Honestly, if you can't ignore that you are being treated as special in an MMO story just for the sake of, you know, enjoying yourself.. then how on earth do you convince yourself that playing games altogether is not completely pointless? Surely you'd get annoyed at any game not being real if you thought that way, since you clearly know it's all fabricated.
It's about having fun, not trying to trick yourself.
Because Witcher 3 doesn't beat me over the head with the facetiousness of the story.
In an MMORPG, I get tasked with taking down General Warbringer of Doom, I may have to stare at his already lifeless body waiting on him to respawn. That's jarring with regards to the story.
So enemies all gathered in designated areas that infinitely pop back into existence all around you in a sandbox game is perfectly fine? What about NPC's that never move, literally stand in the same spot all their life? What about the fact that our characters don't need to go to the toilet, ever?
You can't ignore one unreal aspect of a game but be bothered by another.
We completely understand why that corpse is there so we can just ignore it. Plus, most games have gotten around that problem already with instances or phasing.
I can and am. Suspension of disbelief obviously lies in different places for everyone, but I personally don't take much of an interest in any story in an MMORPG. They all attempt to write personal stories in a genre that's anything but personal.
Honestly, if you can't ignore that you are being treated as special in an MMO story just for the sake of, you know, enjoying yourself.. then how on earth do you convince yourself that playing games altogether is not completely pointless? Surely you'd get annoyed at any game not being real if you thought that way, since you clearly know it's all fabricated.
It's about having fun, not trying to trick yourself.
Because Witcher 3 doesn't beat me over the head with the facetiousness of the story.
In an MMORPG, I get tasked with taking down General Warbringer of Doom, I may have to stare at his already lifeless body waiting on him to respawn. That's jarring with regards to the story.
So enemies all gathered in designated areas that infinitely pop back into existence all around you in a sandbox game is perfectly fine? What about NPC's that never move, literally stand in the same spot all their life? What about the fact that our characters don't need to go to the toilet, ever?
You can't ignore one unreal aspect of a game but be bothered by another.
We completely understand why that corpse is there so we can just ignore it. Plus, most games have gotten around that problem already with instances or phasing.
I can and am. Suspension of disbelief obviously lies in different places for everyone, but I personally don't take much of an interest in any story in an MMORPG. They all attempt to write personal stories in a genre that's anything but personal.
Oh, I know you can and do. What I meant though is that you don't really have a case for argument here and it's hypocritical when you're just choosing which things bother you and which don't. You just said yourself that it's different for everyone so.. it's just personal taste; opinion. We all know it's pointless complaining about different opinions and that trying to change someone's mind about their own is almost impossible.
Some people want a story, some don't. The kicker here though is that you can just ignore a story, if you choose to, which you said you do. You can't ignore when their isn't any story at all though, if you prefer games with a story. So.. better to just make them with a story so everyone has the option and more people want to play it, right?
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
Honestly, if you can't ignore that you are being treated as special in an MMO story just for the sake of, you know, enjoying yourself.. then how on earth do you convince yourself that playing games altogether is not completely pointless? Surely you'd get annoyed at any game not being real if you thought that way, since you clearly know it's all fabricated.
It's about having fun, not trying to trick yourself.
Because Witcher 3 doesn't beat me over the head with the facetiousness of the story.
In an MMORPG, I get tasked with taking down General Warbringer of Doom, I may have to stare at his already lifeless body waiting on him to respawn. That's jarring with regards to the story.
So enemies all gathered in designated areas that infinitely pop back into existence all around you in a sandbox game is perfectly fine? What about NPC's that never move, literally stand in the same spot all their life? What about the fact that our characters don't need to go to the toilet, ever?
You can't ignore one unreal aspect of a game but be bothered by another.
We completely understand why that corpse is there so we can just ignore it. Plus, most games have gotten around that problem already with instances or phasing.
I can and am. Suspension of disbelief obviously lies in different places for everyone, but I personally don't take much of an interest in any story in an MMORPG. They all attempt to write personal stories in a genre that's anything but personal.
