Characters. That's why I hated the Playboy of the Western World. There were absolutely no relateable characters, so I was not the least bit invested in the story.
Poll: Which is more important to you in a storyline.
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I went with characters on this one. The thing with me is that if I hate the characters, no matter how good the plot or the world is, I just stop caring. 1 dimensional characters and characters who are too perfect/evil are the bane of any good story.
I'll use quite a big fantasy series to back up my point here, the "Wheel of Time" series by Robert Jordan(and later Brandon Sanderson). The world these books are set in is one of the most intricate and immersive worlds I've ever seen in a fictional story. Yet, this is downplayed by personalities of half of the characters. Every woman in the series seems to be domineering and controlling. Hell, every character aside from a select few are deterministic and just downright stubborn. But the thing is, in the real world, people just aren't like that, and it spoils the immersion of the book. There are 13 books in the series and I ended up stopping reading them at all for a good 6 months during the 9th book simply because I got bored with characters being introduced from different view points which I really don't care about.
The world that it is set in can be important of course, but it's the characters that make the place come alive, and no amount of vast detail in the world is able to solve that without good characters.
It seems to me that some authors believe that character flaws simply creates depth, but having depth is more than that. It's about personality, history and then flaws. I read a book by Martina Cole called "The Business" and every character was completely flawed in an obviously intentional way. Drug addicts, abusive crime bosses etc. I ended up just becoming really sad half way through and frustrated that none of them were ever able to change. Character development is important too! The drug addict became a prostitute and eventually got knifed in the streets and the crime boss continued to have anger issues even at the end of the novel.
Then we come to plot. What would a novel be without plot? Well, it would be pretty much every single novel I've ever read in an english lesson. Boring. I can't stand it when a story of any format has absolutely no pace to it. I had to write a piece of coursework on "Jane Eyre" for college and the book just never seemed to get anywhere, and whenever something did happen, I just didn't care all that much.
Wait... now that I've typed all this out, I'm not sure which is more important, and I realise that by now I'm just rambling about whatever comes to mind. I'm going to stop writing now. I guess.
I'll use quite a big fantasy series to back up my point here, the "Wheel of Time" series by Robert Jordan(and later Brandon Sanderson). The world these books are set in is one of the most intricate and immersive worlds I've ever seen in a fictional story. Yet, this is downplayed by personalities of half of the characters. Every woman in the series seems to be domineering and controlling. Hell, every character aside from a select few are deterministic and just downright stubborn. But the thing is, in the real world, people just aren't like that, and it spoils the immersion of the book. There are 13 books in the series and I ended up stopping reading them at all for a good 6 months during the 9th book simply because I got bored with characters being introduced from different view points which I really don't care about.
The world that it is set in can be important of course, but it's the characters that make the place come alive, and no amount of vast detail in the world is able to solve that without good characters.
It seems to me that some authors believe that character flaws simply creates depth, but having depth is more than that. It's about personality, history and then flaws. I read a book by Martina Cole called "The Business" and every character was completely flawed in an obviously intentional way. Drug addicts, abusive crime bosses etc. I ended up just becoming really sad half way through and frustrated that none of them were ever able to change. Character development is important too! The drug addict became a prostitute and eventually got knifed in the streets and the crime boss continued to have anger issues even at the end of the novel.
Then we come to plot. What would a novel be without plot? Well, it would be pretty much every single novel I've ever read in an english lesson. Boring. I can't stand it when a story of any format has absolutely no pace to it. I had to write a piece of coursework on "Jane Eyre" for college and the book just never seemed to get anywhere, and whenever something did happen, I just didn't care all that much.
Wait... now that I've typed all this out, I'm not sure which is more important, and I realise that by now I'm just rambling about whatever comes to mind. I'm going to stop writing now. I guess.
If I could, I'd say they are all equally important, but since I have to choose...crunchieman said:
Probably the characters. Great characters and characterization can define a game, and make the world they live in and the plot they are a part of all the more engaging. Enslaved: Odyssey to the West would be a great example.
