Telling a story without quest text

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

10-09-2009 @ 1:56PM

Adamanthis said...

@Lagavulin: It doesn't have to be about whether reading is good or bad. I like reading novels, and do take time to read quest dialogues, but that doesn't mean that they are the most engaging form of interactive fiction I have ever encountered. A good novel can feel far more immersive than even a great video game, so this isn't about any dislike of text on my part.

I remember being blown away by the first levels of Warcraft III, running around with Arthas fighting orcs as schoolteachers asked us to find lost kids. It felt very immersive. For the medium of an MMORPG is a dialogue of quest text is the best way to convey a story? I don't think it is - active, voice-acted NPCs and an interactive environment do more for me than quest dialogues, which often feel arbitrarily compartmentalized and disconnected to the actual action of the game.

That isn't to say that a detailed text quest description doesn't have its place, as the two are in no way mutually exclusive.

Add your comments

Your comments:

Remember me

E-Mail me when someone replies to this comment

Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.

When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.

To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br /> tags.