I was reflecting on the story of BfA, and it occurred to me that a pitch meeting for it probably wouldn’t even mention the player characters. It would sound something like, “Sylvanas does a thing, so then Saurfang does a thing. This causes Anduin and Tyrande to do things. But then Sylvanas does another thing, so then Anduin does this in response, and then Jaina…etc.” The PCs are afterthoughts.
In other words, I think the story is about the NPCs, and we are basically there as the audience.
I think it should be the opposite. I think the “pitch meeting” should always be focused on the stories of the characters: “The player character discovers a thing, and eventually learns that this thing will lead to X calamity unless something is done. The player character must team up with their friends in order to prevent X. However, in doing so they reveal Y, which…”
Yes, this will push the NPCs into the background - but that’s where they should be. They are Kings and Queens, generals and sages. They should be handling the world history stuff as part of the setting, and when we interact with them it should be rare and therefore a big deal. We are the people of WoW. Focus on our stories.
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The problem is that players lack agency in MMO genres. We follow the golden (and orange) exclamation points to our next objective and do whatever is said. We aren’t the Commander Shepard of the story where we have voiced lines for our cinematics and whatever.
(But imagine if they recorded new voice sets just for that.)
We also get a situation where people will complain about the opposite, going, “I don’t want to be the Hero of Azeroth! I don’t want to be the Class Order Leader! I don’t want to be a Garrison Commander! I want to be an adventurer!” etc.
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I’m not saying that I want player characters to be the Big Cheezes of Azeroth. Quite the opposite! I think most of our adventures should be much more local than currently.
What I’m saying is that the narrative focus should be on us. Right now, the narrative focus is on the NPCs. It’s being written like a TV show about them, rather than an MMORPG about us.
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You obviously never player SWtOR. Very player character driven MMO. And it was done very well, not many complaints. I still play to this day.
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I disagree. FF14 has shown this not to be a true problem. Yeah, there is a lack of agency to some extent but having the player character central to the story works brilliantly for FF14’s storytelling. There is a reason it often gets praised.
End of the day, if the Player Character is going to be prominent in the story it should be there story. They are, for one reason or another, the champion of Azeroth. A baby titan chose them to protect it. That is enough of a basis for the PC to be made core to the narrative.
While I didn’t like the method of how N’zoth was taken out, one thing they did right was make it the PC who was central to how N’zoth was taken out.
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I started with the Bounty Hunter at launch, I had a great time leveling her, the story was top notch. She is still my main.
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I started with Sith Juggernaut at launch (still play him) but made a bounty hunter after I finished the sith, and still play him too.
Best line in the game (IMO) is delivered by male bounty hunter toward the end of Makeb. How’d you handle the agent in her death throws?
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Love SW:TOR. I started out with a Bounty Hunter myself. Alderaan is hilariously fun. Went on to play all the classes, more than once. I now main a Sith Inquisitor. (I’m on Star Forge server, btw)
Trolling Darth Baras is so much fun!
As for the first post, that’s what frustrates me the most about recent storytelling. I don’t want to be a spectator for the stories of the NPC, If I want that, I’ll go a single player game.
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https://i.imgur.com/fE6CBLt.png
Honestly if you gave the player agency in Warcrafts story I’d say 90% of us would flip the bird and walk away from the faction conflict.
Overall the Horde and Alliance has only given us failure after pathetic failure as the Horde shreds it Warchiefs like cheap paper and the Alliance are basically impotent.
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There is a meme from the A Song of Ice and Fire community that is pretty apt in describing what the PC is in the story.
We are The Camera that Rides: Aero Hotah!
Basically our character only is involved in all this stuff so we the player can see it.
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As others have said, SWTOR is an excellent model for a protagonist driven MMO, and both the Alliance and Horde could do from a morality system.
For example: The Alliance player succeeds in thwarting an invasion of Stormsong Valley by headed by primarily blood elves. They have the option of:
-Executing the Horde survivors
-Imprisoning them and interrogating them for troop movements
-Releasing them in exchange for Alliance prisoners or war/gold.
Letting the Alliance player be “evil” would have solved a lot of problems with BfA
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Honestly, that is why I like Classic questing. Sure, it’s tedious, and we are not-so-glorified errand boys. But the story was from the perspective of an average-joe in the world, doing what they can to make a difference. That is so much more interesting than watching a bunch of NPCs (Who Blizzard can’t even write well), basically take credit for what they had us do for them.
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I think Classic WoW really handles the narrative better. Insofar that it’s more of a world you interact with. How invested with the story you are is up to you - you’re free to read the quests and learn about the world. Or you can just go ‘Yup it’s a fantasy world- let’s kill some gnolls until I graduate to dragon slaying’ and thats all it really need be if you want.
It wasn’t until I got a new player into WoW that I realized how bewildering the game is to the uninitiated. In Classic the first time you meet Slyvanas or Thrall is in their throne rooms. They’re very much a big shot in this universe and you’re just some fresh faced adventurer they might have a job for.
As of Cata though - you meet Slyvanas and Garrosh pretty much after stepping into Silverpine. They’re in a field being passive aggressive at eachother - that’s your introduction. Seeing it from the perspective of someone entirely new to this it really highlighted how silly that is. You’ve no earthly idea who these people are but they get so impressed with your ability to follow basic commands that you’re off on a pony ride cutscene with Windy where she talks your ear off about the Forsaken.
That’s an awful manner of exposition. In Classic you get she’s important because he throne room is down a hall full of royal guards and some terribly swole devil is her employee. Then from there you can figure out her whole deal pretty easily doing your own research.
And the irony is smartphones were not as omnipresent in 2004. I think today a story could be better suited to that sort of open air narrative because you can read up on whatever youre curious about next time you’re on your lunch break or the toliet.
It very much feels like this is a world you’ve just wandered into. It existed before you came and will continue after you leave. But today? Oh you’re the High Priest or the Commander or the Champion or whatever. So much is hinged on your character’s personal deeds. Only it never actually is which is why being the Deathlord never mattered nor did your loyalty to Saurfang or Slyvanas. It feels like a hokey theme park ride.
So I think moving forward the story should be more about the world. The great wars that happen and terrible monsters that ravage it. And you just figure out your own character’s story in the world as you go. You know like you’re fulfilling some sort of role, in a game you’re playing.
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Not gonna lie, I kinda forgot about SWTOR because I played it like a single-player Bioware game.
Quite enjoyable.
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It’s not surprise that the best parts of BfA were Zandalar/Kul Tiras.
You know, when you aren’t necessarily saving the world, but rather, you’re helping find people exiled in the desert, dealing with spooky witches in the woods, and watching what are amongst the most powerful women in the world struggling, not with the fate of the cosmos, but their relationships with their parents.
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That’s kind of why I’ve enjoyed 8.3. You still have Magni calling you Champion but as exposition it’s fine. He’s some weird crystal dwarf physically linked to the planet I figured he’s just omniscient. Same with our little chat’s with Wrathion. I feel like my character is just some self evidently competent person they grabbed for backup not the chosen one.
I am of the opposite belief. One of the things I hated most about Vanilla/BC was the lack of anything meaningful for heavy hitters to do.
Part of Warcraft, particular Warcraft 3 and beyond, most immersive element is its character driven nature. I actually want to see any range of character do stuff/grown or fall and be in the middle of the fight!
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After all the PC has accomplished it’d be more unrealistic if we were treated like everyday adventurers.
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