Post by Morreion on May 5, 2010 7:13:35 GMT -5
Traditional Story = Poison for MMOs (MMORPG.com Staff Blog)
Definitely story-driven games are easier when they are single-player. I think LOTRO handles the story-driven plot well. SWTOR will very much be about the individual's story, we will see how that turns out. Overall, I am sympathetic to the author's point, though since the trend in MMOs is towards solo play I think we will see more of an emphasis on story-driven gaming than the author would like to see. MMOs being about the world was an easier concept when a general idea of community existed.
...You see, the focus for story in games has always been to put the player in the role of protagonist. The story is about them, and its events unfold as though they are the single most important thing in the universe. This is a great technique for single player games, and even to a lesser extent for small scale multiplayer games like Left 4 Dead. Unfortunately, it’s poison for MMORPGs.
Let me try to explain:
By trying to make every single person in an MMORPG feel like the game’s hero, which has been the predominant mode of thinking in recent years, developers are ensuring that almost every player has the exact same story experience from level one to the cap and while that works really well in single player games the idea that “I’m a hero, just like everyone else who’s doing exactly the same thing as me” strips away the feeling that I’m a part of a large virtual world, and replaces it with the feeling that I’m playing those same single player games along side a bunch of other people.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that story should be stripped out of our MMORPGs. What I am saying, however, is that the approach to the story needs to be dramatically changed to reflect the uniqueness of the genre. Where single player games are about the story of the individual, MMORPGs should be about the story of the world, or the universe. Where single player games make players into the protagonists of the world’s story, MMORPGs should concentrate on allowing players to become the protagonists of their own stories within the larger story of the game’s world.
Let me try to explain:
By trying to make every single person in an MMORPG feel like the game’s hero, which has been the predominant mode of thinking in recent years, developers are ensuring that almost every player has the exact same story experience from level one to the cap and while that works really well in single player games the idea that “I’m a hero, just like everyone else who’s doing exactly the same thing as me” strips away the feeling that I’m a part of a large virtual world, and replaces it with the feeling that I’m playing those same single player games along side a bunch of other people.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that story should be stripped out of our MMORPGs. What I am saying, however, is that the approach to the story needs to be dramatically changed to reflect the uniqueness of the genre. Where single player games are about the story of the individual, MMORPGs should be about the story of the world, or the universe. Where single player games make players into the protagonists of the world’s story, MMORPGs should concentrate on allowing players to become the protagonists of their own stories within the larger story of the game’s world.
Definitely story-driven games are easier when they are single-player. I think LOTRO handles the story-driven plot well. SWTOR will very much be about the individual's story, we will see how that turns out. Overall, I am sympathetic to the author's point, though since the trend in MMOs is towards solo play I think we will see more of an emphasis on story-driven gaming than the author would like to see. MMOs being about the world was an easier concept when a general idea of community existed.
