ASGARZIGEL'S PROFILE

Yeah, I think you can do narration right. I haven't played DnD Online, but I assume it's there to evoke a Dungeon Master. Bastion is also an example where it worked quite well. The text-only variant you see quite often in Tabletop RPG based games like Baldur's Gate or the newer Shadowrun Returns. It does help a lot when the writing is good, of course.

It's like with everything, if there is a reason for it to be there, Narration can work in a game. It's just that "because I'm lazy" isn't a valid reason.
Also the common misconception that good writing is so much easier than making pixel edits.

author=LockeZ
I was actually talking about every single action the player takes in the game, not just side-quests. The player should always want to do the next thing, it should never just be something that only the characters want to do. I want to give the player an internal drive to continue.

A lot of what you said is still true though. You talked about the player's needs in the game and this is really at the heart of what I'm talking about. Being able to predict those needs, and to manipulate them, and to create gameplay that corresponds to them.

Yes, there are many ways to do this.
Most games try this through the narrative, this can either be achieved through some mystery you want to know about or making characters the player cares about. The most important thing about the latter is time. Give characters some room to breath, don't try to rush through the introductions or dump context-less backstory on them, just let them interact with each other.

RPG-Maker specific, there isn't that much room for subtlety in a maker-game. Someone on a german RPG-Maker board said it pretty well, it's more like the actors on a stage. They have to overact a bit to get their characters across, similarly in a game like that, most characters are better off being being introduced in a simple and memorable manner, even if they end up being kind of cartoony and over-the-top. Give them something unique, some quirk, a strange way to dress, some catchphrase... it can be very hard to get the right balance there, since stuff like that can easily get annoying as well. Playtesting is always very important.

Another very important point: The characters actually do need to have a strong want that spurs them into action. What is so important to the hero that he'd risk his life attaining it? What could drive the sorceress to discard her own humanity for power? Just were did the old war between Orcs and Elves start?
If your characters have motivations that the player can emphasize with, they will naturally care about that character achieving their goal.

Quite often you see characters just stumble into the adventure, or they're the chosen one or whatever. They don't have a real motivation other than doing the right thing, without ever really defining their morality or doing anything interesting with the concept. They're purely reactive and as such pretty boring.
Give the protagonist a real stake in the happenings of the story, make it personal.

In terms of map design, it's not that hard to guide the player through your maps. Just a path or some light sources to mark the right way forward is usually enough for the player to know where the story continues and what is an optional side area.

It's also a very good idea to intertwine story and gameplay and having the right amount of both. In a very story heavy game you might not even want to have token-gameplay, but use it as another medium of expression, to get a certain feeling across. (The Walking Dead games from Telltale do this for example)

Important parts of the story or setting should have an impact on the gameplay as well. I'm currently playing Baldur's Gate and there the Iron Shortage the beginning of the game revolves around has a small but noticeable impact on the gameplay: non-magical metal weapons break after some time. Morality system, although I'm not a big fan of those, are also a good example of parts of the story influencing the gameplay. The Light/Dark side thing in most Star Wars games for instance.

If you have to get the four magical gems during your story, let the player actually use them. Maybe they teach new skills or cool exploration abilities. This also creates a pattern the player naturally wants to complete. The human brain is a sucker for patterns.

It's still just the tip of the iceberg, everything plays into it, really. Graphics, sound, UI design, narrative, pacing, gameplay, controls...

Figuring out which games really motivated you personally and which games failed to do so is also a pretty good idea I think.