Story Time!

Welcome Back!

        To those who are new, I'd like to say welcome and enjoy, and to those few, but much appreciated, returning, I'd like to say welcome back. It's time for my second weekly post on "A Beta Blogger" where I document and discuss game betas. As mentioned in my last post, I've been following an exciting new game called Demigod and will soon be joining the beta upon the release of beta 3 , the balancing beta. Though, perhaps it will not be that soon.

        Though the release of Beta 3 has been pushed back for an unknown amount of time, estimated by the community to be several weeks, the game is still seeing much improvement. Last week, Beta 2D was released which focused on increasing the stability of online play. In addition, the main page got a makeover (which I must say, looks quite epic) with new graphics, art, and color scheme. But, my favorite addition in the last week, by far, is a new section on main page: the mythology page. But before I get you all excited and giddy, I must not get ahead of myself, more on the mythology is on its way. Luckily, though, brings us to a nice and easy segway to the topic of today's post: story.

Empty Throne

        The story of Demigod, that I've accumulated from the Demigod website and blogs, is short but sweet. It begins when a great and powerful champion, known as Fell-Darkur, led a crusade across whole worlds, growing strong enough to slay creatures that were semi-divine. One of the creature's father, the Progenitor or, as his offspring lovingly referred to him as, "the Allfather" had the displeasure of watching his child become murdered. Gathering the rest of his kin, the Allfather planned to exact revenge on Fell-Darkur, but the Ancients were not happy. Long ago, the beings of power, known as "the Ancients", or more commonly, "the Gods", had already cast out the Progenitor from amongst them and found it was time to punish him again.

        The Ancients removed the Allfather from the Deep Place along with all his children. There is now a throne open in the heavens. Only those of his children who survived the descension and retained what remained of their godhood could take up the crown. Only the most powerful and most favored by the Ancients could follow in the footsteps of their father. With only one solution, the Ancients cast the children to Rokkur, the place of battle. 

        Eight have already been discovered, and the arena is set, waiting...

The Allfather, Smallsmader!

        Now, you might be saying, "Sweet, cool story! Now lets see the game...", but there is more to this story then just the plot, in this game and every game. The story is the reason to the rhyme. It dictates why things are happening when you play the game, and more importantly, how you make things happen in response. If the story is too condiluted and distant from the game, discourse is created as well as confusion. On the other hand, if the story is too detailed and too great, it becomes overwhelming. A lot can be seen from the story alone.

        So what does this mean for Demigod? Well, lets take a look at the story. It is simplistic, yes, even borderline cliche, but its biggest blessing, and curse, is that its open-ended. Now, these aren't bad things, but there are several things to be considered. Given the story and the fact that it is a multiplayer based game means that the single-player is going to take a hit, a hard hit. There is talk that the single player will be much like Unreal Tournament: A series of loosely related matches similar to how the game is played online. There will be no real variation for the characters resulting in campaign replay value (though, this is still a possibility, but the resources and time required are most likely to great. Perhaps in the downloadable content?). 

        I, personally, think this is a shame because the possibilities of the story could result in a very, very immense, exciting, and fun world. But if a story can't be plot driven, then make it character driven. Now, originally, I was going to take this time to harp on Stardock because I couldn't find ANY information on the eight heroes, be it statistical or bios. But, as perfectly timed as only coincidences can be, Stardock updated their site yesterday, and made me feel a little better because they posted the first of eight character bios, starting with Demigod's posterboy:The Rook.

        You win this time, Stardock... You win this time...

Fable Love Used for Fun Fortifying

        Do you remember "Story Time" in Kindergarten when the teacher would put away her stuffed animal alphabet and pull out a tale of funny antics, colorful pictures, and interactive pop-ups, and all the kids would sit in a circle around the teacher eating snacks except for the annoying kid who always ate too much sugar and kept interrupting as he ran around with a kool-aid stain around his mouth? Fond memories for sure. Now don't get all nostalgic for the wonderment and excitement of a simple pop-up book. We still have them for adults, they just look different and are much more interactive. You see them everyday. You spend many enjoyable hours in front of them. They're called video games.

