Narrative story

[merlekitty]

I wonder if it's plausible to have a narrative story in a video game without having a main character - or more accurately, the main character is you. In most games, there is a defined main character and an antagonist that drives the main character's progression through the story

Comments

[boxie]

The downside to having a world where a single user can change the world is the fact that a player late to the game could be totally lost as to what's going on. And one "griefer" could ruin it for everyone else.

It's a lovely idea and something Blizzard has been trying to incorporate with the idea of phasing, where as you move down a questline, things appear or disappear in the game world depending on where you are in that questline. With the last couple of expansions, they've worked to have your character appear more as a main character by interacting with the bad guy. With wrath of the lich king, you would run in to Arthas and foil his plans on a regular basis.. it was a bit of a scooby-doo moment, but definitely more in line with having things feel like your character had a bigger impact.

The only bad thing with the phasing is that if you are halfway down the quest chain you couldn't go help someone who was working on an earlier part of the chain as you wouldn't see the mobs, or some other little catch like that.

As far as letting players control the direction of the story, the big thing to keep in mind is that when it comes to the internet, there is always some asshole who wants to ruin it for everyone else. So I think its a matter of finding the right balance that lets the player feel like they are in control, but keep them caged in without them feeling constrained.

[merlekitty]

What if griefing were an accepted action? What if the morality of your character affects the way the world reacts to you in fact, NPCs often griefed each other in this dynamically changing world? You could have entire factions, such as goblins, ritually waging war on human villages and they would pop up and boundaries would move based on this dynamic. The stronger villages survive, the weaker ones die.

Then your griefing is seen in a different light. You want to come in and kill a bunch of villagers, the city constable now considers you a threat so you now have a bounty on your head. If you die, you might respawn in the middle of a town you bound to - but now everyone tries to kill you on sight to collect that bounty. You'd have to flee to evil towns where they won't attack you on sight... but if you're unlucky, you might find half your possessions missing because someone pick-pocketed you.

With a dynamic system like that, would it be possible to have a narrative? Sorry for picking your brain, you'll get full credit for it, I promise!

[boxie]

Griefing if confined to a certain set of limits could be an effective form of the narrative. Its a matter of how much is acceptable within the confines of the story, and can you bring them back in a believable manner.

So basically, mistreat NPCs, you get poor discounts on items, and maybe they don't give you premium quest lines to work on. Play nice with NPCs, better items, discounts and extra quests.

As for the narrative, it could exist in a bit of a pick your own adventure type fashion. Or another method could be, have certain areas that aren't affected by story. Basic things like repairs, housing or other game essentials should happen in a town where you can't affect things.

From there, you could have towns, villages, roads, and what not where you can be hated and basically ruin the story if that's what you really want to do. This would give players a bit of choice because they could aid in defending the city or help raze it to the ground.

The biggest mistake I would avoid making is don't make players choose a side. You can find lots of reasons for players to interact in a pvp environment, but don't start off by splitting your player base. Keep in mind there is a social aspect to these games, so you want players to be able to communicate even if they are fighting against each other.

[boxie]

So narrative, quite possible. You would be limited to a certain amount of how much story is told, and you would probably have to have a patch system or quick expansion system to roll out the next part of the story. Maybe have a certain time frame to allow players to help decide the next part of the story.

I'll keep bringing up warcraft because they stubbled upon a lot of how to use player interactions to build up the story. I don't know if you remember, but when they released Zul Gurub, there was a disease you could pick up that would over time kill everyone in your raid. Players discovered the disease stayed put when you left the dungeon and infected Ironforge and other major cities killing NPCs, the Auction House guys and a bunch of level 1 toons that were in the Auction House. Blizzard remembered that and set up a zombie invasion that helped set the story for the last expansion, wrath of the lich king. You could actually get infected and become a zombie. Once a zombie, you could blow yourself up or you could try to spread the infection. So a bit of story right there, giving players a choice to be evil or be good. There were no negative affects to your character, but you could certainly piss off other players.