I am tired of open world games and missions cause 80% of it is errand boys, delivering stupid stuff not worth risking you're life for. And the best missions is at the end of the game. which basically? You are running around, doing shit until the very last two hours. the only games that has worked for me, storywise and open world is Bethesda games and Gta 3-San andreas. (Gta 4 was boring as hell, when it came to open world and Gta 5 is sure an improvemt but still Meh in comparison to the GTA 3D world )

If a game has enjoyable game play then I can tolerate a lot with regards to story. If it fails there then yes I do care.

If I am having a blast in Saints Row then the story is a bonus for being silly and fun. If I am bored in GTA then the story being unpleasant fails to salvage the experience.

Simply point if traversing in an open world is boring then I better have good motivation to watch my character walk for ten-fifteen minutes to get somewhere.

As always: It depends. Some games like Skyrim don't need a main story, others like GTA benefit a ton from one.

Why must these be exclusive? I need a good story and characters on any game to get my interest. So, that is paramount. I dont buy open world games just to go around breaking stuff. There has to be a reason for it.

The story. If I have no reason to play the game. I can't play it. That's all boring. It be like Making Resident Evil where you can't get hurt. You're god. Than you can just blow through the game. I put in cheat codes and god mode long after I beat the game. For laughs or funny bugs. But not when I actually play it. I need goals. I need to know why this character exsists.

It depends on the game. If there's a great main plot then it's a definite bonus, and for me personally, I enjoy having a main plotline I can play through at my own pace. However, with certain open world games, the main story is really the story the player creates as they traverse the world doing whatever they want. A game like Skyrim, Fallout or Minecraft let you just explore and create your own personal narrative without forcing you down any structured plot.