Multiplayer storytelling in Titanfall.

[Svrtnsse]

I just came across this article: How Titanfall relies on its multiplayer levels to tell a story | GamesBeat | Games | by gjvaldes

The idea sounds really interesting. I'm not sure I'll play it, as I'm no fan of multiplayer shooters but I'm going to check with people who do play it to see if they notice anything.

I'm pondering how this can be applied in writing. I think that adding little details can definitely add to the depth of the world, but I'm uncertain about how much of a background story can be told through it. If your main story is long enough you can probably fit in some interesting background drama, but if you're just writing a single novel I doubt you'll get it all in without giving it too much space.

 

[Philip Overby]

This is interesting. I'm not a big FPS guy myself, but I have been willing to get this game since I love giant mechs and I also have a friend I like to keep up with and we play lots of games online together. We're always looking for something new, and unfortunately it's only possible for the Xbox 360. We're hoping to get Final Fantasy XIV at some point when we both get PS3s, but for now we only have few options.

The fact there is no single player mode is a bit disappointing, but the only reason I'd be getting Titanfall is to play with my friend anyway.

 

[Svrtnsse]

I attempted something like this in my WIP. I put in a few references to other events currently occurring in the setting. They're part of another storyline I'll explore another day and I figured it would add some depth to the world to mention them. The issue is that some of the people who read what I'd written picked up on these mentions as foreshadowing of things to happen later in the story - which isn't the case.

I think this may be because at the time I hadn't clearly established what the story would actually be about and the readers were looking for a hook to hang their expectations on. I'm going to rewrite the introduction to better set up reader expectations and I hope doing so will allow me to keep the little references in. I like the depth they add and don't want to cut them, but if they distract from the story I might have to.

 

[Svrtnsse]

Overall - the theory of storytelling in multiplayer games interests me. How do you give a player a sense of impact and importance when he's doing the same thing as everyone else is doing. Standing around waiting for a quest mob to spawn and then competing with 15 others to be the first to tag it doesn't exactly make for an epic adventure.

I think most MMOs have gone past that particular hurdle now, with multi-tap mobs and public quest etc, but the underlying issue is still there. How do you make every player feel that it's their actions that matter - when everyone does the same thing?