        Many times in recent years, I feel like we overlook such an integral part of video games: the story. With huge multiplayer games, like WoW, taking over the market that put much more emphasis on multiplayer interaction then the plot and world, we loose that feeling of being in an epic novel or even movie. Luckily, we have games like Biosock and Fallout 3, two of my personal favorites, that come packed with intricate detail and a story of epic proportions that unfolds right before your eyes, making the world seem like a universe all on its own rather then an image on the screen.

        Now I'm not badmouthing Demigod, not in the least bit. It has more storyline in Beta then most purely online games. I'm just saying, in the future, why not take it a step further? Why not blow the competition out of the water? I look at the heroes of the game, and I am always in awe of how they epic they seem. These are beings of some sort that, one way or another, have achieved power great enough to make them partial Gods! That's INSANE. They accomplishe it each in a different way and in a different place. How amazing is that? Since the game, plot wise, isn't' going foreword until if and when an expansion comes out, I say, go back. You have such a diversive immense tool at your fingertips. Now, how do you do this, you ask? With Fable LoveUsed for Fortifying Fun, or as I like to call it, Fluff. Minor details that exist only to allow the player a more in depth view of the world they are playing in. If done poorly, they seem like a waste of time, but if done correctly, can make the game that much more immersing.

        What I would love to see in the future, perhaps through downloadable content, is the past of these mysterious Demigods to grow in depth as the game goes on. I like how the Rook's biography is more of a legend then a story, but I, personally, would go crazy if parts of this quarry-worker's unknown history and detail made its way into the game, allowing us to see what made him tick while still keeping the air of legend.

        It is kind of hard to explain how I would go about adding this character fluff, so let me give an example.

Variety, Variety, Variety

        Hero variations. A little item, talent, or detail the player can choose to give the hero a slightly different feel. Each week, after the game comes out, Stardock could release a new optional, free talent for the hero. For example, the rook could chose Hands of the Stone Worker.

        Each variation would come with a story from the Hero's past. For Hands of the Stone Worker, I am thinking of something along the lines of: In his youth, Mard felt the cold hard stone call out to him, leading him out from his home and into the wilderness. It is there that he ran his hand over the cool stone of the earth, seeking its strength. Upon its touch, Mard knew something lay there, amongst the earth, something he sought, something powerful. So Mard began to dig into the stone. For years he would sneak out of the village and continue to work long days at his own quarry, breaking his back and bearing its pain. Finally, years after he had started, he had reached the bottom. Excited, he searched for his long awaited treasure, but found only the stone surrounding him. Distraught, he fell to his knees and stared at his hands, the hands that carried countless tons of stone from the earth, hands that had ached and bled for as long as he could remember, hands... hands that now were collapsed and strong, hands to a body that towered over any other villager with muscle and brawn. The hands that now shown the strength of the earth.

  Each item would also have a pro and a con by adding X to one stat and subtracting Y form another. This would allow for variations of the hero while still maintaining a balance. For example, Hands of the Stone Worker could give the Rook a damage boost to melee attacks but lower his attack speed (I'm not giving this as a balanced example, just an example of how the idea would play out. I have yet to play the game and become familiar with any sense of statistical balancing). The talent/item/option could also change the model slightly by making the Rook's hands a darker color or something simple, not a whole new model or anything too complex, but that still offer a visual sense of its existence.

        I know that a constant stream of such details would keep me interested for a very long time, as well as add a little more attachment to and enjoyment from the hero I'm using.

Epilogue

        Aight, that's the end of my second post. I hope you guys enjoyed it! I know it was a rather long post, but I had a lot of information I wanted to talk about. Perhaps I'll expand on some of the ideas in the future. I also just want to reassure you, readers, that I know Demigod is still in its Beta, and much can still change. I am writing about what I'd like to see and I'm not insinuating Stardock isn't going to deliver. Come back next week when I'll most likely give in and download the Beta. Then the fun really starts

        Happy Hunting!