Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
designers) might never imagine or plan. Examples at the time of this writ-
ing include the very popular MOBAs
League of Legends
and
World of
Tanks
.
Designers of MOBAs know that players who come to enjoy their
product—even those who might otherwise appreciate a linear story in a
single-player game—do not have much interest in narrative content when
it comes to team-based competition in a shared space. Apart from
outside-of-game lore content, the developers don't waste their time cre-
ating or integrating story material, and they don't let it get in the way of
the players' shared experience.
The downside of this approach is that your game may feel less like an
intellectual property and more like a gameplay facilitation space. Player
loyalty and attachment will not be so much to your world or characters
but to your game systems, which are difficult to transport to other media
for continued expansion of the property.
So Whose Story Is It, Anyway?
When weighing the benefits of leaning toward one end of this spectrum or
another, it's important to keep in mind that the bars of quality for game
story vs. player story are very different.
As discussed, game stories are crafted and predefined. They can be de-
veloped slowly, tweaked and refined, tested and perfected. These are all
qualities they share with the storytelling approaches of more traditional
media such as movies. And because of this, game stories are often com-
pared to the best examples from those other media.
And, for many reasons previously covered in this topic, they are often
found wanting.
However, player stories, emergent and personal, are judged by a differ-
ent standard. It often doesn't matter if the story is objectively a good one.
A player story is much better received by the participant
simply because
she was there
.
If the player were to excitedly relay her personal story to someone who
wasn't present and didn't take part, the tale will probably not hold up very
well. If you don't believe me, talk to a friend who plays
Dungeons &
Dragons
and ask her to tell you about her latest quest in the game! As
thrilling as it may have been for her to directly experience it at the time,
