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In My Opinion, MMOs Do Not Need Stories.
pencilrick
Member Posts: 1,550
If you are the type of player who just has to follow some linear plotline, with breadcrumb trails laid out before you, then MMO's are the wrong type of game for you.
Stories RUIN MMO's. "SETTING, FACTION, and CONFLICT" is what MMO's need. WORLDS, not stories.
I'll tell you a secret: In a good MMO, the players make and are their own stories. You setting off from a starting village to become a blacksmith or a hero or a diplomat or explorer or anything else IS your story. Your gameplay writes your story.
When someone tries to force a linear storyline upon you, they're just taking your freedom. They're telling you that you do not have enough imagination, initiative, or common sense to play your character and to find your own direction. Basically, you have fallen into the trap of mediocre games designed by mediocre devs.
[Mod Edit]
Comments
Perhaps you don't need a story but others would like it. Don't presume to tell others what they want and don't want.
If you want to make your own story, go write a book. I like story in MMOs (if it's not crappy).
So, name one good, successful MMO that didn't have a story or lore behind it?
Wow Rick, just wow.
Storyline does not equal Lore. Two different thigns.
Storyline = forced, contrived, linear plotline you must follow. Good for one time through.
Lore = part of setting, reason things in the present are as they are. Very good stuff.
EQ and UO had "lore".
LOTRO and AOC have "storyline."
EQ and UO have storylines too. Kind of a poor example.
EQ and UO had storyline too. I don't think you even know what you are talking about.
Frankly, I don't understand why the OP can't consider the possiblity of having a storyline, then making your own adventures afterwards. "Story" implies there's an ending.
Storylines the world NPC's might be following, sure, but not linear cutscene-filled rails the players must follow. Quite different.
EQ felt way different than LOTRO. Every time I logged into EQ, I was logging into a world. Every time I logged into LOTRO, I logged into a chapter.
You do realize that there's all sorts of MMORPGs out there for all sorts of people right? Don't like a story with a linear plotline, play WoW, Ryzom, EQ, EQ2, UO, Vanguard, Warhammer, or whatever else.
Like having some story missions in MMORPGs? Play Lord of the Rings, Guild Wars, or SW:ToR.
Take Middle Earth, for example. Let's say LOTRO did not gives us a 3 act play and instead gaves us the "world" of Middle Earth. You have the lore, you have the present and past conflicts, but the future is completely open to you and you are free to explore anywhere in the world. No cutscenes, no "you-must-do-this-quest", but just a vast open, beautiful, and mysterious world.
Imagine that and you will get what I'm talking about.
Well, I appreciate that 'you' dont' need a story but from my experience the statement "players make their own stories" comes off as rhetoric at times.
I have played in Lineage 2 which was essentilaly an open world and not a quest game by any stretch of the imagination (though there were prerequisite quests for class changes and the like) and essentially was/is all about player interactions.
Oh, there was a backstory but nothing that was forced upon any players.
the "stories" that were made were not really well done stories but small bits in storied time based upon the politics of the game. There were very few role players so the rest of the players weren't making their own stories so much as just being who they were, insulting people, griefing people, helping people and from that a sort of superficial set of world stories were created.
But at no time did I feel any great story telling arcs. More like "X clan griefed a party of Y clan and they went to war but Z guy in another clan hated X clan so he went undercover and joined X clan and sold out their plans to Y clan", etc.
So that is a story and very meaningful in the present time of it all but not really great writing or allowing for something other than petty politics without any other redeeming values to be the norm of the day. There were great story moments but to my taste that was it.
And yet I've really enjoyed a lot of the story telling in LOTRO. Even some of the smaller quests.
So I would say that over all adding premade story to my games enhances my enjoyment rather than detracting from it.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
I get it. And honestly, the only answer I have is "You're doing it wrong" You get what you put in. You want to play lotro as a non linear game? No one's forcing you to do the Books. So stop preaching to us about how right you are when clearly the issue is how you play games.
And why are you dead-set against removing the story of the One Ring? Why can't we have both?
I agree with you here. I really do, but LoTRO is what it is, and instead of judging it by what it is not, judge it by what it is.
You are absolutley correct. I can state that I am living proof that you don't need to folllow everything that is laid before you in these games. I don't do every quest, I skip quests that aren't enjoyable, I can just go out and explore and make my own fun.
For intance, last night I realized that at lvl 65 I never killed the Great Goblin. It is a group quest but I normally dont' group up except if I'm helping someone or the kin is doing something.
So I headed to Goblin Town, all bad ass in my high lvl 65 ishness and ended up biting it at the throne room because of too many healers on the Goblin King's side. Couldn't out dps them.
So later on I went and picked them off, avoided some of them and was able to solo him after some effort (him having over 25k hit points and me not having that).