Oh, I know you can and do. What I meant though is that you don't really have a case for argument here and it's hypocritical when you're just choosing which things bother you and which don't. You just said yourself that it's different for everyone so.. it's just personal taste; opinion. We all know it's pointless complaining about different opinions and that trying to change someone's mind about their own is almost impossible.
Some people want a story, some don't. The kicker here though is that you can just ignore a story, if you choose to, which you said you do. You can't ignore when their isn't any story at all though, if you prefer games with a story. So.. better to just make them with a story so everyone has the option and more people want to play it, right?
No one was making judgements on personal opinion in this exchange except you. I merely provided the reasoning behind why I don't enjoy the stories of MMORPGs. I don't remember where I said people are dumb for enjoying them, where I acted as if I couldn't possibly fathom how folks could feel that way, or where I demanded devs take them out.
So I guess my question is: what's the point of your posts here?
Even the title of the thread doesn't submit that devs should take them out, merely that they aren't needed for a good MMORPG.
You're the one acting as if you can't understand how someone could not enjoy a story in an MMORPG. Flabbergasted, even. So who was trying to convince who their opinion is wrong or misguided?
EDIT- in fact, you went so far as making a statement implying my opinion wasn't even possible: "You can't ignore one unreal aspect of a game but be bothered by another."
Honestly, if you can't ignore that you are being treated as special in an MMO story just for the sake of, you know, enjoying yourself.. then how on earth do you convince yourself that playing games altogether is not completely pointless? Surely you'd get annoyed at any game not being real if you thought that way, since you clearly know it's all fabricated.
It's about having fun, not trying to trick yourself.
Because Witcher 3 doesn't beat me over the head with the facetiousness of the story.
In an MMORPG, I get tasked with taking down General Warbringer of Doom, I may have to stare at his already lifeless body waiting on him to respawn. That's jarring with regards to the story.
So enemies all gathered in designated areas that infinitely pop back into existence all around you in a sandbox game is perfectly fine? What about NPC's that never move, literally stand in the same spot all their life? What about the fact that our characters don't need to go to the toilet, ever?
You can't ignore one unreal aspect of a game but be bothered by another.
We completely understand why that corpse is there so we can just ignore it. Plus, most games have gotten around that problem already with instances or phasing.
I can and am. Suspension of disbelief obviously lies in different places for everyone, but I personally don't take much of an interest in any story in an MMORPG. They all attempt to write personal stories in a genre that's anything but personal.
Oh, I know you can and do. What I meant though is that you don't really have a case for argument here and it's hypocritical when you're just choosing which things bother you and which don't. You just said yourself that it's different for everyone so.. it's just personal taste; opinion. We all know it's pointless complaining about different opinions and that trying to change someone's mind about their own is almost impossible.
Some people want a story, some don't. The kicker here though is that you can just ignore a story, if you choose to, which you said you do. You can't ignore when their isn't any story at all though, if you prefer games with a story. So.. better to just make them with a story so everyone has the option and more people want to play it, right?
No one was making judgements on personal opinion in this exchange except you. I merely provided the reasoning behind why I don't enjoy the stories of MMORPGs. I don't remember where I said people are dumb for enjoying them, where I acted as if I couldn't possibly fathom how folks could feel that way, or where I demanded devs take them out.
So I guess my question is: what's the point of your posts here?
Even the title of the thread doesn't submit that devs should take them out, merely that they aren't needed for a good MMORPG.
You're the one acting as if you can't understand how someone could not enjoy a story in an MMORPG. Flabbergasted, even. So who was trying to convince who their opinion is wrong or misguided?
That would have been a good reply if the OP hadn't said this "I think a good story should be reserved for a single player game.".
It was the OP's post I was replying to, really. You're just someone who replied to me.
