This is similar to the limit in a lot of branching story games. There are tons of different combinations of how things could unfold, but you're generally just recycling the same events albeit in a different combination.
True, there is a limit to the branches a storyline can handle, but you forget that questing in MMO's has had no branches at all, so the introduction of branched questing and storylines is an improvement and more interesting alternative of the traditional fixed quest storyline.
I'm not saying -no story- at all in PnP, its a framework. But i never write a PnP adventure to be story-DRIVEN. I never decide that my players need to go to the tavern to talk to Grom Hellscreems ghost in order to progress or experience the events. The key is to let the players unfold the events instead of unfolding the events for them.
I also do not think that telling your own story in a quest based leveling system is -impossible- or that it stops it dead in its tracks. What I'm saying instead is that it makes it -harder-.
It becomes a game of pretend. I pretend to play my own story while i know that i actually don't.
I also do not think that players will complain in SWTOR, my playstyle is not everyones cup of tea. I'm more raising a general game design concern than a specific concern towards TOR.
That is funny to me. Every RPG game is about pretending to be or take part in a role. It is all pretend, none of it is real. It doesn't mater how real it may become in your own mind, it is just a game.
Distinction Example:
In my PnP i move a boulder, the boulder is out of the way forever.
vs.
In MMO X i move a boulder, the next person playing the same quest will still have the boulder in its way. If i reroll, the boulder will still be in my way.
In one i pretend i moved a boulder in an imaginary setting.
vs.
In the other i pretend that i moved the boulder that i pretended to move in an imaginary setting.
In the same way i can pretend that my sith lord is actually a spy, an extremely disciplined jedi master that infiltrated the sith. But i will never see that representation ingame, maybe even get told the complete opposite if the writer so desired it. Its jarring.
Originally posted by MMO.Maverick Originally posted by Creslin321
Branching RPG stories, like BW's, remind me of those old "choose your own adventure" books. Each time you read the book, the story can have different twists and turns, but it is ultimately limited to the amount of pages in the book. This is how branching RPG stories work as well. You can play them out in different ways, but they are limited to the scripts that were pre-written for the game.
? Sorry, I don't know if you've been playing a lot of singleplayer games, but branching dialogues and quests have been possible and done in quite a number of singleplayer games. But maybe you've been stuck in the era of 'choose your own adventure' books, which iirc were popular in a time that computergames weren't as mainstream and widespread as they are today. However, the computergame industry has taken the concept of branched questing and dialogues and flown with it successfully since many years now. Try to keep track of gameplay trends in computergaming once in a while, is what I'd like to suggest you
Kind of threw me off with this one, Maverick. He is not denying SP games have had branching dialogues or branching quests "like BW's". He said they are kin to choose your own adventure books. Nothing more. Hell, he is not even saying it is bad thing for the games.
I think if the OP did a little more research on this game he would definetly be into it. I was not at first but the more I researched the more I found I liked this game. Hell it is going to have POPULATION. Something I don't have enough of on my current MMO lol.
Comments
Definitely
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Are you team Azeroth, team Tyria, or team Jacob?
Distinction Example:
In my PnP i move a boulder, the boulder is out of the way forever.
vs.
In MMO X i move a boulder, the next person playing the same quest will still have the boulder in its way. If i reroll, the boulder will still be in my way.
In one i pretend i moved a boulder in an imaginary setting.
vs.
In the other i pretend that i moved the boulder that i pretended to move in an imaginary setting.
In the same way i can pretend that my sith lord is actually a spy, an extremely disciplined jedi master that infiltrated the sith. But i will never see that representation ingame, maybe even get told the complete opposite if the writer so desired it. Its jarring.
However, the computergame industry has taken the concept of branched questing and dialogues and flown with it successfully since many years now.
Try to keep track of gameplay trends in computergaming once in a while, is what I'd like to suggest you
Kind of threw me off with this one, Maverick. He is not denying SP games have had branching dialogues or branching quests "like BW's". He said they are kin to choose your own adventure books. Nothing more. Hell, he is not even saying it is bad thing for the games.
BOOYAKA!
I think if the OP did a little more research on this game he would definetly be into it. I was not at first but the more I researched the more I found I liked this game. Hell it is going to have POPULATION. Something I don't have enough of on my current MMO lol.