You know, I am going to go out on a major limb here and say World of Warcraft. As someone who's read a large amount of the books and lore and the like, several of the quests in WoW pull you along and almost make you feel as though you really are playing a story all your own (which isn't good for an MMORPG, but I double WoW with EVE to get a perfect balance). I feel as though I'm venturing into places for a reason, even if it is just a spin on what I've done hundreds of times before. The Uldaman instance is one of those stand out ones, as I found myself being caught up in everything, coming out feeling like I'd just watched an Indiana Jones movie. While I know this post is likely to attract flames, far too many people ignore some of WoW's higher points.
If that answer wasn't good enough for you, however, EVE Online is right there with it. Empires rise and fall, friends become enemies, uprisings occur, brilliant last stands are performed, and I find myself worrying about the war even while I'm not playing. When a game can bring out such emotions in me, where I feel that I must do whatever I can to fight what I stand against, I know the story is great.
You know, I am going to go out on a major limb here and say World of Warcraft. As someone who's read a large amount of the books and lore and the like, several of the quests in WoW pull you along and almost make you feel as though you really are playing a story all your own (which isn't good for an MMORPG, but I double WoW with EVE to get a perfect balance). I feel as though I'm venturing into places for a reason, even if it is just a spin on what I've done hundreds of times before. The Uldaman instance is one of those stand out ones, as I found myself being caught up in everything, coming out feeling like I'd just watched an Indiana Jones movie. While I know this post is likely to attract flames, far too many people ignore some of WoW's higher points.
If that answer wasn't good enough for you, however, EVE Online is right there with it. Empires rise and fall, friends become enemies, uprisings occur, brilliant last stands are performed, and I find myself worrying about the war even while I'm not playing. When a game can bring out such emotions in me, where I feel that I must do whatever I can to fight what I stand against, I know the story is great.
what can you say about all the anti - WoW out there
I would have to say WoW, It has such a deep and interesting backstory between the titans and the burning legion. I know many people dispise the game for what it is, but If you read the books and have played all of the RTS games you can truely appreciate it.
Though Its not a MMO the Fallout 1 and 2 have a great story behind them, making them some of my favorite games of all time. The post-nuclear setting combined with the sinister minds of humanity really combines for something special.
FFXI was a pretty solid story. Asheron's Call 1 was pretty good if you followed it closely. A lot of people probably played AC1 and didn't really look at the story. FFXI really put it in your face and made you want to see what happened next through rewarding you with items like the infamous Airship Pass and access to new zones. I never did get past the Promyvions lol
I would have to say WoW, It has such a deep and interesting backstory between the titans and the burning legion. I know many people dispise the game for what it is, but If you read the books and have played all of the RTS games you can truely appreciate it.
Funniest thing i read all day.. seriously WoW... great storyline in W3 and in the novels maybe. Backstory was great, everything was set, lore was good. W3 made everyone appreciate the amount of detail put in about the night elves and the tauren. It opened up a whole new continent. And explained many thigs.......
BUT World of Warcraft, you're reaching at straws. Lore > Dead in WoW, Blizzard changes it more times than underwear. i'd go into detail but i've said it before on forums, and people agreed. Some of the blood elf quests/storyline even contradict one another once you hit outland. (especially narru welcoming you as a blood knight into shattah.. i mean wth)
Best storyline -
LOTRO (how many books has tolkein sold.. i mean really, that many people can't be wrong). plus they're great for insomniacs zzzzz
CoH/CoV for a touch of originality that doesn't take itself serious.
and AA - for trying a completely different approach - alien material crashlands, mutants born, men build bionic-men to kill them (decoy), men hide and nuke both to survive underground. (George Bush's fantasy: USA-men, Europe-bionic men, rest of the world - mutants)
lol ^_^ you maybe an anti WoW person! but that's not my business. As you saw the story of LotRO and WoW or W3 don't you notice they almost have the same story line. Battle of a clan Human, Orc, Undead, and Elf.... what yah think
I'd say GW easily has the best story line, but its not really a fair fight since GW is structured perfectly to focus on story (and really they could have done a better job with it with all the tools that they were given that other mmos dont have). The coop missions in GW run in a general linear fashion, with only about 1/10 of the coop missions being completed when your character hits max level. Each coop mission has cinematics with voice overs and all, very staged, sort of like a single player game. It makes for a great story line, but hardcore gamers dont really care about that for one of the same reasons they dont care about single player games, it ends too quickly and has low replay value. Not that GW doesnt have lots of hardcore players, almost all in PvP though.
