Storytelling For MMO Games Discussed

Posted by simoniker on Tuesday July 6, 2004 @08:06AM from the playing-in-the-sand dept.

Thanks to GameRifts for its interview with television and videogame scriptwriter Lee Sheldon regarding the state of writing/story in online gaming. Sheldon, who has most recently worked on Cyan's URU: Ages Beyond Myst, is asked "Do you see good, even epic story lines, becoming a core feature of MMORPGs in the future?", and responds: "Yes, and sooner rather than later... The big question of course is whether [developers will] continue to spend all their money on high quality art and programming and treat the writing as a hobby anyone can do. Without the same commitment to quality as in the other elements that make up an MMORPG the writing will continue to fail miserably."

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He's wrong by Anonymous Coward · 2004-07-06 10:26 · Score: -1, Troll

First off, anyone CAN write a credible story, especially in a video game. Does it take some effort and perhaps some study? Sure, but this guy is kidding himself if he thinks he's that much better than you or me. Second, and more important, character improvement is what keeps people coming back to RPGs, not story. We had story based games in the 90s, they were called "Adventure Games" and they aren't made anymore.