too much control...?

The lecture on agency was one I really could relate to. Especially in relation to my old obsession with the Sims game. As defined nicely by Janet Murray, there is satisfaction in being able to chose and then see the outcome of your decision. Now that I relate that to my own experience I can see that is exactly what was so immersing about the Sims game for me. Being able to personally design my own Sim and chose decisions about there job, there friends, if they had kids etc and then seeing the final product of my own creation. Also I did place allot of investment into the game and ended up feeling attached to the families I created, and when I started to realise I had done almost as much as I could for this Sim family I would feel almost sad and gutted that I have to leave them to start a new family. I’ve never thought about how the game and my engagement with it were giving me these emotions and this feeling of power until the lecture today! Furthermore, I played the game amnesia, and in some ways I did become immersed as they give you so much responsibility for your own actions so the outcomes of, for example going completely insane, do feel a result of your own decision making process. However, I kind of felt helpless because I had too much independence and control and not enough assistance and guidance from the game. This I suppose could be down fall of a game giving to much agency to a player who is not a very advanced player at the amnesia game or isn’t a very advanced game player full stop ha-ha. Maybe more practice will help me to appreciate the freedom which is given within the game.