Interesting article at Ars Technica about storytelling in video games (part of a series). One of my 18 or so side-projects at the moment is a critique of the storytelling mechanic in online role-play games, which have their own specific problems. I think I have, if not a solution, at least an expansion to the current systems that would go some way towards addressing the more glaring issues.
One of these days, I’ll have to write it up as a paper. Quite what I do with it then, I’m not sure. I may publish it here – or I may send it directly to the developers of one game in particular, who I think could use it quite directly.
I’m always surprised by how many problems boil down to storytelling, when you look at them in a certain way. But just as many website problems boil down to ‘a blog would be a good way of doing this,’ one starts to wonder if the tools with which one is familiar dictate the shape of the solutions one spots.