My story was that as I entered Goblin town, all the minor goblins saw that I was not to be trifled with and avoided me. IN truth, they don't aggro players over a certain level.
However, when I got to the entrance of the Goblin King's throne room I engaged the guards there because by rights they would have tried to take me out. In the throne room I was attacked regardless of level, which was good because I got to drop the pretense, and made my way up toward his throne.
So I created a backstory of sorts, followed through, came up with reasons why thigns were the way they were and had my own story AND was able to complete two official quests for no xp because A, I was too high and B, I'm already at lvl 65 and dont' get xp anymore.
So I did it for the fun of doing it and no actual reward *.
* well I got some lower lvl stuff that was bind on acquire which I solf for 6 silver or somethign like that.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
I agree except, back stories MAKE MMOs. Storylines ruin them.
Edit:
Probably should have read past the first post before I posted. lol
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Someone must be mind-controlling me then, because I enjoy both LotRO and EVE. One of them has a "storyline" as the OP describes, one of them does not.
Need 'em? Possibly not.
Like 'em? At times, very much so.
As Sovrath described you can easily "make your own story" within the confines of any game, even the most themeparky one, it just takes a bit of imagination. Trouble is, not everyone likes the concept of having to "make their own story" all the time. Sometimes it's nice to follow a plot you didn't come up with yourself, to enjoy quest text and follow epic questlines through from the start of a game to endgame.
I can see an argument for players being encouraged to use their imagination, but Rick, have you seen how lazy players are these days? They won't even read tutorial text and then go whining about how the game is "too hard" - and you want these people to play a game where they have virtually no direction and have to think, imagine and create for themselves?
I can just see it now: "What am I supposed to do?", "Where's my quest-giver?", "What's the POINT?" etc. etc.
There are games that offer little to no story, but they are niche games, with small (if extremely loyal) player bases.
You may not want or need story, but it looks like that's something the majority of those willing to sub to a MMO disagree with you on. They're voting with their wallets, and they seem to like stories.
Lets keep the personal attacks out of the thread guys. Play nice
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So true. Completely share your thoughts.
I hope there's many like you that refuse babysitting.
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"MMOs do not need stories" -- I think this is true.
"Stories ruin MMO's" -- I think this is false.
Just because there hasn't been a successful MMO that is strongly story-driven so far doesn't mean it can't work, and having a linear story in a game does not mean you cannot also have freedom. Most single-player RPGs work off the idea that you have a singular story-line that runs throughout the course of the game, but at any time you are free to diverge from that path and take as much time exploring freely as you like. I don't see why that same design philosophy can't be applied to a MMORRPG.
To that point, there is a difference between being involved with a quest, imagining one's self in the world, going out and clearing out the wolves or wyverns or space mutants and then returing to the quest giver in triumph over reading the bare essentials of the quest (so 10 wolves, 10 wyverns or 10 space mutants) running to an area while chatting with friends on vent/teamspeak/chat channel blowing through what you have to do and then rinsing and repeating.
It's all in how one approaches the material.
I can appreciate the casual gamer who wants to enjoy a questing game as opposed to going out and chopping wood so that they can craft and become a part of a "living world".
The difference is playing these games like "worlds" and playing them as games. And one appeals to one type of person and one to another.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
Nope, sorry I can't agree with your assertion.
It is more than possible to experience stories in games and still go off and do your own thing. What I would say according to your and the OP's post is that some people just have trouble doing that. That in encountering a story line they feel compelled to be pidgeon holed into that story and can't break out of it.
I don't see that as an issue with the game (necessarily) but with the player.
To the point, Oblivion has a story. Has questlines as well. My apartment mate never finished the main quest line nor was he interested in any of the guild quest lines. He just did the quests that he found from random npc's and went exploring. He essentially did it his own way.
The same can be done for games with more theme park construction. I do it all the time. Did it in wow, lotro, vanguard.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
Chances are there never will be one, at least as long as MMO's are streamline junk.
in a MMO you're not supposed to diverge from the path of quests because in a MMO there goal is not to care about the story, it is to reach level-cap as fast as possible. And if you don't do quests you will NOT gain XP in an efficient and regular way. It will take you double time and effort. It is not smart i think.
there can be a MIRACLE MMO that connects storylines with social massive activities but so far? Nothing. In the near future? Nothing at all.
A mmo has to provide background and gameplay mechanics to CREATE adventures. MMo's provide the start.
The pont is that it's not just a question of tastes, story or sandbox. The point is that a story-line to follow rigidly simply is a contradiction in a persistant ever-changing, dynamic, breathing virtual world. WoW has a rigid story-line, and as far as i know it's the first MMO to ever create a rigid story-line in a MMO. Blizzard did it because they are(hopefully just were) ignorant about MMO's. And yes they wounded the meaning of persistancy, of a seamless virtual world with global dynamic events.
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