Rezzed 2013 - Is Storytelling in Games Getting Any Better?

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This is the follow up to yesterdays video from Rezzed 2013 but this time the topic of discussion deals with storytelling in games.



Streamed live on Jun 23, 2013

John Walker hosts Dean Hall, Chris Avellone, Ragnar Tornquist, Ed Stern and Will Porter in a round table discussion.
More information.
 
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Agree with what Chris Avellone says around 13:30, players can tell their own stories given the tools. I don't so much like the lead by the nose approach in adventures and such like games. If golf is a "good walk spoiled" (Twain) then adventure games tend to be (for me) a good movie spoiled.
 
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I think that storytelling is getting better, though it depends on the game. Some still treat story as superfluous, just a background to give you a reason to be doing what you are doing in the game.

Two of the most memorable stories I have played have been recent games. The Walking Dead Season 1 had an excellent story, one that even elicited an emotional response from me while playing. On the PS3, The Last of Us has one of the best stories and character development in any game I have ever played, and that is looking back on 30 years of gaming.
 
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I would respond with...
Rezzed 2013.1 - Is Gameplay in Games Getting Any Better?
 
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I would respond with…
Rezzed 2013.1 - Is Gameplay in Games Getting Any Better?
Well you can't can have gameplay without story anyway.:) It just isn't done lack in either department and your game sucks.
Answer: Bioshock Infinite
Haven't played played it doubt I ever will. I enjoyed the previous two but there not my preferred games to play.
 
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Well you can't can have gameplay without story anyway.:) It just isn't done lack in either department and your game sucks.
I would disagree so much. When I play Crusader Kings 2 there is no story (you could imagine one in your head). You make your own story. So why then can't the same be for RPGs. There is a world there and you make your own story. Why did it all turn into an interactive movie with gameplay almost an afterthought? (Bioware!)
 
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I would disagree so much. When I play Crusader Kings 2 there is no story (you could imagine one in your head). You make your own story. So why then can't the same be for RPGs. There is a world there and you make your own story. Why did it all turn into an interactive movie with gameplay almost an afterthought? (Bioware!)

IIRC, Crusader Kings and most Paradox games are based around the real history of the world - and some of that is even integrated into those games as events.

Even if most of the lore might not be integrated - I'd say story or "history" is a major appeal of Crusader Kings 2.

If the game had been some obscure science-fiction game with identical gameplay and zero story - I'd like to claim it would have been much less appealing.
 
1980 Pac-Man - Couldn't stop dying
1990 Monkey Island - Couldn't stop laughing
2000 Final Fantasy IX - Couldn't stop crying
2010 Amnesia - Couldn't stop screaming
 
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The topic of story, again...

The primary feature in a game is unsurprisingly the gameplay. You might want to tie the gameplay with a story though. You must distinguish at this point between players who want to be told a story and players who want to elaborate their own story.
Computer games have proven times after times they struggle in the first category and shine in the second category.

It all depends on the expectations: most players are very satisfied with stories of the quality level of a teenage personal diary (and not one who is going to win a Nobel prize in litterature) so anything goes.
As long as there is a story in their game, they are happy. Knowing if storytelling is improving makes no sense in these conditions.


I would disagree so much. When I play Crusader Kings 2 there is no story (you could imagine one in your head). You make your own story. So why then can't the same be for RPGs. There is a world there and you make your own story. Why did it all turn into an interactive movie with gameplay almost an afterthought? (Bioware!)

A story is a recounting of situations. Most games tell a story. CK2 cant escape the rule.
As you grow your dynasty, a story is told. As it is told in so many other games, by stringing situations.
In CK2 though, the focus is not the story though, strategizing the growth and rise to power of your dynasy is the focal point. The story only comes as a by product.
 
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