The gods were growing restless by the day. Perched high above in their heavenly thrones, they were intensely discussing among themselves the result of their ill-fated war against the humans. Some were of the opinion that the attacks should have raged on until the obliteration of the human race was completed. Still, others argued that a decisive final blow would soon be forthcoming and the inevitable destruction of humanity was all but guaranteed. In their final reckoning, the rampage of the gods would be too much for even the most disciplined and fearless army the humans could muster.
Looking down below to their subjects, the gods were witnessing a renaissance like no other. What was once a desolate and bloodied wasteland is now becoming a fertile breeding ground for a new generation of proud and headstrong humans. Still bearing the battle scars from the great wars, the elders vowed to raise a whole new breed of fierce and proud warriors who will continue their crusade. Even if the tragic memories of destruction they witnessed still lingered, chaos now seemed like a forgotten era. The reverence and fear the humans once held for the gods was now replaced with an unyielding fervor to begin anew.
It was thru the untiring efforts of an enterprising band of heroes that mankind was able to rebuild what was left of their communities. Once they had established their community, they went to far-away lands to search for more survivors. Eventually, their efforts paid off as they started building up their strength through sheer number. Their society became vibrant once again and their culture and economy flourished. It was during this time of rebuilding that they realized their strength lay in their diversity. They were of different races, belief and traditions but now they have become united in the same fight and in the same aspirations.
Maybe there is still hope yet for humans and their world of chaos…
Ryzom is the best one I've come across, hands down.
www.ryzom.com
I also do a podcast about it at www.ryzomradio.com ...which is awesome!
Basically (and it's very hard to sum it all up) Ryzom is set on planet Atys, a giant rootball of a tree thing. Us Homins (or players) live on the crust made up of branches and matter. Below are the Prime Roots, and above are giant roots in the sky (that we might get to climb one day!) Years ago some homins cracked open a next of Kitins, bug like creatures, that attacked us and almost wiped us out. The game is set after we have all settled into small cities. There's so much more to it, but the story is awesome.
Listen to the Spouse Aggro podcast at spouseaggro.com. Twitter: spouseaggro
FFXI storyline is off the hook! No other mmorpg has one like it or makes it such a large part of the game. It's what all mmorpgs SHOULD have but don't.
I'd have to go with EQ 1, they had some amazing epic storylines one of the best thought up...It involves so much sub quests and so much effort to think of what needs to be done...When it (the epic quests) first came out everyone went everywhere trying to figure out where each class epic starts out at, not only that the spawn times and the locations got people thinking so much as well (at least it was for me)...
FFXI storyline is off the hook! No other mmorpg has one like it or makes it such a large part of the game. It's what all mmorpgs SHOULD have but don't.
FFXI storyline is off the hook! No other mmorpg has one like it or makes it such a large part of the game. It's what all mmorpgs SHOULD have but don't.
Of all the games I have played, as far back the older muds such as Darkness Falls (Mythic) to UO to today's current MMOs, I think the most original and most in death in Lore as well as how that lore and story carries the player forward in the game was the one from the EQ universe and to an extent, EQ2's lore and story.
Depending on where you start in the game, which was in great part determined by race and alignment, each player from the start is hip deep in lore that is part of the game. Part of the what made EQ such a hit was that the game used that lore to push the player forward and you learned more and more about the world you are in. The first time you entered the Karanas and saw the bridge, the first time you walked into Highpass and as you turned the corner, run into the orc blockade, or the first time you fought your way up into Mistmoore and saw the castle for the first time. Everything had a huge and deep storyline.
