GCDC: Game stories shouldn’t be more complex

Videogames shouldnât try and develop more complex stories, because designers havenât found a way to make it work well enough, according to two of the industryâs longest-serving storytellers.

The Storytelling Panel at this yearâs Games Convention Developers Conference, which featured Oblivion designer Ken Rolston and veteran adventure author Bob Bates, outlined some of the problems that face game narratives today.

For Rolston, when asked about whether games should try to be less linear and more complex with their storylines, it was âthe worst idea I ever heard,â because âgames arenât any good at it.â

The reason for this is down to âour inability to pay off on all the choices that there should be available. Itâs so difficult to make a genuinely complex dramatic choice.â

Bates echoed the sentiment, and compared the problem for videogames to that of a fiction novel.

âAs an author of a story you have to push a character into doing things it wouldnât want to do in order to grow the character. As a game designer itâs not fair to make the player have to do that.â

When pressed on whether there was a place for a real dilemma in games, or sense of choice, the pair also agreed that it just wasnât that straightforward.

âWe have to have content to support that choice for the rest of the game,â said Bates, which would present something of a logistical nightmare.

They went on to admit that interactive dialogue, seen in many role-playing games throughout gaming history, is a necessary evil.

âThereâs no chance that Ill ever be able to do without it, but Iâll spend every resource not to use interactive dialogue,â lamented Rolston.

The pair generally agreed on most points raised in the session, although they did disagree about the best way to furnish a game with a backstory.

For Rolston the most effective method comes with the use of ambiguity — a history suggested by non-specific ruins or artefacts, for which the player is able to supply his or her own narrative.

But Bates was sceptical on that point, and was critical of most backstory execution today.

âWhat passes for story in most games is just revealed backstory, and that is really that. It can provide some context, but fundamentally itâs uninteresting. I want whatâs in my mind to poison your mind, and thatâs not going to happen with ambiguity.â