Poll Do you like the stories and dialogue in games?

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Do you like the stories and dialogue in games?

  • Yes I read everything and love it, and I like it when there are voice overs too.

    Votes: 35 31.0%
  • Yes but I prefer it when everything is voice acted.

    Votes: 25 22.1%
  • No I don't like reading or voice acting because it is always really terrible.

    Votes: 53 46.9%

  • Total voters
    113
1,678
149
I voted no. I think only millennials who have never seen a television would sit through the painfully crappy dialogue in video games. But this poll could teach me otherwise.

p.s. I mean single player and mmo.
 
Last edited:

Amzin

Lord Nagafen Raider
2,917
361
If you're talking about just MMOs, then no, it's almost universally bad and contrived to excuse the structure of the game. If you're talking about games as a whole though, some of them rival shows, movies, and even books nowadays, albeit are more interesting when presented in a unique way that only a game can grant the experience of.
 

Sterling

El Presidente
12,936
7,832
Sort of depends. Setting and atmosphere is good, but actual dialogue tends to be pretty awful and usually cheesy.
 
1,678
149
I recently tried to play Banner Saga 2 and Pillars of Eternity and got so bored having to read so much crap. POE annoyed me especially because the combat is crap, the exploration is crap, and then it force feeds a million inane conversations down my throat, and constant loregasms. Also The Secret World is an MMO I had some fun with, but they have such a high opinion of their dialogue writing ability. But to me it is like this:

Arrives at an outpost for the first time and click on a person:
Generic quest npc lady: De foreeest. It speeeaks to meee. Dee trees, dey are desturbed by de fnywargrawrs. My daughter, she have nightmares. We all very sad. Please help us, collect 25 barks from the fnywargrawrs.
 

Skanda

I'm Amod too!
6,662
4,506
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1,678
149
Ohhhhh Witcher 3 is the only game I enjoyed the dialogue and stories. Very exceptional. I hated the combat though. If I could play that game as an MMO class, it would be my number 1 game.
 
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Arbitrary

Tranny Chaser
26,793
70,674
I like the stories and dialogue just fine but in future playthroughs I better be able to skip all of that shit and skip it quickly.
 

Warflagon

Peasant
108
54
Can't stand them. I've hated all of them every since that fucking fairy buddy in that zelda game. 64 or cube? not sure. I won't even play a game if I cannot skip the cutscenes or story.
 

Croetec

Lord Nagafen Raider
1,783
1,955
Secret World was the only MMO to do story right, no ones even come close to it yet.
 
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etchazz

Trakanon Raider
2,707
1,056
If you're talking about just MMOs, then no, it's almost universally bad and contrived to excuse the structure of the game. If you're talking about games as a whole though, some of them rival shows, movies, and even books nowadays, albeit are more interesting when presented in a unique way that only a game can grant the experience of.

I agree with this. In MMO's, the story is always terrible, but there have been some single player games recently where the stories have been amazing. "The Last of Us" was simply put one of the best video games I've ever played, mainly because of the story it told, along with the gameplay itself. "Firewatch" is another game that had a great story to it, and was fun as hell to play through. I think it's almost impossible to have a MMO with a good story, because it always comes off as cliche and contrived, and always attempts to pit each and every person playing the game as the hero. I'd rather see studios just concentrate on the lore in a MMO and allow the players to tell their own story.
 

radditsu

Silver Knight of the Realm
4,676
826
You fucked me because there is no option for dialogue only. Plus it really fucking matters which genre, what game etc. There is a huge difference between like...Final Fantasy (terrible VO) and like Bioshock (good VO)
 

Kuro

Naxxramas 1.0 Raider
8,264
20,917
I like them when I'm not THE CHOSEN ONE/THE OUTLANDER/THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER.
 
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Mryd

Golden Knight of the Realm
40
22
No, but there are some rare gems that pop up every now and then. The Last of Us being the best one I can think of.
 
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nevergone

Low IQ Vegan Pacifist
<Gold Donor>
3,643
7,800
Storytelling is usually done "wrong" in my opinion.

I think it's best when the game world and characters naturally tell a story by reacting to player characters and world events, rather than having a lengthy amount of stage setting via dialogue, voice overs, or cinematics.

I think Skyrim did a pretty good job of balancing storytelling mechanisms, however even that title had too many instances of wooden NPCs behaving like animatronic actors.

Don't get me wrong, I love seeing huge amounts of lore built into games, but I don't enjoy when the game starts conveying the lore to me with immersion breaking scenes or lengthy dispositions. I like when lore is somewhat buried in books found in game, monuments, and perhaps events that make sense within the actual gameplay (characters experiencing flashbacks, supernatural occurrences, etc).
 
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Cybsled

Avatar of War Slayer
16,295
11,938
I like it when done right. It usually rests on either the strength of the story (which lets you overlook bad VO), or sometimes good VO lets you ignore bad dialogue (which isn't much different than movies or TV when you get right down to it...a good actor makes you ignore the fact the script is shit).
 

Faltigoth

Bronze Knight of the Realm
1,380
212
I like it when done right. It usually rests on either the strength of the story (which lets you overlook bad VO), or sometimes good VO lets you ignore bad dialogue (which isn't much different than movies or TV when you get right down to it...a good actor makes you ignore the fact the script is shit).

Varric in Dragon Age comes to mind on this point. Some of the SWTOR characters as well, the female Imperial Agent for example.

I enjoy the storytelling aspect in games, even the cheesier ones - I loved pretty much everything about SWTOR's class stories/levelling experience, even though half of it was pretty sketchy. I really should try out the Secret World as I have heard more than once it is the pinnacle of such things in an MMO.
 

Namon

Blackwing Lair Raider
1,976
2,565
I can't stand wading through what amounts to a movie that I have to play sections to get to the next scene, and dialogue options just drive me insane. I like how the Souls series and Bloodborne did it, and wish more games would take that route. Have the story (lore) flesh out through queues in the world, or brief dialogue from some NPCs, or from background notes on items etc. This is especially true in open world games. Instead of trying to shoehorn a tight narrative into a game designed to be anything but, they should focus on a massive collection of smaller stories that you can interact in when you discover them as a player. Fallout 4 was awesome, I had to hurry to go get a piece of a dude's brain to a doctor to find out where my son might be, but before I do that, I need to spend a few days making sure settlements are ok, and that Nick loves me enough to give me his companion perk after a long quest. It just made no sense, and instead of making it more linear, I'd rather keep heavy handed stories to a medium more fit for that like TV or books, and use this one to actually explore the world myself.
 

Deathwing

<Bronze Donator>
16,315
7,313
If a game could handle exposition/lore similar to the Malazan series of books, that would be great. Or Mad Max: Fury Road for those who haven't read those books. Basically, we're not going to tell you shit unless it comes up naturally in dialogue or events. Now, go catch up.

It's confusing at first(and doesn't really stop for Malazan) but it makes for excellent narrative because you're never offended by out of character narration or exposition.
 
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