Personal Storylines - A Pet Peeve

n3verendR

Now, before I begin I would like to go on record of saying that this topic is about Guild Wars 2 (A game that I am extremely excited about) and SW:TOR (A game that I think I could potentially be excited about after seeing more game play) and their unique to MMORPG games person storyline content. At no point would I wish for this conversation to devolve in to "X is better than X!!!!", you are all entitled to your opinions - but there are better places to express them.

 

Personal Storylines are content in MMORPG games that allow for your character to interact with set content that will ultimately be a permanent roleplaying choice. It should be obvious that these bits of content appeal to that type of gamer more than any other. I am that type of gamer, a gamer than really enjoys interactivity as well as character building - having a unique character amongst a relatively static world with only 8 classes to choose from. However, there is a huge problem I've had since TOR announced their personal storyline content, and then GW2 shortly thereafter followed suit with their own unique rendition.

 

That problem I've had is quite simple, TOR gave an example of a captain of a starship that players can interact with. Let's just say his name is Captain Card for arguments sake. Upon arriving on this starship the players are introduced to and given the choice to kill or let this guy live. Now, that in it's self is pretty cool. However! You are not the only person that gets to choose wether this particular captain lives or dies. So there could be potentially and likely thousands of other players with a living or dead captain, co-existing in the same universe. I don't know about you guys, but that bugs me. GW2 is just as guilty with their personal instances, from what we know thus far - if your human character comes from nobility, you and everyone else that has that selection will have a friend. That friend is the same name for everyone that chooses that character.

 

Do you see what I mean yet? Does it annoy you? No? Raise questions? Maybe.

 

My point is, in a persistant world where the goal is to inject some semblance of individual role play where your character makes a huge difference in the world around them... aren't you just running in circles? I mean, why not just make these things public and player activated to save on cost and man hours. Do they really feel that different? Or would they feel different if they were presented in a more "individual manner".

 

Lets bring back Captain Card and say that out of 100 players, 50 let him live, 50 let him die. Because that he is on the "X Starship" and is named "Captain Card" - these 100 players are essentially just simulating something that will never affect the people around them, or even matter. I am not arguing that the end result of the story is probably awesome, because I am sure it is. However!!! Plot holes, inconsistancies, and no sense of shared world with other players other than simple interaction such as talking/trading completely removes me from that plot.

 

Anyways, the X elements I discussed in the last paragraph are my real issue. It really hurts continuity. Instead of having these preset NPCs and buildings, why not just have a generic or customizable model for these specific characters / places. I would understand if you killed Captain Key and the next guy left Captain Card alive or when like you have an orphanage raised in your honor in your city section for GW2, named by you and everything. I realize this is splitting hairs but you have to admit it's a valid point based off of their goals.

 

So hey, if you agree with me - I'd love to hear your examples based on this formula. If you disagree, I'd love to hear why, and please - thought out and fully fleshed examples. I already know this is a "give or take" situation, I don't need to know about how "stupid" my way of thinking is.

 

Thanks.