Funcom, developer of upcoming MMO The Secret World, believes that there is a place in MMORPGs for decent storytelling.

Lead content designer Joel Bylos believes that players should have control over how they experience the game. As much as the developer put effort into creating an engrossing story, Bylos insists that players have the option to skip cut-scenes and dialogue if they “don’t give a s**t”.

“My personal feeling is that [MMO is] a genre that’s still looking for an audience in a lot of places, and I think there’s a place for storytelling in MMOs,” he said.

“The thing about our storytelling, the cutscenes and stuff, you either take a lot of the story in and you like it, or you don’t give a sh*t and you don’t have to pay any attention to it. I think that’s how MMOs need to do story, actually. It permeates the game.”

However Bylos believes that even the most story-disinterested gamers will find that The Secret World’s story “gets under their skin”.

He elaborates, “Most players don’t like to play games without any motivation at all. Hopefully, the aim of the game is to have people theorising about what it all means.

“If people start doing that, even their friends who aren’t into story might getting dragged in. I use this analogy a lot; it’s like the first season of lost. There’re lots of questions, a few answers and we want people talking about it.”

Some popular MMOs run on pretty thin storylines so an engrossing narrative may appeal to some gamers, while less attentive types should find comfort in the skippable everything.

Source: CVG