I''d have to say that i believe more in subjectivism than objectivism. In relation to my previous statements, i change my thoughts.

The blanksheet and tabbing system could work, but something better than an alignment system maybe more appropiate if not gamish.

The reasoning behind this system/idea is to bring roleplaying backing into RPG''s. This sort of crosses with the other thread "No more RPG''s". I guess i''m sort of proposing an idea.

But how does one go about tabbing a personality and character growth as a game evolves. Presuming this is done, then how is the personality used to effect the story/plot etc.

One thing i hate in RPG''s is that pathetic attempt to try to make the game/story "seem" to change when it really doesn''t. It''s to easy to see through. I think this is half the reason that Diablo was such a success.They (Blizzard) didn''t try to fool anyone that the players input was going to change the story line. You have to go one way or the other, none of this semi-linear crap. I''m off topic but i''m on topic, yes? It''s all relevent to me.

So back to the player. From me/the players perspective again i like roaming around and killing things from time to time. But this is much better if i feel like i''ve accomplished something like destroying something that has actually "proven" itself to me/the player to be annoying/against me etc. If i''m merely told by the storyboard that this is bad go kill then i start to feel like a dog chasing a bone for it''s master.

A game must prove itself to you. The bad guys that your meant to crush must prove themselves to you to be worthy of your time and effort. They actually have to have an impact on your character. I know baldurs gate does this but it does it quite poorly.

I think CPRG''s could be and will be a lot better than they are now. It''s deffinitey possible to have a real "roleplaying" experience in one. But the people making them simply put to much emphases on stat collection bla bla i''ve said this before.

Multiple/dynamic stories are possible. Think of the random maping system of diablo. All the maps are playable and none of them cause problems/conflictions with the overall gaming experience. If a dynamic storyboard was designed in principle the same way then it would work!

"How about" using NPC''s as the story board system rather then using them as plot points in a story? Hmmm this would probably work well with the tabbing system above.

The story elements (NPC''s) could be designed to have a limited number of things they can do. This way the writer could orchastrate the story so there can be no boring outcomes/stories that could be made. Example: NPC "A" want''s to do this(A) or this(B) or this(C), nothing else. When the NPC does this(A) something could then later happen that makes him want to do this(B) instead of this(A). So the story has evolved entirely due to the NPC''s reaction, the action which caused the reaction would have had to have been caused by the PC.

So the player interacts with the story by the actions that they impact on NPC''s. This is what i the player wants when playing a RPG (full interaction), i want to screw things up!!! and i want to do it now ;-)





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What is an MMORPG?

quote:Original post by Landfish

Semi-linear plots DO allow the player to change the story. They do NOT allow the player to change the outcome! I feel they are an extremely powerful tool, when applied properly (meaning not obviously)

Paul: You *must* be a programmer to make a declarative statement such as this:

"Multiple/dynamic stories are possible. Think of the random maping system of diablo. All the maps are playable and none of them cause problems/conflictions with the overall gaming experience. If a dynamic storyboard was designed in principle the same way then it would work!"


Theoretically, a computer could write a story by combining modualr plot points. The story, of course would be crap.

A human being has a lot of "junk data" in his brain... poetic symbolism, metaphor, archetypal themes, sub-concious themes. These things can not be randomly created, because they simply don''t work that way. To create a computer that could write a touching or signifigant story would be creating Artificial Sentience.

Also, it is a mark of a well written story that everything is brought together in a cohesive manner, from minute one to the end. How would you reccommend this in the modular format you reccommend?

I''m not saying it can''t be done. I''m saying it''s not worth doing. Please, don''t try to replace writers with computers. It is as hard a job as any, and you need passion to do it right. You need to know something about yourself and others, stuff you can''t put in a program. You would sooner try to create a program to write software by combining componants of other pieces of software.

I''ll cut down my quoting later but for now this is an important thing to note:

I should have been clearer in my previous posts about moduler plots but here goes.

If you take an oil painter and tell him that there will be a revolution called animation in the future the first thing that would go though his mind would be..."I''ve lost my job, what do i do?"

Wrong, he hasn''t lost his job it''s just going to be a new avenue of artistic creativity.

What''s needed that we don''t have is the "Tools" for making modular storyboards.We are trying to use the canvas for making stories animate. It''s a joke and not a very funny one.

I''ll finish here for now so i don''t complicate it.






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