storyline posts

When EVE Online launched over seven years ago, it was a small game with a niche place in the MMO world. Sci-fi fans were drawn from across the world to the potential offered by the fledgling universe of New Eden. As a small independent studio, CCP Games made up for its lack of funds with an incredible creativity and a willingness to work closely with players. Much of the early development was focused on working with players, from updates to the user interface to balance issues and ideas for new ships and modules.

In 2004, CCP began involving players directly in the game's evolving storyline through massive storyline events. I have fond memories of the time the Serpentis pirate corporation hijacked and stole a Federation Navy titan, an event orchestrated as much for the enjoyment of players as for showcasing the new titan class of ship CCP had been working on. Another particularly memorable storyline arc was the Crielere event, in which players assisted NPCs with research into mysterious new Guristas prototype cloaking devices. These events formed part of EVE Online's living storyline, affecting the game on a fundamental level through the introduction of new ships and items.

In this week's EVE Evolved, I look back at the history of EVE's storyline and forward to what the future might hold.

One of the more frequent complaints about the nature of Final Fantasy XIV is that the game doesn't go out of its way to be accessible. If anything, it revels in a solid veil of mystery and encouragement for players to experiment. That doesn't sit well with everyone, however, which is no doubt why Square-Enix is making a conscious effort to expand the resources on the official player site as a basic reference. The most recent update has seen some common questions about crafting answered, as well as a brief guide to choosing a path companion.

Path companions are an element of the game introduced at the start of the fifth main story quest, giving you an NPC who accompanies you on the missions. There are a multitude of different personalities, determined by race and gender, with the short guide provided explaining how each choice affects the outcome. The brief rundown on crafting is also illuminating, as it highlights certain heretofore unknown elements of the system -- such as a character's elemental affinity helping to determine what sort of crystals and shards come from gathering. Final Fantasy XIV players are encouraged to check both pieces.

I am not the biggest Final Fantasy fan. But that's more because I lack for time, not because I lack interest. I played FFXI, but only until level 18 or so, and even then I would only return once in a while. The game was punishing to a solo player even with the recent changes that gave more opportunity to level. There was something ever-alluring about the world, however -- something complex and deep, and I knew that, if I could just become more powerful, it would show itself to me. Skip to the present and to the FFXIV beta.

For the record, I try everything. I am not just a "free-to-play" guy -- quite the opposite. For most of my time in blogging and podcasting, I have maintained subscription games like FFXI. So, when the opportunity finally came to try the "new" version, I jumped at it. I'll be honest, it feels a lot like FFXI but with a nice twist. It's friendlier, more accessible, yet it still retains that uniqueness that attracted me to FFXI.

There is one thing I'm a bit scared of, though.

Time travel storylines are one of the most complicated things that can be done in any sort of fiction, even more so in MMOs. But Final Fantasy XI has been working hard at keeping the story of Wings of the Goddess personal and engaging, and players have responded positively to the experience as a whole. Still, all good things come to an end, and the expansion storyline will be coming to a close with the September version update.

The small preview of the upcoming conclusion hints at what might be around the corner for the adventurers who have braved the time-ruining antics of the Spitewardens and Atomos. Lilith's appearance marks further wrinkles in the already-convoluted timestream, with the possibility of her future inching ever closer for all of Vana'diel. If you've been following the story from the beginning, it promises to be a very emotional finale, and Final Fantasy XI players will be able to enjoy it starting next month.

French fansite EVE Mondes Persistants features an interesting interview with author Hjalti Danielsson, otherwise known as CCP Abraxas. Danielsson, a seven year veteran of the Icelandic development team, is perhaps better known as the pen behind the EVE universe tie-in novel The Burning Life, as well as a number of the short story chronicles on the game's official website.

In the interview, he talks about everything from the challenge of lengthy prose, to future EVE novels, to the makeup of CCP's storytelling staff.

"I belong to EVE's content department and the storyline effort is actually a collaboration between content writers working on in-game missions and fiction and content writers like myself that deal more with the fiction behind the game unattached to the client. We all work as one unit to decide EVE's NPC storyline, work on the EVE Chronicles, and so on; and the Storyline Board, which sits on top of all those efforts, is staffed with people from multiple disciplines," Danielsson says.

