Definitions
Player-avatar link: experience of embodiment by the player, caused by the extension of the player’s perception and agency through the avatar into the digital game world.
Introduction
In digital games research, the concept of the avatar is a much discussed topic. Many works have been dedicated to understanding every aspect of this phenomenon, ranging from the origin of the term all the way to its functioning as a game component (see Juul and Klevjer 2016for a brief overview of key discussions). Once the aspect of the player is addressed, one of the most intriguing issues become the link between the player and the avatar they control. Why is it, for example, that players become distressed when they see their avatar in danger? And why do they refer to it as “I”? While it is widely acknowledged that some type of link indeed exists, there is still much disagreement on what the nature...
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This work was supported by NWO, project number 022.005.017
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Rosa, N., Hürst, W., Veltkamp, R., Werkhoven, P. (2018). Player-Avatar Link: Interdisciplinary Embodiment Perspectives. In: Lee, N. (eds) Encyclopedia of Computer Graphics and Games. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08234-9_110-1
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