Story versus Gameplay

[Malak]

Originally posted by: Sahakiel

MMO's don't have a central storyline. I can't think of a single one with an overarching centralized story. They can't do it because each player is most likely investing different amounts of time which would prevent you from enjoying a single storyline together, thus removing the MMO part.
Instead, all of them have back stories. The player is never directly involved in developing a central plot. For the most part, the player can't develop any storyline in the game because that would automatically exclude the next player to come along. There are few exceptions to this rule and as far as I know, they're pretty weak band-aid patches to boot.
In conclusion, your dislike of MMO's is a logical extension of your viewpoint on stories in games.
Judging by your previous comment equating MMO's to all RPG's, you have never played a single-player RPG.

You haven't played any MMO's. And your comprehension of any of my previous comments is fail.

 

[brblx]

because your previous comments don't make any sense. you don't seem to understand what a story is.

backstory/lore/whatever is not the same. you are not playing through a specific sequence of events in order to unfold a comprehensive story which has an ending.

 

[Sahakiel]

Originally posted by: Malak

Originally posted by: Sahakiel

MMO's don't have a central storyline. I can't think of a single one with an overarching centralized story. They can't do it because each player is most likely investing different amounts of time which would prevent you from enjoying a single storyline together, thus removing the MMO part.
Instead, all of them have back stories. The player is never directly involved in developing a central plot. For the most part, the player can't develop any storyline in the game because that would automatically exclude the next player to come along. There are few exceptions to this rule and as far as I know, they're pretty weak band-aid patches to boot.
In conclusion, your dislike of MMO's is a logical extension of your viewpoint on stories in games.
Judging by your previous comment equating MMO's to all RPG's, you have never played a single-player RPG.

You haven't played any MMO's. And your comprehension of any of my previous comments is fail.

I've played UO, Conan, WoW, Everquest. None of them have a storyline directly affected by the player. None of them changed the game world based on one single player's involvement. None of them changed the story based on what the player does. All of them worked around the player base as a whole and made deep sacrifices to storytelling as a result.

This was your previous comment:

Originally posted by: Malak My memories in RPG's consist of my experience with friends in raids and epic loot findings.

That means you have NOT played RPG's other than MMO's. Raiding with friends is not a function of a single-player RPG which means your memories of RPG's are limited to MMO types. You have no memory of playing a single-player RPG, which is equivalent to not having played one at all for the purposes of this thread. My point still stands and you are reduced to simply blowing smoke in an effort to pretend your limited experience is law.

 

[CP5670]

Gameplay. There are a number of games I like with great stories and poor gameplay, but I will usually prefer something with superior gameplay. The games I keep coming back to over the years are the ones with outstanding gameplay, and may or may not have a good story. I think among my top 10 games of all time, at least half have a thin or nonexistent story.

However, I like to have some variety between my games, with some excelling in story and others in gameplay (if I have to choose between them). I wouldn't want all games to be one or the other. I think there are too many modern games that try to focus on story and not enough that concentrate on gameplay.

 

[totalnoob]

If a game has a good story, gameplay needs to be "good" at least..but not "great". Final Fantasy 7 for instance is one of my favorite games of all time simply due to the great story and beautiful scenery...but the gameplay was just slightly better than standard RPG-fare.

 

[potato28]

Gameplay then story. But gameplay ties into story directly, as the game needs to show direction for the story before I can have an enjoyable gaming experience from it. I love stories that aren't too complicated but just have enough to mask the ending.

 

[Zensal]

A really well told story > anything. I was on the edge of my seat for the whole of Mass Effect. I had to play it again to do the side quests just to find out a few more little tidbits of story. It's actually only about 10-12 hours on the main quests. I even read the books afterward. KoTOR was the same way.

I can overlook a tremendous amount of flaws for a good story.