Single Player Seeks Single-Player Game: An Analysis of Skyrim through the Lens of LeBlanc’s Taxonomy of Game Pleasures

Abstract

Due to the technical advances afforded by the Internet, online video gaming has become a ubiquitous pastime with few games being developed without any multiplayer component. This study explores the single-player, action role-playing game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim through the lens of LeBlanc’s taxonomy of game pleasures to determine what pleasures are specific to this game and to solo play. Analysing LeBlanc’s taxonomy against theories of immersion, flow, and affect; the characteristics of the role-playing game genre; and a selection of popular player reviews, revealed that Skyrim offers diverse and complex pleasures that are unique to the role-playing game genre and to solo play. Although the benefits of online play are supported through various studies, a review of the literature on immersion and flow shows that these embodied states are difficult to measure and can be impacted detrimentally by social competition. Analysis of the role-playing game genre showed that characteristics specific to the social aspects of these types of games can account for less than pleasurable outcomes, while supporting the unique features of Skyrim for enhancing solo play. Finally, analysing Skyrim player reviews revealed that players react emotionally to the game in ways that transform the in-game immersive and flow states to an affective response, supporting the argument for pleasure in playing Skyrim, a game that offers only solo play

Introduction

This thesis addresses how players experience pleasure in video games with specific emphasis on the single-player role-playing game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda Softworks, 2011). This game offers special focus because it reframes the expectations that link pleasure, play and community by eliminating the option for in-game socialisation that percolates throughout, and functions to justify, the pleasurable aspects of other multiplayer role-playing games (Snodgrass, Lacy, Dengah, & Fagan, 2011; Granic, Lobe, & Engels, 2014; Kowert & Oldmeadow, 2015). These communal connections are constructed as instrumental to the circulation of game discourses that reify “playing … together as a way to socialize, share experiences, and keep in touch with old friends” (Zhang & Kaufman, 2016, p. 154) thereby diminishing the potentially deviant tropes of solo-play that result in media motivated questions like ‘Do violent video games play a role in shootings?’ (Bushman, 2013) that perpetuate the myths of isolated, usually male solo-players as socially awkward misfits and potentially dangerous.

Before the ubiquitous nature of the Internet, in-game socialisation was not common, yet solo play games were some of the first played, making this form of digital media an important topic for research and discussion. Games that offer solo play without forms of in-game socialisation have been masked in much contemporary game theory and are often overlooked in this continuum. This dissertation examines the importance of single-player role-playing video games as affective and phenomenological space, arguing that they afford players the opportunity to experience pleasure through solo play. These pleasures will be interrogated via Marc LeBlanc’s ‘Taxonomy of Game Pleasures’ that offer eight tropes for codifying game experiences. These are; Sensation, Fantasy, Narrative, Challenge, Fellowship, Discovery, Expression, and Submission (Hunicke, LeBlanc, & Zubeck, 2004). These categories will be used to contextualise three over-arching experiences that are promoted as an essential part of play; immersion, flow and affect. These experiences are increasingly defined within the study of ‘affective ludology’ seeking to conceptualise “loosely defined subjective experiences, such as immersion, presence and flow” (Nacke & Lindley, 2010, p. 1) which offer an “intensely pleasurable player experience” (p. 2). The argument in this thesis suggests that rich internal worlds of players in the solo experience of play manifest diverse pleasures that move beyond the rudimentary ‘community’ or social interactive pleasures that are often championed in games debate. These pleasures will be mapped via player reviews providing paratextual insight into the complexities of game play. LeBlanc’s taxonomy of game pleasures will be the core theoretical lens through which to reconfigure and reaffirm the relationships between solo play and pleasure (Hunicke et al., 2004). Through an understanding of these tropes and the concepts that surround and support them, this research is being undertaken to help revaluate gaming as an activity that is ‘communal’ and therefore beneficial, so that individual enjoyment can be more closely realised against the complicated background of game play and pleasure.

There are a number of important reasons for selecting The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Skyrim) as the focus of this dissertation. The first is that it is a single-player action role-playing game (RPG) that has no multiplayer component making it unusual for successful video game franchises. Bethesda has sold 20 million copies of Skyrim (Peckham, 2014). While game sales are only one measure of a video game’s success, Skyrim also received critical acclaim with a Metascore of 96 on the Xbox 360 release (metactritic, n.d.a) and 94 on the PC release (metacritic, n.d.b)^[1]. It also received multiple RPG of the Year, PC Game of the Year, and Overall Game of the Year awards (Kain, 2011; Sinclair, 2012; de Matos, 2012; PCGamer, 2012) making it a both a financial and critical success. This success is important as it demonstrates the continued resonance of solo-play in an era dominated by large-scale popular MMORPGs (Massively multiplayer online role-playing games) that value and validate in-game socialisation as a core part of the pleasures of play. Reframing pleasure in and via solo-play will provide a fresh way to consider how players manifest their own experiences of play in ways that are unsanctioned by both popular social commentary and game design.

Chapter one will explore the complex interplay between pleasure as a physiological phenomenon and the understanding that pleasure is derived from socio-cultural constructs. The former affirms that humans receive sensory inputs that the brain registers as pleasure and responds in predetermined ways. The latter views pleasure as an emotion that humans make meaning out of depending on social and cultural contexts. It will then map how LeBlanc’s taxonomy dances between these definitions acknowledging their complexity and the need to weave them through broader theories of immersion, flow, and affect.

Chapter two will focus on Skyrim as an exemplar of the single-player action RPG genre and the key features that differentiate the game from other single-player and multiplayer games in the same genre. This will take the form of a textual analysis of Skyrim through the key characteristics of RPGs, including role playing, character creation, collaboration and specialisation, narrative, quests, experience points and levels, and adaptation and modification.

The focus of chapter three will be the analysis of Skyrim player reviews returning to the theories of immersion, flow, and affect discussed in chapter one to demonstrate the radical and affective connection that Skyrim players have with the game as it manifests in and through solo-play. Examining these player reviews through the lens of LeBlanc’s taxonomy will provide a framework for understanding the complex, multi-layer relationships solo players have with single-player action RPGs. Finally, the conclusion will bring together the key findings from all three chapters.

Methodology

The aim of this dissertation is to demonstrate that single-player games provide an important means for players to experience pleasure. Through the use of unobtrusive research methods (Phillipov, 2013) including textual analysis in the form of both Skyrim’s game content and trace analysis of player reviews, I will examine how players of Skyrim can find pleasure through solo play and demonstrate that pleasure through their relationship with the game through textual traces. Using unobtrusive observations of player reviews taken from the Skyrim Steam review site (http://steamcommunity.com/app/72850/reviews/), a network of textual sites, will allow insight into how players “view, understand and talk about games” (Zagal, Ladd, & Johnson, 2009, p. 215) will emerge.  Review sites provide an outlet for players to extend the pleasure of playing outside the game so, while Skyrim provides no in-game socialisation, players are crafting their own interactions outside of the sanctioned context of game play and therefore building and managing their own pleasures. The creation of reviews that are then deemed helpful by others, offers more than extended consumption of the game content but also a form of paratext that adds to the overall value of the game. In this way, ‘helpful’ refers not only to the authenticity that these higher rated reviews receive but also to the value that the review adds to the community.

It must be acknowledged that there are limitations with using only unobtrusive research in that this method is inferentially weak. According to O’Brien (2010) this weakness can be attributed to gathering data that is skewed by participant awareness of their observation and researcher selection and observation bias. In addition, data can be skewed by participant bias related to the research topic, which will become evident when explaining the choice of positive only reviews. Weaknesses associated with using unobtrusive methods can be lessened by applying multiple methods (Bouchard, 1976). This will be achieved by using Skyrim reviews to form an understanding of the cultural traces left by video game players and the content analysis of Skyrim as a cultural text (Fairclough, 2003). Further limitations can arise in adopting Internet-based research due to the restriction of observing past behaviour as opposed to real-time observable behaviour (Hewson, Vogel, & Laurent, 2015). This is true of selecting reviews that are an historic representation of a player’s interaction with a game, making it difficult to tap into the embodied pleasures of immersive and flow experiences. Player reviews are one of only a few textual traces available for creating an understanding of the complexities of solo pleasures. While indirect observation can have potential ethical issues, including the possibility of linking player names to real names, these can be alleviated by using data that is in the public domain (Bordia, 1996).

There are also benefits and limitations with using the Internet to conduct this examination on pleasure in solo play. The limitations include whether samples taken from the reviews are representative of those that use the Internet as a whole; that the use of reviews on the Steam page are a reasonable representative compared to other review sites; and finally, that Skyrim reviewers represent those views of all Skyrim players (McKee, 2003; Hewson et al., 2015). As this research is limited to secondary sources and relies on understanding how players experience aspects of immersive and affective pleasure in solo play, the use of the Steam database of Skyrim player reviews is suitable. Steam was chosen as the author is a member and has a greater familiarity with its mechanics as both a game distribution system and an online community, making it easy to access the reviews with minimal time and cost constraints. According to Thominet (2016), Steam is unique amongst video game distribution platforms in that it allows players to purchase and download games, play them through the application, discuss, review, receive support from players and game developers, and create and consume player-generated content. In addition, the player reviews themselves are unique in that they do not conform to the general standards of most player review sites. Rather than inform potential players whether they should purchase a game, they contain a great deal of informal content (Thominet, 2016) that is made for the community providing a bridge between those games that have in-game socialisation crafted as a dominant form of game-based interaction and those games that do not.

Making a selection of player reviews was made difficult as there are over 180,000 positive reviews to select from. While there were also 12,000 negative reviews, these were disregarded for two reasons. First, while it would be useful to understand why reviewers wrote negative reviews about Skyrim, the emphasis of this dissertation is on gaming pleasures and these are being explored in the positive formation. Second, in scanning the negative reviews, it became clear that these were not from players disliking the game, but from players expressing their anger at the decision to make players pay for game modifications in 2015 (Makuch, 2015).

In conducting this analysis, 150 of the most ‘helpful’ reviews were initially selected from Skyrim’s Steam review page. Nine of these reviews were disregarded as the reviewers had played the game for less than 50 hours. By selecting reviews with a 50-hour minimum of play there is confidence that the players have had enough time to reflect on the outcomes of that experience. Steam reviews are deemed most helpful if they receive more ‘yes’ than ‘no’ responses to the question: “Was this review helpful?” (Steam, n.d.). In light of the content of the reviews selected, it will become clear in chapter three that helpful reviews become a means of community acknowledgement of the shared but solo pleasures of the game.

The textual analysis of Skyrim as an RPG and the content and trace analysis of Steam player reviews will provide the necessary context for understanding how Skyrim players find pleasure in the game and in solo play. Analysing Skyrim against the features of traditional and online RPGs will demonstrate the limitations of social play and reinforce the pleasures of solo play. Characterising the reviews according to the experiences of immersion, flow and affect will show how players make meaning of the diverse pleasures that manifest in solo play but are still mediated by social and creative outlets. In order to provide support for this understanding of solo pleasure and to easily situate these amongst the background of discussions around social play and community, I will now examine LeBlanc’s eight, complex and overlapping gaming pleasures against the broader theories of immersion, flow, and affect.

Chapter 1: LeBlanc’s Taxonomy of Game Pleasures

In this chapter, I will explore LeBlanc’s game pleasures, in combinations and connections that will provide a means of understanding video game pleasure in general and the specific appeal of Skyrim. Because of the complexity of pleasure, I will begin by examining conflicting theories that will help to provide a basis for understanding pleasure as an experienced phenomenon. First, that pleasure is a physiological response to stimulus that all individuals experience and parse as part our individual interpretations (Lupton, 1998). Alternatively, that although pleasures are experienced physiologically, how humans understand pleasure is a socio-cultural construct (Coveney & Bunton, 2003). I will then discuss LeBlanc’s pleasure in terms of the broader theories of immersion, flow, and affect to help understand how these pleasures are experienced within Skyrim, and within the larger socio-cultural context of solo play. I will draw on Ermi and Mayra’s immersion model (2005) to demonstrate how games like Skyrim consolidate pleasurable sensations, imaginative settings and appealing narratives to frame LeBlanc’s taxonomy. I will then explore the pleasure of immersive-based challenge which includes elements of skill and problem solving that also incorporate the basis for Csikszentmihalyi’s flow theory (2014) which links challenge, skill, and competition. This will help argue that while socialisation can provide challenge through competitive play, it can also impact negatively on flow. I will also demonstrate how flow theory provides an understanding of the pleasure of submission and how this conflicts between notions of delayed gratification and self-control. This is followed up with an examination of the pleasure of discovery in games that offer the ability to explore the game world and move players from digital tourists to natives (LeBlanc, 2009). Finally, I will explore the phenomenon of affect which is tied to both the physiological and emotional sensations of playing video games and how players express themselves and their emotions through the medium of the game and in spaces where players can share their experiences.

Pleasure

There is tension between configuring pleasure as a human physiological phenomenon and understanding that pleasure is derived from socio-cultural constructs (Coveney & Bunton, 2003). With the former, neurological and psychological studies have linked the experience of pleasure to biological sensory inputs (Kringelbach, 2005; Berridge & Kringelbach, 2008; Leknes & Tracey, 2008). Pleasure is received through neurological pathways and registered in specific parts of the brain. It is the individual responses to the physiological reception of stimuli to induce pleasure that makes this notion more than just a biological imperative (Lupton, 1998) Therefore, while pleasure is universally experienced, our responses to the things that give us pleasure depend on our individual perceptions and how these are shaped by our reality. This model activates a sterile interpretation of the relationship between feelings and sensations, the body, and the contexts in which they are experienced (Lupton, 1998). However, like many physiological responses, how these manifest in our interactions and relations to others is tightly regulated. All humans may feel pleasure but how they convey this experience is situated between the complexities of physiological response and the social and cultural frameworks that regulate and contain bodies and their pleasurable responses.

An alternative viewpoint offers that pleasure is a socio-cultural construct that is not inherent and is learned through exposure to our relations with others. Pleasure, as with other emotions must be parsed by the individual and made sense of in the context of “cultural meaning systems people use in attempting to understand the situations they find themselves in” (Lutz, 1985, p. 65). Therefore, pleasure becomes something that is experienced, understood and reacted to in different ways depending on social and cultural circumstances (Lupton, 1998). The pleasure to be found in playing video games cannot be reduced to our brain’s responses to audio, visual, or physical stimuli. While playing video games does have a pharmacological effect on the brain with increased levels of dopamine-inducing pleasure recorded in gamers (Koepp, et al., 1988), there is more to understanding this pleasurable response and the ways in which gamers articulate and manifest this experience. This stimulation that comes from playing video games is expressed in ways that extend out beyond the body and exemplify social meanings and articulations. Experiences that we term flow, immersion, and affect are examples of how the individual interpret the sensory input that comes from playing video games based on quantified and qualified understandings of pleasure, which are revealed in the intersections of the cultures of video-gaming with wider social values encircling play including digitisation, work, leisure, age, gender, sexuality and class to name a few.

There are two distinct aspects of how we make sense of pleasure (Alasuutari, 1992). The first is that there is a cultural aspect to the way humans learn to understand sensory experiences that has a direct impact on how they transfer physiological stimulus to the consciousness. Second, reducing activities to the satisfying of biological urges diminishes our understanding of them. Classifying a video game as a form of human-computer interaction that may provide pleasure without considering the socio-cultural context belies the meaning that individuals make as a result of engaging with the activity. We recognise therefore, that while pleasure is a physiological response to stimulus, how humans make meaning from that pleasure is a socio-cultural construct. LeBlanc’s taxonomy of game pleasures provides an interface where the physiological and the socio-cultural can be mapped, measured, and understood.

LeBlanc’s Taxonomy

LeBlanc’s list of eight pleasures that punctuate the aesthetics of video games include: Sensation, Fantasy, Narrative, Challenge, Fellowship, Discovery, Expression, and Submission (Hunicke et al., 2004). This list of gaming pleasures is not exhaustive and other video game researchers have determined that other pleasures can be found in playing video games, including arousal (Sherry, Lucas, Greenberg, & Lachlan, 2006), competition (Malone & Lepper, 1987; Sherry et al., 2006), and control and recognition (Malone & Lepper, 1987). However, LeBlanc’s taxonomy provides a detailed framework for discussion and analysis of the complex pleasures of play that can be extrapolated onto the specific example of Skyrim and the solo-play paradigm that defines the style of play and therefore the pleasures that can manifest (Aleven, Myers, Easterday, & Ogan, 2010). LeBlanc’s tropes are useful as they help deepen the complexities attached to theorising digital games and avoid nebulous and imprecise descriptors such as ‘fun’ and ‘gameplay’. While many of the pleasures in Skyrim overlap with other games, there are places where player experiences are significantly differentiated. It is these experiences that will be explored in chapter two via an examination of the characteristics of RPGs and in chapter three through the analysis of player reviews.

Sensory, Imaginative, and Narrative Immersion

According to Christou (2014), video games are enjoyable because they are immersive. This fundamental aspect of video games can be described as the player’s experience of the “sensations, thoughts, feelings, actions and meaning-making” (Ermi & Mayra, 2005, p. 2) that make up their unique connection to the game. To make sense of immersion as a pleasurable experience, Ermi and Mayra (2005) created three distinctive elements to form an immersion model: sensory, imaginative, and challenge-based immersion. These overlap with LeBlanc’s pleasures of sensation, fantasy, narrative, and challenge.

Sensation is experienced when the consciousness receives sensory input through stimulus (Cabanac, 1979). According to LeBlanc, sensation refers to the “sensory qualities of a game” (LeBlanc, 2009, 28:48). While Ermi and Mayra refer to it as the “audiovisual execution of games” (2005, p. 7), it can also include touch, smell, or taste that add to their definition of sensory immersion. In video games, compelling and stimulating graphics, music, and sound; and the tactile feel of the controller, mouse, or keyboard can all be included in this understanding of the sensory. These experiences are attached to the core physiological responses that are marked as an embodied cause for pleasure – the feel of the controls, the effect of music on emotions, and the pleasure of looking. Schell has stated that the pleasures of sensation include “seeing something beautiful” (2014, p. 127). Yet this description does not adequately encompass the sensory possibilities of games to provide immersion as well as flow, and affect within play.  According to Cabanac (1979), sensation has an affective component that refers to the amount of pleasure or displeasure that the sensation stimulates. This pleasure or displeasure can be mapped by layering the qualities of immersion experienced through the tropes of imagination or fantasy, and challenge.

According to LeBlanc, fantasy simply means that games are “about something” (2009, 28:55) that provides an anchorage for imagination. Ermi and Mayra describe imaginative immersion in games that offer the “player a chance to use her imagination, empathise with the characters, or just enjoy the fantasy of the game” (2005, p. 8). While LeBlanc’s definition of fantasy appears simple, the abstraction he deploys in ‘about something’ creates space within the player’s experience where pleasure is open and new possibilities emerge, for example, of challenge and discovery where there are opportunities for flow experiences. According to Baranowski, Buday, Thompson, and Baranowski (2008), action adventure video games are particularly adept at fostering the imagination of players as there is a great deal of pleasure to be found in entering and exploring fantastical worlds – deploying imagination and engaging in fantasy. All of this is made possible by the visually and auditory rich world, that the player encounters whether they are in fantasy RPGs (Juul, 2011) or any other games. Therefore, there is a strong connection between the pleasure in ‘make believe’ or fantasy more generally and the sensations provided by the interface with the programming of audio-visual stimulation that codifies that fantasy into objects within the game space.

We need to be careful when discussing the pleasures of ‘make believe’ in relation to immersion as there is more to fantasy in video games than the pleasure in imaginative immersion. These complexities are connected to narrative pleasures and wider cultural myths that perpetuate story conventions and character archetypes. Imaginative immersion encapsulates the ability for players to enfold themselves in the game’s story (Ermi & Mayra, 2005). While games may break conventional narrative rules they all have the potential to cohere a story-world (LeBlanc, 2009). Narrative becomes an important aspect of immersion “as it gives the players a storyline and background, telling them who their characters are and what is happening, which makes the players feel they are part of the story” (Sweetser & Johnson, 2004, p. 3). LeBlanc provides both a simple, yet at the same time complex understanding of how narrative functions in games by stating that the “events of the game are narrative” (2009, 28:32). Through this, all LeBlanc’s tropes can be activated to create a story for the player to find pleasure in whether the game is rich in narrative or not. While this is also true of other forms of textual entertainment, video games offer a level of interactivity that is both a source of pleasure and conflict for players. Action RPGs manage to “offer pleasures associated with narrative, such as plotted twists and revelations, resolution and characterisation” (Carr, Schott, Burn, & Buckingham, 2004, p. 23). At the same time, they offer players the difficult choice of whether to follow the dominant narrative or create their own path. Skyrim’s narrative trajectory is defined by narrative choices whereby players can enjoy the action role-playing aspects of the game without completing the game’s main story.

