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[Column] EverQuest Next: The Storytelling Toolbox
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
It was a big week in EverQuest Next this week with the release of the latest Round Table in which the dev team spoke about story and lore. Check out our thoughts about what was said before adding your own ideas to the comments.
As a writer, I enjoy reading the lore of games and novels because they allow me to learn more about another world and how that world plays out. If a world has a different political system or an underlying aspect that makes it significantly different from the world we live in, reading about it and having it demonstrated as part of the well-spun tale I’m reading is a wonderful way to expand my own imagination.
As a gamer, however, there are times when lore is a hindrance to enjoyment. Lore can be a hindrance or added burden if I want to just complete something and rest or grow stronger without worrying about an important plot wrinkle.
Read more of Victor Barreiro Jr.'s EverQuest Next: The Storytelling Toolbox.
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Comments
I agree 100% and when I play MMOs I skip past the initial dialog and see if I can tell what's going from the task alone. I think part of what made EQ seen open ended was indeed because the stories were there if you wanted them but not required. That choice let you feel like your character was really your own.
I like the idea of telling a story through actions and environmental queues while still giving you that choice. Then take what would have been the quest text or background information and tuck it into places for lore hounds to find. In fact my goal in EQ2 right now is to collect the 550+ in game books available and fill a Tower of Knowledge as one setting to fan fiction spanning the various EQs before Landmark releases. I have no interest in really leveling my toon right now and I hope the same kind of freedom of activity or more so will be in EQN/LM.
Cut scenes to tell lore? Maybe they can find another mechanism that disrupts immersion just a tiny bit more.
What about the possibility of players telling their own stories? Developer content is fine, but there are segments of the player base that will blow through whatever story is there. Even though Mendel was in EQ1 from day 7 (had to build a computer first) and is still there today, no one knows his story except for me. Let the players have the ability to develop their own stories using the StoryBricks tools.
Finally, static lore isn't very interesting. I want to be able to participate in the lore as it develops. To that end, I'd rather see dynamic worldwide events supported by specific linked quests, than the simple quest systems we've seen in previous games. But, if the events just unfold via text or voice acting as I do nothing but sit and watch, it is going to be a difficult task to keep me interested. I really do want a fantasy world, not just a scripted story buried in a novel.
Logic, my dear, merely enables one to be wrong with great authority.
I love the idea of players writing books ingame for others to stumble upon and read themselves. Hopefully they implement that as it'd really give me a ton of playability and a reason to really explore.
Not to mention I enjoy writing and to be able to take part in writing lore or stories based on the world would be fantastic.
Smile
I do not accept story from a book or written article outside the game,i want to see that story in action inside the game.
I am sure we have all heard at one time or another ..."the book was way better than the movie" or vice versa,it is because they are NOT the same thing,one uses fancy words to heighten the mind and the other uses visuals and sounds.
There is no such thing as a story telling toolbox,that is nonsense.The story needs to be thought out before the game is even started and then needs to be reinforced throughout the game utilizing all technology available to that game engine.Furthermore the ENTIRE team needs to be on the same page,which is also near impossible and why so many games just seem like a mush of tossed together content for the sake of leveling and attaining loot.
That is why FFXI's story was so brilliant,ONE guy Tanaka was running the entire show,he imagined and produced all ideas except for the musical scores.Now a days you have one guy that likes Half Life combat and designs his idea and another likes Wow type quests ,so tosses in his ideas so on and so forth,nothing seems to be one well oiled project that is designed around the same story.
I see some devs write out several paragraphs telling us what the story and LORE is about.You know what,if your game cannot do that ,then you failed and your story telling is no good.You tell that story WITH and throughout the game,everything from the NPC's should be noticeably a part of that same story,dialogue weather written or voice overs should also acknowledge that they are part of the same story line.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Well put! My feelings precisely. If lore is primarily learned outside of gameplay, it runs the risk of engendering a lack of connection to it, which has the opposite effect of what lore attempts to provide in the first place: a connection to a game world. If it's just fluff, it not only loses impact, but can become a hindrance to gameplay.http://www.mmorpg.com/blogs/PerfArt
Sums up my feelings on the matter too.
I loved how EQ and EQ2 handled it. The lore was out there in the world to discover if you wanted to put in the effort. But you didn't get a 10 minute lecture every time you went to a new NPC. Players who are interested in the world and lore would much rather have a sense of discovery in learning it, rather than having it read to them like a child.
Sony has impressed me lately with their F2P models for DC Online and Planetside 2. While both those games had a host of issues that didn't really hook me, their F2P model wasn't what I felt held those games back.
If you want a true F2P model that is utterly ludicrious, check out an EA game like SWTOR. Their models make Sony seem as charitable as Mother Teresa.
Sony's slowly getting back into my good graces. Now, let's just hope they don't **** up EQNext like they did the afformentioned titles.
The key is to give "co author potential" to the community which is something the eqn folks seem to be leaning toward with their landmark systems and their stated goal of the game world changing based on player events.
The above is what makes eve, and hopefully eqn in the future, a world as opposed to a game.
RIP Ribbitribbitt you are missed, kid.
Currently Playing EVE, ESO
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed.
Dwight D Eisenhower
My optimism wears heavy boots and is loud.
Henry Rollins
Sure but what game feeds you lore in such a way (reads it to you)? I've never seen one.
There's a huge difference between "backstory/lore" and conversations that tell you objectives and events. Lore is almost always handled in a not so in your face way. Where as objectives and events are corresponded in a normal everyday ( real life ) fashion. Conversation.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson