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

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Interactive Storytelling for Video GamesChapter
15 The Future of Storytelling in Games

• Josiah Lebowitz
• Chris Klug

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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.

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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 wont
  see the majority of the content.
• Players can too easily turn the story down an
  uninteresting path.
• Its 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.

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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 arent very popular among players,
  aside from a handful of big name titles.

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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 wont 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.

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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, theyll likely
  find an audience, regardless of the storytelling
  style.

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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 youve
  learned from this class?
• How will you use the things youve learned to
  improve your stories?
• What are your own views on the future of
  storytelling in games?