Great poll, love it
I had to think carefully. The plot, surprisingly, really isn't a big deal in comparison to the other two. I don't care why I'm on the journey as long as I care about the characters in it. Characters, their struggles, relationships, peaks and valleys pull on the heart strings so much more than the events in a story
The world is also very important because it's the place in which you, as a player, get lost, but the world is, again, defined by it's characters. So yeah, above all else, characters
I had to think carefully. The plot, surprisingly, really isn't a big deal in comparison to the other two. I don't care why I'm on the journey as long as I care about the characters in it. Characters, their struggles, relationships, peaks and valleys pull on the heart strings so much more than the events in a story
The world is also very important because it's the place in which you, as a player, get lost, but the world is, again, defined by it's characters. So yeah, above all else, characters
I think it is the plot and the characters that do it for me. You can have the most generic setting ever, but will written characters and engaging plot will hook me very time. I think that is the reason I like Dragon Age: Orgins over Mass Effect 1 (I have not yet played 2).
I feel the characters are most important. Sure the plot can be excellent and the world interesting but if you don't give a shit about the characters those other two elements effect then whats the point? Don't get me wrong all 3 are very important but the characters are I feel just a tad bit more important...
All three have to be good but if I have to pick one, it's characters.
The plot can be about something generic and boring. It can take place in a world that's called eearth. It can follow people in the city New yark, but as long as the characters are intriguing and have more depth than a fucking washcloth, it can still be good.
The plot can be about something generic and boring. It can take place in a world that's called eearth. It can follow people in the city New yark, but as long as the characters are intriguing and have more depth than a fucking washcloth, it can still be good.
If the characters are uninteresting, it's difficult to care about the rest. Good, well developed characters are what makes you care about where the plot is taking them and what's going on in the world. Sure, if you have a REALLY good plot, or a REALLY interesting world, it can make up for it, but even mediocre plots and worlds are interesting when the characters in them are.
Really, you can't choose just one of these elements. Each is imperative to a truly good story and need to work together to make the story interesting. I'm not looking for just one; I'm looking for all three.
Depends mostly on the medium for me.
In Books, I look for the Plot and the Message.
In Movies, I look for Characters and awesomeness (and hence i don't watch many non-pixar movies)
In Games, I look mainly for an intriguing world, but appreciate solid Characters and a well-written, meaningful story.
In Books, I look for the Plot and the Message.
In Movies, I look for Characters and awesomeness (and hence i don't watch many non-pixar movies)
In Games, I look mainly for an intriguing world, but appreciate solid Characters and a well-written, meaningful story.
If you don't like, or at least believe, the characters you will never love the story.
An interesting world can make you buy the toys (Star Wars).
A tight plot can keep you entertained for up to 90 minutes (any trashy soap opera or thriller).
But good characters can make you sit through any piece of shit and still love it. So character is more important.
An interesting world can make you buy the toys (Star Wars).
A tight plot can keep you entertained for up to 90 minutes (any trashy soap opera or thriller).
But good characters can make you sit through any piece of shit and still love it. So character is more important.
Well I was trying to find out what ONE people thought was most important. That's why I didn't want to make a fourth option covering it all. It also makes people think more if they have to choose rather then covering it all without having to think of which is their actual favourite.jamiedf said:
Still though maybe that fourth option isn't a bad idea...
The characters. You can give me a world of incredibly depth and a plot full of intrigue and twists and all that jazz but if I don't like the characters it's all for naught.
For me it's the characters, I like having actual people to protect, now you can say that country A from game B has 100,000 people, but if I never see them or am allowed to interact with them then they may as well be card board cut outs, I would rather have one person to protect who I see all the time then 100,000 people I never meet, which is why the world itself means so little to me, as long as there's just one person that needs saving, that's more then enough to give me motivation to complete the game, even if the plot's clichéd and the world is dull.
To me, a story of any sort can be an extremely engaging plot and the most well done world ever created, but if the characters are flat and uninteresting, it falls flat on its face and immediately repels me.
