Poll: Does story matter to you?
by Alex Ziebart 
Jun 7th 2008 at 3:00PM
If you couldn't tell from Know Your Lore and Ask a Lore Nerd, I'm a really big fan of learning the story behind a game, or the littlest details of fantasy worlds. The creativity that drives the story and the little pieces of the puzzle that bring everything together fascinates me. Even though I'm enthralled with the story behind worlds, I don't let it get in the way of my enjoyment of the game, either. I may really, really like a lore character, but if the game tells me to kill them for one reason or another, even if it's loot, I'll probably do it. I still want to advance my character from a gameplay stanpoint, after all. It's an MMO!I know that a lot of people play WoW and similar games and have no interest in story at all, too. Who's Arthas? Who cares! That's perfectly fine. Play the game how you enjoy it. While knowing the story of the world you play in helps, you don't really need it to enjoy many aspects of the game.
Out of pure curiosity, I've made a poll to see just how big the divide is between those types of people. Are you the kind of person that reads quest text, or do you look at the objective and move on? Do you know obscure details about characters that a lot of people wouldn't? Do you know why you go to the dungeons you do? A simple Yes or No poll is tucked behind the link below. Satisfy my curiosity!
| Yes | |
|---|---|
| No |
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Lore
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
LostOne Jun 7th 2008 3:04PM
You should have put "Poll:" at the beginning of the topic title. You'll end up with a biased poll result because all the people that skip the Know Your Lore and similar topics will skip this one too and not even see the poll to vote in.
Alex Ziebart Jun 7th 2008 3:10PM
Done! ;)
Jordrah Jun 8th 2008 12:10AM
i also think the results are going to be biased because i think a lot of people that done care aren't even going to read this
kunukia Jun 7th 2008 3:04PM
I said no, because I do not care that much. But, I do care some, so it would have been nice to have a category in between.
Manatank Jun 7th 2008 3:10PM
The story can add to the game, but I'd play it without one. Game mechanics a playability mean more to me.
Manatank Jun 7th 2008 3:11PM
That should read "and" instead of "a"
Mel Jun 7th 2008 3:19PM
Yes, the story is very important to me. I refuse to play a game if I don't like the story - that's why I won't touch AoC with a ten foot long pole no matter how awesome the engine might be: the Conan story is totally retarded.
Devant Jun 7th 2008 4:55PM
That is completely untrue, the story in AoC is quite good by MMO standards. Far more intricate than that of WoW.
Zegim Jun 7th 2008 9:05PM
If Comic Books have taught us anything, is that Intrincate =/= Good.
I don't know the AoC story, I'm just saying.
Arctor Jun 7th 2008 3:23PM
I couldn't play without it. I've tried other MMO's but without knowing the story behind it I just wasn't motivated. WoW ftw!
Jordrah Jun 7th 2008 6:41PM
hahaha i dont think i know most of the wow story... i think it was on my 8th alt that i learned about the defias story line. i guess it would make questing more interesting if i read the logs and whatnot but w/e its a grind no matter how you look at it
Sirg Jun 7th 2008 3:30PM
A game without a story is like a food without spices or salt.
Story isn't everything, because a great story can be ruined by a faulty gameplay, yet I play wow because of the friends I've made and because of the lore and story related quests that I enjoy doing. Sometimes, I don't do a quest if I don't like the story behind it... I also have picked Scryers because I liked their complex background more than Aldor's :)
Eternalpayn Jun 7th 2008 3:33PM
I care for dungeons, and what not. Simple quests? Not so much. I don't care why I'm killing duskbats, but I care why I'm invading the cathedral down the street.
Matt Graham Jun 7th 2008 3:37PM
A lot of the time, I play games BECAUSE of the story - and sometimes not even for the gameplay.
Zakk Jun 7th 2008 3:48PM
Sometimes I go out of my way to read quest texts. When it happens, I don't even know why. It's like I just have a sense for when a quest's lore will be cool =\
But most of the time I just accept the quest, look at LightHeaded for the coords, and get to killin'.
Lenina Jun 7th 2008 3:54PM
I'm kinda like Alex. I enjoy the story behind the game, but I don't mind one bit killing major characters off. Stories have to progress somehow.
Nick S Jun 7th 2008 4:00PM
I agree. I'm content to kill Arthas. Bring it on.
I watched the world-first kill video of Kil'Jaeden - now THAT is some epic storytelling. When Kalec called to Anveena as the room virtually exploded around the 25 people struggling to kill Kil'Jaeden, my jaw was just about on the floor.
Even after that incredible moment, though, what really got me was the joy of the raiders when they brought Kil'Jaeden down. No matter what the story is in the game, the people playing it will always be the bigger story.
Nick S Jun 7th 2008 4:03PM
Something to add that I should mention - seeing the world-first of Kil'Jaeden was all that kept me playing WoW when I was on the verge of quitting. So I guess story really does matter. :-)
Ayrianna Jun 7th 2008 4:54PM
When I first started playing the game, I didn't read the quest log at all. Well, I read it just enough to get an idea of what to do. I think I made it to my 50s before I rolled an alt character and started to read what was really going on.
Just the storyine in Darkshire was enough to make me get into Lore. Now, I get upset when there's really no reason for me to do a quest other than "teh goblin told me to."
Gavin Jun 7th 2008 4:23PM
Bah, Gavin cares not for story!!!