This conflict creates a level of tension between the way the author or programmer has designed the story to be consumed and the desire for the player to take control of their environment. This added tension can be linked to LeBlanc’s pleasure of submission where the player resists the urge to wrest control away from the designer but also manifests in large cultures of hacking and modding. Players must be willing to delay and therefore possibly enhance their pleasure by submitting to the game’s narrative and take away this potential when they mod, inserting their own pleasures on top of the programming. In doing so, they recode the immersive experience by reshaping the outcomes and expectations of the game, layering new potentials for flow and affect.  Most often game designers reward players for following the narrative while at the same time giving them choices in completing the missions that help the story to progress (Tanenbaum & Tanenbaum, 2010). The difficulty here is the contradiction that can arise between narrative and interactivity as a balance point for immersion. According to Bizzochi and Tannenbaum (2012), interactivity can be described from the perspective of the player making their own choices as opposed to surrendering to the story. However, as LeBlanc has stated, a game does not need to follow strict narrative structures to provide narrative pleasure. When games like Skyrim activate other pleasures such as the challenge of solving the puzzles, discovering secrets, or expression through character creation and modding, they become a unique story for the player to enjoy. The spaces of and for complexity that are enabled, situate movement between immersion, flow and affect that offers an enriched pleasure-based network experienced in and out of game.

Challenge-based Immersion, Flow, Submission, and Discovery

Gaming terrains are spaces of tension where pleasure is tenuously and affectively derived in the meeting of conflicting expectations dialoguing between player and programmer. The level of challenge of and for game play has an impact upon the sensations, narrative outcomes, imaginative immersion, and fantasy experienced by gamers. “Challenge is the ability for a game to give us problems to solve, … to test our skills” (LeBlanc, 2009, 29:06). Ermi and Mayra (2005) have noted that there are two components of challenge; the challenge that comes from playing a game that is fast paced, and one that has mental challenges. Pleasure is derived when a player achieves balance between the difficulty of an activity and the skill required to achieve the activity successfully (Csikszentmihalyi, 2014). The result is a deep level of focus that is described as flow. “Flow is a subjective state that people report when they are completely involved in something to the point of forgetting time, fatigue, and everything else but the activity itself” (Csikszentmihalyi, Abuhamdeh, & Nakamura, 2014, p. 230). Flow and immersion are often used interchangeably as they describe similar states, however, they remain separate in their outcomes.

Immersion is described as a “sub-optimal experience” (Jennett, et al., 2008, p. 643) as it occurs specifically in video games but not in all video games. The major difference between flow and immersion is that a video game player can experience flow playing Tetris (Pajitnov, 1984) but is unlikely that this would translate to feelings of sensory or imaginative immersion. For a player to enter a flow state, they must have sufficient control and awareness to filter out everything but the activity itself. The challenge versus skill aspect of flow that is also described in feelings of immersion is possible because “a person is in full control of his actions and of the environment” (Csikszentmihalyi, 2014, p. 142), while at the same time being both aware and unaffected by concerns with loss of that control. In other words, the person experiencing flow submits to the activity, relying solely on the demands on their ability to the point where any social interaction is no longer necessary. Skyrim as a single-player game offers optimum conditions for the coherence of sensations with imagination or fantasy along with challenge to move from immersion into flow and therefore heightened pleasures. Skyrim offers both radical diversion, discovery and freedom, along with submission.

While LeBlanc has described submission as “the pleasure of following instructions … and submitting to the system” (2009, 30:22), there is a more complex notion that “pleasure is an effect of submitting to the rules of a game, that pleasure delayed and constrained is pleasure enhanced” (Salen & Zimmerman, 2004, p. 296). Meaning that by following the rules of play, the player will receive greater pleasure. An alternative view, according to Duckworth, Tsukayama, and Kirby (2013) is that delayed gratification is more about self-control than about pleasure-associated reward. Therefore, making the choice to play through boring or difficult game play rather than skip them or use cheats relates more to control. The complexity here is that there are multiple pleasures at play in Skyrim regardless of and because of, the choices made by the player. Immersive, flow and affective outcomes can occur when submitting to the rules of the game when the player completes quests and challenges in certain ways. These challenges can result in flow experiences that the player can later recall as enjoyable. The immersive challenges, sensations and imaginary settings can also engage player emotions, as can powerful narratives. Skyrim players can choose to ignore “the rules” and explore everything that the game has to offer including new ways to solve the problems of the game that can result in intensive pleasures associated with LeBlanc’s sixth trope: discovery.

According to LeBlanc, the pleasure in discovery is about the ability for games to provide “unchartered territory” (2009, 29:37) for players to explore. Games with three dimensional spaces like Skyrim are particularly adept and providing opportunities to explore the unknown. The pleasure that explorers receive from games is the affective sense of surprise and wonder that manifests as they interact with the world (Bartle, 1996). For games where discovery and exploration is paramount the attraction for players is in exploring the breadth and depth of the game. While players that find pleasure in discovery are happy to socialise with others, they are more likely to do so because of their knowledge of the game. As LeBlanc has stated (2009), you start out as a digital tourist, and end up as a knowledgeable native proving that, like any native, you have immersed yourself in world. Where the tourist can ask for help in online games, for games like Skyrim, they must rely on these explorers to congregate in online forums. Explorers, as Bartle has stated, “are proud of their knowledge of the game’s finer points, especially if new players treat them as founts of all knowledge” (1996, p.7). There is a pleasure in both learning about the game and having the passion to share that knowledge in spaces that afford that opportunity creating links to socialisation.

There are further links between the pleasure of discovery in games and LeBlanc’s other pleasures. Gee has affirmed that players like to “probe and explore virtual worlds” (2008, p. 233). They discover new possibilities and opportunities that they can use to overcome challenges such as solving puzzles or to take on more difficult enemies. In solo games like Skyrim, this can be as simple as finding and eating every plant to discover its effects, to learning and practising new spells to win battles. Thereby allowing players to engage in multiple pleasures that reconcile how they experience play. While this can be achieved in online RPGs, defeating other players tends to more about the competitive aspect of games. As Ducheneaut, Yee, Nickell, & Moore (2006) have stated, players who explore online virtual worlds tend to avoid social interaction and engage in solo play.

Affect, Expression, and Fellowship

Sensation, fantasy, challenge, narrative, submission, and discovery pleasures are all derived from the immersive and interactive gaming experiences that players have. The sensory, fantasy, and discovery pleasures of these digital spaces along with the ability to interact within make-believe worlds that offer rich stories and challenges can also elicit strong emotional responses in players that is referred to as ‘affect’ and as Lazzaro has stated, “without emotion there is no game” (2009, p. 156). Affect occurs when we care about something enough that we pour our emotions into it and in return are rewarded with an excess of energy (Grossberg, 1992). This energy is often directed through self-expression and socialisation with gamers modifying, creating and sharing content that they have made for and about their favourite games. Affect is a self-sustaining and empowering connection with a cultural practice, such as watching movies and playing video games. Although “more interactive than films, games manipulate player affect to create poignant experiences” (Lazzaro, 2009, p. 156) that can be experienced alone or shared with others. Although it is often the case that affects emerge out of experiences, both pleasant and unpleasant, that cannot be expressed in words.

As there are many games, like Skyrim, that offer no forms of in-game socialisation, players that have a strong affective connection to a game need to create their own outlets where they can share their sense of belonging. A sense that often manifests in other examples of popular culture, where these intense feelings are amplified by the shared passions of the fans. These passions can be seen in the way players express themselves in games and in the way players share the results of that expression. The pleasure of expression is the ability of a game “to let you say something about yourself” (LeBlanc, 2009, 30:17), while the pleasure of fellowship relates to all the socialisation aspects of playing games, including community, competition, cooperation, communication, and trade (LeBlanc, 2009).

Affect extends the analysis of video games by demonstrating that they are more than the ‘sensory qualities’ that players engage with. They produce emotional responses (Shinkle, 2005) and reactions that cannot be explained by human-computer interactions (Anable, 2013). However, by engaging with LeBlanc’s gaming pleasures to move beyond clichés of fun, escapism, and immersion; it is possible to gain an understanding of affect and how it manifests in gamer activity. Experiences of affect can be understood as strong emotions that encompass excitement, fear, accomplishment and frustration (Bentley, Johnston, & Baggo, 2002). Affect energises the game, arouses the senses and emotions, and transports the player into their own space-time continuum to situate a network of and for pleasure in the sensational literacy of play. Affect is ethereal and difficult to capture, yet is vital to our understanding the cultural implications of video games and exploring the positive or transformative elements of play.

For single-player games like Skyrim, affect can be mapped into LeBlanc’s trope of expression found in the “pleasure of creating things” (Schell, 2015, p. 126) whether that be through defining an avatar or the formation and development of online communities. As with all RPGs, character design and progression is a fundamental form of self-expression, and Skyrim affords players the ability to form their own avatars and develop them as they please through their playing style. This link between playing style and character creation is supported by Trepte and Reinecke (2010) who have noted that when playing games that are non-competitive such as a single-player RPG, players will create and develop characters that relate to their own personality. There is, according to the authors, a direct correlation between pleasure and being able to identify with your character (Trepte & Reinecke, 2010). As player’s experience the game through their avatar, it is their creation that affords the possibility of immersion, flow, and affect. It makes the gaming experience unique for the player and that everything they see, feel, and experience are their own combinations of pleasures.

LeBlanc’s eight types of pleasures, are a road map to the broader theories of immersion, flow, and affect. Sensation, Fantasy, Narrative, Challenge, Fellowship, Discovery, Expression, and Submission layer understandings of pleasure to visualise how play moves through immersion, flow and affect. Immersion combines pleasurable sensations, activities that challenge the body and mind, and fantasies to engage with. Flow demonstrates how the pleasure of challenge manifests in and through pleasure. The opportunities for submission is also observed in flow where repetitive motions in games can induce a pleasurable experience. Players can submit to the rules of the game or take control over their game experience and explore all that the virtual world offers. While some social competition may be help a player in their flow experience, socialisation can have a negative impact on both immersion and flow when playing single-player RPGs like Skyrim. While there is pleasure in the reception of audio-visual stimulus provided by games, affect is an emotional response to other game pleasures, including discovery, fantasy and narrative. Affect is closely tied to the pleasure of sensation and can manifest in social spaces where players can express their excess affective energy through creative community practices. This complexity of LeBlanc’s game pleasures provides an interesting challenge when examining specific games like Skyrim which will be the focus in chapter two.

