A Forge term coined by Fang Langford for the fictional events which occur during play. Synonymous with diegesis and exploration. Often called the "SiS" for short.

References:

• Railroading, Star Wars, and more (The Forge, Jan 2003)
• Beeg Horseshoe Theory Revisited (The Forge, May 2003)
• Clarifying Simulationism (The Forge, Oct 2003)

There is controversy over the sense in which the "shared imagined space" is "shared", and whether it is even a useful concept at all. Some people conceptualize the SIS as the "intersection" of the various imaginings of the players: a "common space". Others regard the SIS as consisting only of those facts which have been communicated or transmitted, as well as ratified by the procedures of play. The latter sense is apparently official at The Forge; many posters however favor the former sense or fail to make the distinction.

The connection to diegesis is complicated by this ambiguity. According to Markus Montola, Scandinavian RP theory tends to treat diegesis as an objective concept similar to the "intersection" interpretation of SIS. This is a view which he rejects in favor of multiple subjective diegeses which are constructed interactively.

References:

• Shared Imagined Space, Shared Text (The Forge, April 2005)
• SIS: Beyond the Glossary (Help!) (The Forge, Sept 2005)
• Role-Playing as Interactive Construction of Subjective Diegeses(approve sites) (Montola, 2003)
• A Semiotic View on Diegesis Construction (PDF) (Loponen and Montola, 2004))