DO RPGS NEED A STORY?

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LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
What's wrong with a dressed-up puzzle with some algebraic back-n-forth? I mean, yeah, that's an accurate description of the genre. So? That's what I go to the RPG genre for.

"Of course adventure games need a story. Anything else is just running around in random directions and eventually being told you ran to the right place."
"Of course first person shooters need a story. Anything else is just pointing the center of the screen at the right thing and then pulling the trigger."
"Of course sports games need a story. Anything else is just weighting a random number generator and then admiring the results."
"Of course fighting games need a story. Anything else is just trying to push a button faster than the other guy with a little bit of prediction involved."
"Of course racing games need a story. Anything else is just moving left or right a little to dodge things as you hold down R2."
"Of course card games need a story. Anything else is just comparing sets of random numbers and betting on how good a liar you are."
"Of course Tetris clones need a story. Anything else is just moving blocks left and right as they fall into place."
"Of course chess needs a story. Anything else is just trying to move abstract tokens around on a board in a certain pattern."
"Of course RPG design software needs a story. Anything else is just making events happen on maps and adding some battles, and then changing the numbers around."
Sooz
They told me I was mad when I said I was going to create a spidertable. Who’s laughing now!!!
5354
author=Zachary_Braun
Games can be tacked on in any manner of ways, but without a story, there's no grace... it's just a lab rat plugging a skinner bar for a food pellet.


There can be grace in battle tactics, exploration, and graphics. A story in the sense of "here are some people and their motivations and dialog" is not necessary for good gameplay. The idea that a game NEEDS a story is ridiculous. (And I say this as someone who is a big fan of the story side of games.)
masterofmayhem
I can defiantly see where you’re coming from
2610
author=Sooz
author=Zachary_Braun
Games can be tacked on in any manner of ways, but without a story, there's no grace... it's just a lab rat plugging a skinner bar for a food pellet.
There can be grace in battle tactics, exploration, and graphics. A story in the sense of "here are some people and their motivations and dialog" is not necessary for good gameplay. The idea that a game NEEDS a story is ridiculous. (And I say this as someone who is a big fan of the story side of games.)

Like say, the first Legend of Zelda game, which is nothing but exploration and it's story - go collect the magic triangles and kill the bad guy to rescue the princes, because we said so - is almost non-existent. And yet still coincided one o0f the best games ever.
pianotm
The TM is for Totally Magical.
32347
Yeah, just loved the stories behind Donkey Kong and Pac-Man. Of course, some writers are so bad, the game would be better without the story. Then there were the much deeper stories of Super Mario Brothers. Thank you for saving me, but our princess is in another castle! Then there are great games like Gauntlet. Story? What story? You're raiding 99 or more dungeons loaded with treasure and monsters.

No, I loved my D & D sessions. The story would come out of the game as opposed to the game coming from the story.

Rave
Even newspapers have those nowadays.
290
author=Corfaisus
An RPG without a story is like a platforming game without enemies; there's no dynamic conflict otherwise!


Well, Super Meat Boy didn't have any enemies, only environmental hazards (save for occasional running from boss) and it worked quite well.

IMO, I don't have strong opinion on the matter either way. On one hand, good story can improve even genres that usually don't have any story or very minimal one like FPS, platformers or puzzle games, on another hand, I would play game with no story or story like "go to the cave, kill dragon and save the princess leveling up along the way" if game would be fun to play (with either real time battle system or carefully crafted battles for standard, turn-based one, so it wouldn't amount to mashing space as it often does in many RPGs, not only made in RM but also commercial ones).

My point is that as long as game is fun to play, be it for a story or gameplay mechanics, I will play it.
Personally, what I like more about games, especially RPG's is their story.

If the gameplay is not great, I could ignore that if the story IS great.
author=Ilan14
Personally, what I like more about games, especially RPG's is their story.

If the gameplay is not great, I could ignore that if the story IS great.


I think that goes either way. If a game has bad gameplay but great story, I'll tolerate it. If a game has bad story but great gameplay, I'll tolerate.

I'd just like it better if it has both! ^_^
RPG means Role-Playing Game, yes? So in essence, any game where you play some sort of "role" is an RPG. With that definition, you could arguably say the Pong is an RPG. Did it have a story? No.

This generation of gamers is increasingly seeking less and less of mindless violence and exploration and seeking meaningful meaningful stories; the potatoes and stock to go with their meat.

So, does that mean an RPG should have a story? Yes, by all means it should. Does it need a story? No, not really. Stories, though, keep things interesting and connect the player to the game, at least a little bit. It increases the appeal of the game, and helps to ensure that a player will stick to the end. So, try to get stories in there, yeah?
author=grimm_reepar
With that definition, you could arguably say the Pong is an RPG. Did it have a story? No.

If you're going to stretch the definition of RPG to say any game with the player playing the "role" of a "character", then yes. Pong did have a story. The paddle is the main character, placed within the setting of a black screen. The dramatic premise is to hit the ball with the paddle. The circumstances are that the ball is moving at a velocity dictated by the place on the objects that it hits. There is interrelationships between pong paddle and ball on either side, plus the barriers of the screen. The inciting incident of the ball moving sets the plot in motion. It incites violent behaviour of the ball swiftly moving across the screen, threatening the death of the player's side of the screen that it is on course to touch. The main character must encounter obstacle after obstacle of the pong ball returning swiftly many times. The score goes up and down, and depending on that, either the main character is in an advantageous or a disadvantageous position in the setting. The main character has a progression towards his goal/objective, which was from the start to gain the most points by getting as many balls in the opposite side as possible. The resolution of the plot happens when the game is won, and the peak of emotional and physical action ends in a climax. The denouement is a brief period of calm when the player who wins is informed "Player 1 wins!" or "Player 2 wins!", and the state of previous equilibrium returns.

In that sense, Pong is actually a pretty epic story.

Edit: I guess what I'm trying to say is any visual/audio feedback as sensed by your senses tells a story of its own. If you put it in the purest sense of the word. We are being told stories all the time by our senses. Stories with setup, confrontation and resolution cycles, all happening at once, some even thousands of times a second. That is perhaps why humans enjoy a good story, because it reflects the cyclical nature of the world around us. Everything that begins at the top, rotates back to the bottom and then back up to where it started again. That's the beauty of life.
It's imposible for a game to not have history,
ALL the games have history,even if it's a simple one.

Benny's right,Pong it's not just a game...
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
that was a better story than most RPG Maker games I've played
author=LockeZ
that was a better story than most RPG Maker games I've played
Because it didn't take 10 - 40 hours to complete?
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