Reading is passive. MMOs are an interactive media. The problem isn't the quality of the writing it's why the hell and I sitting here reading a chat bubble in the first place? It never changes and players have no input. It's not interactive. Quest givers are a crap mechanism. Developers can do better.
For the most part, this. Sure, I laughed a few times at Fallen Earth's quest text, but funny isn't deep and meaningful. Well, except if it's Terry Pratchett doing the writing. I'd actually read and do the quests in a Discworld MMO, if Terry Pratchett wrote the dialogue and storyline behind the quests. It still wouldn't be as immersive as just reading a Discworld book, but I'd bet the purchase price of the game and $15 a month that it would be worlds better than any quest-based game that exists today.
I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals.
I'm not going to comment on the story telling prowess of the current MMO games out there but that it does sadden me that our future generations aretaking less of an intrest in reading books. Now on a highnot my middle son last night did make me very proud as I entered his room to tuck him into bed to find him there engrosed in a copy of "Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief". So I have to say it warms my heart to see that all hope isnt lost in my household at least.
Anyone who can use apropos in an article correctly gets my vote!
Seriously though. People want faster, easier, finished in record time. For every 1 person that actually reads quests, there are 25 who want to click and go. I really don't see MMOs getting any better in their writing/lore (not to say that some of the back stories aren't quite good).
As far as general reading goes, I'll stick to my sci-fi fantasy paperbacks until I can't deal with them anymore. That time is rapidly approaching I think. In the past few years, while there are always good writers and some truly brilliant ones (sci-fi/fantasy), more and more I find myself disappointed. Things get printed 'cookie cutter' and a lot of mediocre (at best) writings clog up store shelves. I liken it to the way the movie industry went. Sure you get big title blockbusters making hundreds of millions of dollars but there are a lot of garbage movie projects out there that start out with a budget of < 1million and go straight to the $9.99 rack. Many of those movies are more successful than the big name movies if they sell a mere $10million, though. Why? Because there is 1000% return on their investment.
We're conspicuous consumers, folks. Craps sells because we're not discerning enough to force the markets back in a different direction. If we buy a book (paperback) for $7-8 bucks and don't like it, we give it to a friend or sell it at a yard sale for 50 cents. Then we go buy another....
How likely a person is to read quest text is dependent on whether or not they've done the quest before. Certainly, people that start alts should not be beholden to reading all of the quest text. That is why games like WoW decided to allow people to rush the quest text.
I think that the author of the article has too high an expectation for the literature that exists within MMORPGs. Perhaps it would have been better to compare MMORPG quest text to common authors of sci-fi and fantasy literature instead of a literary giant like Philip Roth. While it would be nice to have George Orwell (or an equivalent if such a thing could ever exist) write quest text for a post apocalyptic sci-fi MMORPG, I see it as completely unreasonable.
Also, to be fair to the people that are being knocked for not reading quest text in this thread, in MMORPGs I personally often skim the quest text. I think this may be more common than simply skipping the text as so many here would say is the case. I would also argue that people are able to easily internalize the storyline, mood, current plots, etc. by doing this. As I found in college, reading every word can often times be counterproductive.
My expectations of literary excellence within quest texts in a video game are admittedly not high. If I want to read some good fiction, I am not going to flip on my computer and start up LotRO. Instead, I'll pop open a Steinbeck, take my time and enjoy the ride. I suppose if a game company hired an renown author to write some large story arc quest, it might raise my eyebrow and cause me to take more time with the quest text, but as of right now, the writers are being paid for a more general type of accessible writing.
I accept this and have actually been impressed overall by some of the quests and text found in MMORPGs like WoW, LotRO, EQ2 and many others. I'd say, barring translated titles, MMORPGs are offering some pretty good stuff overall.
I think it is harder to write good MMOG material because the writer(s) have to interface with so many others, in the current model, and those others will change the content to suit their "needs". We end up with games based on well-written works such as the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the Conan books and end up with the story-rape MMO products that those are.
The kind of people who put together the mechanics of game play apparently have no clue or little interest in telling a cohesive story. Curerent MMOGs are full of self-contradictions with spotty lore references ignored when inconvenient. They are gamers and not readers, by and large. Hopefully that is changing, but right now, the story writers are not given a lot of consideration in MMOGs.
The only kind of people that use lore in an MMO to back up their statements are those trying to pull the wool over the eyes of others and those who have had their eyes obscured by said wool. Lore can't be used to back up statements in MMOGs, because the lores for them don't hold up. Any lore that exists is clearly meant to allow whatever the devs want to happen to hppen when they want it to, and if it doesn't that won't stop them. You simply can not write good stories for that kind of game.
Oh, there can be a little bit here and there that is well enough done, but it takes blinders to enjoy it. Fortunately for bad storytellers, humans have blinders in abundance.
I do see some hope though. Television has improved. Beck in the days of Star Trek, there was absolutely no thought given to the effects one episode might have on future episodes. The only contnuing story lines were in soap operas. These days, we have better ongoing story lines in episodic oriented television that actually on occasion comes to satisfying concusions.
Blizzard seems to have recognized the shortcomings of WoW lore and story and taken steps to improve both. Certainly the overall story aspect of Wot:LK was better, and for MMOG standards I'd call it good. However, those aren't high standards, and most of the quests leveling up and certainly the game after level cap hasn't supported any story at all. Some of the aspects are just as frustrating as the old days and ways of television and comic books, where story hooks never resolved and villains lived on forever.
The little things matter. When you are asked to gather a dozen "Deer Steaks" for whatever reason, it shouldn't take killing 40 deer to get 12 "steaks". That's stupid on a variety of levels, and if I have to explain why then you aren't ever going to be a good writer so there is no point (If you don't know and think you want to be a good writer, figure out at least 6 reasons why it doesn't make sense on your own). You simply can't tell a good story with elements like that in the one you are telling.
Good stories have to be imaginitive and creative, but like the mechanics of good MMOGs they also have to be built on solid foundations. They must be cohesive and not violate their own universe - and the author(s) shouldn't use the fact that the story takes place in a make-believe universe as an an excuse to do anything they want without explanation. We the readers (players) need some ties to familiarity, some way for things to make sense, or the story fast becomes ridiculous and ultimately boring. Explain or acknowledge differences in your universe and the one we live in some way that makes for cohesive storyline, and never, ever ignore the laws of this universe otherwise. All rules apply unless otherwise noted.
Technology has severely hampered quality storytelling in MMOGs - how can you have a persistent world where you need to have re-spawning mobs and Bosses and also tell a story that reaches a logical end? Hopefully phasing and new advances that will come will help with that, and the inspiration and ability will come together in MMOG dev teams to write really good material. Will it ever be as good as the best books? The medium allows for more possibilites, so it could even potentially be better than what we have ever read, but I think the more people that are needed to share the story the harder it is to convey the pure vision. There are movies, as an example, that accomplish conveying a vision (or what gets conveyed turns out to be excellent even if it wasn't what the original vision was), so I certainly think it's possible and very much worth striving for.
Have played: Everquest, Asheron's Call, Horizons, Everquest2, World of Warcraft, Lord of the Rings Online, Warhammer, Age of Conan, Darkfall
Now I agree with Dragon Age: Origins. All characters were consistent and deep (except Morrigan who was all over the place from naive little teen, to all knowing manipulator). It was truly awesome and the whole lore felt alive (just like in Mass Effect. Damn the moment you see the citadel station...). The hwole racial origins feature added A LOT of depth (and I wish mmorpg games had that kind of depth, the way you could decide not only what your character will become, but also on what he WAS and what he BECAME)
Actually Morrigan was pretty consistent once one realized her 'mo'.
