How will stories be told?

ArchivedUser

So storytelling is one of the most important aspects of my life. Everything is a story when you think about it. And many video games do story telling in a very different way. I can't think of a better example than WOW and SWTOR. WOW gives you walls of text that the average player (like me) will try really hard to read but eventually give up because it's just too much to remember and keep track of. It's difficult to keep track of lore, so my question (sorry for the wait) is, how will this game actually present its story? Star Wars gave cinematic cutscenes with voice acting and a coherent narrative. It gave your character a place in the story, and (in my opinion) more importantly, a unique voice that reacted to its surroundings. So I ask, how will my story be told?

ArchivedUser

Story:  It depends on it, because the world doesn’t appreciate civilization. Something dark and terrible happened long ago to wipe it from the face of this planet, and now that civilization has returned, those dark things stir again. 

ArchivedUser

To clarify, I'm not asking what the story is, I'm asking how the story will be told

ArchivedUser

creamypies said:

Story:  It depends on it, because the world doesn’t appreciate civilization. Something dark and terrible happened long ago to wipe it from the face of this planet, and now that civilization has returned, those dark things stir again. 

Sorry, not quite where I was going with it, I mean in a more theatrical way, how will we experience the story as players

ArchivedUser

Gildhart said:

Sorry, not quite where I was going with it, I mean in a more theatrical way, how will we experience the story as players

According to the devs, the story in Ashes mostly unfolds as you participate in Event and Narrative quests.

Events

Events are quests on a server that take place at a local, regional and global level. Events have a lasting and permanent impact on the word and help to shape the landscape in a fundamental way.

Narratives

Narrative quests are mostly where the arc of the storyline plays out. As you progress through the narrative chain you learn your regional lore; and through your actions you play a role in shaping it; as metropolises, cities and great castles are built and destroyed.

The details are pretty scant at the moment, so now you know as much as I do

ArchivedUser

lexmax said:

Gildhart said:

Sorry, not quite where I was going with it, I mean in a more theatrical way, how will we experience the story as players

According to the devs, the story in Ashes mostly unfolds as you participate in Event and Narrative quests.

Events

Events are quests on a server that take place at a local, regional and global level. Events have a lasting and permanent impact on the word and help to shape the landscape in a fundamental way.

Narratives

Narrative quests are mostly where the arc of the storyline plays out. As you progress through the narrative chain you learn your regional lore; and through your actions you play a role in shaping it; as metropolises, cities and great castles are built and destroyed.

The details are pretty scant at the moment, so now you know as much as I do

Well, then how about we turn this into a hopes and dreams kind of thing. I would like to see an interactive kind of storytelling where I feel like a part of the tale. What about everyone else??

ArchivedUser

Gildhart said:

lexmax said:

Gildhart said:

Sorry, not quite where I was going with it, I mean in a more theatrical way, how will we experience the story as players

According to the devs, the story in Ashes mostly unfolds as you participate in Event and Narrative quests.

Events

Events are quests on a server that take place at a local, regional and global level. Events have a lasting and permanent impact on the word and help to shape the landscape in a fundamental way.

Narratives

Narrative quests are mostly where the arc of the storyline plays out. As you progress through the narrative chain you learn your regional lore; and through your actions you play a role in shaping it; as metropolises, cities and great castles are built and destroyed.

The details are pretty scant at the moment, so now you know as much as I do

Well, then how about we turn this into a hopes and dreams kind of thing. I would like to see an interactive kind of storytelling where I feel like a part of the tale. What about everyone else??

Agreed! I think that's the motivation behind Narrative quests. I particularly like the interactive movie genre. Games like Dawn of the Dead and Horizon Zero dawn do this kind of thing really well. I hope intrepid can take this to the next level and, as you say, make you feel like you are part of the tale.

ArchivedUser

Why don't we just tell it? Rather than the game presenting it, we could. If you mean by way of dissemination, then there are plenty of ways. Guild lore through videos and text on their websites, dedicated personal lore from players in game and through their "diaries" (read that entire sentence as: letters, books, and the odd item by the roadside in game or their websites, social media, forum posts in the player lore section that may or may not exist). Personally, building the lore of the world is something challenging and fun, something i would want to invest time into rather than be told "this is what happened, and here is why". That dragon has a backstory for being in that mountain, certainly, but we don't know what it is, because such records don't exist. Therefore, whatever we think up, is the reason why it was there. If we can put that on a tablet/ in a book in game, that would be very fun. 

ArchivedUser

Well everything that we do changes the world. It's not a fixed game they are developing it so the the world responds to player triggers. This means the choices we make from a solo player to full community IS the story. I agree with @crystalmonkeys it should be up to us to record the future and many people in the community have already suggested keeping a documented history for each ashes world that I really hope we keep on top of!  If you want to make a name for yourself in Ashes then do what you can to bring on the attention of the community whether your a good guy or bad guy! Maybe you'll make it into the history books....
Good Luck on your adventures o7 Can't wait to see the worlds we create

ArchivedUser

@Diura, yeah, it's a cool concept, but we're still going to be hearing what is happening somehow. There will be some kind of narration, and I guess that's what I worry about. I don't want to have to read a wall of text to get the story. I would rather voice acting, that'd be sweet!

crystalmonkeys, I'm all about writing the narrative ourselves, but that would be for others, not for us. What do you think the best way to disseminate would be?

ArchivedUser

@Diura, yeah, it's a cool concept, but we're still going to be hearing what is happening somehow. There will be some kind of narration, and I guess that's what I worry about. I don't want to have to read a wall of text to get the story. I would rather voice acting, that'd be sweet!

crystalmonkeys, I'm all about writing the narrative ourselves, but that would be for others, not for us. What do you think the best way to disseminate would be?

ArchivedUser

I would love swtor style cinematic cut scenes every so often. It was the most memorable leveling I'v ever had so far. Paired with amazing voice acting, you never forget it.

ArchivedUser

Gildhart said:

So storytelling is one of the most important aspects of my life. Everything is a story when you think about it. And many video games do story telling in a very different way. I can't think of a better example than WOW and SWTOR. WOW gives you walls of text that the average player (like me) will try really hard to read but eventually give up because it's just too much to remember and keep track of. It's difficult to keep track of lore, so my question (sorry for the wait) is, how will this game actually present its story? Star Wars gave cinematic cutscenes with voice acting and a coherent narrative. It gave your character a place in the story, and (in my opinion) more importantly, a unique voice that reacted to its surroundings. So I ask, how will my story be told?

Did you watch both node videos on Youtube?