Raqual1990
Raqual joined
I had no knowledge on making games or modelling... then I married a programmer. I got lured in by easy stuff like level design on a bubble shooter, and worked my way up to be able to make a model from scratch. Now I'm working on a mmo rpg: Legends of Strife.
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While writing for my MMORPG I started thinking about the differences between writing for a MMOas opposed to a single player RPG. Since the stories are such an important part of any RPG I gave it lots of thought and decided to write some of what I came up with here. I'll be focusing on the MMO elements mostly because that's what I was primarily dealing with. I appreciate all input as many opinions are better than one.
The greatest benefit of writing for a mmo is the diversity of the plots. There's something for everyone. You can write small side chains or long plots that span zones. You can write sad stories, humorous stories or pretty much anything, allowing your players to choose what sections they like and want to play through. In a single player game I'm sure that you have at least a bit of this freedom too, but you have to adhere to the style more, and they normally have only one huge plot
down the middle.
The biggest issue with the MMOis the fact that lots of people are playing. While good in every other sense, you do get the feeling nothing you do is too important, since 5 000 people have done it before you anyway. Well, this was the feeling I got when I played them. This means, for realism's sake, that all “chosen one” quests are out of the question. Or else we are all “chosen ones”. This is a pity, because people like to feel important in the game they are playing, and achieving that feeling without being fake is quite a task. It can be done easily enough with instancing, but you lose the actual MMOpart if you do that too much.
Another element you have to overcome is the lack of back story the player has. This rules out: restore your memories quests, save your lost lover quests and the like. Having a NPC tell you his fiancée is missing isn't nearly as dramatic, or involving. Building up relations with NPC's is also tricky since, all to soon, the player will be moving to the next zone.
I'm still working on a way to overcome these issues efficiently but I might be exaggerating the severity a bit. Do players think that much about a story while they are playing or am I overthinking this? Hmm, I
wonder.
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Distant Melody
3 members Developer & PublisherDistant Melody is a small group of developers, currently consisting of one programmer and two artist.
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In any game, rather than books, short stories, or even TV shows, it's not so much about the words. If you want the player to care about your plot, then their quests should put them in their role. Given what you've written though, I assume you've written for single player RPG's, and learned a lot about this already, so I only say this to make a point. When you are in a multiplayer world, that role has different characteristics.
They are an explorer of this new world and their place in it, but one who has to follow a certain plot, give or take possible slight variation, that they know has been seen before. Despite this though, everyone plays differently. Perhaps, if the player is to feel like they really are doing something different, what is important is to emphasize their opportunity to play differently than those before them?
Just a thought on that, though I may be throwing stones at nothing at this point. I have, after all, only just found your project, so I know little of your lore. I imagine though, having 3 factions, this could be one such opportunity.
I've been writing a heavily-choice based story, so take this all with a grain of salt, but I've attempted to leave my own writing bias out of it where possible. Just thought a well written post like this deserved a thoughtful answer.