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
Honestly, if you can't ignore that you are being treated as special in an MMO story just for the sake of, you know, enjoying yourself.. then how on earth do you convince yourself that playing games altogether is not completely pointless? Surely you'd get annoyed at any game not being real if you thought that way, since you clearly know it's all fabricated.
It's about having fun, not trying to trick yourself.
Because Witcher 3 doesn't beat me over the head with the facetiousness of the story.
In an MMORPG, I get tasked with taking down General Warbringer of Doom, I may have to stare at his already lifeless body waiting on him to respawn. That's jarring with regards to the story.
So enemies all gathered in designated areas that infinitely pop back into existence all around you in a sandbox game is perfectly fine? What about NPC's that never move, literally stand in the same spot all their life? What about the fact that our characters don't need to go to the toilet, ever?
You can't ignore one unreal aspect of a game but be bothered by another.
We completely understand why that corpse is there so we can just ignore it. Plus, most games have gotten around that problem already with instances or phasing.
I can and am. Suspension of disbelief obviously lies in different places for everyone, but I personally don't take much of an interest in any story in an MMORPG. They all attempt to write personal stories in a genre that's anything but personal.
Oh, I know you can and do. What I meant though is that you don't really have a case for argument here and it's hypocritical when you're just choosing which things bother you and which don't. You just said yourself that it's different for everyone so.. it's just personal taste; opinion. We all know it's pointless complaining about different opinions and that trying to change someone's mind about their own is almost impossible.
Some people want a story, some don't. The kicker here though is that you can just ignore a story, if you choose to, which you said you do. You can't ignore when their isn't any story at all though, if you prefer games with a story. So.. better to just make them with a story so everyone has the option and more people want to play it, right?
No one was making judgements on personal opinion in this exchange except you. I merely provided the reasoning behind why I don't enjoy the stories of MMORPGs. I don't remember where I said people are dumb for enjoying them, where I acted as if I couldn't possibly fathom how folks could feel that way, or where I demanded devs take them out.
So I guess my question is: what's the point of your posts here?
Even the title of the thread doesn't submit that devs should take them out, merely that they aren't needed for a good MMORPG.
You're the one acting as if you can't understand how someone could not enjoy a story in an MMORPG. Flabbergasted, even. So who was trying to convince who their opinion is wrong or misguided?
That would have been a good reply if the OP hadn't said this "I think a good story should be reserved for a single player game.".
It was the OP's post I was replying to, really. You're just someone who replied to me.
Sure, but you really didn't say that in the response to me, you specifically quoted me and used "you." Not only that, but your original post never referenced the idea of "reserving" stories for singleplayer or removing them at all. I merely responded to what you wrote to give you perspective as to how someone can enjoy a game with NPCs without enjoying a personal story in an MMORPG. You responded with, again, a statement implying my opinion wasn't even possible.
In some games story works, other they don't. I play ESO and GW2 for story, and other games like SWG didn't need a main storyline (not the same as quests). SOE tried to add a story to SWG for the NGE and it was crap (A Speeder for me) lol. They also tried story arches, but couldn't meet the demand so they gave up.
Originally in SWG you where just some dood who got his ship blown up, ended up on an Imperial station and they didn't want to mess with you, so they said, help us with a few things here, then we will drop you on the planet below and you can make a life for yourself there.
In some games story works, other they don't. I play ESO and GW2 for story, and other games like SWG didn't need a main storyline (not the same as quests). SOE tried to add a story to SWG for the NGE and it was crap (A Speeder for me) lol. They also tried story arches, but couldn't meet the demand so they gave up.
Originally in SWG you where just some dood who got his ship blown up, ended up on an Imperial station and they didn't want to mess with you, so they said, help us with a few things here, then we will drop you on the planet below and you can make a life for yourself there.
That newbie SWG quest was some of the most uninspired questing I've ever done lol. Right down to the name.
I think a good MMO need a good story, but more in the way ofm a good background story then one you must play through.
