Poll: Do you prefer emergent or linear storytelling?

[Zhukov]

Linear. Linear all the way.

I like the idea of emergent stories, but as yet they're nowhere near where they need to be to match a traditional linear format. At least not in my eyes.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

I'm pro linear but present me with an emergent story that's good and I'll consider it.

[sub]Oh Escapist, eating polls left and right again I see![/sub]

 

[zehydra]

Emergent. linear stories are fiction, Emergent are real.

 

[krazykidd]

"Emergent".

I loved Fable... *when* the rumour was that it had NO central narrative. You lived your life, very gradually aging, doing whatever you pleased, raising a family, embarking on quests across a vast continent, eventually dying and getting the story of your life before the credits rolled. Obviously, the reality was garbage compared to the rumour.

I loved Baldur's Gate and I like Mass Effect too, both linear story games. But the greatest games are ones with emergent story lines: op, you've already beat me to mentioning Dwarf Fortress. I wish there was a truly modern equivalent.

Wait THATS what fable was suppose to be ? That sounds AMAZING! what the hell happened

OT : linear , i want to be told a story through my game , i play games for story , like reading a book . My favorite genre is jrpg so linear stories are my cup of tea.

 

[TheAceTheOne]

I have absolutely no preference: As long as the story is good, it doesn't matter the delivery.

 

[Ghaleon640]

I like linear with enough of an INTERESTING open world to allow for the chances of me creating bits of emergent story. What is this completely empty vast area that I don't have a clear reason to be in? I'll explore it.

 

[Dagda Mor]

I like to roleplay with...well,myself in Mount & Blade,but that's about as far as emergent stories go for me.

 

[octafish]

I prefer a story with both types.

By that I mean non-linear RPGs that have a basic framework for a linear story which you can choose to disregard or alter. Like Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura wherein you can choose to start with your given quest to find "the boy" or you can just dick around and go on your own adventures. Doing the later would be a form of emergent storytelling while doing the former would be more linear. However, even in the "linear" option one has almost total rein over the method of progression. This means that the "linear" story will never be the same for any two players.

Indeed, a prefer a game with a story, but if the journey allows for emergence all the better. Still I love Minecraft, and while I find it intriuging I'll admit DF is just a bit too deep for me to get into when I am constantly playing other fairly deep games like X3, Baldur's Gate, and X-Com.

Actually that last one is a great example of mixing story with emergent gameplay. Play X-Com and you develop an attatchment to soldiers who make it through a few missions, so much so that you feel sad when Anatoly Meyer the sole survivor of the Tokyo terror Mission Disaster gets killed when his fire team is hit by a blaster bomb.

Another (flawed) example is Far Cry 2. Yes the game has its issues, but it does give you the tools to go out and wreak whatever havoc you please, while also having a story to hang the game on. Even the missions allow for different approaches.

Despite my love of Minecraft I find it difficult to keep up my interest without a task to do and a reason to do it. I don't like dicking around in GTAIV, I gave up on Oblivion, Red Faction: Guerilla, and Assassins Creed (not just because it was aimless I'll admit), however I still prefer to just wander the wasteland in Fallout 3 (An indication of the quality of the story?). I liked Mafia 2 because it was all meat and no potatoes (too much driving though).

 

[Midnight Crossroads]

Linear in most single-player games
Emergent in multi-player. Especially MMOs.

Single-player games usually have a beginning and an end, so it's important to have structure to guide the player.

MMOs have a beginning, but generally the ending isn't as solid. And, if they do have a clear ending, you run the risk of losing players. Or you'll eventually bleed the writers dry of any and all creativity. Look at how long WoW has been going. They've long since resorted to having players kill off major characters in the Warcraft universe. Either Warcraft 4 is going to have declare WoW noncanon, or they'll need to explain how LegolAss and Sefirot of Gnomeland Security killed half the cast of Warcraft 3.

 

[Aprilgold]

Emergent stories ONLY work when the player has the most control and can, visually, change the world at will. Basically, the player has to be given a LARGE extent of freedom.

Linear story is best when Story is the MAIN focus *look right on over to heavy rain* and if it ISN'T the main focus, it can become hard to follow or be forgotten.

Then theres Simple Stories, look at Mario, you are given one goal, complete goal.

I like Emergent stories, but think that each type of story is best on games that use them correctly.

 

[Andronicus]

I reject both options, and substitute my own.

I like the Oblivion/Fallout 3 method of storytelling. No, not the crazy hell plane/look for daddy overarching storylines. I like being able to walk into a building/cave/bunker in Fallout, and trying to work out what happened there in the past, either before or after the bombs dropped. Generally, the developers have something in particular in mind that they want to express, but you have to pick up all the clues and work it out yourself, or even come up with some completely different theory. It's a much more enriching way to experience the worlds; there's hundreds of little stories here and there that you can find stashed away.

Like I said, there's generally an actual story that the developers want to tell in each instance, and there may even be a side mission or something that ties into it, but it's up to you, and how you interact with the world, that defines how the story goes. So it's sort of somewhere in-between emergent and linear.

 

[chaosyoshimage]

I haven't played Minecraft or Dwarf Fortress, but it sounds like I'd like to try that kind of storytelling, but I'd probably enjoy the latter most of the time. I know I like to come up with my own stories and dialogue though when dealing with silent protagonists because I'm weird...

 

[EzraPound]

I don't care as long as the story is good--I love both Final Fantasy VII and Deus Ex. Then again, if the story is garbage, I'd rather have no story at all--so since that applies to most games, I guess you could describe me as anti-narrative.

 

[Supertegwyn]

Linear. I prefer games with just one ending as well, although multiple endings can be good.

 

[JesterRaiin]

Do you prefer to be lead by the hand through a carefully constructed narrative, replete with twists and turns and emotional happenstances? (Think story based games like Mass Effect, Human Revolutions, Planescape Torment, etc.)

I don't like linearity. Unfortunatelly, there are very few non-linear games. Most hide it well, but it's still there. However, like it was mentioned previously : if story is good...

BTW : I think ME does lead by the hand practically from beginning to the end. Comparing it to Planescape or Deus Ex:HR ? Blasphemy !

 

[kouriichi]

A combination of the Two.
Oblivion/Morrowind/Skyrim/FO3/NV.

I game where the story leads you in one direction, but your free to deviate from it whenever you like. An Emergent game, with a relatively linear story.

 

[Guitarmasterx7]

Emergent. Games like The Elder Scrolls and Fallout feature a type of storytelling that you can't get from any other medium. (Also yes I realize the quests are quite linear but there's so much freedom to deviate from them that I don't consider it a linear experience.)