15th November 2004, 2:16 PM
Quote:I'm sure it would be plenty good. Maybe not as engrossing, but it certainly could be good.
What are you serious? You really think that people want to read hundreds of pages of text on their tv while they're playing a game?
Seriously man, make sure you never, ever make games. :)
Quote:And neither do you.
I asked you to name something, and you couldn't.
Quote:KotOR's story is told decently, but I'd say that it's not quite as well told as BGII. Though I'm sure that my reasons for why I think it wasn't told quite as well as it could have been have little in common with yours.
That is because you really don't know what makes a good story. Seriously, I don't mean that as insult; it's a fact. You may personally like these poor methods of story-telling, but they would generally considered as being bad by anyone who knows at least a little bit about the art of story-telling. And before you go "pfft yeah right" or whatever you're bound to say, take a course or two in creative writing at your college. You're talking out of pure ignorance, you really do not know what you are talking about.
Quote:Wha... uh... what does this have to do with BGI? Conversation is a pretty standard story vehicle that pretty much all games with stories use... the only difference in BG is that you have to initiate the conversations (not hard since it tells you clearly where to go and, usually, who to talk to, and most of the other ones worth mentioning are people you'll run into while doing that) and get choices during the conversations. Well, and that they aren't spoken. But other than that, it's no different from most any other RPG with a reasonable amount of story, PC or console...
I'm going to reveal something wild and crazy to you right now: Most RPG stories suck. We use terms like "well for a game" for a reason. And that's not because of stuff like Mario. The majority of gamers out there play games mainly as a distraction from life and whenever they encounter something with a hint of meaning they blow it out of proportion. FFVII does not have a great story. It's a fun, atmospheric game with a story that's told well for a video game. Whenever gamers are faced with something that actually tries to elevate the medium to something greater they either get shocked or offended by it (MGS2) or simply ignore it (ICO). We're entering a transitional phase in gaming right now, where games will soon gain respect from the mainstream as a legitimate art form, much like film did in the mid-20th century thanks to directors like Ingmar Bergman, Akira Kurosawa, and Jean Renoir. Many gamers are going to be blind to that and continue to look at games as mindless entertainment, much like how many movie-goers also think of movies. There's nothing wrong with that, it's great that these mediums can be enjoyed on so many different levels. Anyhow, because games are starting to become as important as books and movies, the standards, too, are being brought up to their levels. And because of that, the former ways of telling stories which used to be acceptable no longer are, or at least very shortly, no longer will be. That goes for Baldur's Gate, Metroid Prime, FF, you name it. (Grim Fandango, however, will be seen as one of the pioneers :) ). In order to gain the same respect as books and movies games are going to have to grow up. Your way, the way you are satisfied with, with not do. You can deny that all you want to, as I'm sure you will. You can believe that there's nothing wrong with your way, and you'll be wrong. But go ahead and believe what you want to, I don't expect you to be any different from the types of people who did not accept the likes of MGS2 and ICO. I tell you this because I hold out a tiny bit of hope for you.