Backstory (was RE: [MUD-Dev] New poll)

[Zak Jarvis]

> From: Sellers, Michael [MSellers at maxis.com]
> Sent: Friday, June 09, 2000 3:35 PM

> Hmmm.  Yes, I think back stories (not "backing story," btw) *should* do a
> lot of these things -- they should explain the game and give
> context, make the game more real, help the players create their
> own stories, and give the key for the game culture.
>
> Unfortunately, the reality is that they're almost all meaningless and
> irrelevant babble.

Agreed, as Lee Sheldon has complained, most of the stories in games are
conceived by coders, and even coders who write big, fat books about the
nature of story (Artificial Intelligence and Literary Creativity -
Bringsjord and Ferrucci) don't seem to be able to write stories worth
printing on bubblegum wrappers. On the other hand there *are* notable
counter examples. Personally, I found the storytelling used in Half Life to
be quite effective and fun. There are a few Japanese console games which
also achieve a good story. However, there's some really obscure stuff out
there too, that's *only* telling a story. I was quite taken by Greg
Roache's Madness of Roland, and the absolute best example is the completely
forgotten Portal by Rob Swigart (to date the best example of storytelling
I've seen done in a pseudo-game format).

> How many games have you played in where you didn't just rush past the
> exposition and backstory in a "yeah yeah yeah -- get out of my
> way and let me PLAY" sort of mode?  What was the last game that
> rewarded you for having read the backstory?  That is, a game that
> subtly and quietly provided you some nuggets of info that really
> helped you do something you wouldn't have been able to do otherwise,
> or helped you avoide danger, etc.  When was the last time a game's
> backstory foreshadowed something that didn't become obvious until
> much later on?
>
> Backstories suck.  They shouldn't, they really shouldn't, but
> almost all of them do.  Why is this, do you think?

You know, I don't bother playing games whose backstory sucks. Typically, if
it's got Elves in it, I give it a miss too; my feeling being that if the
designer felt the need for Elves in his world, he wasn't making anything
original enough to be worth my time. Now maybe if the first bit was about
how the Elves were horrible, filthy creatures who leave a nasty residue on
your shoe when you stomp them, or a kind of deep sea fish that glows in the
dark...

My point being that as a gamer, if the story isn't interesting, I bloody
well don't bother. I'd rather build something I like that pay money (or
time) for some half-assed attempt.

As a result of that, I *always* read the backstory or watch the intro.

-Zak Jarvis
 http://www.voidmonster.com






_______________________________________________
MUD-Dev mailing list
MUD-Dev at kanga.nu
http://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev