You weren't the hero, which was great. You were in Tolkiens world, interacting with his characters, but you weren't altering the lore. There were some great twists and turns in the epic books (Amarthiel!) and you also got to support the fellowship, even if only from afar.
I'm always surprised when people praise the story telling of SW:TOR. I personally hated it. Sure, the voice overs were kinda cool, along with the cutscenes, but the actual stories sucked. Maybe it's because I only played lightside, but consular, knight and trooper stories were all massively predictable and dull and I hated every minute of it. I did try inquisitor as most people said that was the best, but I got bored by level 30.
I think the only reason people enjoy SW:TOR is because of the experience changes, so you could level doing only class quests. It gives you a more focused experience, in the same way that binge watching Lost, Prison Break, Game of Thrones etc is much more enjoyable that watching 1 episode a week. Even though the content is identical, by binge watching you only have to wait 30mins - 1hour between good bits, but watching on a weekly schedule you only get 5 minutes of good tv a week, making it easier to recognise that the rest of the program is kinda shit.
I think if LotRO did the same thing, so you leveled up purely on their epic books, people would quickly realise that the storylines are superior to SW:TOR. Not vastly superior (I firmly believe computer games are a bad medium for telling stories), but still better.
Currently Playing: WAR RoR - Spitt rr7X Black Orc | Scrotling rr6X Squig Herder | Scabrous rr4X Shaman
How can anyone actually vote in this unless he/she actually played every single game in the list..Othervise some of these games will get votes because it was the ONLY game they played...
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
How can anyone actually vote in this unless he/she actually played every single game in the list..Othervise some of these games will get votes because it was the ONLY game they played...
This poll is meant as a global indication and a reason for discussion
Was too hard to choose, SWTOR, ESO, WOW, TSW, LOTRO are all at top of my list.
Thats why i probably keep returning to these games... (except TSW, love the lore, but just can not stand the gameplay)
was hoping for some secret tips, because i am looking for a new game, might want to try GW2's latest expansion or FF 14 (which i only played briefly at release) from which i have heared some good news about the story...
to me great stories and lore are a very important part of MMO's... i play them for the voyage and not for the endgame...
Best MMO experiences : EQ(PvE), DAoC(PvP), WoW(total package) LOTRO (worldfeel) GW2 (Artstyle and animations and worlddesign) SWTOR (Story immersion) TSW (story) ESO (character advancement)
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what
it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience
because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in
the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you
playing an MMORPG?"
If LOTRO is not #1 there is something wrong with this "poll".
it's all about delivery. SWTOR had crazy amounts of voice acting. LOTRO has lots of fan fiction(by necessity) in the epic quests. The epic quests in LOTRO is the same for all, SWTOR has fleshed out stories for each of the various classes. It cost them a ton but gave them better replay value than LOTRO.
TSW by far. The setting being unique in the MMO landscape certainly helps, but it also enables the stories to be soaked in pop culture, real-world references and being way darker and grown-up than some other games are even able to do (the latter because of the M rating, I presume).
I started skipping the text in LOTRO's storyline pretty fast. I read the books so I knew the story and the LOTRO storyline just seemed like it was desperately trying to make the character relevant to the overall LOTR storyline.
I didn't need or want my character to be important to the Fellowship's quest. I didn't need to meet big name LOTR characters. I just wanted to experience the LOTR world.
I would rate it as a game where my satisfaction with the overall story was about as low as it's ever been.
I remember when my character started out killing rats, but then started his own business selling honey. He needed to buy the rudimentary kit that was required to sow his own armour.. He then chose to wage a guerrilla war Vs the orcs that terrorised his people, not to mention the Bixies that killed all that they could find. Luckily their staffs sold for decent gold and the bone chips and bats wings he harvested found a market as well. Using that gold, he ventured further out, even visiting the city of the humans at an incredibly early age... Not because he was told to, but because he wanted to, and at some considerable personable danger. We won't even talk about his adventures Vs the werewolf and scarecrows... And beyond. The world was his, he chose he path.
Hey, y'know what? Personal story sucks. Make your own.
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what
it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience
because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in
the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you
playing an MMORPG?"
I started skipping the text in LOTRO's storyline pretty fast. I read the books so I knew the story and the LOTRO storyline just seemed like it was desperately trying to make the character relevant to the overall LOTR storyline.
I didn't need or want my character to be important to the Fellowship's quest. I didn't need to meet big name LOTR characters. I just wanted to experience the LOTR world.
I would rate it as a game where my satisfaction with the overall story was about as low as it's ever been.
Could be worse, you could have been on a quest to destroy Sauron's Lost Contact Lens!
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what
it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience
because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in
the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you
playing an MMORPG?"
no..all has bad story..the only good was ragnarok online and it was sandbox..just lore..players craft their own story
Wrong thread. This is about crafted stories not sandbox 'no stories'
People need to push their agenda into threads.
TY for pointing it out!
Oh, to add to this. I did enjoy lotro but for some reason I felt that I was constantly running back and forth in that game.
Yeh, the first time I left LotRO and then came back (after WAR) it did feel like I spent an awful lot of time travelling! It's a much slower paced game than most themeparks.
On the epic books themselves, it often gets highlighted. I'd say 2/3 of the epic books are well written and have "good" storylines, but the other 1/3 of the epic books have clearly been designed just to guide players through zones and to new hubs and involve virtually no gameplay.
Currently Playing: WAR RoR - Spitt rr7X Black Orc | Scrotling rr6X Squig Herder | Scabrous rr4X Shaman
i rather dev create sandbox mmo..with living world and npc, then create a movie (like ragnarok online the animation, ffxiv heavensword)
Wrong thread again, mate. This ain't about if you prefer sandbox or themepark. This thread is about which MMO that has story/lore you prefer to play, which MOSTLY is themepark MMO.
Don't make me lump you into the asshole squad over there.
When you don't want the truth, you will make up your own truth.
i rather dev create sandbox mmo..with living world and npc, then create a movie (like ragnarok online the animation, ffxiv heavensword)
Wrong thread again, mate. This ain't about if you prefer sandbox or themepark. This thread is about which MMO that has story/lore you prefer to play, which MOSTLY is themepark MMO.
Don't make me lump you into the asshole squad over there.
most mmos stories are bad, but eso is not that bad, maybe better than others that bad. ff 14 story is craps.
i love epic stories like lotr, the hobbits, pirate of the caribeen
SWTOR for me. The initial class story lines where light-years away from anything mmo's had to present with some of them like the Imperial Agent or Sith Warrior rivaling even single player rpg's. Same goes for the KotFE expansion. Sure, some chapters where not on par with others but overall i enjoyed KotFE very much.
How can anyone actually vote in this unless he/she actually played every single game in the list...
Well, I passed on vote, but not for this reason (only miss from the list the playthrough of wow and eq, never liked those, and the ARR of FF14, but played the first iteration. Oh, and ESO. I rather stick to the real ES games instead. ) I passed because can't decide between TSW and LotRO, and you can't pick two... both have awesome writing, characters and story.
TSW's narrative and structure is more close to my liking, the need of digging deeper to get the full picture, coupled with the investigation missions and the external sources / activities making it a very new and refreshening mode of storytelling (show me an another game where you have to sit in front of your PC and do origami, instead of huge arrows in-game pointing you the next onjective ).
LotRO is more traditional, but it fits the game well, since it's based on a book. The remediation is really good, and the idea of leading the storyline parallel to Tolkien and the Fellowship is awesome. The lore is more cohesive (since TSW has all the history and all the myths of our world as a background, which can be a huge pile of a haystack), and the writing team handles it nicely.
So, yep. I couldn't choose one over the other, I really love both. And the games themselves too, not just the storytelling in them but the question was about storytelling.
On a sidenote, as a story-focused player anyways: TOR's IA is very good, just as SI and from the light side the Trooper. Not sure though, how they've changed with the chapters, haven't played TOR in a year... Not sure why Neverwinter is on the list, from the Cryptic stable STO uses the same storytelling techniques and has a much better story, but even CO would beat it (Vibora is awesome, and with the latest update the Qliphothic realm has a well-developed story-arch too). AoC was mentioned by a poster, it is really good indeed, NPC interaction is a nice mechanic, and the intertwined stories of the four archetypes is a witty writing idea, loved that.
Comments
You weren't the hero, which was great. You were in Tolkiens world, interacting with his characters, but you weren't altering the lore. There were some great twists and turns in the epic books (Amarthiel!) and you also got to support the fellowship, even if only from afar.
I'm always surprised when people praise the story telling of SW:TOR. I personally hated it. Sure, the voice overs were kinda cool, along with the cutscenes, but the actual stories sucked. Maybe it's because I only played lightside, but consular, knight and trooper stories were all massively predictable and dull and I hated every minute of it. I did try inquisitor as most people said that was the best, but I got bored by level 30.