She was self serving and had her outlook on life. But as you go along you learn that her beliefs are challenged. There is a point, if one does a romance quest with her, that you can say you love her. Now, as we know, all through the game she says how she is against love.
However, if you say you love her she makes a stink about the whole thing, refutes it. But her reaction meter (or whatever it was called) actually goes up!
She's an extremely complex character and definitely one of my favorites. She doesn't fully change who she is but there is a bit of depth to her. She's just not comfortable with showing it.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
I'd say I appreciated the writing in Age of Conan and WAR on par with novels I've read. Now, I'm not a fan of Roth, I started Everyman and I thought it was merely Reader's Digest, i.e. toilet reading quality; fine, but didn't stretch my mind to think in new ways or about new subjects. But clearly, he is well respected so I am reminded of how subjective 'good writing' is. I prefer more complex styles like Terry Pratchett, described before as "plots...notoriously hard to summarize." And I've never found that in an MMO. But, I find the dark humor in the above MMOs adds a lot to those games, beyond the need to know where to go to kill something.
"Never met a pack of humans that were any different. Look at the idiots that get elected every couple of years. You really consider those guys more mature than us? The only difference between us and them is, when they gank some noobs and take their stuff, the noobs actually die." - Madimorga
While I do wish the gaming industry, in general, would stop bragging about how they use in house writers who are not writers to deliver their stories, basicallyt because it shows in the quality of work we see, I do not play games for a taste of deep writing. For that, I read books. Heck, I enjoy books that are not award winners more than I do the greats, although there are some classics I do love. Books aren't really going anywhere, but I think there has to be an adjustment period to contending with a lot of free or low cost material online. When new media arrives, old media will lose some ground as we only have a finite amount of time to spread across all the media available combined. I don't see this as an earth shattering problem though.
parrotpholk-Because we all know the miracle patch fairy shows up the night before release and sprinkles magic dust on the server to make it allllll better.
It must be hard for a gaming writer who may want to add depth to a story that to often doesn't exixt. Most ( read nearly all) games have a weak storyline that makes it impossible for them.
I agree that fewer people are reading for enjoyment though there are still more than a few. I read 40+ books a year some of which have included Poe , Twain, aka Samuel Clemens, Lawrence and most fantacy . I also enjoy a good thriller. Baldacci is one of the better ones tho there are several that are good. KInda sad that Kindle has grown in popularity. It would drive me nuts to not be able to flip back for a quick look at a passage I want to reread.
HUGE surprise was a book Daemon ( and sequel) that blew my socks off. I starts out looking like a thriller..add computers, internet and GASP! Gaming !! The first book was a juicy 600 plus pages that always kept me a bit off balance and loving every second of it.
So long as the story and the background is seen and treated as an afterthought by both the developers and the majority of the players, then you will always have bad writing. One can see it in the way with which roleplay is treated so often in these games: mocked and derided as being silly or serving no purpose.
If the story actually played a role in the game or even *gasp* affected the player's progression or stats, then suddenly players I think would be invested in it. However, this would need to be beyond the tired cliche of being the "chosen one" since obviously not everyone can be the hero. Interactions or knowledge of the storyline giving an advantage would open up a new possibility for overcoming challenges beyond simply the blunt stick approach of killing the enemy.
As much as I don't mind reading, I believe that for MMORPGs, one should only use "writing" for subtitles or creating menus...
In short, I believe everything in a game should be voiced...I remember Shenmue, a game for the Sega Dreamcast where everything was voiced and everything part of the game was Interractive and there was a full Night/Day + Weather system into the game. The only time I saw writing in that game is in an in-game book, or a in-game newspaper or street signs, building tags, etc. It was a form of being interractive.
I don't blame the failure of writing as much as I blame the DEVELOPERS for undergoing writers block and caring only for their pockets while I also blame GAMERS for never demanding for anything better.
Sorry, but out of all video game genres, the MMORPG is the least evolved and improved.
