The envelope of experience is a phenomenon of immersion. When you play a role-playing game, "you" are a person outside the game, while your character is an imaginary person inside the Imaginary world. As a result, you experience things of both metagame interest as well as things inside the immersive experience. The envelope of experience describes the connectivity between the player and the character. Although the character exists within the player's mind, that persona is not interchangeable with the player.