So after hearing lots of people praise Skyrim for its open world nature and exploration aspects I began to think; in such a game, is the main quest really necessary? To be honest, the inclusion of a main quest in Skyrim seems like the inclusion of single player in Call of Duty. It only appears to be there because that's just the way things are done. I mean, if the main quest were omitted that could be more time spent on something else, perhaps giving the smaller side quests more context. The only problem I could really foresee would be that the game would never give any closure since it wouldn't have a 'proper' ending. So what does everyone think? Are main quests necessary? Are there any games that have gone without them, and if so, were they successful?
Are Main Quests Necessary?
- Thread starter Bubba Doongai
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Yes they are. To me, anyway.
I like getting immersed in a world, but I like the feeling of being someone mundane and yet special. It's a hard thing for me to describe in scientific words, but...I like the feeling of observing a town I've come to call home, do things in it for people I've come to care for, yet feel I'm removed from it because there's something greater I need to fulfill.
It's also a good marker for when you're ready to put down a game. When you end the main story, you can keep playing or put it down. There's no more suspense propelling you, so you can safely put it down.
I like getting immersed in a world, but I like the feeling of being someone mundane and yet special. It's a hard thing for me to describe in scientific words, but...I like the feeling of observing a town I've come to call home, do things in it for people I've come to care for, yet feel I'm removed from it because there's something greater I need to fulfill.
It's also a good marker for when you're ready to put down a game. When you end the main story, you can keep playing or put it down. There's no more suspense propelling you, so you can safely put it down.
True, but do you need that continuous story? Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying story should be disregarded altogether, you'd just experience a larger variety of smaller stories. I'd imagine they'd be much like side quests are currently, but more in depth as efforts are diverted from creating the main story into creating these.Swifty714 said:
I get what you mean. In essence, having the Big Bad in the far distance, unreachable until you gain sufficient power is a large part of most RPGs. This is the fundamental problem I see with the idea as without that overarching story there, most players would likely lose motivation. I'd be interested to see if anyone could think of a way to circumvent this problem.AyreonMaiden said:
Yeah. Absolutely. God yes. Seriously, how many fetch quests can you go on? There were only a few miscellaneous side-quests (non Daedric or faction-based) that I liked in Skyrim. The rest were just boring. Radiant quests turned out to be a clunker.
I would say that main quests are necessary.
Even with the amount of praise FO: 3, FO: NV and Skyrim get for their sidequests, generally a main quest is needed to not only set up the character but to give a rough guideline of where they should head at various points in the game (Without running into Deathclaws and Frost Trolls when woefully underprepared)
Without some sort of story to tie you to your character and their motives (And why you can actually do some of the side quests (Such as in Skyrim I recall a quest or two that involves you going and clearing out a cave full of baddies that a team was sent into and killed, when returning to the questgiver they say something along the lines of "Oh you must be the Dragonborn if you survived that!")) the game just wouldn't be as immersive (Unless the design was to make up your own story, but that would fall flat when you had limited chat options...)
Even with the amount of praise FO: 3, FO: NV and Skyrim get for their sidequests, generally a main quest is needed to not only set up the character but to give a rough guideline of where they should head at various points in the game (Without running into Deathclaws and Frost Trolls when woefully underprepared)
Without some sort of story to tie you to your character and their motives (And why you can actually do some of the side quests (Such as in Skyrim I recall a quest or two that involves you going and clearing out a cave full of baddies that a team was sent into and killed, when returning to the questgiver they say something along the lines of "Oh you must be the Dragonborn if you survived that!")) the game just wouldn't be as immersive (Unless the design was to make up your own story, but that would fall flat when you had limited chat options...)
Yes, frankly I would have liked Skyrim a lot more if it had sacrificed some of it's side quests for a better main campaign, especially the Stormcloak, Empire quests, which felt copy pasted, unchallenging and unrewarding.
I think so. I often abandon them for a very long time especially in bethesda games, but I always come back to them because I want to know what struggles my Avatar has to face
Agreed in regards to the radiant quests, they were way too repetitive. The point about Skyrim is valid as well. I suppose a developer's motivation for abandoning the main quest would be important. If they were doing so because they suck at storytelling (Bethesda) then they wouldn't be able to make the side-quests any more interesting storytelling-wise. But if another developer came forward who were good at both creating interesting open worlds and storytelling then I think the idea might work better. Because even with a developer who are good at creating those two facets of games, I'd guess the main story would still suffer from pacing issues due to the game's open world nature.DustyDrB said:
It depends entirely on the game. If it is a sandbox style game such as Skyrim or Grand Theft Auto, they are there, bu they don't hold the same appeal as the secondary functions of the game.