Please note when I state "MMORPG" that I am not including Console RPGs or regular singleplayer RPGs. That Genre has undergone tremendous change. The major thing MMORPGs got were a graphics improvement and kiddification along with the usual wall of text.
Comments
My sincere suggestion to RA would be to try some of the better MUD's, they are often free too. Far more akin to books whilst also being interactive.
For the most part, this. Sure, I laughed a few times at Fallen Earth's quest text, but funny isn't deep and meaningful. Well, except if it's Terry Pratchett doing the writing. I'd actually read and do the quests in a Discworld MMO, if Terry Pratchett wrote the dialogue and storyline behind the quests. It still wouldn't be as immersive as just reading a Discworld book, but I'd bet the purchase price of the game and $15 a month that it would be worlds better than any quest-based game that exists today.
I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals.
~Albert Einstein
I'm not going to comment on the story telling prowess of the current MMO games out there but that it does sadden me that our future generations aretaking less of an intrest in reading books. Now on a highnot my middle son last night did make me very proud as I entered his room to tuck him into bed to find him there engrosed in a copy of "Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief". So I have to say it warms my heart to see that all hope isnt lost in my household at least.
Anyone who can use apropos in an article correctly gets my vote!
Seriously though. People want faster, easier, finished in record time. For every 1 person that actually reads quests, there are 25 who want to click and go. I really don't see MMOs getting any better in their writing/lore (not to say that some of the back stories aren't quite good).
As far as general reading goes, I'll stick to my sci-fi fantasy paperbacks until I can't deal with them anymore. That time is rapidly approaching I think. In the past few years, while there are always good writers and some truly brilliant ones (sci-fi/fantasy), more and more I find myself disappointed. Things get printed 'cookie cutter' and a lot of mediocre (at best) writings clog up store shelves. I liken it to the way the movie industry went. Sure you get big title blockbusters making hundreds of millions of dollars but there are a lot of garbage movie projects out there that start out with a budget of < 1million and go straight to the $9.99 rack. Many of those movies are more successful than the big name movies if they sell a mere $10million, though. Why? Because there is 1000% return on their investment.
We're conspicuous consumers, folks. Craps sells because we're not discerning enough to force the markets back in a different direction. If we buy a book (paperback) for $7-8 bucks and don't like it, we give it to a friend or sell it at a yard sale for 50 cents. Then we go buy another....
Society as we know it is doomed....
How likely a person is to read quest text is dependent on whether or not they've done the quest before. Certainly, people that start alts should not be beholden to reading all of the quest text. That is why games like WoW decided to allow people to rush the quest text.
I think that the author of the article has too high an expectation for the literature that exists within MMORPGs. Perhaps it would have been better to compare MMORPG quest text to common authors of sci-fi and fantasy literature instead of a literary giant like Philip Roth. While it would be nice to have George Orwell (or an equivalent if such a thing could ever exist) write quest text for a post apocalyptic sci-fi MMORPG, I see it as completely unreasonable.
Also, to be fair to the people that are being knocked for not reading quest text in this thread, in MMORPGs I personally often skim the quest text. I think this may be more common than simply skipping the text as so many here would say is the case. I would also argue that people are able to easily internalize the storyline, mood, current plots, etc. by doing this. As I found in college, reading every word can often times be counterproductive.
My expectations of literary excellence within quest texts in a video game are admittedly not high. If I want to read some good fiction, I am not going to flip on my computer and start up LotRO. Instead, I'll pop open a Steinbeck, take my time and enjoy the ride. I suppose if a game company hired an renown author to write some large story arc quest, it might raise my eyebrow and cause me to take more time with the quest text, but as of right now, the writers are being paid for a more general type of accessible writing.
I accept this and have actually been impressed overall by some of the quests and text found in MMORPGs like WoW, LotRO, EQ2 and many others. I'd say, barring translated titles, MMORPGs are offering some pretty good stuff overall.
