Anyone else resent having storylines in games?

[Evil Genius for a Better Tomorrow]

I suppose it depends on what style of game you enjoy playing. If you don't like storylines, play Space-Invaders, play car driving/racing games etc instead.
No story, just blast the aliens, win the race whatever.
Speaking from my own perspective, I enjoy a good storyline in a game and feel more immersed in the game if the story is particularly good like Half-Life, Fallout or Baldurs Gate. Having the dialogue & cutscenes in these games gave me a break from playing and as well allowed some exposition of the plot & storyline to develop. All these devices are essential if you want the player to become immersed in the reality you are creating. Having a story that you can effect through the choicers you make in the game is also, to me at least, a great part of a good game. Now Fallout, BG & HL et al had these in that it they had alternative endings albiet HL's was a simple yes or no choice right at the very end of the game.
I'd like to see more games that have multiple endings that the player/s can pick. If there is more ambiguity in their ethical and moral choices the player has to make which effect the over-all outcome of the ending, it would make the game desirable and above all, replayable.

 

[LordBag]

Apologies if this has already been mentioned as I have not read the entire thread yet, but.....

...I think Valve do it best with the Half-Life franchise, when they take a break from the action and give you a bit of dialogue/story they always keep the first person view and still allow you to roam around a little bit. I think this is a great way of doing it as you never 'leave' your character so it just 'feels' more immersive.

On the whole though, I guess it depends on what type of game you are talking about, but I would say storyline is very important and adds a lot to the experience, if done right of course. On the other hand many games mentioned already, such as Mario, don't really need an in depth story for you to understand your objective.

Anyway, sadly I must actually get some work done. Interesting topic though. I will check back later.

 

[cLoNe_cf]

I agree with some of the above statements here...
Storylines in games are REQUIRED. However, the type of game the designers are trying to produce should ditermain the amount to which story is used and the depth it reaches.

A good example is something long the lines of Deus Ex compared to Serious Sam.
In Deus Ex, the depth of the story is immense and engrossing and creates something with an epic feeling to it. However in Serious Sam, there is next to no plot, but the gamplay mechanics (I.E. Rediculous numbers of enemies and over-the-top weaponry) make for an entertaining "pick-up-and-play" experience that's just... Fun.

One thing that must be mentioned is BAD storytelling.
Using the wrong methods (I.E. Lenthly un-skippable locked cut-scenes in a FPS) can ruin the experience. Same goes with poor storylines. If a game's storyline is weak or something the public would have heard or read a thousand times, then don't try to make a big thing out of it. Halo was guilty of this... To be honest the story used is something from a B-movie at best, but it tries to make it seem like some big epic quest... It just doesn't work. It pains me to think they actually spent time writing it when they could have used the time to create more interesting weapons of new enemies... Halo would have done better in my eyes if they had gone the road of Serious Sam or Doom... With some kind of loose story, but more empahsis on high-octane gun-play.

Personally... I LIKE games with a plot... Even the infamous MGS2.
Following on from Metal Gear Solid, I was expecting lenghty cutscenes with an engrossing plot, and that was exactally what i got.
(Although Farenheiht/Indigo Prophecy is taking it a little far... It plays like a 3/4hour movie made entirely of quick-time events. I wouldn't have minded if the story didn't get so weird towards the end... But hey, I picked up the game for less than a packet of cigarettes.)
To me, the plot is a motivation for continuing a game... Unless it's designed so that the plot is optional and it's a simple pick-up-and-play-until-you-get-bored-then-pick-it-up-5-minutes-later-because-it's-so-damn-addictive game... Then you just play it for what it is...

 

[Ownagecake]

Depends what game you're playing. I mean Starcraft's story was quite useless because it was such an hardcore multiplayer game. But I can't imagine games like Baldur's Gate or SWKotOR without a story

ITS UNTHINKABLE. aww great I just got a headache trying to think about that.