The Daily Grind: Is narrative important?
A lot of industry people talk about the importance of narrative in games, and how it's going to be a driving force in revolutionizing the state of games in the near future. Certainly, MMOs with rich histories and lore can benefit from well-written quest descriptions, but there is a cookie-cutter feel to many of them that is slightly off-putting; they're written broadly enough so that any player, any class can fulfill the requirement.
Regardless, even if the quest can be boiled down to 'Go kill 10 things', it can make a world of difference to read an engaging lead up, explaining who's involved, and how it affects the world -- but is this the type of narrative people are talking about? Is it possible to craft a true storyline, with a beginning, middle, and end, in an MMO, which for all intents and purposes, is meant to run forever? Do you feel like your favorite MMO could use more active lore? Is narrative as important as gameplay?