Just throwing random places and people without any logic in a game just makes a huge mess. If there is a ruin or a dungeon in a remote wood there should be a reason for it being there, it makes exploring it more exciting and the games world makes more sense and feels more rare.
And npcs should have a personality and a background instead of just being cardboard characters throwing out random quests.
The story as you play should be more created by the players then running the same railroaded path that everyone else run, but it should be created into an excisting world unless the story is that the players are settlers to a wild place without any intelligent beings.
Creating a MMO built like a singleplayer game is a huge misstake because MMO should be a world we experience together with other player but every world besides a newly terraformed planet (and probably even that) have a story before and that is a very important thing.
And if the npcs send you on quests (or DEs) you need a background story of both the questgiver, the quest and the general area it takes place in. Even in a sandbox game where other players are the important people in the game you need a background that tells us how things are the way they are when the game start.
A main story everyone must run through is not neccesary at all, there I agree with OP.
Egotism is the anesthetic that dullens the pain of stupidity, this is why when I try to beat my head against the stupidity of other people, I only hurt myself.
I draw a sharp distinction between story and lore. The story of a game is what you play through. The lore is part of the setting. Setting is very important. Lore is very important to setting. Any game without good lore is lacking a lot unless it's something like Tetris that requires no lore.
I really don't think the two should be equated since their impact and implementation is so different though.
I draw a sharp distinction between story and lore. The story of a game is what you play through. The lore is part of the setting. Setting is very important. Lore is very important to setting. Any game without good lore is lacking a lot unless it's something like Tetris that requires no lore.
I really don't think the two should be equated since their impact and implementation is so different though.
I see it like lore is what happened in the gameworld a long time ago, like what they ancient ruin really is while background story as what have happened more recent and what motivates people but I guess your way of seeing things is easier.
Story, background story and lore tend to get mixed together with the same etiquette amd it is a shame.
Lore is really ancient legends, the religions and how the world looks like it does. It is important for the gameworld to feel more realistic and less random.
The background story tells more what motivates people and countries. That part is even more important because it affects the gameworld now (or at least it should).
The story is more quests, events and other things that happens in game. That story could be created by players themselves or be made by the devs. The thing with that part is that the story tend to be a bit forced in modern MMOs, it is something you more or less must do and it is a single path you must follow with optional sidequests.
I think that part should be important but not in the Bioware styled instanced and cut scene way. A good story should be something that now and then show up and the players could choose to interact with or not. It is what change the game and set it up for the next expansion as well as it is something extra to do besides the other things a typical MMO character does.
Spoon feeding us with tons of small quests becomes tend to feel grindy after a while as does tons of cutscenes, a MMO story needs to give the players enough space to explore the world for themselves without too much handholding while at the same time point confused players in the right direction to adventure.
As I see it, the devs tend to put too much work into telling us exactly what to do constantly and too little on letting us discover interesting things by ourselves.
Honestly, if you can't ignore that you are being treated as special in an MMO story just for the sake of, you know, enjoying yourself.. then how on earth do you convince yourself that playing games altogether is not completely pointless? Surely you'd get annoyed at any game not being real if you thought that way, since you clearly know it's all fabricated.
It's about having fun, not trying to trick yourself.
It's the old "suspension of disbelief" argument. Some see Clark Kent and never realize he is Superman, simply because he wears glasses. I'm not one of those people.
Basically, I can find "fun" in almost any game I load up. Lately it is a matter of principle that I no longer even try. Every other gamer may be ecstatic about where gaming is going (games as a service), but I despise it immensely and refuse to support such crap.
In an MMO(RPG), I am playing because of other players. If I ignore them to "make sense" of the craptastic "you're the savior!" story, why even play?
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse. - FARGIN_WAR
Honestly, if you can't ignore that you are being treated as special in an MMO story just for the sake of, you know, enjoying yourself.. then how on earth do you convince yourself that playing games altogether is not completely pointless? Surely you'd get annoyed at any game not being real if you thought that way, since you clearly know it's all fabricated.
It's about having fun, not trying to trick yourself.
