Alright, enough blog posts about APB recently.  Here's something different.  This story takes place - uh... a long time ago - in Morrowind (duh) on the original Xbox (unfortunately, those loading times sucked).

I traveled north from Vos, on some long forgotten mission.  As I neared the sea, a fantastic Deadric ruin appeared on the horizon.  I was a spellsword, primarily a mage but often reliant on my powerful summoned dagger.  I had stolen a full set of priceless glass armor from the Mage's Guild by magically picking the lock, slowly loosing loyalty with them as I rose in rank with House Telvani.  I felt unstoppable as I neared a mysterious Deadric ruin for the very first time.

Among the spires roamed a few of the ruin's inhabitants:  Scamps and the dinosaur-like Clanfear.  Smiling, I summoned a Clanfear minion of my own before casting a fireball at the nearest monster guarding the ruins.  Summoning my dagger I charged in, and before long I was once again alone, standing at the entrance to the ruin.

With a deep breath I entered the ruins.  Before me the path spiraled downward.  As I rounded the corner a Dremora blocked my path.  I efficiently dispatched of him.  So far this didn't seem so bad.  Finally I reached the bottom of the ramp.  Before me the path was covered with water, but what took my breath away was on the other side.  A massive statue of a Deadra Lord rose before me.  I was only brought back to reality when a spell whizzed past my head, cast by an angry Deadra worshiper.

I quickly crossed into the room and took out the worshipers.  Finally, the Deadric treasure stash was mine!  If only it was that easy.  As I lifted a Deadra Heart from the alter I heard a noise behind me.  Turning, I swallowed as I realized a Dremora Lord had just appeared in the room, and he didn't look happy.  I was running low on resources and I knew that this would be the most formidable challenge yet.  Bravely I cast every spell I could and quickly slashed with my dagger.  The fight seemed to go on for ages.  I was almost continuously chugging my ever-dwindling supply of health potions.  When it seemed like it was all over, the killing blow connected and the Dremora fell to the ground.  I cautiously gathered the rest of the treasures and left the dungeon.  It was not an experience I would soon forget.

This is an example of true immersion in a game, something that seems to be getting rarer these days - as much as I played Oblivion, I never had an experience that approached this one.  I never did 'complete ' Morrowind, mostly due to very long loading times on the Xbox, though I have now been slowly making progress back through it on the PC.

Comment Question:  Have you ever been *really* immersed in a game such that the experience almost felt 'real'?