Other worlds, other lives: Students spend half-lives in imaginary worlds
"I can't control the characters but at the same time, they can't control me."
Whitney A. Stewart
Issue date: 9/13/07 Section: Focus
Ryan von Sirk hobnobs with royalty in a country beset by pirates, sorcerers and musketeers. But von Sirk does something few fellow courtiers do: in another life, the somber, middle-aged man in fur vest and top hat studies political economy at Hillsdale College.
Junior Ben Nygaard, a resident assistant in Simpson Hall, joins friends twice a month for a few hours as Ryan von Sirk to play a game called "Seventh Sea."
It's a way for him to relax and let his imagination roam, he said.
"You don't entirely lose yourself, but it's kind of reconnecting with your childhood imagination," he said. "It's kind of like reading a good book. You get pulled into it. You can see the dresses and hear the music."
In the role-playing game, von Sirk and the other characters immerse themselves in an epic adventure. Directed by a game master who narrates the story, the players of the game participate interactively to move the action forward.
Nygaard's game master is senior Seth Woolwine.
Role playing games are an art form, similar to improvisational acting: players participate in a story as one of the characters, Woolwine said.
"I can't control the characters," he said. "But at the same time, they can't control me. I'm more of a story-teller combined with a referee."
Sometimes an adventure will last for several hours or weeks, but they can even last several years, Nygaard said.
Nygaard said he enjoys playing the character he created. Von Sirk stays on the seventh sea and won't follow him to class.
A code exists stating classmates who double as fellow characters cannot interact as their character outside the game, he said.
"That said, it's really easy to start a conversation and switch into character for a laugh and to stretch it a bit," Nygaard said.
In addition to the creative aspect of the game, many story lines let players delve into age-old philosophical and moral discussions, Woolwine said.
Some games with futuristic story lines also pose ethical dilemmas, including where to draw the line for genetically engineered humans, he says.
"I don't want my players to escape reality," he said. "But to question things they already find in reality."
Playing von Sirk develops his creative thinking ability, Nygaard said.
"It's the imagination that drives us forward," he said, adding that technological leaps, such as men on the moon or walking and dancing robots, come from imaginative people who think outside the box.
Both Woolwine and Nygaard said role playing games sometimes receive a bad rap because of players who get too involved. But they both say their participation in the games depends on maintaining balance with other activities.
"I'm not really a reclusive gamer, but I enjoy the gaming community," Nygaard says.
"If [my players] try to get too emotionally attached, too immersive in it, I don't want that,"
Woolwine said. "It's an art form. It can be taken as a double life but it doesn't have to be."
Junior Ben Nygaard, a resident assistant in Simpson Hall, joins friends twice a month for a few hours as Ryan von Sirk to play a game called "Seventh Sea."
It's a way for him to relax and let his imagination roam, he said.
"You don't entirely lose yourself, but it's kind of reconnecting with your childhood imagination," he said. "It's kind of like reading a good book. You get pulled into it. You can see the dresses and hear the music."
In the role-playing game, von Sirk and the other characters immerse themselves in an epic adventure. Directed by a game master who narrates the story, the players of the game participate interactively to move the action forward.
Nygaard's game master is senior Seth Woolwine.
Role playing games are an art form, similar to improvisational acting: players participate in a story as one of the characters, Woolwine said.
"I can't control the characters," he said. "But at the same time, they can't control me. I'm more of a story-teller combined with a referee."
Sometimes an adventure will last for several hours or weeks, but they can even last several years, Nygaard said.
Nygaard said he enjoys playing the character he created. Von Sirk stays on the seventh sea and won't follow him to class.
A code exists stating classmates who double as fellow characters cannot interact as their character outside the game, he said.
"That said, it's really easy to start a conversation and switch into character for a laugh and to stretch it a bit," Nygaard said.
In addition to the creative aspect of the game, many story lines let players delve into age-old philosophical and moral discussions, Woolwine said.
Some games with futuristic story lines also pose ethical dilemmas, including where to draw the line for genetically engineered humans, he says.
"I don't want my players to escape reality," he said. "But to question things they already find in reality."
Playing von Sirk develops his creative thinking ability, Nygaard said.
"It's the imagination that drives us forward," he said, adding that technological leaps, such as men on the moon or walking and dancing robots, come from imaginative people who think outside the box.
Both Woolwine and Nygaard said role playing games sometimes receive a bad rap because of players who get too involved. But they both say their participation in the games depends on maintaining balance with other activities.
"I'm not really a reclusive gamer, but I enjoy the gaming community," Nygaard says.
"If [my players] try to get too emotionally attached, too immersive in it, I don't want that,"
Woolwine said. "It's an art form. It can be taken as a double life but it doesn't have to be."
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