Well then what the hell are you talking about. How does game of Thrones fit the "save the princess" description you gave earlier? It doesn't.

So if you don't want me to confuse you, start making sense.

See, you've just done it again now. Where did I say that Game of Thrones fit that stereotype even remotely?

You've completely imagined me making that argument.

k, when someone says "You must've never blank blank", it means that your argument doesn't make sense in light of blank blank.

This is dumb.

And how does the existence of Game of Thrones negate a common story element shared by hundreds of other examples?

You'll note that I did not ever say that it was the one and only story element that is true for every story ever told, but you are arguing as if I have. I merely said it was the most common. That doesn't mean it can be applied to everything. Again, arguing a point that isn't there.

I rejected his point because of how he presented it.

"I made the point that hundreds of games share the same basic story elements."

In that sentence, I saw NSMB versus AC, rather than AC1 vs AC2. It was only in his later post that I understood what that original sentence and the post containing it fully meant.

That's why they're video games and not movies, and I understand now that his posts are trying to say that good gameplay can bring a good story and world to life, but going back to your question I originally had difficulty accepting his point because of his basic premise "I made the point that hundreds of games share the same basic story elements." That's something I didn't agree with and threw me off.

But to get back on where we agree, certainly great gameplay can take an excellent story and vibrant world, and enhance it to gaming greatness. Yes, I agree with both of you there, hence why gameplay and story are so tightly knit.

However, I believe the ultimate goal is greatness. So a game that isn't repetitive but has basic gameplay yet an amazing story/world (maybe Journey, I never played it) can offer the player an experience like never before.

But a game with purely excellent gameplay but a basic story/world, would that be able to achieve greatness? I would seriously doubt it.

If it's common then you're probably not talking about an excellent story/world. Even OoT which follows that narrative has some divergeances to that, as Link also needs to find out what his identity is (is he a Kokiri, and then more precisely what happened during those 7 years). Ultimately it ties back into saving the princess but in interim there is much more going on, and many other divergeances until the culminating moment.

Other than that, most great stories don't follow that narrative. This isn't a thread about common stories, it's a thread about great stories and worlds.

There's plenty of games that achieve greatness with basic story: Super Mario 64, Super Metroid, Super Mario World, Super Mario Bros. 3, Star Fox 64, Donkey Kong Country, Mega Man 2, Battletoads, Super Mario Galaxy 1 & 2, Super Castlevania IV, New Super Mario Bros. Wii (yes it's great).

There's genre that really don't need stories like fighters or racers but nevertheless produce awesome games like Mario Kart Wii or Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Rock Band.

No it's a thread about story vs gameplay. Don't lose sight of that just because you're on the side of story.

If he's going to use examples with uninspired stories to show how they don't bring value, then he missed the point.

I'm growing tired of you continually arguing against points that I didn't even make, so I'm going to ask you to simply consider the following and take my leave for now.

Basically, I'd ask you to realise that something complex with multiple diverse elements can still share something in common with a more simplistic approach. That isn't to say they are identical, nor am I demanding that you hold them in the same regard, just that they have some base similarities.