Chapter 2: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Skyrim is a role-playing game and as with many contemporary computer role-playing games (CRPG), it is heavily influenced by table-top role-playing games (RPG) like Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) (Gygax & Arneson, 1974). It is this link to its past that will provide support for the argument that players find pleasure in solo play despite there being no in-game socialisation. I will begin by providing a brief description of the characteristics of RPGs along with their links to the myths and narratives of our past. I will then explore these links, specifically the features that are representative of RPGs beginning with role playing. While RPGs are inherently social activities, I will demonstrate how role playing is diminished by online interactions. I will then examine character creation, collaboration and specialisation and how the removal of class selection in Skyrim changes the way players negotiate the pleasures of fantasy, challenge, and self-expression. Narrative is an important feature of all RPGs and through the example of Skyrim’s immersive opening I will demonstrate how narrative and agency are combined in ways that provide a pleasurable experience that may be lacking in other single-player RPGs. I will then explore the nature of quests in RPGs and how despite the importance of fellowship in MMORPGs, they face social conflicts and often dissolve into a means of accumulating experience points and levels. Finally, I will examine the importance of adaptation and modification in RPGs and how Skyrim players have the freedom to make the game their own in ways that allow the networked pleasures available in immersion, flow and affect to find currency and purchase within the single-player experience of Skyrim.

The Characteristics of Role-Playing Games

Table-top RPGs are characterised as games that involve a group of players creating characters with specific skills and attributes that are based on fictional races like elves and orcs; and classes like warriors, mages, and thieves (Fine, 1983). These serve to stimulate the game play within the mythologies of folk and literary narrative dating back to Beowulf, and tap into a shared imagination mobilised in tales of heroism and tragedy, leadership, warriors and war that punctuate popular imaginings and renderings of historical figures, myths and memories (Bowman, 2010). Players form their characters into parties that are then guided through a fictional setting by a Dungeon Master (DM). The DM narrates scenarios, or quests, that allow players to collaboratively role play their characters through the exploration of the created world (Mackay, 2001). Thereby calling into the present, mythological imaginings of heroes, demons, dragons and warriors. The outcome of actions, such as battles with monsters and villains, are determined by dice rolls (Tresca, 2011). Players receive rewards in the form of experience points which can be used to progress their character’s skills and abilities, allowing play to be dynamic as players and their avatars have the potential to evolve, and create new outcomes (Buyers & Crocco, 2016). When playing over longer periods of time, players can develop their character’s race and class attributes along with their character’s personality presenting layers of narratives, reimagining of the past and mobilising multiple myths.

Role Playing

Role playing, or the playing of a “character distinct from his or her normal everyday identity” (Byers & Crocco, 2016, p. 5) signifies an important feature that all RPGs have and one that is important in understanding the pleasure of solo play in Skyrim. In order to role play, a player must first engage in character creation. In both table-top and computer RPGs this involves the player selecting their character’s race and class that becomes the makeup of their identity. Each race and class has specific starting attributes with the inclusion of points allocated by a dice roll, or randomly generated by the computer. Players are able to be expressive creating a unique character that they can then develop as they play. Where single-player RPGs differ from MMORPGs is that the creation and development of a player’s identity becomes more complex in the latter due to the volatile and spontaneous nature of online gaming (Waggoner, 2009). According to Murray (1997), role playing is often set aside due the necessity of establishing and constantly renegotiating social boundaries. In Skyrim, players can indulge in a pleasurable solo role playing experience that is not reliant on the cooperation or compliance of others. In Skyrim, in-game socialisation can be detrimental to a player’s sensory, fantasy, and narrative immersion in the game. What sets Skyrim apart from MMORPGs and other single-player RPGs is the removal of class selection and specialisation from the character creation and development mechanics that impact the way the game is played and therefore the potential for immersion, flow and affect to intersect in and through pleasurable experiences.

Character Creation, Collaboration, and Specialisation

Skyrim differs from table-top RPGs, MMORPGs, and other single-player RPGs, in the creation of character. Only the initial selection of the player’s race occurs, no class selection is made. This is important as classes determine a player’s occupation in RPGs and therefore define how the player plays the game (Tresca, 2011). You can either be a warrior, thief, ranger, mage or some other variant, but these are typically not combined as game play and game mechanics preclude this option. The consideration that makes the removal of class significant to pleasure in solo play in Skyrim specifically is specialisation. Specialisation is an important element of RPGs that rely on a balanced group. Balance becomes problematic according to Vanhatupa (2011) as non-combat classes, such as thieves and clerics are often too weak to provide any playing benefit in the early stages of a game or, in the case of wizards, they became so powerful over time that the game becomes boring. MMORPG players must specialise to be able to complete challenging quests as a group. Even where players prefer solo play in MMORPGs, at some point their class choice becomes a limitation if they cannot complete a quest that requires the strength of a warrior or the healing skills of a cleric. There is pleasure in the challenge of overcoming obstacles, although this becomes frustrating if it is too difficult and boring if it is too easy.

The difficulty with specialisation is that “the more complex and nuanced a customization selection becomes, the larger risk there is for a player to get pigeon-holed into a role they didn’t want in the first place” (Dyce, 2011, p. 11) resulting in a disconnect from flow and immersion. While there is pleasure in finding the right balance in collaborative, social play; player individuality is often constrained where players are forced to team up to achieve shared goals (Myers, 2007) In Skyrim, players can use swords, stealth, and spells in combinations that are atypical of RPGs and are rewarded with experience points, even ones that are typically restricted to other classes. Thereby providing the pleasure in complex and evolving self-expression that is not afforded to players that are forced to play as one specialised class throughout their gaming experience.

Skyrim not only provides players with unique character creation mechanics and the removal of specialisation, it does so in way that engages the player in narrative immersion which then creates pleasure in the way it introduces player agency. Agency, according to Murray, “is the satisfying power to take meaningful action and see the results of our decisions and choices” (1997, p. 126). In Skyrim agency manifests with an immersive story sequence that sets the player as a prisoner on the way to their execution with no knowledge about who they are or why they are there. After non-player characters (NPCs) are introduced by the executioner the player is asked to provide their name. This question engages the character-creation screen providing the player the opportunity to choose their race, gender, and appearance. After making these decisions the player returns to the execution scene. What differentiates Skyrim from other RPGs is that instead of beginning with the typical character-creation screen and following with a background for the character and the setting, the character creation is woven into the narrative (Simkins, Dikkers, & Owen, 2012). It also makes the experience a more personal one, as the player is starting out without a name or history, which is not typical of RPGs that provide a background for the player. While this is designed to make players feel a connection with a story (Sweetser & Johnson, 2004), it underscores the pleasure of discovery in Skyrim, as it is “unchartered territory” (LeBlanc, 2009, 29:37) not only in the world to be explored, but also in the exploration of the fate of your character.

Narrative and Agency

The immersive nature of Skyrim’s opening scene creates an opportunity to reconcile the conflict between narrative and agency by allowing the player to experience narrative choice. This conflict arises when a player’s freedom to move within the technical constraints of the virtual world is at odds with the game’s attempts to “narratively structure the user’s experience” (Harrell & Zhu, 2009, p. 1). In Skyrim, once the player has created their character, they are returned to face their imminent execution. However, before the execution can take place it is interrupted by the appearance of a dragon which allows the player to escape. This serves an important purpose as it offers a traditional role-playing means of providing both a game-play tutorial and a sense of where the player’s character sits within the diegesis (Call, Whitlock, & Voorhees, 2012). In Skyrim, the escape scene allows for the player to learn by playing, and in doing so weaves in elements of game play mechanics, with an immersive introduction. The game also plays on the removal of specialisations by allowing the player to try out thieving, fighting, and spell-using as means of exploring the character’s initial development.

After escaping the dragon, you are then presented with your first narrative choice and your first sense of agency, to accept the help of an Imperial guard or a Stormcloak prisoner. What makes this unique to Skyrim is that instead of the typical dialogue options that are offered in other RPGs (Joyce, 2016), your choice is made when you enter the door indicated by one of the two NPCs. It becomes the interactive equivalent of choosing the red pill by continuing the story through the action of opening a door rather than selecting a typical dialogue option, setting up the immersive experience and potential for flow through movement of/as the avatar rather than decision-making as a player. By following the guard, you might later join the Imperial Legion and fight for the Empire; or by following the prisoner, you might join the Stormcloaks and free Skyrim from the Empire. In Skyrim, agency comes in the form of choosing between the two main factions and then exploring the consequences of those choices as the player proceeds through the game world.

The pleasure in agency comes in seeing the results of actions manifesting on the screen. For table-top RPGs and MMORPGs agency becomes more complicated as “role-playing texts are negotiated during play, and all participants can exercise their agency to shape the way that the story goes” (Hammer, 2006, p. 73). The issue that arises with this form of play is that players often have to give up their own sense of agency, and therefore control, to progress the group narrative which already has to deal with the complexities of social interactions. The potential for flow is governed by external rather than internal agencies. In Skyrim, players find pleasure in self-expression by making their own mark on the game without the need to consider the demands or benefits of the group. Skyrim players, according to Joyce are “free to experience the narrative beats” (2016, para. 26) where the game provides multiple stories and experiences in the form of hundreds of quests and encounters that allow them to explore, the pleasure of discovery, and the expressive power to choose how that exploration occurs, both important aspects of gaming pleasure that allow immersive layering, and flow-on affect.