That is, if people bothered to do the "area" quests and actually read the quest texts.
Earlier in the game's life there were quite a few "World events" where players were involved and saw how the world they played in changed forever. One of the largest and most memorable to the veterans was The razing of Kitichor forests where the madness that were the deciples of Innoruuk and Cazic-Thule who together worked to open portals to get allies to aid the battle when they were stopped at Highpass Keep was just pure "in the moment" ...you just had to be there, players of good alignment (mostly ) from all over came together and fought shoulder to shoulder against a horde of monsters and held the line. That part of the "lore" was later put into the game which made the players felt like they *were* really living in a real breathing world.
But that was during the "early" years.
Players then didn't care about the grind because more then likely, like me, they felt that they were playing a game that truly let them be the heroes and that they were involved in part of the game lore as the game progressed.
But things changed and it became more apparent when the first Expansion, Ruins of Kunark (March 2000) that the game designers were starting to go towards itemization growth path and while the story and lore was still top notch, it fell behind in development due to poor item / class balancing issues that the expansion brought.
But that's another story for another time.
Ryzom would be the other game wtih a very unique and beautiful story ...if people bothered to read quest text and delve into the lore.
But I'll stick with the original EQ as one of the best lore and story in a game. Its too bad that even with all its richness in lore involving betrayals, politics, divine conflict between the Gods, conflict between Freeport and Qeynos and the races caught in between, that the developers didn't take the game and carried on with their early penchant for "lore" events. Instead they found that its more profitable and easier to just release "expansions".
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If that answer wasn't good enough for you, however, EVE Online is right there with it. Empires rise and fall, friends become enemies, uprisings occur, brilliant last stands are performed, and I find myself worrying about the war even while I'm not playing. When a game can bring out such emotions in me, where I feel that I must do whatever I can to fight what I stand against, I know the story is great.
I would have to say WoW, It has such a deep and interesting backstory between the titans and the burning legion. I know many people dispise the game for what it is, but If you read the books and have played all of the RTS games you can truely appreciate it.
Though Its not a MMO the Fallout 1 and 2 have a great story behind them, making them some of my favorite games of all time. The post-nuclear setting combined with the sinister minds of humanity really combines for something special.
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Funniest thing i read all day.. seriously WoW... great storyline in W3 and in the novels maybe. Backstory was great, everything was set, lore was good. W3 made everyone appreciate the amount of detail put in about the night elves and the tauren. It opened up a whole new continent. And explained many thigs.......
BUT World of Warcraft, you're reaching at straws. Lore > Dead in WoW, Blizzard changes it more times than underwear. i'd go into detail but i've said it before on forums, and people agreed. Some of the blood elf quests/storyline even contradict one another once you hit outland. (especially narru welcoming you as a blood knight into shattah.. i mean wth)
Best storyline -
LOTRO (how many books has tolkein sold.. i mean really, that many people can't be wrong). plus they're great for insomniacs zzzzz
CoH/CoV for a touch of originality that doesn't take itself serious.
and AA - for trying a completely different approach - alien material crashlands, mutants born, men build bionic-men to kill them (decoy), men hide and nuke both to survive underground. (George Bush's fantasy: USA-men, Europe-bionic men, rest of the world - mutants)
Play as your fav retro characters: cnd-online.net. My site: www.lysle.net. Blog: creatingaworld.blogspot.com.
Here’s the brief synopsis of With Your Destiny... www.wydglobal.com
Episode 1: CHAOS WORLD
“Nothing has more strength than dire necessity”.
The gods were growing restless by the day. Perched high above in their heavenly thrones, they were intensely discussing among themselves the result of their ill-fated war against the humans. Some were of the opinion that the attacks should have raged on until the obliteration of the human race was completed. Still, others argued that a decisive final blow would soon be forthcoming and the inevitable destruction of humanity was all but guaranteed. In their final reckoning, the rampage of the gods would be too much for even the most disciplined and fearless army the humans could muster.