I say they are unnessecary cause I never complete a bit of the main quest anyway. (besides the opening)
Well, nobody can stand upright without a solid skeleton, can they? But that's all what a skeleton should be, the bare bones. It's other stuff, the stuff that builds upon that solid foundation, that is a large part of the complete wholeness of experience.
I need focus.
I hate anything Bethesda because they're all about big worlds where you can stack spoons (*) but no one gives a shit if you've just killed Satan and saved the world.
Give me a good story, with an antagonist I love to hate.
Give me sidequests, sure, branching paths, choices. But there needs to be a destination to the journey.
So yeah, main quests are essential for me. I fucking hate sandboxes. I grew out of them after kindergarten.
(*) eventually crashing your game.
I hate anything Bethesda because they're all about big worlds where you can stack spoons (*) but no one gives a shit if you've just killed Satan and saved the world.
Give me a good story, with an antagonist I love to hate.
Give me sidequests, sure, branching paths, choices. But there needs to be a destination to the journey.
So yeah, main quests are essential for me. I fucking hate sandboxes. I grew out of them after kindergarten.
(*) eventually crashing your game.
Depends on the game.
Also depends on the gamer.
Pure sandboxes need enough in them to keep them interesting, and (generally speaking) sandbox content is harder to develop, per unit, than linear content - there are just more unforeseen things to take care of. Also, the main story thread can typically keep a player going past the point where sandboxes lose their appeal (for me, this is about the 20-30 hour mark), especially if it's compelling.
On the other hand, a game as broad and immersive as Minecraft can keep me interested for hundreds of hours, and I imagine my "perfect game" - a combination of The Elder Scrolls, Dwarf Fortress, and Minecraft - could keep me interested and playing forever.
So for me, a sandbox can be self-sufficient. I'm just waiting for the perfect one - and it looks like it'll be a long wait.
Also depends on the gamer.
Pure sandboxes need enough in them to keep them interesting, and (generally speaking) sandbox content is harder to develop, per unit, than linear content - there are just more unforeseen things to take care of. Also, the main story thread can typically keep a player going past the point where sandboxes lose their appeal (for me, this is about the 20-30 hour mark), especially if it's compelling.
On the other hand, a game as broad and immersive as Minecraft can keep me interested for hundreds of hours, and I imagine my "perfect game" - a combination of The Elder Scrolls, Dwarf Fortress, and Minecraft - could keep me interested and playing forever.
So for me, a sandbox can be self-sufficient. I'm just waiting for the perfect one - and it looks like it'll be a long wait.
Well I don't really know. I suppose it is kind of necessary unless the game set out to have a genuine directionless story that had all parts being fairly equal.
I've only played a bit of Oblivion and none of Skyrim at the moment, so this is based on that experience. When I got into Oblivion it's because I joined the thief's guild. After that point, that's pretty much all I did. Then I found the mage's guild. :O All in all I was happy just to partake in those "side quests" and really feel like a member of those groups as opposed to doing the main quest. xD
I honestly felt like I would just steal everything from everyone and that would be the end of the game. And they all lived happily ever after.
So, I think the idea could work, but it would have to be the goal from the very start of making a game.
P.S Hey! I just got a captcha checker thing in my previous post. I thought they were supposed to be spaced out. >:3
Odd Captcha though: "timely identsY"
I've only played a bit of Oblivion and none of Skyrim at the moment, so this is based on that experience. When I got into Oblivion it's because I joined the thief's guild. After that point, that's pretty much all I did. Then I found the mage's guild. :O All in all I was happy just to partake in those "side quests" and really feel like a member of those groups as opposed to doing the main quest. xD
I honestly felt like I would just steal everything from everyone and that would be the end of the game. And they all lived happily ever after.
So, I think the idea could work, but it would have to be the goal from the very start of making a game.
P.S Hey! I just got a captcha checker thing in my previous post. I thought they were supposed to be spaced out. >:3
Odd Captcha though: "timely identsY"