Because Witcher 3 doesn't beat me over the head with the facetiousness of the story.
In an MMORPG, I get tasked with taking down General Warbringer of Doom, I may have to stare at his already lifeless body waiting on him to respawn. That's jarring with regards to the story.
And then you have new technologies like Phasing which eliminate that problem, and players then complain about those new features. There's no win for MMORPG developers...
How about not making the players the saviors of the world? It's not difficult. No need to "phase", no need to suspend your disbelief. Win/win, in my book
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse. - FARGIN_WAR
Quests story mean something will end and that wasn't something good for an MMO . If an MMO follow that way then soon or late they will run in to dead end and can't turn back .
Honestly, if you can't ignore that you are being treated as special in an MMO story just for the sake of, you know, enjoying yourself.. then how on earth do you convince yourself that playing games altogether is not completely pointless? Surely you'd get annoyed at any game not being real if you thought that way, since you clearly know it's all fabricated.
It's about having fun, not trying to trick yourself.
Because Witcher 3 doesn't beat me over the head with the facetiousness of the story.
In an MMORPG, I get tasked with taking down General Warbringer of Doom, I may have to stare at his already lifeless body waiting on him to respawn. That's jarring with regards to the story.
And then you have new technologies like Phasing which eliminate that problem, and players then complain about those new features. There's no win for MMORPG developers...
Agreed, we MMORPG gamers are a fickle bunch.
I guess I'm a fan of sandboxes in that way. To me, an example of a great way to do a story in an MMORPG is to present it like Dark Souls presents the lore in their game: small, disparate bits of "paint," if you will, that begin to reveal a larger picture as you find more and more drops of it scattered throughout the world.
Honestly, if you can't ignore that you are being treated as special in an MMO story just for the sake of, you know, enjoying yourself.. then how on earth do you convince yourself that playing games altogether is not completely pointless? Surely you'd get annoyed at any game not being real if you thought that way, since you clearly know it's all fabricated.
It's about having fun, not trying to trick yourself.
Because Witcher 3 doesn't beat me over the head with the facetiousness of the story.
In an MMORPG, I get tasked with taking down General Warbringer of Doom, I may have to stare at his already lifeless body waiting on him to respawn. That's jarring with regards to the story.
And then you have new technologies like Phasing which eliminate that problem, and players then complain about those new features. There's no win for MMORPG developers...
Worst is that the quest info isn't detailed enough to go without quest markers many times.
That's what I'm talking about indeed. Quests are written with quest helpers in mind, and that is bad.
I remember the quest instructions in Vanilla WoW. They were precise, anyone with half a brain could follow them, yet apparently to some it was still too hard.
My problems with phasing is that it divides players. I am also more sandbox in my mentality where the world should be functional and schematically laid out for progression.
Honestly, if you can't ignore that you are being treated as special in an MMO story just for the sake of, you know, enjoying yourself.. then how on earth do you convince yourself that playing games altogether is not completely pointless? Surely you'd get annoyed at any game not being real if you thought that way, since you clearly know it's all fabricated.
It's about having fun, not trying to trick yourself.
Because Witcher 3 doesn't beat me over the head with the facetiousness of the story.
In an MMORPG, I get tasked with taking down General Warbringer of Doom, I may have to stare at his already lifeless body waiting on him to respawn. That's jarring with regards to the story.
And then you have new technologies like Phasing which eliminate that problem, and players then complain about those new features. There's no win for MMORPG developers...
How about not making the players the saviors of the world? It's not difficult. No need to "phase", no need to suspend your disbelief. Win/win, in my book
In a fully dynamic world, you can still make the players the "saviors of the day" without making them another clone hero among 1000+ clone heroes.
Honestly, if you can't ignore that you are being treated as
special in an MMO story just for the sake of, you know, enjoying
yourself.. then how on earth do you convince yourself that playing games
altogether is not completely pointless? Surely you'd get annoyed at any
game not being real if you thought that way, since you clearly know
it's all fabricated.
