It's usually the other way around - sandboxes, being at least partly procedurally generated, tend to have very unified settings, while themeparks tend to have one of every different kind of setting even if they have no obvious relationship to the core game concept.
Well my point was that themeparks need heroes for their stories and heroes need some form of powerful enemy to fight .Sandboxes are much more just living in a world and not having to save it. Just because the most popular sandbox game in engineered to be a "cold dark place" doesn't mean you couldn't design a sandbox with the exact opposite goal in mind or (probably better) something in the middle.
Oh I see. I thought you were trying to say sandboxes have room for bleak and cheerful stuff in the same game; I guess I interpreted your post wrong then, sorry.
I want to help design and develop a PvE-focused, solo-friendly, sandpark MMO which combines crafting, monster hunting, and story. So PM me if you are starting one.
What's even more annoying is that they take this "single player" rpg storylines and toss the minto an mmo where it just doesn't fit.
Nothing can sap you right out of any interest in an mmo's "Story" then when you are the one and only "chosen" one and you do all of these "super important" quests and you see...100's of other players doing the same exact thing.
nah it fits very well in instances.
How can you see other 100 other players when your group is the only one in the instance? This is no difference than playing Tombraider, when you know millions are playing "other" Lara Croft, but you can't see them.
Or phasing .. that will prevent you seeing others on the same quests too.
"You are THE savior of the world" type stories tend to be the refuge of those of limited talent in crafting narrative that makes the player involved. It the same syndrome as the "We have to build an even BIGGER explosion then that other movie" in films. Trying to make up for in flash what the narrative lacks in substance or style. It can work in movies or novels or single-player RPGS because you are involving only a small group of individuals...so you can believably have a protagonist who is THE savior. In an MMO it requires alot more suspension of belief from the player to work.
I'm not saying that all such narratives are poor quality.... you do have extremely talented people do those huge stories, just as you have some very good movies that have big explosions too... it's just that very often it is used as an attempted substitute for quality. Note, that even with some of the talented authors of the "Savior the World" type narratives, the reader doesn't actualy know that's what is happening until well into the story...for example Tolkien starts out with what looks to be a pretty small (but extremely well done) story that expands into something much larger. In others, you have very dramatic stories that are only of relevance on a personal/level. Alien and Aliens are very intense narratives.... but no one is trying to save the Universe there, just a single crew, mostly trying to save thier own butts... the story doesn't lack for it though.
MMO's don't have to do the "Your are THE savior" thing to do good, involved and exciting narratives. Just think of something like the soldiers involved in the 1st wave on Omaha Beach on D-Day, if you want to think of an intense and gripping narrative that required thousands of people working together toward a common goal who's involvement really mattered. No one individual was the single anointed "savior" there...and a single failure wouldn't have been the end of the battle, which probably wouldn't have been the end of the operation which certainly wouldn't have been the end of the war...... but the sum total of all those individual struggles really made a huge difference to the course of history. That's the kind of gripping, intense, dramatic narrative that MMO designers could easly fit into thier games, if they wanted to do so. However, many just fall back on the "You are THE chosen savior of the World" type stories because they are too limited in imagination and talent to try to think beyond that. YMMV.
In a story driven MMO, and most MMOs are story driven, you need an exciting story.
In a player driven MMO, like Minecraft or Second Life, the players make the story. No reason why a player driven MMO can't have an exciting story.
Yep. It's not an mmo thingy it's a story thingy. Writers call it "conflict." No one will buy your novel if you don't have conflict. But I'm not berating you OP because I've often tried to write focused on environment and HAPPY relationships. Of course I keep those projects nicely hidden away from a scrutinizing public. Except for my artist niece who is constantly screaming at me "more conflict, fool!"
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Oh I see. I thought you were trying to say sandboxes have room for bleak and cheerful stuff in the same game; I guess I interpreted your post wrong then, sorry.
nah it fits very well in instances.
How can you see other 100 other players when your group is the only one in the instance? This is no difference than playing Tombraider, when you know millions are playing "other" Lara Croft, but you can't see them.
Or phasing .. that will prevent you seeing others on the same quests too.
"You are THE savior of the world" type stories tend to be the refuge of those of limited talent in crafting narrative that makes the player involved. It the same syndrome as the "We have to build an even BIGGER explosion then that other movie" in films. Trying to make up for in flash what the narrative lacks in substance or style. It can work in movies or novels or single-player RPGS because you are involving only a small group of individuals...so you can believably have a protagonist who is THE savior. In an MMO it requires alot more suspension of belief from the player to work.
I'm not saying that all such narratives are poor quality.... you do have extremely talented people do those huge stories, just as you have some very good movies that have big explosions too... it's just that very often it is used as an attempted substitute for quality. Note, that even with some of the talented authors of the "Savior the World" type narratives, the reader doesn't actualy know that's what is happening until well into the story...for example Tolkien starts out with what looks to be a pretty small (but extremely well done) story that expands into something much larger. In others, you have very dramatic stories that are only of relevance on a personal/level. Alien and Aliens are very intense narratives.... but no one is trying to save the Universe there, just a single crew, mostly trying to save thier own butts... the story doesn't lack for it though.
MMO's don't have to do the "Your are THE savior" thing to do good, involved and exciting narratives. Just think of something like the soldiers involved in the 1st wave on Omaha Beach on D-Day, if you want to think of an intense and gripping narrative that required thousands of people working together toward a common goal who's involvement really mattered. No one individual was the single anointed "savior" there...and a single failure wouldn't have been the end of the battle, which probably wouldn't have been the end of the operation which certainly wouldn't have been the end of the war...... but the sum total of all those individual struggles really made a huge difference to the course of history. That's the kind of gripping, intense, dramatic narrative that MMO designers could easly fit into thier games, if they wanted to do so. However, many just fall back on the "You are THE chosen savior of the World" type stories because they are too limited in imagination and talent to try to think beyond that. YMMV.
In a story driven MMO, and most MMOs are story driven, you need an exciting story.
In a player driven MMO, like Minecraft or Second Life, the players make the story. No reason why a player driven MMO can't have an exciting story.
http://gnomophobia.com
Yep. It's not an mmo thingy it's a story thingy. Writers call it "conflict." No one will buy your novel if you don't have conflict. But I'm not berating you OP because I've often tried to write focused on environment and HAPPY relationships. Of course I keep those projects nicely hidden away from a scrutinizing public. Except for my artist niece who is constantly screaming at me "more conflict, fool!"