Quests, Experience Points and Levels

This solitary experience of exploration is at odds with one of the key ingredients of collaborative narrative that occurs in RPGs; the gathering of the fellowship to engage in quests. Fellowship in gaming includes the socialising pleasures associated with cooperation and competition (LeBlanc, 2009). In creating the characters and settings for D&D, Gygax and Anerson drew heavily on Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings (1954), but also acknowledged the influences of Edgar Rice Burroughs, H.P. Lovecraft, and Robert E. Howard (Gygax, 1979). It is the gathering of the fellowship in Lord of the Rings that best illustrates the formation of a party of different races, each classed with special attributes and skills, that must collaborate in order to complete the quest (Tresca, 2011). For Skyrim players, this archetype of table-top gaming and many subsequent CRPGs including World of Warcraft (Blizzard Entertainment, 2004), is absent from the gaming experience. Yet, questing in its traditional form has often drawn on the myths of solitary heroes whose heroic journeys are completed with limited, if any help, from companions. Skyrim’s lone protagonist and the quest provided within the game, best exemplifies the concept of the hero’s journey or monomyth (Campbell, 2008). Within the opening scene alone, the player is ‘called to adventure’ through the escape from the dragon; ‘meets a mentor’ in the form of the guard or the prisoner; and ‘crosses the threshold’ by choosing to follow one of the mentors through the door. The pleasure in engaging in narrative conventions and completing the quests in Skyrim comes from the sense of accomplishment in being able to overcome the challenges set by the game. There is also the pleasure and comfort in connecting with the familiar myths and stories of the past.

In RPGs quests are designed to create and extend the narrative to a point where the hero or heroes face a final conflict and finish the game as victors. It has been argued that MMORPGs use the gathering of experience points and levels as a “substitute for victory” (Peterson, 2012, p. xiv) as there is no end to the game. This is the notion of “endless narrative” (Gray & Huang, 2015, p. 135) where the accumulation of experience points and levels becomes the goal of the game. This can “create highly compulsive circumstances, encouraging players to keep going, keep earning more points, keep getting more powerful” (Bateman, 2012, pp. 235-236). With Skyrim there are many quests that allow for players to conclude the game, if they choose, providing a pleasurable sense of accomplishment. While Skyrim, like all RGPs, includes experience points and levels that unlock greater skills that allow the player to become more powerful, the quests are not endless. Although Skyrim is a vast, open world with seemingly endless dungeons to explore and quests to complete, the main story provides a conclusion for players to choose to play towards, a pleasure in itself. For many other players there is greater pleasure in challenge and expression through other pursuits such as the creation and adaption of modifications that extend their enjoyment of the game once the main narrative is complete.

Adaptation and Modification

Where D&D is rooted in the genre of fantasy literature, other RPGs have adapted and evolved by drawing on many other genres including horror, science fiction, mystery, steampunk, military, and espionage (Bowman, 2010). Skyrim, as with many contemporary CRPGs and MMORPGs, is firmly rooted in the fantasy genre as evidenced by its setting, characters, and artefacts; however, many Skyrim players have taken it upon themselves to alter the game space to enhance their own pleasure in the game and share that pleasure with others. Game modifications or mods are “player-made alterations and additions to preexisting games” (Sotamaa, 2010, p. 240) and perform an important part of Skyrim’s pleasure in fellowship.  Mods can be made to all aspects of a game ranging from character adaptations to the creation of levels, or even new games (Wallace, 2014). All this is made possible by the availability of the Creation Kit that was released with the game (Bethesda Game Studios, 2011). As Postigo (2007) has stated, players are motivated to create mods because there is pleasure in expression and it is means of connecting with the game and the broader game community. Therefore, Skyrim players are clearly exhibiting their affective relationship with the game through expression and socialisation.

The use of mods becomes complex in the way it has potential to interfere with the narrative structure envisioned by the game’s author or programmer and in cases where the author is concerned by the ways fans appropriate their content. This activity is referred to by Jenkins (2006) as convergence culture which while having its origins in television audience studies, has evolved into the broader category of participatory culture. From the way Skyrim players have been offered this creative outlet, we can see that they are welcomed as participatory designers (Muller, 2002). While a mod in the form of a hack or cheat, only alters the game play for the Skyrim player, it can impact the fairness and balance in social games (Lore, 2015). While mods are freely available to all players, not all game play options appeal to all players. Although mods are used to enhance sensory immersion (Bostan & Kaplancali, 2010) there is the potential for fantasy-based and challenged-based immersion and flow to be diminished by their use. There is a great deal of pleasure in taking control over the game through the use of mods, as well as there being the added pleasure of inclusion in a vast modding community. However, there is tension between the pleasures gains from modding and the ways in which immersion, flow and affect are experienced by players.

Skyrim renegotiates the characteristics of traditional RPGs to create a more pleasurable solo experience. Through the pleasures of fantasy and self-expression, Skyrim affords players the ability to role play and develop their character without the pressures of social interactions. By removing classes from the game, Skyrim provides the pleasures of balanced challenge with an unknown and unformed character to discover. Skyrim’s opening scene resolves the conflict between narrative and agency, while at the same time offering players the pleasure of discovery without the difficulties that arise when individuals in multiplayer RPGs seek to take control of the narrative from each other. With Skyrim representing the pleasures of solo exploration as identified by Campbell’s monomyth, there are numerous narratives and quests within the game for players to experience. While experience points and levelling are important characteristics of all RPGs including Skyrim, the game provides players with the choice to conclude the game at a variety of points. The issue with MMORPGs is that they that have the potential for endless narrative, while with Skyrim, completing the narrative is an important and pleasurable challenge. Finally, for those that seek to enhance their sensory immersion, or extend the pleasures of self-expression and socialisation, Skyrim allows players to mod their game, or become involved in an extensive modding community. While modding is a significant argument for the pleasures of solo play, this does not appeal to all players. Other players find their creative and social outlets by creating content in the form of player reviews that reveal their passion for the game in complex and nuanced forms.

 

Chapter 3: Analysis of Player Reviews

In this chapter, I will demonstrate through the analysis of player reviews how these textual traces provide Skyrim players the means to demonstrate through their words their connection to the game and the pleasures it offers. Drawing on the theories of immersion, flow, and affect that were discussed in chapter one and the characteristics of Skyrim that were explored in chapter two, I will show how the reviews reinforce and capture LeBlanc’s interwoven and overlapping pleasures. More importantly, it is the presence of the reviews themselves that speak for phenomenon of affect that unite the Skyrim player community demonstrating that while affect is difficult to articulate, that the reviewers have done so, represents their passion for the game. I will begin by analysing the reviews that reference the pleasures of the ‘sensory qualities’ of Skyrim that reveal the complex connections between immersion, flow, and affect. I will examine how reviewers extol the fantasy aspects of the game through the genre itself and the opportunities to make believe creating a connection to imaginary immersion. Finally, I will explore the reviews that reference the pleasures of Skyrim’s narrative, which overlap and complexify issues of narrative and agency and reveal an affective connection to the game.

I will then examine the difficulty in measuring flow through the reviews, although I will demonstrate how the traces of challenge-based immersion and flow can be gleaned from the players’ experiences. I will then examine reviews that affirm the meditative experience of flow that can also lead to the pleasure of submission, as well as the reviews that reveal the pleasure in working through and completing quests and missions. Finally, I will analyse reviews that reveal the pleasure of discovery and how this connects players to the immersive game world, brings about the possibility of flow through meditative wandering, and the wonder that reveals an affective response. In the final section, I will demonstrate how in seeking to explain the affective outcomes of the pleasurable experience of play we see Skyrim reviewers write about the game in ways that LeBlanc might call ‘expressive’. I will analyse the the multiple reviews that reveal the extensive use of humour and mods demonstrating how LeBlanc’s tropes punctuate their play and where the reviewers can work through these pleasurable experiences of immersion, flow and affect via these textual traces.

Sensory, Imaginative and Narrative Immersion

Sensory immersion is more complex than the functions ascribed to it by LeBlanc and Ermi and Mayra. LeBlanc leverages the notion of ‘sensation’ as the sensory quality of games in a parallel understanding of how players experience pleasure in game worlds, while Ermi and Mayra (2005) affirm the importance of the audio-visual elements of video games that allow players to move into an immersive state. The player reviews will demonstrate through the intensity of their language that Skyrim provides a pleasurable experience that is a strong indication of sensory immersion and affect. The complexity comes when trying to understand how flow and affect fit within the reviewers’ experiences. When Skyrim players are in a flow state, they are experiencing pleasure in the beautiful sights and sounds of the game, however they are not allowing it to influence the flow activity. It is not until they leave this state that the element of pleasure manifests in an affective response. Sensory immersion creates an emotional experience that manifests in feelings of pleasure, and for some players, astonishment and awe. Way of the Voice writes: “I myself was in awe on how much Beauty is throughout the game (from landscapes to the “heavens”) astonishing…” (2015). As RubZ describes the experience, “You creep through them with your heart in your mouth, your only soundtrack the dull groan of the wind outside” (2016). For reviewers caught up in Skyrim’s beauty, there is the immediate emotional reaction to their sensory surroundings. It is because Skyrim is a single-player RPG that these affective responses require an alternative outlet to manifest because it cannot be shared in-game and indeed would possibly compromise the pleasurable network being crafted by the player.

Some reviewers focus on and associate the word ‘beautiful’ with the word ‘graphics’, others associate the word with descriptions of the sights and sounds of the world itself. In the same way that visitors to a scenic spot will describe the vistas before them, Skyrim’s reviewers are reacting to the visual and aural aesthetics of the game world. Most often, these responses fail to fully account for the player (or the tourist’s) experience and pleasure.

“The world design of Skyrim at times is stunningly beautiful, awe-inspiring vistas, gloomy caves and warm, inviting inns.” ([KCH] Munger, 2014) “A beautifully crafted never ending epic high fantasy game.” (StealthMomo, 2014) “… when you play it slowly, just look around, enjoy the beautiful scenery and explore the world of Skyrim.” (moosetits #GoTeamHeavy, 2013) “This game is a masterpiece in its scope, variety and beautiful vistas. (Volunteer, 2014) “World is beautiful, vast and full of variety … (Zeroni, 2014) “The graphics are beautiful, even without any mods for it.” (SAROMON, 2015). “The graphics are amazing and the story is immersive.” (geminiflyer123, 2016). “Ambient lighting and effects are excellent and the designers have succeeded in creating a diverse and atmospheric landscape.” (Fancy Fish, 2015) “With great graphics, Great gameplay, and a captivating sandbox-like atmosphere, this game is a must-have for your library!” (Lieutenant Fluffy Ears, 2014) “Sound effects and voice acting are both excellent throughout” (Fancy Fish, 2015). “the atmosphere and audio just leaves me speechless!” (loopuleasa, 2013) “The music is outstanding and it is contributing to the lovely atmosphere of Skyrim.” (SAROMON, 2015). “The music is good and really nostalgic for me. Whenever I hear one track from this game I want to grab a sword and go looking for adventures.” (Senpai Edition, 2015).