View the full interview at EVE Mondes Persistants.

Welcome back to our conclusion of A Mild-Mannered Reporter's guide to spiders! After last week's long discussion of the various builds possible for the villainous epic archetypes, we're back to blast through to the end of the unique leveling missions. And it's a pretty interesting string, although like much content in City of Heroes it starts to slow down a bit as you get higher in levels. But it also has the nice story interplay of the best content available on the Rogue Isles, the constant back-and-forth as untrustworthy people stab each other in the back.

For players or readers coming in late, we left off at the conclusion of the level 20 arc, where you delivered the Eye of Chronos to Fortunata Hamilton. She tells you that the process of seeing whether or not you truly are a Destined One will take time... which is true if you turn the mission in before level 20, but otherwise it apparently takes two seconds. Of course, there's a good reason for that.

Welcome back for another edition of Storyboard, where after a couple of weeks in which we laid down ground rules we're ready to start in on the fine details. So it only makes sense to start at a point filled with fine details and yet often searingly inconvenient: backstory. Because we all know how beneficial backstory can be, how it can add depth and meaning and rich interaction to even the most innocent and trivial incident. A quest about killing boars can dredge up memories of hunting with a lost father, making one of the most obnoxious holdovers in MMO quests into something interesting.

And yet it's a double-edged sword. Because not only is backstory time-consuming to come up with, much of it requires either events that can't be supported in the game's engine or work on details that never come up during actual play. So we're left with something that's a huge benefit, but also such a huge inconvenience that the occasional benefit is outweighed by the massive amount of work required beforehand. How can you work character backstory and get the benefits without the negatives?

It's a truism of any good story: all good things must come to an end. And it's certainly true of the overarching story for the last Final Fantasy XI expansion, Wings of the Goddess, which is finally approaching a conclusion after two and a half years. The upcoming June version update won't conclude the overarching mission storyline, but it will draw the nation-specific quests to a finale. Square-Enix has given the players a brief peek at what's awaiting them in these final movements of a story that quite literally stretches across a huge span of time.

The San d'Orian story forces the nation's forces deeper into enemy territory, investigating rumors of a resurrected Count Aurchiat. Citizens of Bastok, meanwhile, will pursue the would-be assassin Klara Bester straight to Castle Zvhal itself... where Zeid's past is waiting to confront him. And as Windurst nears its final victory against the Yagudo, their final push brings out the true cost that the war has exacted on its people. It's the last hurrah for these stories, and the strength of storytelling is one of the greatest assets within Final Fantasy XI, so players are encouraged to look at the coming ending.

It's always a little frustrating to have to wait for installments of a story you're enjoying, but at the same time it makes it that much more satisfying when each part comes out. Fans of Lunia have plenty of reason to be satisfied, as Chapter 7 of the heavily anime-influenced and cel-shaded title has just been released. And if that weren't enough reason to be happy, players are being given the opportunity for increased experience via the new Double the Love event running through June 23rd.

The chapter update adds ten new stages to the game, as well as a new level for raid stages and a new set of equipment for players. It also continues the game's central plotline, with level 60 and up players continuing to search for a way of reviving the princess Eir. Players can experience both the Double the Love event and the full update on Lunia right now, so if you're a current or former player, take a look at the patch notes to see what's changed.

While Trion was happy to announce the name change for Heroes of Telara to Rift: Planes of Telara, we were stoked to be able to get our hands on the game for the first time and really see it in motion. We've heard all this talk about delivering dynamic content, high quality "HD content," a deep back story, and an evolving world. But, could Trion deliver all of the hype they were promising?

Well, if the titular rifts are any indication of how the rest of the game will progress, then this game seems to be in good hands. Join us as we pilot a cleric through the dangers of Telara, take on a rift from the Plane of Life, and learn just what makes Telara tick.