It's about having fun, not trying to trick yourself.
Because Witcher 3 doesn't beat me over the head with the facetiousness of the story.
In
an MMORPG, I get tasked with taking down General Warbringer of Doom, I
may have to stare at his already lifeless body waiting on him to
respawn. That's jarring with regards to the story.
And then you have new technologies like Phasing which eliminate that
problem, and players then complain about those new features. There's no
win for MMORPG developers...
Worst is that the quest info isn't detailed enough to go without quest markers many times.
That's what I'm talking about indeed. Quests are written with quest helpers in mind, and that is bad.
I
remember the quest instructions in Vanilla WoW. They were precise,
anyone with half a brain could follow them, yet apparently to some it
was still too hard.
My problems with phasing is that it divides players. I am also more
sandbox in my mentality where the world should be functional and
schematically laid out for progression.
I agree, and the answer is the same... a fully dynamic world where nothing ever happens twice. We will get it.
Until then, I don't intend to stop enjoying MMORPGs, so I enjoy what is given. And there are still damned nice games out there despite the features I somehow disagree with.
The dynamic world fueled by AI, where all content is generated and individualized as needed. A lovely dream, but developers' haven't laid the groundwork yet. They seem to prefer building all content by hand. It costs them money. There is such a wide gap between current MMORPG development techniques and those needed to support content generation algorithms can only be hurdled with cash. I feel the business realities will kill the golden goose that we call MMORPGs before they begin to bridge that gap.
A fully dynamic world. It's something I'd love to see. It won't happen in my lifetime, I'm afraid.
Logic, my dear, merely enables one to be wrong with great authority.
A fully dynamic world. It's something I'd love to see. It won't happen in my lifetime, I'm afraid.
You have dynamic weather and spawning NPC animals, what else do you need and more important why in a MMO game?
I've yet to see any game present me with content (dialog, quest narrative) generated by an algorithm. This applies to any type of game, not just MMORPGs. Developing that content by hand causes the cost of developing games to expand exponentially. Also, it takes a lot of time to add something new to the game.
Logic, my dear, merely enables one to be wrong with great authority.
A fully dynamic world. It's something I'd love to see. It won't happen in my lifetime, I'm afraid.
You have dynamic weather and spawning NPC animals, what else do you need and more important why in a MMO game?
That is a bit bare bones Ikcin, you are not playing Bless are you?
Shall I? If you say it is good I may try it. In fact I wait to see if it becomes FTP after few months or the prices go significantly down. The money is not a problem, but I do not want to feel like an idiot by spending them for a bad game, like I did with GW2 and BDO.
I was joking mate, doubt I will ever look at it. You need something more like Gloria Victus I would guess, which I have heard is open world PvP. But that's probably still in some form of EA?
Honestly, if you can't ignore that you are being treated as special in an MMO story just for the sake of, you know, enjoying yourself.. then how on earth do you convince yourself that playing games altogether is not completely pointless? Surely you'd get annoyed at any game not being real if you thought that way, since you clearly know it's all fabricated.
It's about having fun, not trying to trick yourself.
Because Witcher 3 doesn't beat me over the head with the facetiousness of the story.
In an MMORPG, I get tasked with taking down General Warbringer of Doom, I may have to stare at his already lifeless body waiting on him to respawn. That's jarring with regards to the story.
And then you have new technologies like Phasing which eliminate that problem, and players then complain about those new features. There's no win for MMORPG developers...
How about not making the players the saviors of the world? It's not difficult. No need to "phase", no need to suspend your disbelief. Win/win, in my book
In a fully dynamic world, you can still make the players the "saviors of the day" without making them another clone hero among 1000+ clone heroes.
DAMN YOU! I just came a little...
Ah... the day when a fully dynamic world comes to fruition, I'll be seriously looking at that game. If I'm still alive, that is. I ain't gettin' any younger!
