story and cutscene and vo not future of mmorpg.

MeGaTronPower

I'm still enrolled in game design courses I want to become a feel designer myself. Case studies on swtor and tsw made me realize that story cutscene and vo are too expensive to make. Morph players don't want these those money could have spend on end game contents. Morph want end game contents not story and vo. What are your thoughts on this by the way swtor spend $100 Millicom on voice over.

KenFisher

I agree that expense is a major factor.  The other is efficiency.  If it takes a team of forty, two years to produce content, and the content locusts can consume it in 2 months, they run out of things to do 22 months before the expansion gets released.  That's fine for a buy to play MMORPG or single player RPG, but for a subscription game it's the kiss of death.

 

No content left to do means no reason to stay subscribed.

 

 

Brenelael

I agree to a point. What I don't agree with is players don't want more endgame content... they just want more content, period. This can be anything from housing, crafting, questing, faction warfare, more indepth skill systems and yes endgame content as well as a plethora of other things.

 

Bren

Dragonantis

More game substance and content over a 20 second cutscene anyday of the week!

Raijukin

I think DCUO did a great job at using VO and cutscenes and the combat i think its better than any other mmo...and i dont think DCUO would be the same without the VO and cutscenes...so i think it just depends on how they present it

Nadia

cutscenes are best the first time seeing them, and even then, it should be optional and skipppable

 

mmorpgs need replayability more than story

Raijukin

and in DCUO you can skip them if you dont want to watch them

cukimunga

I've always liked games with cut sceenes for quests. FFXI was my first MMO to have them, no voice over but it was better than reading a scroll that pops up on your screen.  The for games with story and cutscenes is to have less quests that take longer to complete not the opposite. 

Po_gg

Originally posted by MeGaTronPower
Morph want end game contents not story and vo.

I'm not Morph, so I want story (with or without voice-overs), and any other content Bren mentioned (housing, crafting, etc.)

The gear grind labeled as endgame content... meh. I don't mind if it's there for the "life starts at level cap" people, but only if the developers already made a great story beforehand

(I know, I'm with the minority of the playerbase, but we're stil here)

TheScavenger

Originally posted by Brenelael

I agree to a point. What I don't agree with is players don't want more endgame content... they just want more content, period. This can be anything from housing, crafting, questing, faction warfare, more indepth skill systems and yes endgame content as well as a plethora of other things.

 

Bren

Yes. Not interested in doing the same raid over 9000 times a year, to get items that get nerfed (utterly useless) the next expansion pack.

 

I want to raid once or twice in one dungeon, not do it over and over and do the same boring dungeon infinite times until the expansion makes it useless.

 

I want housing, more crafting, more story, more exploration...just general more content.

 

I want more PvP as well (more lands to conquer, new rewards etc), since PvP is WAY more dynamic than doing the same raid each time that does the same thing over and over. And MMO AI is dumber than any other genre that has AI.

 

Granted, battlegrounds in WoW are pretty static...but they are still more dynamic than PvE dungeons.

 

I'm thinking more like DAOC or GW2 open battlegrounds, with capturing control points and what not. Not the mostly static battlegrounds.

thexrated

Voice overs are a must, but they be done a lot smarter. I think cut scenes should be used sparingly, like an epic conclusion or a story point, or when a player has to make a major decision. When you hit a point of cutscene, it should be extremely well-made and you should not feel like skipping it. Also, voice overs with basic NPCs and quest givers do not need to be in custscenes, there are games that incorporate the voice in the main gameplay rather well.

thexrated

Originally posted by MeGaTronPower
I'm still enrolled in game design courses I want to become a feel designer myself. Case studies on swtor and tsw made me realize that story cutscene and vo are too expensive to make. Morph players don't want these those money could have spend on end game contents. Morph want end game contents not story and vo. What are your thoughts on this by the way swtor spend $100 Millicom on voice over.

The cost of voice overs is going down. Also, the cost is affected by the actors you hire. You do not need to get big names for every character. I think successful RPGs have to come with voice acting these days, it is expected.

fundayz

Originally posted by thexrated
Voice overs are a must, but they be done a lot smarter. I think cut scenes should be used sparingly, like an epic conclusion or a story point, or when a player has to make a major decision. When you hit a point of cutscene, it should be extremely well-made and you should not feel like skipping it. Also, voice overs with basic NPCs and quest givers do not need to be in custscenes, there are games that incorporate the voice in the main gameplay rather well.

I would say GW2 employs voice over quite well.

Although all of the personal story is voiced, I would dare say that the majority of the voice over work is actually out in the open world. This spread out NPC voiceover feels more natural than bi/tri-lateral scripted dialogue, drawing the player into the game world without requiring one to follow detailed conversation.

In addition, the minimalistic and to-the-point dialogue of the Personal Story may not be wonderful for character development (one of the reasons people feel GW2 cutscenes are meh), but it is MUCH more efficient in getting the story across than more elaborate and ornate voiceover work.

bbbmmmlll

I don't really like either feature in any games. Cut scene's are best around major points of the story, but otherwise I find them disruptive to the game. They turn me into a passive observer when the entire reason I play games is to do stuff. If I want to "watch" I can read a book or watch a movie. 

Voice overs are the same thing. All the action stops so I can listen to a painfully stiff conversation that at best creates the illusion of being interactive. 

What's interesting is I can think of a few fond memories of cool cut scene's, but I don' have any memorable voice overs. What memories I have of voice overs include irritating voices or awful dialog.

From an MMORPG design perspective, I think both features are high cost low return items. They should be used sparingly. Your core feature set should be about the longevity of the game play. Investing a significant portion of your budget on what are essentially one shot items is a poor idea. Use them around major story points or even your starter areas if you have to. Don't make them the core of your game or you will fail.

bbbmmmlll

Originally posted by fundayz

I would say GW2 employs voice over quite well.

Although all of the personal story is voiced, I would dare say that the majority of the voice over work is actually out in the open world. This spread out NPC voiceover feels more natural than bi/tri-lateral scripted dialogue, drawing the player into the game world without requiring one to follow detailed conversation.

In addition, the minimalistic and to-the-point dialogue of the Personal Story may not be wonderful for character development (one of the reasons people feel GW2 cutscenes are meh), but it is MUCH more efficient in getting the story across than more elaborate and ornate voiceover work.

Completely agree! The open world voice over works great and adds to the experience.