"EVE Online is renowned for it's depth. Its backstory, gameplay and social aspects are all qualities that draw players in. What does immersion in EVE Online mean to you?"
When I saw this question posed, the first thing that came to mind is "When playing Eve Online, when are you not considered 'immersed?
The charismatic leaders of large power bloc alliances are no more and no less than that. You look at another pilot in game and pose that they aren't who they say they are. Interactions with others is often a result of who we are and what we do in Eve. Here are my two examples:
1. The construction worker in Real Life who happens to play Eve doesn't receive social status or power in the game because of what he does for work. His status in the game depends on who he is in Eve Online. Though that job may not be on par with what the average man does in real life, his role in Eve may be far different (Corporate CEO, for example). This encompassing of one's self in a virtual world has the power to unlock qualities and traits in ourselves that we never knew we had in the Real World.
The super celeb's in Eve, those that run the lotteries, the exchanges, the third-party platforms (the veritable 'Oil Barons' of New Eden) may collect massive amounts of isk and command respect across many regions. Though most of these people are self-proclaimed unemployed children living in their parents basement, such information about their outside lives carries no weight in the in-game world. Unemployed and child-like all they want, it doesn't change the fact they've achieved their status and power in the game, and any affairs that must go through them (lotteries, high-dollar item-exchange) are unaffected by RL
To put the two pieces together and draw the conclusion, immersion denotes that one immerses one's life in a virtual world. In that case, I feel that immersion is not the right word at all. The light-hearted term I would pick would be "happy distraction."
When I log in to Eve, though often riddled with the challenges that a Corp and Alliance CEO faces daily, I am not dealing with my team at work, my family, school, drama on facebook and all. I log in an I'm Ranis, though not a roleplayer, I respond to that name. I behave as I would if I were a pilot in New Eden, either consciously or not. When I log in, I'm someone else - which makes Eve a happy distraction from all the bull.
The way I see it, at least I'm not playing World of Warcraft. =)