 

As we can see from the descriptive nature of the reviews, sensory aesthetics are important to Skyrim players’ immersive experience of the game. In the following review, ‘dead moms walking’ provides powerful support for their connection to Skyrim: “I wanted to find ways to see beyond Skyrim‘s physical beauty[i.imgur.com], and explore all her other aesthetic qualities, like art, music, literature, and such.” (2016). In doing so, the reviewer finds pleasure in the artistic attributes of the game and uses language to describe the affect of this pleasurable response. All of these objects, which in the game are heavily influenced by the game’s fantasy setting, are designed to enhance a player’s immersion into the game world. Therefore, it is not surprising that reviewers have focused on this immersive aspect.

Skyrim is firmly rooted in the fantasy genre, however there is more to the pleasure of fantasy than imaginative immersion. Fantasy and the inherent interactive nature of make believe coheres narrative with sensations and imagination to encourage flow. Although as we can see in the reviews, Skyrim players have found pleasure in both the specific fantasy-genre elements of the game as well as the complex activities that foster make-believe.

“In this game, you imagine what you cannot achieve in real life.” (RSn|Animus , 2015) “Swords, Maces, Bows/Crossbows, Shields, Dual Wielding, Magic, and more. Play the way you want that’s the name of the game.” (Zaric, 2013) “You could be a noble knight, or maybe a thief, a mage, a spell sword ….” (Daggerbones, 2013) “In this game, you’ll be sent back to the times where people fought with swords and bows. A brilliant setting, if you ask me.” (Rgeers, 2013) “The Best part about skyrim is there is so much to do! want to be a Vampire? you can do that! want to be a werewolf and murder people? you can do that! want to kill people and eat them for dinner? guess what? you can do that!” (Extremely Ordinary Gamer, 2014) “Also there are dragons and swords and magic and stuff whatever no big deal.” (=(yIFF)= hanzo poledancing, 2013) “The huge amount of weapons you can use, from rocks to war hammers to balistas (mod..), bows swords – every middle time weapon you can imagine IS IN THE GAME.” (♆ The Plague Doctor ♆, 2016)

 

The common thread throughout these reviews is the players’ acknowledgement that Skyrim enables them to become immersed in the make believe and fantasy aspects of the game. They get to be the heroes in their own narrative and get to live the exciting life of swordsman, thief, or mage (Rouse, 2010). In logging these affective responses players are combining imaginative and narrative immersion in ways that demonstrate the pleasures of immersion and flow through interactive challenges and the joy they get from these experiences including allowing players to get married (I Spy With My Little Knife, 2016), buy a house (Vesper, 2016), adopt children (Machikomeltsteelbeams, 2015), and keep pets (RubZ, 2016). It is clear that the various ways in which players engage with Skyrim’s fantasy provides a richer argument for its pleasure. These reviews demonstrate the ways in which pleasures are complex and activated along a number of axes that manifest LeBlanc’s tropes through the interfaces between immersion, flow and affect that frame the ways in which pleasure is experienced. The pleasure in fantasy, as LeBlanc has stated, is that Skyrim allows players to be solo adventurer engaged in their own ‘hero’s journey’ and supports all the thoughts, imaginings, actions and emotions that surround that.

Many of the reviewers articulated the pleasure in immersing themselves in Skyrim’s narrative referencing both the main storyline and the many side quests. One key aspect of questing in Skyrim and other single-player RPGs is that completing quests engages and furthers the narrative. In MMORPGs, quests tend to resolve into an endless and compulsive pursuit for experience points and levels (Bateman, 2012), creating very different networks of immersion, flow and affect. For Skyrim players faced with a vast world, the choice to engage in the game’s narrative, instead of immersing themselves in other trajectories, demonstrates the added pleasure of challenge as it provides numerous obstacles to overcome. However, it is a choice, and other reviewers make comment on the pleasure of ignoring the narrative and taking control of the game thereby rewriting the immersive potential of the narrative structure and recreating new potentials for flow and affect.

“… the story is immersive.” (geminiflyer123, 2016) “The story is great and it depends from your choices how the story goes.” (Sempai Edition, 2015) “The Story of Skyrim is very iconic in the way that it is written.” ([KHC] Munger, 2014) “Lord of the Rings this is not, but with the release of every Elder Scrolls game, the fiction becomes denser, and the cross-referencing for long-time fans all the more rewarding.” (Dovah, 2014) “So much detail, so much depth, the lore and background to the Elder Scrolls series is second to none.” (Fancy Fish, 2015) “After all that, you have the main quest, which one of the most interesting I have played.” (TeamTom Reviews, 2013) “And story? Whats story? Who cares about some generic story cliche, where you play as the born-hero and you need to save the world from the ANCIENT evil dragons.” (Kazaanh, 2015) “the main storyline is fun and engaging the side quest sometimes turn into their own winding paths that take hours to complete.” (Extremely Ordinary Gamer, 2014)

 

Of all the reviews, dead moms walking’s highlights the complex relationship that some players had with narrative and agency. The review begins: “With about 300 hours invested in the game, yet only 23 (of 75) achievements under my belt, I think it’s pretty obvious just how irrelevant Skyrim’s social and civil problems were to my happiness there.” (dead moms walking, 2016). This first comment emphasises the reviewer’s lack of interest in Skyrim’s structured narrative and a preference for playing the game by their own rules in order extend their pleasure of the game (Consalvo, 2005). This is supported by the following: “Honestly, it didn’t take long for me to realize there were little, or no, rules, in Skyrim, and after 2 or 3 hours I had my own thing going on.” (dead moms walking, 2016). The reviewer’s ‘own thing’ was to “make a comfortable living by treasure hunting, and burgling.” (dead moms walking, 2016). In doing so, the reviewer is highlighting one of the pleasures and consequences of agency, that actions have meaning. Skyrim offers players numerous opportunities to take pleasure in crafting narrative, challenge and sensation, although treasure is always guarded and thieves are punished if caught.

It is dead moms walking’s language that reveals their expressive connection to Skyrim that aligns immersion and affect and is further enforced by the player’s impassioned ending of the game. “Then, I walked to the nearest, highest, snow peaked mountain, and shouted. “Game over!”” (2016). In ending Skyrim in this way, dead moms walking is emphasising the important role that Skyrim plays in allowing players to rewrite the pleasurable parameters of their experience. The sense of agency that they are describing is bounded in pleasure that comes from having power over one’s own actions and knowing that this has meaning (Murray, 1997). It is an affective response to immersion in the reviewer’s own game narrative. While there is a main story in Skyrim with, the reviewer walks away from any prescribed narrative and indulges in their own version of reality and ends the game on their own terms – prescribing their own forms of immersive, flow and affective pleasure.

Challenge-based Immersion, Flow, Submission, and Discovery

Although immersion is considered sub-optimal when compared with flow, both states are too complex for one to be dismissed in preference for the other. There is the added complexity of understanding how these states transform into the affective emotions. When examining challenge as an element of LeBlanc’s taxonomy of game pleasures, studies have shown that there is a great deal of enjoyment derived from playing games that foster social competition (Vorderer & Hatmann, 2003; Yee, 2006). This is confirmed by Csikszentmihalyi (2014) who has stated that social competition can play a role in inducing a flow state. However, it has also been acknowledged that when players are engaged fully in a challenge, external concerns will fall away as players immerse themselves in the challenges and puzzles that Skyrim provides. Through the reviews it is clear that players found this aspect of Skyrim relevant and challenging, although, as will be discussed further, the links to flow and affect are difficult to discern from the language used.

“Quests are (with a few minor exceptions) interesting, challenging and varied …” (Fancy Fish, 2015) “Some quests and bosses are more challenging than others, as well as a good amount of puzzles that you have to solve too.” (TeamTom Reviews, 2013) “The landscape is a challenge, and travel becomes a game.” (Rubz, 2016) “I never went from one hold to another without finding plenty of puzzles, chests, dungeons into my way.” (Asteo600, 2013) “There are obstacles along the way, wise teachers and climactic action.” ([KHC] Munger, 2014) Does “one” have to do all 75 of the achievements in Skyrim? No. Do I recommend it, yes because I’ve seen and experience (and from it) the appreciation of the amount of: Work, Creativity, Passion, and Value that went into this game ….” (Way of the Voice, 2015)

These reviews convey the affective outcomes embedded in the feelings of overcoming obstacles and map the interactive associations of fellowship and expression. Levels, experience points, game scores, and achievements provide a means for players to compare their performances against other players and to determine their progress through the game.

Flow remains a contested concept and measuring its influence in video game play presents a complex narrative. Tracking the deployment of ‘flow’ within player reviews presents a particular complexity that is further defined and reframed by the limitations of content analysis for what is mostly configured as an ‘embodied’ experience. While numerous player studies (Sweetser & Wyeth, 2005; Nacke & Lindley, 2008; Weibel, Wissmath, Habegger, Steiner, & Groner, 2008; Jin, 2012) have been able to successfully determine that players can experience flow, they are typically based on direct player observation. They also fail to quantify the connections between immersion, flow and affect as ambiguous, ephemeral and emotional manifestations of pleasure that move beyond exclusively embodied chemical and hormonal responses into imaginative, cognitive, social, and desiring experiences that interface mind, body and environment. Skyrim player reviews provide a rudimentary map into the imaginative and emotional meanings and outcomes that flow experiences may produce, and that are defined and codified by the players. Analysing the reviews to find evidence of flow experiences can offer insight into the ambiguities of pleasures that provide little trace outside of an immediate, ephemeral and playful experience of gaming.

Video game players may experience flow as an all-inclusive sensation that manifests when they become completely engrossed in the game they are playing. This requires a number of LeBlanc’s pleasures to be activated, including sensation, fantasy, socialisation, and challenge. For [KCH] Munger the potential for flow was uncovered in the logical levelling system that rewarded reactions to stimulus with immediate feedback, a further requirement for activating a flow state: “This process, this “learning-by-doing” feels very natural, …” (2014), demonstrating the importance of instinct and immersion to experiencing flow and therefore the pleasures of being ‘in the zone’ or creating a ‘meditative effect’ of and for game play.

