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• 1 2023-11-01T15:11:21+00:00 Passage 2, Lost Scroll 3 Ryan and Gabi plain 2023-11-01T15:27:32+00:00 Participatory narrative, then, raises several related problems: How can we enter the fictional world without disrupting it? How can we be sure that imaginary actions will not have real results? How can we act on our fantasies without becoming paralyzed by anxiety? The answer to all of these questions lies in the discovery of the digital equivalent of the theater's fourth wall. (103)
  
  
  The further down the rabbit hole the writer brings the reader, the more the reader must feel safe within the bubble that is the digital fourth wall. To fully break that fourth wall would shock the reader with a new permanent reality but to leave that barrier up would also inhibits immersion. So the important questions that Murray asks bring attention to the issues of participatory narrative; " How can we enter the fictional world without disrupting it? How can we be sure that imaginary actions will not have real results? How can we act on our fantasies without becoming paralyzed by anxiety? The answer to all of these questions lies in the discovery of the digital equivalent of the theater's fourth wall" (103). The physical equivalent of the theater's fourth wall would be the screen which is the interface which allows interaction between reader and story. Though the importance of what the digital fourth wall is does not lie in its physical equivalent, but rather in its impact on reader interaction. In the image from Lost Scroll Vidya talks directly to the reader which shatters the digital fourth wall and thus creates a formidable environment for the player and contributing to the uncomfortable aspect of the game.