Story discussion - The hero vs the nameless figure

As a story narrative in an mmorpg, do you prefer your character to be the hero of the land, or a nameless figure who is part of the larger group?

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Alpha Soul

I'm of the opinion as we'll that we're all nameless.. until we make a name for ourselves in the world via in game actions.

Wandering Mist

dygz wrote: »

I like to be well-known - like the protagonist(s) in a fantasy novel.
That doesn't necessarily mean I'm a hero. I was the Charles Darwin of Wizard101 because I mapped out pet abilities and devised a reliable method for breeding their traits.

Gaining recognition among NPCs helps with immersion.
Doesn't necessarily have to be recognition as a hero.

Being called the "Charles Darwin" of Wizard101 is recognition of your deeds from the other players on the server, not the NPCs. I think this means a lot more than being called a hero by NPCs. One thing that has always bothered me about hero stories is that many times, the heroic feats your character performs require very little effort from you as the player. Yes my character may have taken down a dragon that was plaguing the land, but all I did as the player was press 2 buttons. The title of hero doesn't feel justified or earned.

On the other hand, if you become recognised by the other players for doing something, chances are what you did had a big impact on the server, and is something that not many others can do. Anyone who played WoW during Vanilla or TBC probably remembers the top guilds and/or players on their server. If you were part of only 1% of players who killed a certain boss, that meant something, and other players respected that.

Karthos

I'm a big fan of infamous rather than famous.

I find the former much more true in MMOs. Everyone knows the name of the troll guild or Zerg Guild everyone loves to hate.

Azryil

Recognition from players whether it's for being the server first guild to take down some boss or for just being an asshole in the community is going to happen regardless. It's just a side effect of a multiplayer game. In this respect I think it's important that server communities remain important, meaning limit interaction with other servers within the game world, I think this was one of the biggest mistakes in WoW, starting with PvP battle groups and eventually moving to LFG and cross realm zones.

Atama

dracdoc wrote: »

I'm of the opinion as we'll that we're all nameless.. until we make a name for ourselves in the world via in game actions.

Not really.

I’m Atama.

[Deleted User]

A huge cheer for all of the nameless non-heroes.
Your actions fill up the auction houses with lumber and rock.
Ner' a grumble for the lack of renown.
You are the true heroes.

Blackhearted

I love how runescape handles its questing.
I don't feel like a nameless nor hero, but a strong and upright character.

Dygz

wanderingmist wrote: »

One thing that has always bothered me about hero stories is that many times, the heroic feats your character performs require very little effort from you as the player. Yes my character may have taken down a dragon that was plaguing the land, but all I did as the player was press 2 buttons. The title of hero doesn't feel justified or earned.

When I play D&D, I'm typically striving to just be a Gardner who happens to have levels of Druid. Or a Scribe who happens to have levels of Bard.
Feeling like I've built up recognition and rep with the NPCs is great for story, but I'm not really interested in being thought of as a hero.
The problem with themepark MMORPGs is that everyone does the exact same quests, so everyone is the hero, really.
In Ashes, the devs have stated that we're heroes just for returning to Verra.
And we were the best of the best on Sanctus.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

T Elf

Hmmm why couldn't we be the criminals, dregs of society, or paupers that got sent over because Sanctus wanted to get rid of us?

Azryil

Sounds like corrupted players to me.

T Elf

arzosah wrote: »

Sounds like corrupted players to me.

Well not exactly because you haven't killed anyone yet in Verra. Perhaps a chance to redeem yourself. Think Australia.

Atama

elf wrote: »

arzosah wrote: »

Sounds like corrupted players to me.

Well not exactly because you haven't killed anyone yet in Verra. Perhaps a chance to redeem yourself. Think Australia.

I doubt anything that Verra throws at us will be nearly as much of a horror show as the flora and fauna of real world Australia.

Azryil

IDK, it wouldn't surprise me if everything on Verra wanted to eat us.

Nagash

elf wrote: »

arzosah wrote: »

Sounds like corrupted players to me.

Well not exactly because you haven't killed anyone yet in Verra. Perhaps a chance to redeem yourself. Think Australia.

you mean free labour for the glorious empire

Ravudha

Nameless figure. If AoC is going to label everyone as a hero for stepping through the portal I can accept it in that context - being a hero for stepping up to settle a new land.

Definitely don't like being labelled a (traditional) hero who is destined to fulfil some task or prophecy from the start.

LoBane

Nameless
Gotta stay low key.

ZacHank

I know this is an old thread, but this is among the most important questions in an MMORPG for me, so I wanted to answer to maybe inspire some more discussion.

Please don't make us "the hero", it doesn't make any sense and immediately ruins immersion, even if it's a more entertaining story off the bat. Not everyone can be "the hero", and in an MMORPG, making the Player Character "the hero" means that everyone is. In my opinion, every MMORPG which use "the hero" archetype for their story significantly hampers their multiplayer aspect. It's weird coming out of a single player story to jump into a multiplayer raid and the NPC's somehow trying to recognize each player as "the one and only hero of X".

As for being "a hero" this is much better, but I still feel like it limits player choice in a negative way. The way this game is shaping out seems to be all about player choice. Why not let us become a hero in a meaningful way? Perhaps during a siege a particular player or group of players contributed far above what everyone else did. Recognizing them as heroes of the battle is far more meaningful and takes into account player decision during game play. If everyone defending during a siege is rewarded as a hero (via title, loot, etc.) even if they contributed very little, then the feeling of being a hero is, in my opinion, unremarkable.

One of the things I'm most excited for with Ashes is the classic design philosophy of making the players the end game. In my opinion, the hero narrative is more of a theme park design which tends to detract from this players-as-the-end-game philosophy.

Asgerr

It depends on what role the NPCs fulfill in the story.

In the case of games like WoW, FFXIV etc where some of the NPCs are the actual main attraction for the story, then I'm fine being a soldier helping them out.

But in a game like Ashes where seemingly there are no story relevant NPCs (heroes, antagonists etc) it would just feel like everyone is just a no one.

Even in our real world, there are people who would be considered main characters. I don't know that it'll be the case in Ashes. It'll all be just: the story advanced thanks to a mob of people. Thumbs up and carry on.

Dygz

Wandering Mist wrote: »

As a story narrative in an mmorpg, do you prefer your character to be the hero of the land, or a nameless figure who is part of the larger group?

Why not both?

I prefer to be a Gardener who happens to know some Cleric spells.
I do like it when NPCs know my name. I don't necessarily want to be known as The Savior. I'd probably prefer that NPCs speak my active title.
I also wish we could get to a StoryBricks level of AI, where individual NPCs would have their own feelings about your actions.

Tyranthraxus

Yours truly greatly prefers coming up with my own backstory, then basing the RP on actual events. My character was an Admiral of the Empire, in Star Wars: Galaxies - not just because I *said* so, though; I'd been a prolific events-host for a period of time, and it fit both the type of events that yours truly was hosting, AND the specific theme of our guild. Before all of that, he was simply an Imperial pilot-turned-shipmaker and manufacturer - since I had him joined with the Imperial Navy in the game, and then also made and sold ship parts. Any RP backstory for my toons in other games have also followed a similar development format.

I can understand the "everyone's a hero" approach though, since our actions in AoC are weighted and have influence the world around us. If you really want to, you can probably RP a hermit or a remote farmer, given the tools and buildings and setup that we know of, thus far.

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