It is in this meditative effect that highlights LeBlanc’s notion of submission where pleasure comes from the repetitive and hypnotic actions of the game. This can be seen in several of the player reviews that reference the simple pleasure of stacking shelves. It is this analogy that LeBlanc (2009) draws on in describing the pleasure of playing Tetris.

“I’d meticulously organized my owned virtual property not because I had to, but because tending to the minutia of domestic life is a comforting break ….” (Dovah, 2014) “I bought a house and started stacking those books on a shelf inside. The weird thing was, the game wasn’t about buying a house, books and reading and stacking them on bookshelf at all!!! (Perin, 2016)

A further pleasure in submission is “submitting to the rules of the game” (Salen & Zimmerman, 2004, p. 296) and this can be realised in the many references to the completion of Skyrim’s quests. While it is possible to ignore these quests, players are rewarded with experience points, an important characteristic of RPGs.  By submitting to the instructions of the game’s many quests, players are providing themselves with flow opportunities that will potentially lead to affective responses. Alternatively, players can resist this particular form of activity, and engage in the pleasure of discovery which has its own potential to lead players toward immersion, flow, and affect.

“Over the course of the game, the player completes quests and develops the character by improving skills.” (Senpai Edition, 2015) “There’s still so much more do to and explore that I’m still discovering quests and areas and little hidden things.” (Marshmallow 1, 2013) “many characters feel like whole, distinct personalities instead of vacuous nothings that hand out quests like a downtown greeter hands out flyers for discount jeans” (Dovah, 2013) “Quests are (with a few minor exceptions) interesting, challenging and varied with each of them building your understanding of the world and your place in it.” (Fancy Fish, 2015) “There are so many different playtroughs, so much quests to play, …” (Rgeers, 2013)

 

Games are pleasurable if they provide what LeBlanc describes as “unchartered territory” (2009, 29:37) for players to explore. For Skyrim’s reviewers, exploration and discovery are commonly referred to and it is clear that it is one of the greatest pleasures in the game. Wandering through Skyrim’s open world, a world that reviewers have already described in terms of its immersive qualities, evokes deeply emotional experiences through the language used. RubZ writes “It’s hard to walk for a minute in any direction without encountering an intriguing cave, a lonely shack, some strange stones, a wandering traveller, a haunted fort” (2016). These chance discoveries conjure a sense of wonder that is a pleasurable and affective reaction to the game (Bartle, 1996). There is also the potential for those players that prefer tramping through the game world that this sensory experience will provide opportunities to experience flow particularly when players let narrative distractions fall away. As Gopher states, “This is a land you can just pick a direction and with no quest in mind and just explore” (2013). For those that wrote about exploration and discovery in their reviews the pleasure in this activity becomes clear and there are many aspects of the game that provide these opportunities.

“There’s still so much more do to and explore that I’m still discovering quests and areas and little hidden things” (Marshmallow 1, 2013) “But in Skyrim, there is no shortage of quests, and if you are like myself and just wander around aimlessly, you will stumble into places that just blow your mind” (snak, 2013). “I wandered through the wonder, of Skyrim, doing pretty much whatever I pleased” (dead moms walking, 2016). “There are many things to craft and discover, though you’ll likely end up wandering off from where you originally were headed because there are too many things for you to explore” (Sekai, 2016). “For those who dreamed of a game that allowed to cross the woods, discover secrets and explore a world full of dangers and full of opportunities, the release of The Elders Scrolls V: Skyrim is a dream come true” (Kaneki Ken, 2013). “… there are as well a sea of dungeons for you to discover” (♕∮ Ñ ๑ î r ∈ ♫♛(exam-29june, 2015). “The exploration never had an end for me, not even after so many hours spent into the game” (Asteo600, 2013). “The world is so vast and it gives you freedom to explore and do your quests as you see fit and when you see fit to do so (Perin, 2016).

These are only a handful of the several dozen reviews that references Skyrim’s affordance of the player’s enjoyment of wandering through the vast and beautiful, open world and discovering its secrets and challenges, thereby creating a deep and compelling connection between LeBlanc’s tropes and immersion, flow, and affect.

Affect, Expression, and Fellowship

That these reviewers care about Skyrim can be seen in the energy they put into the game and their reviews. This manifestation of affect reveals diverse pleasures that are not easily separated into any one of LeBlanc’s gaming pleasures but can be seen in a combination of socialisation and self-expression. This is exemplified in the use of in-jokes that are recognisable to other players and memes that are common to the game and to gaming review culture. According to Hudson, it is common for players to create their own memes and private jokes based on “shared references to the game” (2014). In MMORPGs, these jokes and memes can be shared in the game space, while with Skyrim they are shared through the review site. Hong (2015) has stated that players play a role beyond the consumption of text by becoming creators of paratext and then sharing them with the player community. Paratext becomes an important source of shared knowledge and allows individuals to extend their pleasure outside the game, and expand their experience and pleasure in the game. In the same way that fan sites for popular movies and TV shows provide a space for socialisation and expression; Skyrim’s review site allows for a deeper pleasure for a game that has no in-built social play.

One of the most prolific examples of in-jokes are the references to killing chickens. In the reviews, there are numerous references to killing chickens and the incongruousness of having guards and townspeople kill you over the act.

“Killed a chicken and became #1 Enemy of the state. 10/10” (WolfJob, 2013). “>kill the emperor >nobody cares >kill a chicken in whiterun  >everybody tries to kill you 100/10 would kill chicken again” (Gunsofglory, 2015). “I killed a chicken, and the entire town banded together to kill me” (Beautiful Banjo, 2013).

According to Wilkins (2014) producers and consumers of text find pleasure in in-jokes because of the sense of belonging they evoke. By making references to killing chickens, reviewers are creating a reference that other players of the game will acknowledge. By making this choice to act in ways that are contrary the game’s design and then producing paratext for an audience, it can be argued that Skyrim reviewers are engaging in a form of “textual poaching” (Jenkins, 1992). They are appropriating and taking control of content and making it their own. LeBlanc describes this as the pleasure a player receives when they are able to “leave their mark” (Hunicke et al., 2004, p. 3).

In addition to the jokes are the memes that contain specific context of the game and then are combined with other appropriated cultural references. According to Varis and Blommaert memes “operate via a combination of intertextual recognisability and individual creativity” (2015, p. 40). There are numerous combined memes that can be found in the player reviews. Two common occurrences are the use of the phrase “would … again” with a rating out of 10; and references to the video game review site IGN. While it is difficult to find a definitive source for the former meme, a common positive feedback comment left by a buyer on eBay is ‘would buy again’. Many of the reviews combine references to killing a chicken, with the phrase “would … again” creating a new meme. Others acknowledge the common perception amongst players that IGN provide over-generous review ratings to games along with average comments (Twenty One, n.d.).

“100/10 would kill chicken again (Gunsofglory, 2015). “10/10 would play again!” (⎛⎝ℳℜℳ1005⎠⎞, 2013) “10/10 would Skyrim again” (The Mighty I, 2013). “11/10 would get murdered over the life of a chicken again” (cheeky nan, 2015). “11/10 – IGN, It’s ok, I guess” (Johnshopkins, 2015) “This game as ruined my life. 11/10- IGN” (RoboHorse, 2013) “-10/10 IGN –Would hit a guard again” (Jok3ri, 2013)

In Jok3ri’s review there is the combination of the positive feedback meme and the IGN meme. This appropriation demonstrates an understanding of multiple memes as well as the ability to combine them in ways that are transparent to the audience (Varis & Blommaert, 2015). According to Jenkins, “fans take pleasure in making intertextual connections across a broad range of media texts” (Jenkins, 1992, p. 37). While there is obvious pleasure in the creation of these memes, there is an understanding that the audience will have sufficient knowledge to share in that pleasure. It also demonstrates that affective pleasures in Skyrim are complex and layered making them difficult to categorise into LeBlanc’s taxonomy.

The one constant theme throughout the reviews was the ability for the reviewers to express themselves through the mods that they could apply and create for themselves and the community. There is a great deal of enjoyment in creation and in socialisation and Skyrim provides both with a strong modding community. What sets Skyrim apart from other modding communities is the overt support from the series developer Bethesda (Champion, 2012) who encourages players to make the game their own. The pleasure for the players comes from the shared sense of belonging and the extended playability of the game. While other games offer opportunities for players to use mods, there are often issues with fairness and balance where they are applied to persistent online games.

“Skyim is a good game. Maybe even a great game. But with the right mods, it becomes YOUR GAME” (Modern Myth, 2013). “The singlular reason to buy this game on steam rather than on the console is the capablity to be modded” (Zaric, 2013). “The mods that the community has created for this game rank from the absurd to amazing” ([MLM] Bringer-of-Doom, 2015). “And the mods. SO MANY MODS” (Fenrearsis, 2016). “With mods, and multiple character development options, there are almost limitless ways to play this game” (geminiflyer123, 2016) “Through the use of mods, that can also be created by the player itself using the free Creation Kit that came with the copies of the game, every mistake, every bug, every minute inadequacy can be remedied” ([KHC] Munger, 2014) “Get mods, and you get an infinite game” (Signum, 2013).

 

Schell (2015) has stated where players find great enjoyment in a game they express this by going to great lengths to enhance their playing experience by extending pleasure through and to affect. Bostan and Kaplancali (2010) have confirmed this by adding that for many players, game mods can provide a greater sense of immersion in the game. More than a few of the reviewers utilised mods that improved on Skyrim’s graphics and sound. Modern Myth (2013) was one that applied such enhancements and recommended specific examples in their review. It is however the last comment from Modern Myth that exemplifies affect through the pleasure in expression that game mods provide, “At a certain point, you’re no longer just playing. You are CREATING.” (2013). For many players, there is more to playing the game than completing the missions and challenges set by the developer. They find pleasure in self-expression by making the game their own and then sharing that passion through the review site as a form of affective display belying the stereotypical myth of the insular and isolated solo gamer.

Conclusion

Internet-supported technologies have afforded video game players the opportunity to play games and share their gaming experiences in online spaces, making what was once a predominately solo experience a social one. It has been the purpose of this dissertation to address the importance of the single-player role-player video game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim as an affective and phenomenological space, demonstrating that it provides diverse and complex opportunities for pleasure through solo play.