I think it is harder to write good MMOG material because the writer(s) have to interface with so many others, in the current model, and those others will change the content to suit their "needs". We end up with games based on well-written works such as the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the Conan books and end up with the story-rape MMO products that those are.
The kind of people who put together the mechanics of game play apparently have no clue or little interest in telling a cohesive story. Curerent MMOGs are full of self-contradictions with spotty lore references ignored when inconvenient. They are gamers and not readers, by and large. Hopefully that is changing, but right now, the story writers are not given a lot of consideration in MMOGs.
The only kind of people that use lore in an MMO to back up their statements are those trying to pull the wool over the eyes of others and those who have had their eyes obscured by said wool. Lore can't be used to back up statements in MMOGs, because the lores for them don't hold up. Any lore that exists is clearly meant to allow whatever the devs want to happen to hppen when they want it to, and if it doesn't that won't stop them. You simply can not write good stories for that kind of game.
Oh, there can be a little bit here and there that is well enough done, but it takes blinders to enjoy it. Fortunately for bad storytellers, humans have blinders in abundance.
I do see some hope though. Television has improved. Beck in the days of Star Trek, there was absolutely no thought given to the effects one episode might have on future episodes. The only contnuing story lines were in soap operas. These days, we have better ongoing story lines in episodic oriented television that actually on occasion comes to satisfying concusions.
Blizzard seems to have recognized the shortcomings of WoW lore and story and taken steps to improve both. Certainly the overall story aspect of Wot:LK was better, and for MMOG standards I'd call it good. However, those aren't high standards, and most of the quests leveling up and certainly the game after level cap hasn't supported any story at all. Some of the aspects are just as frustrating as the old days and ways of television and comic books, where story hooks never resolved and villains lived on forever.
The little things matter. When you are asked to gather a dozen "Deer Steaks" for whatever reason, it shouldn't take killing 40 deer to get 12 "steaks". That's stupid on a variety of levels, and if I have to explain why then you aren't ever going to be a good writer so there is no point (If you don't know and think you want to be a good writer, figure out at least 6 reasons why it doesn't make sense on your own). You simply can't tell a good story with elements like that in the one you are telling.
Good stories have to be imaginitive and creative, but like the mechanics of good MMOGs they also have to be built on solid foundations. They must be cohesive and not violate their own universe - and the author(s) shouldn't use the fact that the story takes place in a make-believe universe as an an excuse to do anything they want without explanation. We the readers (players) need some ties to familiarity, some way for things to make sense, or the story fast becomes ridiculous and ultimately boring. Explain or acknowledge differences in your universe and the one we live in some way that makes for cohesive storyline, and never, ever ignore the laws of this universe otherwise. All rules apply unless otherwise noted.
Technology has severely hampered quality storytelling in MMOGs - how can you have a persistent world where you need to have re-spawning mobs and Bosses and also tell a story that reaches a logical end? Hopefully phasing and new advances that will come will help with that, and the inspiration and ability will come together in MMOG dev teams to write really good material. Will it ever be as good as the best books? The medium allows for more possibilites, so it could even potentially be better than what we have ever read, but I think the more people that are needed to share the story the harder it is to convey the pure vision. There are movies, as an example, that accomplish conveying a vision (or what gets conveyed turns out to be excellent even if it wasn't what the original vision was), so I certainly think it's possible and very much worth striving for.
Have played: Everquest, Asheron's Call, Horizons, Everquest2, World of Warcraft, Lord of the Rings Online, Warhammer, Age of Conan, Darkfall
Actually Morrigan was pretty consistent once one realized her 'mo'.
She was self serving and had her outlook on life. But as you go along you learn that her beliefs are challenged. There is a point, if one does a romance quest with her, that you can say you love her. Now, as we know, all through the game she says how she is against love.
However, if you say you love her she makes a stink about the whole thing, refutes it. But her reaction meter (or whatever it was called) actually goes up!
