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Forums - Gaming - Why do you care about story in games where the story is minor?

Jay520 on 25 October 2012
Veknoid_Outcast said:
It's an interesting debate to be had, but I think the question in the OP misses the point slightly. You ask why should anyone care about a story if the story is underdeveloped or absent altogether. People probably care because they don't WANT it to be underdeveloped or absent altogether. They want a deep, engaging story with their video games.



By minor, I mean games where the story isn't even meant to be significant.

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Jay520 on 25 October 2012
kitler53 said:
human nature requires motivation to take interest in an action.

in video games, story is often times the motivator. you could be playing for points or k/d ration or whatever but most games use story.


I'd say its actually the opposite for most games. Or at least the most successful games. For me, motivation isn't k/d ratio, it's just having fun with the gameplay. When I play a game, I rarely think abot the plot behind it.

Slimebeast on 26 October 2012
pokoko said:
It depends. God of War has a plot, it has a storyline that moves it from place to place. Would GoW have been nearly as big if there was no background and all you did was kill random gods? I don't think so.

For many people, a framework of character and plot helps significantly with immersion, with empathizing with the characters and making their motivations your own, at least for a little while. Valkyria Chronicles, for example, would have been greatly diminished as a game without its highly compelling story, even though the game-play would have remained fun.

Personally, for me, shallow characters and an absence of plot hurt a game greatly. I don't care if I ever play another Mario game, for instance. It does nothing for me, I just don't care about what I'm doing, and have no motivation to finish. I've owned three Mario games over two Nintendo consoles and haven't finished a single one.

So for me, and I think for many others, the best games combine good story and game-play to some degree. Some people shift more to the story side, some shift to the game-play side, but it's good to have both.

Great post that explains perfectly the role of a story in video games. Up until now at least, because nowadays many games are designed so that the story overshadows the gameplay experience...

I like the quote "a framework of a character and plot helps significantly with...". Especially the word "framework" describes perfectly the design philosophy I like when it comes to story in games.



Farsala on 26 October 2012

I like the setting of God of War, which basically is the story. The gameplay and graphics matter little, especially in sequels because you will know the gameplay is the same. Another important factor imo is length, the God of War 3 length on normal is 6 hours for me. It was an epic experience, but could have been longer. Basically what I am saying is the story (setting) was what kept the game together and compelled me to play the game in the first place.



Slimebeast on 26 October 2012
Jay520 said:
kitler53 said:
human nature requires motivation to take interest in an action.

in video games, story is often times the motivator. you could be playing for points or k/d ration or whatever but most games use story.


I'd say its actually the opposite for most games. Or at least the most successful games. For me, motivation isn't k/d ratio, it's just having fun with the gameplay. When I play a game, I rarely think abot the plot behind it.

Me neither, but it still is there vaguely somewhere in the back of my mind. And it's very important even though I might not be aware of it.

"human nature requires motivation to take interest in an action" nails it perfectly. I always ask, why should I continue playing this game? Or perhaps it's rather the subconscious having an internal discussion testing different arguments to justify putting energy into playing that game.

Story is a powerful motivator, but that doesn't automatically mean you have to have much of it, or even great quality of it.



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Signalstar on 26 October 2012

I've played every single GOW game and enjoyed them all but they honestly need to stop. Kratos' story has nowhere to go. Forget killing all the Gods, at the end of GOW III he seems to have destroyed the fucking world. He's not a sympathetic character there is nothing but sheer badassness moving him forward.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1gWECYYOSo

Please Watch/Share this video so it gets shown in Hollywood.

Iwannaplaythegame on 26 October 2012

I like the storyline on FF7 Crisis Core than its gameplay



BradleyJ on 26 October 2012

Because I love stories. While the God of War story does indeed suck it created a basis for all of the epic showdowns presented in those games. I would most certainly NOT have felt that God of War III was anywhere near as awesome as it is without its story laying the foundation for all of the glorious deicide I got to partake in.



Player2 on 26 October 2012
kitler53 said:
human nature requires motivation to take interest in an action.

in video games, story is often times the motivator. you could be playing for points or k/d ration or whatever but most games use story.

They should try to use fun as a motivator instead. According to neuroscientists it works quite well.



Galaki on 26 October 2012

Because the a great story line is needed to make up for the bad gameplay in God of War.



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