In chapter one, it became clear when examining LeBlanc’s eight types of pleasures, that they are too complex and interwoven for separate analysis. This made it necessary to explore these pleasures against broader theories of immersion, flow, and affect, collectively understood as affective ludology (Nacke & Lindley, 2010). Drawing on Ermi and Mayra’s immersive model (2005) allowed for an understanding of how games like Skyrim provide combinations of pleasurable sensations, imaginative landscapes and immersive narratives to engage with. It must be noted that pleasurable sensations are generic to all players, whether they are engaged in solo or social play. Although, how they parse them will depend on the interface between the physiological reaction to the stimulus and the interaction with the cultural practice (Coveney & Bunton, 2003). It became clear when analysing the characteristics of RPGs in chapter two and Skyrim player reviews in chapter three that the way these sensations are experienced and expressed make them unique to solo play. While all games have the potential to provide pleasure in fantasy, as an action RPG that sets the player as an adventurer in a fantasy-inspired world (Baranowski et al., 2008), Skyrim is especially suited to engaging imaginative immersion (Ermi & Mayra, 2005). Where this becomes complicated is when it is measured against the conflict of narrative and agency (Murray, 1997). Some players will enjoy a structured narrative (Tanenbaum & Tanenbaum, 2010), while others prefer to exercise their imagination and explore the game freely. Skyrim players are provided both, highlighting the important notion that since not all games appeal to all players (LeBlanc, 2009), providing choice is necessary to increase gaming pleasure and offering the potential for unexpected and re-written forms of immersion, flow and affect.

The final component of Ermi and Mayra’s immersion model (2005) was challenge-based immersion that incorporates games that offer fast pace and problem solving elements. While balanced levels of challenge and skill are a necessary component of challenge-based immersion, they are also important for experiencing flow (Csikszentmihalyi, 2014). Therefore, examining challenge was important to understand its potential to provide solo gaming pleasures. While it has been acknowledged that socialisation can provide an inducement for engaging in flow activities, the pressures from social competition can impact on flow (Csikszentmihalyi, 2014). Flow theory was also used as a means of understanding the pleasure of submission where the simple repetitive motions of some game activities can induce a flow state (LeBlanc, 2009). Players of Skyrim can submit to the rules of the game and play out the structured story and quests (Salen & Zimmerman, 2004), or take control over their game experience and explore the world (Gee, 2008). While explorers find pleasure in the unknown, they are willing to socialise, but only as a means of sharing their knowledge of the game (Bartle, 1996). It is clear that even in online games that offer options for socialisation, those that find pleasure in exploration do so with a preference for avoiding online interaction (Ducheneaut et al., 2006).

Finally, affect theory was examined as a means of understanding how players of Skyrim, with no options for in-game socialisation, reconcile and manifest the passion that they have for the game (Grossberg, 1992). With immersion and flow experiences that occur in the moment, affect is a manifestation of LeBlanc’s pleasures that players experience and then share through self-expression and socialisation. Without opportunities for in-game socialisation, Skyrim players look to online communities as an outlet for the impassioned responses to their experiences (Jenkins, 2006; Faraj et al., 2011). Self-expression is an important component of RPGs like Skyrim that involve the pleasure of creating and developing unique characters (Schell, 2015). While it is understood that MMORPGs allow for character creation, solo players are more likely to identify with and therefore gain pleasure from their characters (Trepte & Reinecke, 2010). It must be noted that socialisation is an important form of pleasure for players, however, due to the often negative nature of online interactions, it can have a detrimental effect on immersion and flow.

In Chapter two, it was acknowledged that table-top RPGs provide for a rich connection to our literary past by evoking the myths and narratives that allow players to act out the deeds and legends of their popular heroes (Bowman, 2010). A fundamental aspect of all RPGs, role playing is the playing of an alternative identity that a player creates (Byers & Crocco, 2016) and is a model for LeBlanc’s pleasure of self-expression. With the character being a function of the imaginings of the individual and the character and settings of the genre, role playing in Skyrim provides strong support for the pleasures of solo play. While traditional RPGs are inherently social, online role-players spend more time on negotiating social boundaries, allowing less room for actual role playing (Murray, 1997). A more significant argument for the pleasure of solo play and more specifically the pleasure of playing Skyrim is in the game’s character creation mechanics. With Skyrim removing classes, it removes issues with balance that come from having to specialise in RPGs (Vanhatupa, 2011). While classes offer special abilities, at the same time they limit actions to the class itself. Making the wrong choice of class or having to team up with other players merely for their class, can impact on pleasure due to the frustrations of too easy or too difficult challenges (Dyce, 2011). Character creation stands out in Skyrim by bringing the character into the world unformed and unknown to the player. A significant modification to RPGs that include a background story for the character to weave into their role play, Skyrim opens the game with the pleasure of discovery, expression, and agency as the player needs to uncover how they matter to the world.

Skyrim’s opening is significant in how it weaves in the pleasures of discovery and narrative. The dramatic scene successfully resolves the conflict between player freedom and a structured narrative by offering a sense of agency and a means of exploring the skills that are available within the game (Simkins et al., 2012). The initial narrative choices are not undertaken by the typical use of dialogue screens (Joyce, 2016), but through the symbolic means of entering a door, providing a pleasurable sense of narrative agency. Once this choice is made, further pleasure comes from discovery as the player explores the consequences of their actions (Murray, 1997). While table-top RPGs and MMORPGs offer agency, there is often conflict with all players striving to exercise their control over the narrative. In Skyrim, the pleasure comes from the hundreds of quests that shape the game’s narrative and the freedom to ignore these stories and explore the limits of the game without the negative social implications of social RPGs (Waggoner, 2009).

Questing is an important characteristic of all RPGs and is a significant argument for the pleasures of solo play in Skyrim. While it is acknowledged that the fellowship plays an essential role in the development of RPGs and the formation of the questing party, we cannot ignore the rich connections to older myths that conjure the solitary adventurer. Skyrim exemplifies this with its calls to Campbell’s monomyth (2008) as evidenced through the detailed and engaging opening scenes. The pleasure for Skyrim players comes from being able to overcome the game’s many challenges, while at the same time providing the familiar and therefore comfortable narratives of the past. While MMORPGs have these same challenges in the form of numerous quests, they form an endless narrative where experience points and levels become a compulsive substitute for victory (Peterson, 2012). Significantly, although Skyrim players can accumulate experience points and levels, the quests are finite and allow for players to end the game, if they choose, creating a pleasurable sense of completion. At the same time, Skyrim players that wish to extend the pleasures of play, can do so through the use of modifications, providing both the pleasure of self-expression and the pleasure of socialisation.

While all RPGs are rooted in traditional fantasy, their players have continuously altered these games around numerous other genres, making adaptation and modification a key characteristic (Bowman, 2010). Skyrim players are no different and will modify the game to enhance their play pleasure. Although mods are not unique to Skyrim, the drive to modify the game is significant in realising the argument for solo play. That Skyrim offers no multiplayer option means that players wishing to express themselves and socialise must do so through the modding community. That they do so with such creativity as was shown in chapter three, is an important argument for the manifestation of affect in solo play. Modding is also an important feature of immersion as Skyrim players apply mods to enhance their immersive pleasure (Bostan & Kaplancali, 2010). While it is possible to apply mods to MMORPGs, the risk comes from making the game unfair for other players (Lore, 2015). Where creating mods is a form of socialisation as players and modders share and discuss their work, the use of mods also reveals the pleasure of expression.

In chapter three, analysis of player reviews provided the means for the Skyrim players to demonstrate through their words their affective connection to the game and the pleasures it offers. While immersion studies have shown that this state where sensory, imaginative and challenge-based pleasures are enacted, is more likely to be achieved in solo play than in social play (Ermi & Mayra, 2005); it is through the reviews that we can understand how these aesthetic pleasures are communicated. That other games can have immersive and stimulating graphics and sounds is acknowledged. That such a significant number of Skyrim reviewers responded to the game’s visual and aural aesthetics through this online medium is significant as this outlet is not afforded within the game space. Equally as important were the reviews that revealed how Skyrim enables players to immerse themselves in the make believe aspects of the game and play the game in a way that stretches the limits of the game’s design. As discussed, social play makes it less likely for players to enjoy an immersive experience as well as making issues of conflicting narrative and agency more complex. Skyrim includes a detailed and complex main story that players were happy to engage with, while at the same time acknowledging the choice available to ignore the narrative and play the game on their own terms. This sense of agency that is significant for Skyrim reviewers is often a cause for conflict in MMORPGs as the group must share the narrative (Hammer, 2006).

Skyrim’s reviewers revealed their pleasure in taking on both the challenging puzzles and quests found within the game and social competition made available through the Skyrim review page. Where understanding challenge became difficult was in how the characteristics of the states of flow and immersion are measured and manifest as affect. It is significant that attempting to reveal evidence of a flow state through content analysis is made more complex as flow is experienced in the moment (Csikszentmihalyi, 2014) and it is only after the experience has ended that it can be described. More importantly were the players that referenced their pleasures in submitting to the meditative actions of arranging shelves (LeBlanc, 2009), while others submitted to the structures of the narrated quests. A large number of reviews revealed their pleasure in exploration as opposed to submission, and spent much of their game time discovering Skyrim’s secrets extending and reinforcing the interwoven aspects of immersion, flow, and affect

While immersion and flow are experienced within the game space, it is in online spaces that reveal the passionate and emotional responses that are described as affect. This can easily be seen in the vast number of reviews that engage language that display strong feelings about the game. The significance for this research is that Skyrim players, for want of any other outlet utilise the review site and the modding community for self-expression in the form of jokes, memes and for almost half of the reviewers, the use of mods. Humour was strongly represented in the reviews with many references to killing chickens and numerous other jokes and memes. While these are not meant to extoll the virtues of the game to would be players, it is clear that they are meant to show a sense of belonging to the shared Skyrim community (Thominet, 2016). For other players, the mods made their game truly special and is the most significant argument for pleasure in solo play. With Skyrim the dual pleasures of socialisation in creating, discussing, and sharing mods; and self-expression is using the mods to make the game their own, is clearly evident in so many of the reviews. It is obvious from the impassioned reviews, that engage multiple pleasures of LeBlanc’s taxonomy, not just expression or socialisation, that Skyrim players have a deep and affective connection to the game. A game that is unique in being popular, critically and financially successful, and more importantly a game that offers only solo play. Thereby supporting the argument of this thesis that players can find pleasure in playing single-player games and can do so in a community that positively supports this activity helping to reify these games as culturally important.

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[1] Metacritic is a critic review aggregator that collates hundreds of reviews and provides a unified review score