Storytelling in an MMO -- Success of the Lich King

Over the past year, a span that has included games like Dragon Age, Batman: Arkham Asylum and Uncharted 2, I can say without equivocation or sense of shame that the best video game story I have experienced is World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King.

You may now vomit.

In just over 12 months since the release of Blizzard’s second expansion, the quiet and too rarely discussed reality is that a phenomenal story has unfolded that is only now beginning to reach its epic climax with the final major content push before World of WarCraft: Cataclysm destroys and reshapes the world of Azeroth.

As they did with Burning Crusade’s Illidan Stormrage — the big baddie for expansion one — they have held the final confrontation with once Prince Arthas now Lich King as the final act before moving on. The difference is that for the year leading up to the ultimate showdown, they have constantly crafted skirmish after skirmish that forwarded a grand story in a way that no MMO ever has, and with skill that absolutely rivals a game like Dragon Age.

Opening scene — you stand upon the parapet of the Ebon Blade, a mighty necropolis floating high above the terrorized town of Hearthglen. Before you, the Lich King himself. You are a minion of evil driving toward a confrontation with the Argent Dawn at Light’s Hope Chapel that may open the door for an all out invasion of Azeroth.

This is not some high level encounter. This is how the Death Knight story line opens. This is the starting area, and in as many ways it is the opening teaser of a grand tale. Within a scant three or four hours you will see a town slowly destroyed and razed, you will engage in a titanic battle, you will see the rise of a new champion against the treachery of the Lich King himself and you will be given a meaningful reason to drive toward the story laid before you.

If you are among the gamers who look condescendingly down your noses at MMOs as empty-calorie time sinks, or even if you played and abandoned WoW prior to the Wrath of the Lich King, mine may seem like the bold declarations of a hopeless fan. While I cannot dispute the latter, I can tell you that historically I have agreed that the weakest part of the genre was the inability of these games to tell a coherent story that a plurality of gamers would be able to enjoy to any kind of conclusion.

In the final analysis, the past year’s work of Blizzard in constructing, improving and maintaining World of WarCraft’s second expansion might be seen as a sea change in how MMOs can and should be crafted.

In the last expansion, The Burning Crusade, the overarching story was the impenetrable realm of lore that only the truly obsessed could parse, and for most of us it was just a matter of clicking the little exclamation points over heads and finding out how many Burning Legion livers we were to extricate from the corpses of possessed orcs. Instance and dungeon runs were loot dispensers, and I doubt seriously that many people came out of Botanica or Shadow Labyrinth with much in the way of a sense of wonder. At least I never did.

For me, the experience of Lich King has been very different. This expansion has provided an omnipresent enemy with a strong story line that walks with you through every zone. Time and again your quests are directly tied into to the fate of Arthas and those he betrayed across the frozen continent of Northrend. It is the culmination of something that began more than a decade ago in Warcraft III, and now as it begins its final climactic act, I have to admit that I’m more engaged with this game’s story than I have been with any in years.

This is not just because I’m a WoW fan or because I have read lore literature extensively — I have not. It’s because time after time The Lich King himself has been involved in my quests, appeared to thwart the efforts I had made, spoke in my mind and taken the battlefield to directly impact the story. Those who last November followed the Wrathgate questline that was almost universally accessible for Lich King players saw what was possible in MMO story telling, and it is extremely gratifying to watch Blizzard continue down that path.

For me, at least, the Lich King himself has become the Darth Vader of video gaming. A bad guy on a grand scale, with more than a few parallels to be made. He should be counted among the industry’s best and most lasting villains, and I am connected to him precisely because we have had so very many encounters.

Blizzard’s trailer for this final content push is, to me, an epic representation of where the story has taken me — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta6Dd.... What is unusual for the MMOs I have played, is that even as a relatively casual player, what I see here makes sense and it seems like content I will actually get to play, not because I will invest endless days into the effort, but because they have made it accessible and fun to reach.

Though the release of this last act is staggered, and the reality is that no one will finally face down Arthas until the snows melts under the spring time sun of 2010, I spent last night delving into the first scenes of this third act, and though I tread dangerously close to spoiler territory here, I can tell you that I delved into a realm of evil, that I raced through a cavern as it collapsed around me, that I followed a hero into battle only to have victory snatched from our grasp, that I encountered yet again the primary evil of this story and that as we eventually ran for our lives I compared what was happening on my screen less to other games and more to my favorite films and shows.

