12th Archivist
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I'm confused, first of all. I don't know what the community opinion is on the use of a full story in a DROD hold. There have been a lot of references to "story-driven rooms" where the story is all about the puzzle and how the player attempts to overcome the challenge. Occasionally, this type of story has been accented by some sounds from the main character.

My question is of a different type of story in DROD holds. More specifically, a type of story meant to invoke deep emotions. A well-planned story with various twisting points. In my opinion, using a large story (for the lack of a better term, I'll call it that for now) gives the player motivation to solve the puzzles. It gives the player a reason to go through the hold. It gives the player the appreciation of another dimension in a DROD hold.

But to other people, specifically those who play the game for the awesome art of the mechanics, perhaps story beyond the depth of KDD 2.0 would simply serve as a distraction from the puzzles. I want to know how many people think like me, like the hypothetical person I've outlined in this paragraph, and like the other opinions in the poll.

Go ahead and poll your opinion and leave a post describing why you feel that way if it doesn't take up too much of your time. Mostly, I just want to know what people think of "Large Story" in a DROD hold so maybe other people can use this information accordingly.

EDIT: The fourth option should read: "I dislike architects using "Large Story" as the basis of their holds. I'll play for the good puzzles, but nothing else. The blasted character limit cut me off.

Oh, and I'm Option One in case anyone wanted to know. Gotta love that story!

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[Last edited by 12th Archivist at 10-18-2011 02:42 AM]

Blondbeard
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What you don't include in your poll is the risk that a story doesn't live up to it's ambition. It's not all that hard to make a corny, non-intrusive story, that enriches a hold. What is harder is to write a story that is emotionally capturing, and what's even harder is to inlucde it in a game, were the pacing depends on the players ability to proced.

I therefore think it would be hard to achive the effect you're after, but if you could I would apreciate it.

Tim
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12th Archivist wrote:
Mostly, I just want to know what people think of "Large Story" in a DROD hold so maybe other people can use this information accordingly.

I don't like "Bad, Large Story" in a DROD hold.

More importantly, the answer for the question that you didn't ask:

"If an architect needs to ask anyone else whether (s)he should include puzzles in their hold, then the answer is negative. This also applies to stories."

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DanielFishman
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When I first started playing DROD, I basically only played story-based holds - because the idea of Beethro exploring the world of the Eighth was just so cool! I bought JTRH and TCB, intending thereafter to buy the SMSes, to a large extend because of the story. (Had I not wanted the story, I might well have bought TCB, but not JTRH).

But then I realised that actually, the stories aren't that good. They're not bad, but really, if I want stories of characters exploring fictional worlds, the place to find those is in books. So I started reading again (I had read a lot as a child, but had got out of the habit over the previous few years). I still play DROD, but mainly play high-quality gameplay holds, not story-based ones.

So my answer to the question would be: if what you want in a hold is to tell a story, then fine, but a) make sure it's a good story and b) make sure you don't have tedious puzzles as filler. And if you do have a good story, is DROD the correct medium for it? A true RPG or simply some prose writing might well be a better choice.

On the other hand, I would expect that that isn't what most DROD users want from a hold. They want challenging, interesting rooms. And if you can build those, then not much else matters. If you can build a story around the rooms, then well and good; but if not, it really doesn't matter.

Jatopian
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I want to learn more about the Eighth because it is an interesting world. It's too bad the main mind behind it is missing in action.

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Banjooie
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Jatopian wrote:
It's too bad the main mind behind it is missing inaction.

True, that.