Poll: Poll: gameplay or story

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

Gameplay easily. A story isn't even a requirement for a game. Don't get me wrong, I love great stories and characters to be part of a game; however, even the games that are known for having good stories usually don't have good stories anyways. I love Mass Effect but there's nothing really that great or special about Mass Effect's story, it's just Shepard saving the universe; the character stuff is far better than the story itself.

 

[OneStepAhead]

Well, let's put it this way.

If the story is weak, but the gameplay is enjoyable, i'll play through the game. However, if the gameplay is poor, but the story is great, i'll stop playing and go watch a movie. -_-

EDIT: Also, Minecraft is a good example for this thread, as it has no story whatsoever.

 

[Byere]

Story all the way... but then, I'm biased. I'm a JRPG lover and without story, there's pretty much nothing to the games nowadays

 

[Kahunaburger]

Well, if either's really good that kind of excuses failures in the other department for me. Planescape: Torment has terrible gameplay but a superlative story, and Super Smash Bros has great gameplay but basically no story. Both are good.

 

[EvilPicnic]

Both. But whereas in these modern times good gameplay is expected as standard, decent storytelling still has to be sought out and is therefore more valuable in my eyes.

 

[DustyDrB]

Judging by my two favorite game series (Zelda and Mass Effect. And I'm an original one, aren't I?), gameplay means a lot to me. But so does story (Mass Effect is definitely heavy on that).

It's definitely gameplay over story, though.

 

[the D0rk One]

Because that forces you to make a choice and choose which is more important (I assume).

I'd go with story. Good game play is nice, but its not enough to make me care about anything, while a good story can keep me going threw shit or something samey.

One of the reasons i'll probably enjoy TOR and GW2 over something like rift or wow. I don't really care how I kill something, but more of the over arching story beyond it. But for me, combat itself I don't find interesting. It's the broader conflict that keeps me playing.

Yeah, I got the point of the poll, but I find it "forced".
No decent developer should compromise one or the other, not in this day and age.
As I said before, there aren't many things a dev can't build nowadays, and since they no longer have to restrain the story to fit the gameplay... there shouldn't be a choice between story or gameplay.

 

[Drakos.Amatras]

Story all the way, although I also like to observe the gameplay systems and how they can compliment the story.

 

[WitchD0ctor]

Story, duh, if you want good gameplay, read a book.
/irony

 

[The Apothecarry]

Most games these day are either all story or all gameplay and can't find a good balance between the two. Mass Effect has been the only game that I've played that had a good balance between narrative and gameplay, but it's not quite there yet.

Not to say games like Oblivion, Halo, or Call of Duty are all one or the other, but I haven't experienced many games with a truly fair balance between the two.

 

[onewheeled]

Gameplay.

Hence why I just bought the Serious Sam HD double-pack on Steam.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

In my ideal game the gameplay is there to help tell a good story.


The two go hand in hand, only, the one hand pulling the other should always be the story, the gameplay needs to be good and fun but it needs to MEAN something, otherwise this isn't anything more than a toy. You can have entertainment but games can and should strive to be more than that.


Now, being more than that CAN be achieved through cutscenes...but I believe it is best done when a melding of storytelling, cutscene segments and gameplay all intermingle...like those times in the older final fantasy games where a pre-rendered cinematic would play but you would still be able to move around with your guys...that transcendent experience is what all games should aspire to.

 

[Mr. Omega]

Ideally, it would be a proper mixture of both. But having to choose one:

Gameplay.
Mario didn't need a story that takes more than 2 sentences to summarize, and it's the icon of video gaming. Story is nice, don't get me wrong. But gameplay is essential. And having a great story is all well and good, but if getting from one point of the story to another is a tedious chore to do, than it's just not worth it.

If you have good gameplay but a bad story, the game still be considered good. Not great, but good.
If you have a good story but bad gameplay, the game will be considered bad. Not terrible, but bad.

 

[veloper]

Those are some ugly poll results.

60% prefers wasting their time with the most mediocre of stories, that no publisher in any other medium (books, film) could get away with.

Expect the stories in games to get even worse and the gameplay to dumb down even more. Shit sells afteral.

 

[Dream_Sequencer]

Story is what usually draws me into a game, sure gameplay is nice, but I'd like a well developed story.

One of the reason why I believe Bioshock was a great game, sure the gameplay was good, but what kept me playing the story.

 

[repeating integers]

IMO, gameplay over story.

To me, playing through a game isn't fun if the gameplay isn't good, regardless of the strength of the story. Story is a very close second though.

 

[black_knight1337]

Gameplay.
i can handle an average story (oblivion, put a good part of a year into that) but i cant stand terrible gameplay.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

Those are some ugly poll results.

60% prefers wasting their time with the most mediocre of stories, that no publisher in any other medium (books, film) could get away with.

Expect the stories in games to get even worse and the gameplay to dumb down even more. Shit sells afteral.

The thing is that living a mediocre story through the way of gaming is still a superior experience as a whole to watching it or reading about it.