Dismiss the game mechanics of an MMO all you want. I can’t argue coherently with that, but do not hold onto the dismissed illusion that these games can’t tell great stories. On that point, you would be hopelessly wrong.

Comments

I don't have the arm strength or patience to flag out months of playtime.

*Rob Rage* AAAAAH, it's not like that! */Rob Rage*

Let's just solve all our recent arguments at once and say that you can't be bothered to play long or frustratingly difficult games because you're too busy with WoW. There's not necessarily any shame in that--since shame is largely subjective.

Elysium wrote:
I don't have the arm strength or patience to flag out months of playtime.

*Rob Rage* AAAAAH, it's not like that! */Rob Rage*

Oh man, this made laugh hard. Good stuff, and on a related note, I really miss the Rob Rage. Just sayin.

As to the article, it's good stuff as ever. I sometimes wonder if anyone writing on this site is capable of writing crap, because sure as hell none of it makes it here. And with that, I'm gonna wipe the crap off my nose.

As to the validity of the point, I agree with Elysium. I have the slight advantage of having been through around half the raiding content, having done all of Naxx and just about all of Ulduar. I quit before ToC and by extension Arthas.

So, with that said, Wrath most definitely presents one of the best narrative storylines of any game I've played as well. It was well crafted, thought out and wonderfully integrated into the game world. Phasing as a technology puts WoW a gigantic leap ahead of any other MMO on the market I've played, giving players the ability to making a lasting, permanent impact on the game space. This fact is truly key to the whole experience in Wrath. Without it, the story falls completely flat on its' face.

Overall, I feel that a lot of the hate is tied to the fact that WoW is an MMO. People have lauded the Warcraft RTS games for the story and lore. Yet with WoW, it's almost universally reviled and hated. Cries go out that Blizzard is slashing and burning the lorescape by the hectare. Accusations of Retconning everything to suit(Space Goats?) their nefarious needs to drive subscription numbers up. So, my point? That if WoW told the same story from launch to now as it does, but as an RTS, there wouldn't be near the pushback as is generated by the article being on an MMO.

AnimeJ wrote:

Phasing as a technology puts WoW a gigantic leap ahead of any other MMO on the market I've played, giving players the ability to making a lasting, permanent impact on the game space. This fact is truly key to the whole experience in Wrath. Without it, the story falls completely flat on its' face.

Can someone explain this phasing in greater detail? As someone who adheres strictly to the belief that other than myself, there are few things in this world that have a lasting, permanent impact on anything, I remain skeptical of an MMOs ability to pull of this sort of experience effectively.

E.g. if I kill the Lich King, and I have no idea how the game works so forgive if I make any incorrect assumptions, but if I kill him, would he be dead for everyone else? The quest is over? Sorry SOTL for all those who didn't get to him first? On one hand that would be awesome, but on the other, kinda sucks nuts for those just starting out.

From what I've read about phasing, it sounds like this level of permanence would not be the case, but then how else would you move the story forward? Can't wait for everyone to get through the whole thing before moving on--that would take forever.

I can only speak from personal experience and taste obviously.

I love WOW and have done most all non-raid content up to 3.3. I read all of the quests front to back and have the loremaster achievement. What I will remember about WOW years from now is certainly not the story, but being a part of the world. Finishing the starting area to find everything open up into what seemed a huge expanse at the time. My first steps onto Darkshore (my favorite zone for nostalgiac reasons). Ironforge. Searing Gorge. Zangarmarsh. Un'Goro and Sholazar Basin... all of these as if I'd been there.

But despite this, I don't really feel like I've experienced the story at all. I can barely remember most of the details right now and I only just stopped playing a few days ago. I can't really elaborate on any reasons other than what's already been said.

Now Mass Effect, Fallout, Planescape Torment, Baldur's Gate 2, probably Dragon Age when I'm done... I'll remember their stories and characters for much longer. For me, when it comes to story-telling, WOW just isn't in the same league... it's more like on the level of the recent Elder Scrolls games.

MMO's are definitely catching up though.

Elysium wrote:

This is not some high level encounter. This is how the Death Knight story line opens. This is the starting area, and in as many ways it is the opening teaser of a grand tale. Within a scant three or four hours you will see a town slowly destroyed and razed, you will engage in a titanic battle, you will see the rise of a new champion against the treachery of the Lich King himself and you will be given a meaningful reason to drive toward the story laid before you.

