talk about how certain games have tried to play with the identification urge. Lots of cool stuff in this one.
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Enjoy the episode! Tell us what you think in the comments or on social media. Make sure to check out last week’s episode and look forward to next week’s where we’re talking about Enslaved: Odyssey to the West and Murder by Numbers!
Make an effort this week too, if you can.