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse. - FARGIN_WAR
Comments
Some people want a story, some don't. The kicker here though is that you can just ignore a story, if you choose to, which you said you do. You can't ignore when their isn't any story at all though, if you prefer games with a story. So.. better to just make them with a story so everyone has the option and more people want to play it, right?
So I guess my question is: what's the point of your posts here?
Even the title of the thread doesn't submit that devs should take them out, merely that they aren't needed for a good MMORPG.
You're the one acting as if you can't understand how someone could not enjoy a story in an MMORPG. Flabbergasted, even. So who was trying to convince who their opinion is wrong or misguided?
EDIT- in fact, you went so far as making a statement implying my opinion wasn't even possible: "You can't ignore one unreal aspect of a game but be bothered by another."
It was the OP's post I was replying to, really. You're just someone who replied to me.
Just throwing random places and people without any logic in a game just makes a huge mess. If there is a ruin or a dungeon in a remote wood there should be a reason for it being there, it makes exploring it more exciting and the games world makes more sense and feels more rare.
And npcs should have a personality and a background instead of just being cardboard characters throwing out random quests.
The story as you play should be more created by the players then running the same railroaded path that everyone else run, but it should be created into an excisting world unless the story is that the players are settlers to a wild place without any intelligent beings.
Creating a MMO built like a singleplayer game is a huge misstake because MMO should be a world we experience together with other player but every world besides a newly terraformed planet (and probably even that) have a story before and that is a very important thing.
And if the npcs send you on quests (or DEs) you need a background story of both the questgiver, the quest and the general area it takes place in. Even in a sandbox game where other players are the important people in the game you need a background that tells us how things are the way they are when the game start.
A main story everyone must run through is not neccesary at all, there I agree with OP.
I really don't think the two should be equated since their impact and implementation is so different though.
Story, background story and lore tend to get mixed together with the same etiquette amd it is a shame.
Lore is really ancient legends, the religions and how the world looks like it does. It is important for the gameworld to feel more realistic and less random.
The background story tells more what motivates people and countries. That part is even more important because it affects the gameworld now (or at least it should).
The story is more quests, events and other things that happens in game. That story could be created by players themselves or be made by the devs.
The thing with that part is that the story tend to be a bit forced in modern MMOs, it is something you more or less must do and it is a single path you must follow with optional sidequests.
I think that part should be important but not in the Bioware styled instanced and cut scene way. A good story should be something that now and then show up and the players could choose to interact with or not. It is what change the game and set it up for the next expansion as well as it is something extra to do besides the other things a typical MMO character does.
Spoon feeding us with tons of small quests becomes tend to feel grindy after a while as does tons of cutscenes, a MMO story needs to give the players enough space to explore the world for themselves without too much handholding while at the same time point confused players in the right direction to adventure.
As I see it, the devs tend to put too much work into telling us exactly what to do constantly and too little on letting us discover interesting things by ourselves.
Basically, I can find "fun" in almost any game I load up. Lately it is a matter of principle that I no longer even try. Every other gamer may be ecstatic about where gaming is going (games as a service), but I despise it immensely and refuse to support such crap.
In an MMO(RPG), I am playing because of other players. If I ignore them to "make sense" of the craptastic "you're the savior!" story, why even play?
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse.- FARGIN_WAR
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse.- FARGIN_WAR
I guess I'm a fan of sandboxes in that way. To me, an example of a great way to do a story in an MMORPG is to present it like Dark Souls presents the lore in their game: small, disparate bits of "paint," if you will, that begin to reveal a larger picture as you find more and more drops of it scattered throughout the world.
A fully dynamic world. It's something I'd love to see. It won't happen in my lifetime, I'm afraid.
Logic, my dear, merely enables one to be wrong with great authority.
Logic, my dear, merely enables one to be wrong with great authority.
Ah... the day when a fully dynamic world comes to fruition, I'll be seriously looking at that game. If I'm still alive, that is. I ain't gettin' any younger!
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse.- FARGIN_WAR