Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Will bethesda do MMO story telling right?
Sabic133
Member UncommonPosts: 46
I realize this is talking about a different game which isn't officially announced yet, but I think its relevant to SWTOR considering its major selling point (arguably its only) was that it was a story driven MMO from a company who had relative success delivering single player story driven RPG's and now we're faced with a similar scenario just a different company.
I've personally enjoyed their variation of story telling than any other company, especially with skyrim. I'm interested however to see if they will go down the path bioware has with making it basically a single player game as far as the story goes or if they allow for a more dynamic world which tells a story around you which your involved in but not necessarily the "hero" in contrast to how Bioware has done it.
Do you think they will do better, worse?
EDIT: for clarification http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/03/16/elder-scrolls-online-could-be-announced-in-may/
Comments
Oh, please no, for all that is holy.
Bethesda is known for it's mediocre/crappy combat and it's open environments that pretty much make their games.
I could only fathom how terrible the combat would be in a Bethesda MMO if their single player games are any indication of their ability.
Just another interactive movie like SWToR, that's just what we need.. but with even worse combat/gameplay? I'll burn my copies of Skyrim, Oblivion and Morrowind if they actually make something like that.
This is a sequence of characters intended to produce some profound mental effect, but it has failed.
Story should never be the main focus of an MMO. EVER
Waiting for:EQ-Next, ArcheAge (not so much anymore)
Now Playing: N/A
Worst MMO: FFXIV
Favorite MMO: FFXI
I don't really think great story telling when I think of Bethesda, I think vast open worlds with lots to do and explore.
My Guild Wars 2 Vids
It depends how they approach it, and it is far too early to say either way. Personally, I would love to see a MMORPG with the skill system of Skyrim - no more endless quickbars full of skills. And working first-person combat, although they'd have to do major improvements to that.
Storytelling... a game has to have a good story to keep me interested, but more than that, it has to not be boring. SWTOR, for all its good story and voice acting... is boring. Hopefully Bethsoft can learn from the mistakes of ts predecessors - and GW2 gives that much needed kick in the butt to the industry.
well one can say that but im one who dont like at any means that my characters just spawns on forest under the tree without any background story why? or why am i doing what im doing cause just pure sandbox sandcastles is not enough.
story,gameplay etc all matters.
Bethesda are world builders, not story tellers. That approach surprisingly makes for better mmorpgs. Still, I don't see a Bethesda mmorpg coming up any time soon.
Not saying the story would be a part of the focus in the bethesda one, but the story does do a job of putting the game world in context. The elder scrolls and fallout games didn't really have great story lines, but enough to put the world in context and they never forced you to do anything which is what I would expect from the MMO.
Also combat in every MMO is basically the same these days is why i didn't comment much on that.
It should, but it should be MY story, about my interactions with the world and it's other inhabitants, not about the generally cheesy developer written gubbins we get foisted upon us.Just rumored from many sites such as http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/03/16/elder-scrolls-online-could-be-announced-in-may/
Thank god for that, the story is the least part of an MMO, open worlds, lots to do and explore sounds just fine to me.Yeah, but that still isn't the focus of an MMO: The point of playing with other people is to either have content that is challenging enough to explore with them, or play against them.
You could have an MMO with vast content to explore.. but it will in the end just be a singleplayer game with a subscription fee.
Of course if your combat is so drab that, regardless of the degree of challenge of your content, you're bored to tears actually doing it, you're not in a much better position.
This is a sequence of characters intended to produce some profound mental effect, but it has failed.
They've been working on it for 4 years now. I also question the many posters saying TES games aren't about story, as that's exactly what makes them so deep, the amount of story and lore they put into a game is unmatched by most studios out there.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
Thank god for that, the story is the least part of an MMO, open worlds, lots to do and explore sounds just fine to me.Yeah, but that still isn't the focus of an MMO: The point of playing with other people is to either have content that is challenging enough to explore with them, or play against them.
You could have an MMO with vast content to explore.. but it will in the end just be a singleplayer game with a subscription fee.
Of course if your combat is so drab that, regardless of the degree of challenge of your content, you're bored to tears actually doing it, you're not in a much better position.