Storyline is an important part of any MMO and EVE Online is no exception. New Eden is steeped in story-telling, from the regularly released fictional chronicles to the countless blogs, battle reports and dramatic events recorded by players. EVE is a game that lends itself very well to creating immersive stories, videos and other creative efforts. Back in June of 2008, CCP commissioned author Tony Gonzales to write a novel set in the EVE universe. The novel, titled "Empyrean Age," came at the same time as the expansion of the same name and gave some background story for faction warfare. June 2009 brought the announcement that CCP's own fiction-writer Hjalti Daníelsson had begun work on a second EVE novel entitled "EVE: The Burning Life." Hjalti is better known as CCP Abraxis, the pen behind most of the EVE chronicles and the current driving force behind the game's storyline.

There are four months to go before the release of the second City of Heroes expansion, but the development team has been doing a lot of work to keep Going Rogue on everyone's mind. The announcement of Issue 17 certainly did quite a bit in that direction, as did the early release of Dual Pistols for prepurchasing customers. Now we've been given the first major update to the site since the biography of Tyrant, and it's a meaty one. Information and screenshots have been posted for both Calvin Scott, the leader of the Resistance, and the tunnel-dwelling nightmares known as Ghouls.

Calvin Scott's biography may be of interest to many players because it gives us something that the community had wondered about -- a heroic Mastermind, leading the Resistance troops against Praetoria's fascist regime. Ghouls, on the other hand, are at once more straightforward and more unsettling, crazed undead that lurk beneath Praetoria and threaten to devour anyone who strays into their territory. The black-and-white world of City of Heroes is getting many more shades of gray in the upcoming expansion, and both of these lore tidbits hint at just how blurred the lines will get come July.

'Allo again, lovelies. Last week has been a week of danger and intrigue as I battled through Nektulos Forest and worked on getting my unique Shadowknight armor. During all of this, though, I thought to myself -- how can I apply any of these experiences to my notebook entry for this coming week?

Then of course, it hit me. Why not just explain what I've been doing to get through the areas in a short amount of time? A few tips and tricks for playing the level game? Sure, I've been up and down with grouping and preparations for Sentinel's Fate, but many players are always intimidated when entering a game and "being behind."

Well, don't worry about being behind. You're not entering the game late at all when it comes to EverQuest II, especially thanks to the recent additions to the game in Sentinel's Fate. Interested in catching up and experiencing some great content? Then click on through after the break!

Also, I'm still looking for questions anyone has on EverQuest II, so I can answer them in an upcoming Tattered Notebook. Ask me anything, from EverQuest II questions, guild leadership and raiding questions, and even questions on my Dark Elven heritage. Send them over to seraphina@massively.com, and she'll be sure to forward them on through the Norrathian Express mail to me.

So, besides the Mel Brooks reference in the title, what do I have in store for you this time? Well, in short, I have an idea. Nay, I have an inspiration. Plus, I have a story to boot, so it's really a two for one deal this week in my column. You better read fast, for this deal won't last long!

The one thing that many MMORPGs completely miss is making the player character feel triumphant and heroic. When making the conversion from roleplaying game to online roleplaying game, we frequently miss out on the one thing that makes pen and paper RPGs so unique: a history.

This week in Anti-Aliased, I really want to cover the concept of history as it pertains to MMORPGs, and make the appeal that more MMOs need to invest in a persistent storyline in addition to the standard canned quests that we already utilize in every game under the sun.

Rerollz was lucky enough to spend some time with author R.A. Salvatore yesterday, and get his insights on a fundamental part of MMO gaming: telling the story.

Salvatore brings a valuable perspective to the table as a fantasy writer who dabbles in MMOs as a player -- he can approach the subject with knowledge of what appeals to players and what constitutes good writing. A rundown of games he's enjoyed shows his preferred genre -- predictably -- to be fantasy, but the ideas he has sit well in any game. The interview is an interesting look at what appeals to the writer in-game from general mechanics (chat bubbles vs. voiceover) to general storytelling style.

In the end, Salvatore tells us a tale of his own: a tale of villainy, revenge, friendship, and ninja-looting. Read the full interview here, and enjoy!

[Thanks Ryan!]