I think the only reason people enjoy SW:TOR is because of the experience changes, so you could level doing only class quests. It gives you a more focused experience, in the same way that binge watching Lost, Prison Break, Game of Thrones etc is much more enjoyable that watching 1 episode a week. Even though the content is identical, by binge watching you only have to wait 30mins - 1hour between good bits, but watching on a weekly schedule you only get 5 minutes of good tv a week, making it easier to recognise that the rest of the program is kinda shit.
I think if LotRO did the same thing, so you leveled up purely on their epic books, people would quickly realise that the storylines are superior to SW:TOR. Not vastly superior (I firmly believe computer games are a bad medium for telling stories), but still better.
Lotro on that list inst even fair , there is new stories and what not but is still "LOTR" and thats hard to "top"
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
I have to try them then, last time i played GW2 was half way trough season 2
The question is about games still in development, FF XI is an ending thing...
Thats why i probably keep returning to these games... (except TSW, love the lore, but just can not stand the gameplay)
was hoping for some secret tips, because i am looking for a new game, might want to try GW2's latest expansion or FF 14 (which i only played briefly at release) from which i have heared some good news about the story...
to me great stories and lore are a very important part of MMO's... i play them for the voyage and not for the endgame...
Best MMO experiences : EQ(PvE), DAoC(PvP), WoW(total package) LOTRO (worldfeel) GW2 (Artstyle and animations and worlddesign) SWTOR (Story immersion) TSW (story) ESO (character advancement)
Epic Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAigCvelkhQ&list=PLo9FRw1AkDuQLEz7Gvvaz3ideB2NpFtT1
https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos?&sort=-downloads&page=1
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
I self identify as a monkey.
I didn't need or want my character to be important to the Fellowship's quest. I didn't need to meet big name LOTR characters. I just wanted to experience the LOTR world.
I would rate it as a game where my satisfaction with the overall story was about as low as it's ever been.
Hey, y'know what? Personal story sucks. Make your own.
People need to push their agenda into threads.
TY for pointing it out!
Oh, to add to this. I did enjoy lotro but for some reason I felt that I was constantly running back and forth in that game.
Epic Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAigCvelkhQ&list=PLo9FRw1AkDuQLEz7Gvvaz3ideB2NpFtT1
https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos?&sort=-downloads&page=1
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
Could be worse, you could have been on a quest to destroy Sauron's Lost Contact Lens!
Epic Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAigCvelkhQ&list=PLo9FRw1AkDuQLEz7Gvvaz3ideB2NpFtT1
https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos?&sort=-downloads&page=1
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
On the epic books themselves, it often gets highlighted. I'd say 2/3 of the epic books are well written and have "good" storylines, but the other 1/3 of the epic books have clearly been designed just to guide players through zones and to new hubs and involve virtually no gameplay.
Don't make me lump you into the asshole squad over there.
When you don't want the truth, you will make up your own truth.
i love epic stories like lotr, the hobbits, pirate of the caribeen
You have world arcs (chain quest) and class arcs for the first 3 chapters, with lots of planets in a sw universe.
Write bad things that are done to you in sand, but write the good things that happen to you on a piece of marble
I passed because can't decide between TSW and LotRO, and you can't pick two... both have awesome writing, characters and story.
TSW's narrative and structure is more close to my liking, the need of digging deeper to get the full picture, coupled with the investigation missions and the external sources / activities making it a very new and refreshening mode of storytelling (show me an another game where you have to sit in front of your PC and do origami, instead of huge arrows in-game pointing you the next onjective
LotRO is more traditional, but it fits the game well, since it's based on a book. The remediation is really good, and the idea of leading the storyline parallel to Tolkien and the Fellowship is awesome. The lore is more cohesive (since TSW has all the history and all the myths of our world as a background, which can be a huge pile of a haystack), and the writing team handles it nicely.
So, yep. I couldn't choose one over the other, I really love both. And the games themselves too, not just the storytelling in them
On a sidenote, as a story-focused player anyways: TOR's IA is very good, just as SI and from the light side the Trooper. Not sure though, how they've changed with the chapters, haven't played TOR in a year...
Not sure why Neverwinter is on the list, from the Cryptic stable STO uses the same storytelling techniques and has a much better story, but even CO would beat it (Vibora is awesome, and with the latest update the Qliphothic realm has a well-developed story-arch too).
AoC was mentioned by a poster, it is really good indeed, NPC interaction is a nice mechanic, and the intertwined stories of the four archetypes is a witty writing idea, loved that.