That's also true, but with doing stuff in open worlds you will be in amongst the other players which is better than this linear phased instanced rubbish.Of course that'd be great, but then you'd have to add different incentives to actually do that, or up the challenge to the point where you need other people to explore certain areas etc.
I think that after the past few AAA releases, it's becoming clear that the industry is simply not up to snuff to fulfill any expectations, regardless of how many millions of dollars they throw at them.
This is a sequence of characters intended to produce some profound mental effect, but it has failed.
Storytelling maybe...
They've had an incredibly boring storyline since forever, though.
It should be pretty far down on the list, in my opnion. A player creates his or her own story. That takes the least amount of work and allows for the most flexible storyline a person can create.
That's also true, but with doing stuff in open worlds you will be in amongst the other players which is better than this linear phased instanced rubbish.Of course that'd be great, but then you'd have to add different incentives to actually do that, or up the challenge to the point where you need other people to explore certain areas etc.
I think that after the past few AAA releases, it's becoming clear that the industry is simply not up to snuff to fulfill any expectations, regardless of how many millions of dollars they throw at them.
To be honest my hope is with ArcheAge, whether it crashes and burns or survives at least their Devs are trying to make an actual living breathing world where the whole point is the interactions between masses of players who are online together in a world. Sometimes I think the big western houses wouldn't have the imagination nor ability to do it even if an investor asked them to create one.The wise words I've known; "Sometimes you want to tell a story, sometimes you want to make one."
Played - M59, EQOA, EQ, EQ2, PS, SWG[Favorite], DAoC, UO, RS, MXO, CoH/CoV, TR, FFXI, FoM, WoW, Eve, Rift, SWTOR, TSW.
Playing - PS2, AoW, GW2
Thats right. The genre is named MMORPG the first two letters of which stand for Massively Multiplayer SWTOR does not even fit these first two words properly....
What about FFXI and Lotro? Their primary driving focus is STORY and they do it really well. 2 of my favorite MMOs, ever. Story is NOT the issue in SWTOR, by the by. It's everything else. Or lack of.
I certainly hope they don't try to shoehorn a static linear story into a persistant online rpg world.
I'd far prefer they focus on creating a well crafted world with enough room for every players own story to unfold, as it's been before in what I've considered the better MMOs. At the very least I hope that if they do decide to explore the static in game film gimmick, they don't slap it on the back of an uninspired rehash as we've seen done elsewhere.
Considering the lengthy development cycle of MMOs, it just doesn't seem a worthwhile pursuit when 5 years in development apparently gets you 2 weeks of 'personal, yet shared with everyone else' story.
It seems more prudent to develop a robust world and engaging systems with replayability, considering this is an online persistant world aiming for some longevity, rather than waste resources on a clearly unsustainable form of content.
This is very succinct, perfectly put. I want to go out there and grab the game by the horns and make my story, not press 1 to be good 3 to be bad or 2 for meh, I really hope the genre doesn't move in that direction.Of course the Bethesda MMO will have some sort of story, it will be an RPG, which is what Bethesda specializes in. Question is, how much of the game's overall resources will be emcompassed by story? Hopefully not 75% (approx.) like Swtor. Bethesda games have always put combat first though, so I doubt they'll screw it up
.
I foresee stealthing, sneaking, and all of the bonus traits that go along with those attributes becoming very popular...
All very poetic, but it really doesn't say much, because typically all it means in MMO format is, "I just wanna play the game my way". As that is all it means to make your own story in an MMO setting.
Sure some games allowed us to write a biography, but what more was there to it than that?
I want an MMO that does all things fairly well, great game-play, great storytelling, great adventuring and exploration. Etc...
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
I haven't really followed guild wars 2 and I'm not sure how this will actually play out at launch, but a system similar to the dynamic content that generates based on how many players are in the area, scales accordingly, and is essentially "random" meaning its based off a script design but can play out in many different ways is the way to go.
A possibly expanded version of this with a story telling aspect would be amazing (meaning a context of why that content is there and why its important to complete it) could be time based, and have a lasting effect on that area.
I think the real bread and butter would shine though in their open world design, building towns and forts etc. which would really give a sense that the world is alive. But then again, just speculation and I agree I have given up hope on being amazed by an MMO these days. Seems everyone is setting out thinking about how much cash they can suck out of people and not about how much passion they can put into making the game.