Maybe games just aren't the medium for truly great stories.

[Key-Glyph]

I just want to throw in that I'm definitely all for gray areas and complex character motivations, but I also think that a classic good vs. evil storyline has its place and is just as legitimate a storytelling experience. It's just not as culturally popular at the moment.

[Fragems]

I think the best stories from games are the ones you create yourself. I have some great stories I can tell you about games I played with friends, within the trappings of each game's world.

I like a good linear story sometimes but I have to agree most of the best stories are created in games where you create the story through your actions. For example the Fallout and Elderscrolls series the amount of unique stories that I could tell about random events and wandering through their open worlds is just mind boggling.

[jamtero]

I think games are already a medium for truly great stories. Granted, we have yet to see an equivalent of Atlas Shrugged or Moby Dick but let's look at this with some proper perspective. Books and I'll add movies have been around for such a long time to evolve and become tools to tell great stories. We've only had videogames for 30ish years and already we see great examples of storytelling that I think will only improve with time. I think the author of the article is being a bit shortsighted. The way I see it games have a greater degree of freedom from which to tell a story and a gamemaker may choose to emphasize gameplay, visuals or audio or text to accomplish this. And there is room for these decisions as there will always be a niche audience that will be receptive to it. It is in these areas that games mechanics and storytelling get to expand and evolve. I'm optimistic for gaming as a storytelling medium.

[catnip]

I think games are already a medium for truly great stories. Granted, we have yet to see an equivalent of Atlas Shrugged or Moby Dick but let's look at this with some proper perspective. Books and I'll add movies have been around for such a long time to evolve and become tools to tell great stories. We've only had videogames for 30ish years and already we see great examples of storytelling that I think will only improve with time. I think the author of the article is being a bit shortsighted. The way I see it games have a greater degree of freedom from which to tell a story and a gamemaker may choose to emphasize gameplay, visuals or audio or text to accomplish this. And there is room for these decisions as there will always be a niche audience that will be receptive to it. It is in these areas that games mechanics and storytelling get to expand and evolve. I'm optimistic for gaming as a storytelling medium.

I'm with you, jammy-bo-bammy. May I call you jammy-bo-bammy? Regardless, welcome to the forum!

Also, I think "truly great stories" is pretty relative - I'm sure that everyone has a different opinion of what is "great". I just slogged through my first Shakespeare play (hated it); all the English majors I know (my girlfriend included) say that Ulysses is one of the greatest stories ever written, and... Yeah, no, I find it to not be interesting at all. Give me FFIX over any book, any day.

... i'll add the obligatory #FFIXFanboy

EDIT: There are plenty of great books with great stories, I'm not saying I don't like books! I just love FFIX's story the most :3

[jamtero]

Totally with you on that one. I cant stand poetic/iambic style writing. Way too distracting pulls me right out of what Im reading.

On a side note I really need to give ff9 a go.

[catnip]

Totally with you on that one. I cant stand poetic/iambic style writing. Way too distracting pulls me right out of what Im reading.

Man, that is refreshing to hear hahaha. Not many of my friends agree with me. They give me funny looks when I say I think Stephen King is a great writer. They're like "...but what about Joyce? Dante? Shakespeare?". Not saying I totally dislike everything those guys have done, but give me The Long Walk over any of those "classics" any day.

On a side note I really need to give ff9 a go.

Yes. Yes, yes you really do.

Yes.

[AppleQueso]

"Greatness" when it comes to stuff like classical literature isn't really hinging solely on its entertainment value, but on the overall impact the work had on the medium as a whole and its impact on the greater culture.

[catnip]

"Greatness" when it comes to stuff like classical literature isn't really hinging solely on its entertainment value, but on the overall impact the work had on the medium as a whole and its impact on the greater culture.

Eh. I understand where you're coming from, but if I don't enjoy reading their stuff, I'm not gonna think they're great writers. I don't care how much he shaped the English language; I've never enjoyed reading Shakespeare, and for that reason, I don't think he's great.

To put it in a gaming perspective - I understand that HL2 and OoT were revolutionary for their time, and shaped much of what was to come. However, I didn't enjoy them; I'm not going to call them great if I didn't even enjoy playing them!

I know I'm in the minority, and that's fine

EDIT: I guess what I'm trying to say is, no matter how "great" an artist (or whoever) is in the eyes of greater society, that "great"ness never goes beyond subjectivity and into the land of actual objective greatness. I just don't believe that happens. Someone can, and will, always disagree, somewhere. And those people aren't wrong.

[Erik_Twice]

I've never enjoyed reading Shakespeare, and for that reason, I don't think he's great.

There's more to art than whether you like it, you know?

[MrPopo]

"Greatness" when it comes to stuff like classical literature isn't really hinging solely on its entertainment value, but on the overall impact the work had on the medium as a whole and its impact on the greater culture.

Eh. I understand where you're coming from, but if I don't enjoy reading their stuff, I'm not gonna think they're great writers. I don't care how much he shaped the English language; I've never enjoyed reading Shakespeare, and for that reason, I don't think he's great.

Shakespeare is not really intended for reading; you need to see it performed by a good company to really appreciate it.