Looking down below to their subjects, the gods were witnessing a renaissance like no other. What was once a desolate and bloodied wasteland is now becoming a fertile breeding ground for a new generation of proud and headstrong humans. Still bearing the battle scars from the great wars, the elders vowed to raise a whole new breed of fierce and proud warriors who will continue their crusade. Even if the tragic memories of destruction they witnessed still lingered, chaos now seemed like a forgotten era. The reverence and fear the humans once held for the gods was now replaced with an unyielding fervor to begin anew.
It was thru the untiring efforts of an enterprising band of heroes that mankind was able to rebuild what was left of their communities. Once they had established their community, they went to far-away lands to search for more survivors. Eventually, their efforts paid off as they started building up their strength through sheer number. Their society became vibrant once again and their culture and economy flourished. It was during this time of rebuilding that they realized their strength lay in their diversity. They were of different races, belief and traditions but now they have become united in the same fight and in the same aspirations.
Maybe there is still hope yet for humans and their world of chaos…
www.ryzom.com
I also do a podcast about it at www.ryzomradio.com ...which is awesome!
Basically (and it's very hard to sum it all up) Ryzom is set on planet Atys, a giant rootball of a tree thing. Us Homins (or players) live on the crust made up of branches and matter. Below are the Prime Roots, and above are giant roots in the sky (that we might get to climb one day!) Years ago some homins cracked open a next of Kitins, bug like creatures, that attacked us and almost wiped us out. The game is set after we have all settled into small cities. There's so much more to it, but the story is awesome.
Listen to the Spouse Aggro podcast at spouseaggro.com. Twitter: spouseaggro
They both have a main story arch that changes and every nook and crany on the map has a story for them (asheron's call has better ones i have to say)
FFXI storyline is off the hook! No other mmorpg has one like it or makes it such a large part of the game. It's what all mmorpgs SHOULD have but don't.
the only story, i follow is where is the Epics.
Amen to that Brother
Role Play .... You'll learn the story even if you don't want to
(Better to know the story then role play
Amen to that Brother
Depending on where you start in the game, which was in great part determined by race and alignment, each player from the start is hip deep in lore that is part of the game. Part of the what made EQ such a hit was that the game used that lore to push the player forward and you learned more and more about the world you are in. The first time you entered the Karanas and saw the bridge, the first time you walked into Highpass and as you turned the corner, run into the orc blockade, or the first time you fought your way up into Mistmoore and saw the castle for the first time. Everything had a huge and deep storyline.
That is, if people bothered to do the "area" quests and actually read the quest texts.
Earlier in the game's life there were quite a few "World events" where players were involved and saw how the world they played in changed forever. One of the largest and most memorable to the veterans was The razing of Kitichor forests where the madness that were the deciples of Innoruuk and Cazic-Thule who together worked to open portals to get allies to aid the battle when they were stopped at Highpass Keep was just pure "in the moment" ...you just had to be there, players of good alignment (mostly
But that was during the "early" years.
Players then didn't care about the grind because more then likely, like me, they felt that they were playing a game that truly let them be the heroes and that they were involved in part of the game lore as the game progressed.
But things changed and it became more apparent when the first Expansion, Ruins of Kunark (March 2000) that the game designers were starting to go towards itemization growth path and while the story and lore was still top notch, it fell behind in development due to poor item / class balancing issues that the expansion brought.
But that's another story for another time.
Ryzom would be the other game wtih a very unique and beautiful story ...if people bothered to read quest text and delve into the lore.
But I'll stick with the original EQ as one of the best lore and story in a game. Its too bad that even with all its richness in lore involving betrayals, politics, divine conflict between the Gods, conflict between Freeport and Qeynos and the races caught in between, that the developers didn't take the game and carried on with their early penchant for "lore" events. Instead they found that its more profitable and easier to just release "expansions".