She's an extremely complex character and definitely one of my favorites. She doesn't fully change who she is but there is a bit of depth to her. She's just not comfortable with showing it.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
Same...lol
I'd say I appreciated the writing in Age of Conan and WAR on par with novels I've read. Now, I'm not a fan of Roth, I started Everyman and I thought it was merely Reader's Digest, i.e. toilet reading quality; fine, but didn't stretch my mind to think in new ways or about new subjects. But clearly, he is well respected so I am reminded of how subjective 'good writing' is. I prefer more complex styles like Terry Pratchett, described before as "plots...notoriously hard to summarize." And I've never found that in an MMO. But, I find the dark humor in the above MMOs adds a lot to those games, beyond the need to know where to go to kill something.
"Never met a pack of humans that were any different. Look at the idiots that get elected every couple of years. You really consider those guys more mature than us? The only difference between us and them is, when they gank some noobs and take their stuff, the noobs actually die." - Madimorga
While I do wish the gaming industry, in general, would stop bragging about how they use in house writers who are not writers to deliver their stories, basicallyt because it shows in the quality of work we see, I do not play games for a taste of deep writing. For that, I read books. Heck, I enjoy books that are not award winners more than I do the greats, although there are some classics I do love. Books aren't really going anywhere, but I think there has to be an adjustment period to contending with a lot of free or low cost material online. When new media arrives, old media will lose some ground as we only have a finite amount of time to spread across all the media available combined. I don't see this as an earth shattering problem though.
parrotpholk-Because we all know the miracle patch fairy shows up the night before release and sprinkles magic dust on the server to make it allllll better.
It must be hard for a gaming writer who may want to add depth to a story that to often doesn't exixt. Most ( read nearly all) games have a weak storyline that makes it impossible for them.
I agree that fewer people are reading for enjoyment though there are still more than a few. I read 40+ books a year some of which have included Poe , Twain, aka Samuel Clemens, Lawrence and most fantacy . I also enjoy a good thriller. Baldacci is one of the better ones tho there are several that are good. KInda sad that Kindle has grown in popularity. It would drive me nuts to not be able to flip back for a quick look at a passage I want to reread.
HUGE surprise was a book Daemon ( and sequel) that blew my socks off. I starts out looking like a thriller..add computers, internet and GASP! Gaming !! The first book was a juicy 600 plus pages that always kept me a bit off balance and loving every second of it.
So long as the story and the background is seen and treated as an afterthought by both the developers and the majority of the players, then you will always have bad writing. One can see it in the way with which roleplay is treated so often in these games: mocked and derided as being silly or serving no purpose.
If the story actually played a role in the game or even *gasp* affected the player's progression or stats, then suddenly players I think would be invested in it. However, this would need to be beyond the tired cliche of being the "chosen one" since obviously not everyone can be the hero. Interactions or knowledge of the storyline giving an advantage would open up a new possibility for overcoming challenges beyond simply the blunt stick approach of killing the enemy.
As much as I don't mind reading, I believe that for MMORPGs, one should only use "writing" for subtitles or creating menus...
In short, I believe everything in a game should be voiced...I remember Shenmue, a game for the Sega Dreamcast where everything was voiced and everything part of the game was Interractive and there was a full Night/Day + Weather system into the game. The only time I saw writing in that game is in an in-game book, or a in-game newspaper or street signs, building tags, etc. It was a form of being interractive.
I don't blame the failure of writing as much as I blame the DEVELOPERS for undergoing writers block and caring only for their pockets while I also blame GAMERS for never demanding for anything better.
Sorry, but out of all video game genres, the MMORPG is the least evolved and improved.
Please note when I state "MMORPG" that I am not including Console RPGs or regular singleplayer RPGs. That Genre has undergone tremendous change. The major thing MMORPGs got were a graphics improvement and kiddification along with the usual wall of text.