Stories in MMOs or the Lack Thereof

MMOs are one of the most popular genres in gaming today. They have the unique ability of sucking in millions of gamers to play and explore together at the same time. The worlds are absolutely huge and there are numerous possibilities as far as customizing what your character looks like and plays like. These are wonderfully deep and complex games that make the player feel like they are a part of this world. Why is it then that no MMO in the market today is able to pull me in story-wise?

Now don't get me wrong, the set-ups for MMOs are appropriately epic and give off the impression that your character's adventure will be just as epic. Take, for example, World of Warcraft; the official website has thirteen pages of backstory for the first chapter alone and five chapters total. It is actually quite an interesting read and sets up the world beautifully. You get a history for all the races, see how the world has evolved, and realize what the landscape is between all the races before you play. The problem is, when you are actually playing the game, it has very little to do with anything. Some quests feel like they're building toward a greater plot, but that plot gets bogged down by other quests, talking to friends, and finding groups to take on instances. By the time you actually complete the quest, you forget why you were doing it in the first place (other than for loot, experience, and gold).


The first MMO I ever played was Final Fantasy XI. It sounded amazing to be able to pick any job you wanted, enter the world, and encounter that massive plot that runs through every Final Fantasy. Unfortunately, I was never able to find that plot. Instead, after the opening cinematic, the massive install, the character creation, and finally entry into the world...I began grinding. Unlike World of Warcraft, there was no exclamation above an NPC's head to show that they had a quest. Instead, you had to talk to every NPC in order to find one. This isn't so bad in a typical RPG where even a city has a population of about 30 people but when it takes place in an MMO where dozens of people are running back and forth, it can be a bit overwhelming. So instead I stuck to the grind and concentrated on combat, running headlong into the other problem that prevented me from experiencing Final Fantasy XI's story, the ability to lose levels thanks to deaths. I lost count how many times I would go up a level, die, and lose said level. It was infuriating to the point that I abandoned Final Fantasy XI.

Recently a friend let me borrow his account on Guild Wars. It's a fun game that has a slightly different feel than other MMOs, but it still has the same problems with story that others have. Only one MMO on the horizon is tantalizing me with a great plot to go along with the fun gameplay of MMOs, Star Wars: The Old Republic. Bioware is going beyond my wildest expectations with this entry in the series. Fully voiced and enough content to fill several Star Wars books? If they can pull it off, which I have the highest expectations that they can, The Old Republic will grasp me like no other MMO.


If it isn't obvious already, story for me is almost on equal footing with gameplay. Gameplay will still win out in the end, but a great story makes for a delicious icing on the MMO cake.