...And then you immediately are forced to go into Outlands where no quest has anything whatsoever to do with the Lich King and you have no actual reason to care about the storyline for eight grindy levels.

And for what it's worth I agree with Certis regarding your Dragon Age: Origins/World of Warcraft comparison, and this is coming from someone who quit WoW with a level 75 Human Death Knight. If there was some amazing storyline and compelling villain in there it must have come after Grizzly Hills.

Chairman_Mao wrote:

E.g. if I kill the Lich King, and I have no idea how the game works so forgive if I make any incorrect assumptions, but if I kill him, would he be dead for everyone else? The quest is over? Sorry SOTL for all those who didn't get to him first? On one hand that would be awesome, but on the other, kinda sucks nuts for those just starting out.

In your example he would only be permanantly dead for YOU, not for anyone else (Though they wouldn't do that with a dungeon boss).

At the moment it's mostly changes to the environment around you like the keep example I mentioned earlier, or most of the death knight starter zone. For example if you're on a quest to blow up a particular building and phasing is used, then when the building is reduced to rubble it will always be rubble from that point forward for your character - but everyone else will still see it whole until they do the same quest.

Can someone explain this phasing in greater detail?

Basically, phasing allows many players to perceive completely different things in the game world, at the same time. For example (a made up one, no spoilers) there might be an area completely inhabited by the undead, and as part of a quest chain the player helps one of the other factions attack the area. At the trigger point in the quest the area will "phase" from just some undead milling around to a big battle between the 2 factions. Any players who are at a point in the quest pre-phase are invisible to the post-phase players, and vice versa, but they sill exist within the same game world. It's even used for flashback scenes in WoW, where it will phase to a different point in time, the player taking control of some important NPC for a little while.

Phasing's a pretty neat idea and I expect many future MMOs are going to copy it. The zones that rely heavily on phasing (Dragonblight and Icecrown, mostly) are by far the best zones in WotLK. Unfortunately for every epic phased quest there are 10 of the typical fetch/kill quests.

I kill the Lich King, and I have no idea how the game works so forgive if I make any incorrect assumptions, but if I kill him, would he be dead for everyone else?

No, he'll be killable by every character, as many times as they want. It would be neat, but unfair to the vast majority of players who wouldn't be around to kill him.

Asheron's Call did things like that though, sometimes. There were certain bosses introduced in the monthly events that were only killed once per server. Asheron's Call did a lot of very cool storytelling things where the players directly influenced the game's overarching plot, like Turbine employees playing lore characters and interacting directly with the player. That kind of stuff is really only feasible in a game as small as AC was though, WoW is just too big.

Article wrote:

they have constantly crafted skirmish after skirmish that forwarded a grand story in a way that no MMO ever has, and with skill that absolutely rivals a game like Dragon Age.

You are kidding me?

Have you even played LoTRO? That epic story is actually epic, running the length of the game, rather than a small subsection of an expansion.

Completely disagree with the premise of the article...

but each to their own.

I am both surprised and not surprised at the reactions to this article.

Most of the surprise comes from who it is that is surprising me with their comments.

Is it wrong that this discussion makes me want to finally start playing EVE?

Sorry, I got stuck in traffic. Did I miss anything?

AP Erebus wrote:
Article wrote:

they have constantly crafted skirmish after skirmish that forwarded a grand story in a way that no MMO ever has, and with skill that absolutely rivals a game like Dragon Age.

You are kidding me?

Have you even played LoTRO? That epic story is actually epic, running the length of the game, rather than a small subsection of an expansion.

Completely disagree with the premise of the article...

but each to their own.

Agreed...

wordsmythe wrote:

Is it wrong that this discussion makes me want to finally start playing EVE?

It is never wrong to want to play EVE!

"Storyetelling"?

Switchbreak wrote:

"Storyetelling"?

Not everything Sands writes gets passed through the editor first--especially the stuff I'd feel obligated to edit to correct "factual inaccuracies."

Curse you Elysium. I've been dry for over a year and now you craft this siren song of an article. Even now I can feel the icy fingers of my dranei deathknight reaching out to pull me back in...

I have loved playing WoW since beta, but in the end, I was never one that could balance normative playtime. There was always one more set piece, one more alt to level, one more quest to fulfill, some other creature that had to be vanquished before bed...which all to often ended up stretching to 3 and 4am. Not good, when in 3 or 4 hours work beckons.

