FC's Story Direction very worring
Ragnar Tornquist the man behind hind the book, and the background to the game AO has posted some thoughts the story.
While I must warn this is not the offical FC release as its the only info we have about the story I thought I would post it to get your views
http://www.ragnartornquist.com/thoughts.html
Revising the NPC dialogues and interaction isn't a substitute for a dynamic storyline. The stories told by non-player characters are static, and the player's involvement will mostly entail asking questions, gathering clues, putting together a coherent whole from a multitude of parts, and - in time - go on quests. NPC interaction will not, for the most part, allow any kind of dynamic, changeable, interaction with the storyline. This will be a way for the majority of players to learn about the background and the setting, about what's happened so far, and get hints and predictions - right or wrong - about what the future may hold, hopefully while having fun doing it. NPCs are fun. Not as much fun as other players, of course, but that's a given. The NPCs will represent all sides, all points of view, all the little stories that make up the tapestry of Rubi-Ka.
But the NPCs will not magically grant the players the key to a fully dynamic, fully interactive, living four-year story arc. Again, this is background, it's setting, it's interaction with static characters - game-play meets story, yes, but in a different, and more traditional, way. It's something. It's not everything. It's a piece of the puzzle.
So what else is there? There's the events team, and their tireless dedication to both story- and non-story-related events - both are important, and not every event can be a major turn in Rubi-Ka's history. Sometimes a little goes a long way. Contrary to what some people may think, there's open communication between the "story people" and the "events people" (the definition of a "story person" will change all the time, as all content, in some way or another, touches on story, and thus everyone takes part in communicating the story from our end), coordinated and supervised by the game director, who, in every instance, has the final word on what's good and what's not. The material that I - we - produce, in terms of background story, and future story (in the shape of content like dungeons, quests, new areas, major twists and turns, and NPCs) is distributed to the people who need to read it, and that includes the events team.
There's the expansion pack, which will open up new avenues for the story, with the introduction of both the mysterious Shadowlands and the city of Jobe. These new areas are closely linked with the background and the what-happens-next of the AO storyline, and events - as well as NPC conversations - in the game will lead up to, and drop hints about, the eventual launch.
There's the players' favourite, the ability to hold and control areas and outposts, and thus alter the political landscape of AO (to some degree). The extent of my knowledge on this subject is zilch, zero, so I may be waaay off here. But if/when this feature makes it into the game, that's definitely player-shaped interaction with the setting and the story. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. It's a daunting task, but one I know has been mentioned several times.
News and articles in-game - as opposed to on the website - is also something that's been discussed, and maybe even planned, for the future. I've said it before in the AO forums, and I'll say it again: This would be cool. I think that the official website is an important resource, but it would be doubly nice if all the in-character stories and articles could be published inside the game, using some kind of player-operated device.
I might be over my head here - I often am - but this is basically what we're looking at and thinking of when we utter the infamous word "story". Not just NPCs, not just events, but a whole package of things. When I say that I am working on NPCs, keep in mind that I am not the entirety of the story! I don't own it! Everyone does, to a greater or lesser degree - even you, because you make demands and ask questions and vote with your credit card, and in the end, your approval or disapproval is what shapes AO. So my singular focus on non-player character to player character interaction doesn't mean a complete abandonment of everything else - far from it. There's a big, huge team working on the game - the tentacles - and a squishy head with a lot of eyes and a sizeable brain - the octopus - overseeing all the elements. I'm one tiny tentacle. There are a hundred more!
All right. That's enough about that for the time being. Next post, I'll shun all things AO, and tell you what I ate for lunch. Or talk about a movie. Or how the sun is or isn't shining. Or why grass is green. Or some other nonsensical, self-centred garbage. Show's over, folks! There's nothing to see here! Move along, move along!
You comment left me wondering?
You said:
"So what else is there? There is the events team, and their timelss dedication to both story and non story related events".
You stated that the events team have dedicated timeless hours towards the storyline. Please refresh my and others memories on all these events that took place. I participated in all events since November of last year and I can only remember three story based events. 1. The Dust Brigade in Avalon, 2. The mutants in Newland, and the Slayerdroids in Athens. Oh! yea, the false alarm in Stret West Bank. Sure those got our heart pumping.
Non-Story line events like the Reet race in Borealis, that I attend didnt capture peoples attention much. However, I applaud their efforts but to say timeless suggests that they put a lot of thought into the storyline. This is a little to much to swallow dont you think?