Interactive Storytelling for Video Games Chapter 15: The Future of Storytelling in Games

1. Interactive Storytelling for Video GamesChapter 15: The Future of Storytelling in Games Josiah Lebowitz Chris Klug

2. Stories Then and Now • Stories in games have come a long way since Donkey Kong and Colossal Cave Adventure. • The importance of stories in games continues to grow. • Stories have become a key feature in many genres. • Games today use a variety of different storytelling styles.

3. The Key Arguments • Pro Player-Driven Storytelling: • Player-driven storytelling is the evolution of the art form. • The writer can explore different story angles and progressions. • The player can become closer to characters he creates. • What players want most is to control stories and steer them in the direction they enjoy. • Pro Traditional Storytelling: • Storytelling is a perfected form and has no need to “evolve”. • Highly player-driven stories are time consuming and expensive to create, and most players won’t see the majority of the content. • Players can too easily turn the story down an uninteresting path. • It’s difficult to create highly emotional scenes when the player can always go back and change things. • In many ways, the illusion of control is better than actual control. • What players want most is an enjoyable well structured story.

4. What Players Want • Both arguments come down to what players want and enjoy most in game stories. • Stories are a very important factor in determining which games players buy and play. • Players have a moderate interesting player-driven storytelling. • Games with more traditional forms of storytelling are the most popular among players by far. • Games with highly player-driven forms of storytelling aren’t very popular among players, aside from a handful of big name titles.

5. Looking Towards the Future • The game industry always looks towards the future. • Accurately predicting the future, even in only a single industry, is very difficult and uncertain. • Interactive traditional storytelling is currently the most popular style by far and will most likely remain that way for the foreseeable future. • Player-driven storytelling won’t disappear and will likely gain popularity over time. • However, the carefully designed structure, pacing, and characters found in more traditional storytelling styles will continue to dominate the industry. • The basic foundations of storytelling will remain constant as they have for thousands of years.

6. A Future for Everyone • Many people in the game industry are always searching for the “best” way to do things. • They assume that, once that “best” way is found, everything else will become obsolete. • The industry has continuously defied their predictions. • No matter how the industry grows and changes over time, there will always be fans of every game genre, storytelling style, art style, and the like. • Instead of arguing about which type of storytelling style is best, game designers and writers should focus on creating the type of games and stories they want to create. • If the game and story are good, they’ll likely find an audience, regardless of the storytelling style.

7. Things to Consider • Do you believe that the game industry tends to become too fixated on a single “best” way of doing things? Why or why not? • What are some of the most important things you’ve learned from this class? • How will you use the things you’ve learned to improve your stories? • What are your own views on the future of storytelling in games?