For me this game was too expansive, the story too phenomenal, the content to inviting, but I would completely agree. I can also say without equivocation or sense of shame that the best video game story I have experienced is World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King.

Switchbreak wrote:

"Storyetelling"?

it's Olde Englishe. Don't mocke the Overlordes.

Seth wrote:
Switchbreak wrote:

"Storyetelling"?

it's Olde Englishe. Don't mocke the Overlordes. ;)

He meant to type Story e-telling. Digital narrative!

Clemenstation wrote:
Seth wrote:
Switchbreak wrote:

"Storyetelling"?

it's Olde Englishe. Don't mocke the Overlordes. ;)

He meant to type Story e-telling. Digital narrative!

new e-trend!

Quick!

*runs off to camp www.storyetelling.com*

Certis wrote:

I'm going to shift straight to ad hominem attacks and say that you're suffering some kind of MMO narrative Stockholm syndrome.

Man I love this place.

Everybody listen to crabby Uncle Zonk for a sec, while I lay some MMO butter on you.

Long ago, in the mists of time (1999), EQ was born. And it was good. And lo, the dieties and demigods who now run the company I work for (may she forever be profitable and gregarious with its paychecks, amen) did bring forth into this world a realm of dragons and such.

EQ was compelling in a way that even UO had not been, because of the level of personal interaction that 3D graphical and *first person* meetings afforded. While nothing in the game was more highly designed or polished than the best MUDs of the day, 3D avatars completely changed the social dynamics, immersion level, and approachability of the material.

Fast forward to WoW. The argument of whether WoW is just a really good clone or not is for another thread, but suffice it to say that Blizzard took the entire body of EQ's design and polished it until it shone. They ground down the hard edges, gave it a beautiful setting, and sold that gem to millions of people.

Today, the discussion we're having about storytelling in Lich King-era WoW is predicated entirely on this evolution of Massively Multiplayer gaming.

The reason that Lich King works so well as a story is not just the decade of lore bubbling across Blizzard properties, or the numerous technological advances that have lead to the ability to tell stories of any kind in a massive space. The reason Lich King's story works so well is that it is a shared experience linked fundamentally to the hobby-time activities of millions of players across the globe.

The details of Blizzard's epic can be debated, their retcons sneered at ... but the social feeling you get when you step into the depths of IceCrown Citadel and see motherfraking Frostmourne floating in mid-air is crystallizing moment for a group. For every mouthbreathing loladin and aggro-happy Hunter you'll run into in the game, Blizzard's story is a touchstone for the millions of amazing people that inhabit Azeroth.

The reason Lich King's story works, and works well, is that it allows the playerbase to come together under one banner: the reader. Horde or Alliance, newb or epic raider, everyone in the game wants to understand what the world has to 'say' to them. WotLK, more than any online content before it, puts the context and fun factor of this living, breathing story in the faces of the players.

With additions like the new Dungeon Finder, players can effortlessly enter into social situations that interact with and expand the story of Blizzard's world. This, ultimately, is the achievement Blizzard should be lauded for. Their story is epic in scale, plumbless in its depth, and binds the playerbase together in a way that many other game companies simply can't manage.

That's why the story of Lich King should be respected. Random attacks against its fabric because it's not Dragon Age seem cardboard-thin; WoW doesn't need to give players choices, or allow you to follow complex characters, and it could be argued those things might detract from the MMO experience.

What WoW does better than any game on the market is provide a storytelling experience that demands the presence of others. That's why Ely's comments are well seen, and on the money.

I actually tend to agree with the LOTRO contingent that the storytelling is stronger and more cohesive in LOTRO than in WoW, even in the Wrath expansion.

I play both pretty avidly, so I'm not trying to take sides. WoW has strong points compared to LOTRO in my book; just not the storytelling aspect.

With all due respect, Michael, I think the social aspect of WoW is much more akin to its evolution from EQ, which you disgarded in your fifth paragraph.

I would in fact say the exact opposite -- that Blizzzard has crafted a working intricate (albeit poorly paced) storyline despite WoW's lineage as a MMORPG -- its success as a social aspect and its success as a storytelling device are, in fact, mutually exclusive and in many ways at odds with each other.

I could hash this out over several paragraphs, but it's lunch time.

Michael Zenke wrote:

The details of Blizzard's epic can be debated, their retcons sneered at ... but the social feeling you get when you step into the depths of IceCrown Citadel and see motherfraking Frostmourne floating in mid-air is crystallizing moment for a group. For every mouthbreathing loladin and aggro-happy Hunter you'll run into in the game, Blizzard's story is a touchstone for the millions of amazing people that inhabit Azeroth.

This is an extremely large assumption, I think. Elysium's premise is not about whether or not Wrath of the Lich King touched a wide audience or not. It was about if it was a strong storytelling medium delivered well. All the above does is assume that people will all see a few things and go "wow that's very cool!" We reach something of a crossroads - without trying to say this in a negative connotation (try hard to believe I mean that), WoW is to stories as McDonald's is to burgers. From your perspective above, yes that makes it a success, but you are trying to equivocate two things here that simply do not jibe. Simply because the story is seen and is something that is put in our face successfully doesn't make it a strong storytelling conduit.

Can these touchstone moments be an interesting and effective way of delivering the story? Absolutely. I do share your perspective that stepping into the Halls of Reflection and seeing Frostmourne hang in the air was a really cool moment for me. But I also recognize that there are a great many people who are simply not drawn in at all by this method. Blizzard fails on two counts - one, they constantly fumble the details and make inconsistencies that reek of amateur-level mistakes, and two, they are ineffective at drawing in players universally with this medium. For every player who stops a moment to behold Frostmourne (which, from what I hear, hungers), there is one other player who says "guys C'MON get in the alcove before the event starts jesus". And this is on day one and two of this story content being released, so the "well repetetive dungeons hammer away the worth of the story" argument simply doesn't work.

Effectively, people who are affected by these moments are already drawn into the story from other sources. They are the people who have the novels, probably peruse/buy the RPG books, and have played through Warcraft 1-3. The narrative, in game, is handled by Blizzard primarily as fluff and it shows.

I definitely think the storytelling is there in WoW, it's just a matter of how one chooses to experience the game. The first time I was told to kill Kobold's I actually took the time to read the quest text to understand why I was killing them. By the time I was ready to take a shot at Hogger I didn't know or care why I was killing him, I just knew loot was there for me if I did. The first time I did the Ony chain I knew there was a epic story chain there, I just didn't give a sh*t because I needed to get the next quest done so I could get keyed.

To anyone that takes the time to immerse themselves I salute you. There is a MASSIVE story there, I guess it just depends on whether or not you want to see it.

Bullion Cube wrote:

But when you start saying "Def Lepard has the best compositions ever" then someone's going to call bullsh*t on you.

I'm not saying 'ever', I'm saying: WotLK, as experienced with a group of fellow MMO-players and friends, is the most compelling and enjoyable storytelling experience you can have in a game this year. The element that I'm trying to introduce here is the concept of grouped play as key to the equation.

Sean is still skittish in large rooms and around bright lights, so he didn't bring it out in his initial argument. Just my guess.

I'm sitting in my car at the moment, so I'll just say that Zonk had some excellent points.*

*DC Online beta key, please.

I'm confident your statement is stronger if you just drop the word "storytelling" from the sentence.

To quote Inigo Montoya, "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means"

Seth wrote:

I would in fact say the exact opposite -- that Blizzzard has crafted a working intricate (albeit poorly paced) storyline despite WoW's lineage as a MMORPG -- its success as a social aspect and its success as a storytelling device are, in fact, mutually exclusive and in many ways at odds with each other.

I very much agree with you. WoW and its clones/clonees have universally sacrificed good gameplay in exchange for creating a large, shared environment.

In some ways, this lends MMO worlds a sense of permanence and makes them feel more fully realized, as they are populated with real people and real social interactions. It's a Faustian bargain, though; in order to achieve such a world, proper gameplay has (as of now, anyway) typically been compromised to such an extent that it becomes impossible to tell a coherent and engaging story.

Grafted on single player sandboxes, such as AoC's Tortage and WoW's Death Knight starting area, only serve to illustrate how difficult MMO storytelling can be. In a very real sense they are the worst of both worlds: the isolation of a single player game, coupled with the technical limitations of an MMO. And yet, these are still among the most compelling story experiences in any MMO I've played.

What that tells me is that it's nearly impossible to tell a compelling story within the confines of an MMO. That Blizzard can do so at all is a testament to just how amazingly good they are.