# Should RPGs be concidered great literature?



## Vos (Jul 12, 2005)

Most good RPGs, if not all, depending on your tastes, have very well devolped story lines and character devolpment. Does anyone agree that there are RPGs that can compair with many of the great books, plays and movies out there?

I learned to read with Final Fantasy VI, and it is probably what got me into writing. Well, that and Calvin and Hobbes  .

The Baulder's Gate series is also very well writtan, as are most (all?) of Bioware's RPGs (w00t, go Canada! )


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## ThatWierdGuy (Jul 13, 2005)

I wouldn't consider it great literature, but they are pretty entertaining.  Both are defiintely great stories in camparison to most video games. I played both FFVII and the Bioware games, and even though games create an illusion of being immersed in the story, I would have to question if I would have enjoyed it as much if I were watching it on the screen/reading it, or if I would have thought it was a little cliche ( I read a lot of fantasy prior to FFVII release, Bioware's stories have been done before, and the Scifi-Fantasy hybrid setting has been done better IMO).  However,  both are 40-plus hour games, it would probably make a good mini-series.  Although both are entertaining, I don't think they can compare with Frank Herbert, Orson Scott Card, of Christopher Nolan's Memento (movie)etc. in terms of creativity.


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## Hodge (Jul 13, 2005)

Maybe.

The best storyline in an RPG I've seen is that of _Xenogears_, with second place being _Final Fantasy VI_. They'd have to be turned into a book to be literature, though. And I'm not sure if they would translate well.


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## kintaris (Jul 13, 2005)

Best game story has got to be Metal Gear Solid. Absolutely absorbing, movie standard writing, with Matrix-level twisting plotlines and perfectly balanced on the edge of believable.

Besides anything else games are great source material, if you're no good at set pieces or have never really been able to describe horror, tension, or confrontations. GTA San Andreas is pretty good research if you thought a 'hood' was something you put on your head and a 'homie' was a cute name for your house...

kintaris


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## kintaris (Jul 13, 2005)

well i think literature is the wrong word. Thats like calling HP great literature. Some do have fantastic stories that are better written than some published ficiton, is the point i think is trying to be made here.


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## ThatWierdGuy (Jul 13, 2005)

Some video game stories are better then some published fiction, there a some very crappy stories out there.  I dont think there is any video game however that can stand up to a great or highly-acclaimed published novels or movies in terms of story, and I've played a lot of video games.  Those stories are specifically made to immerse you in a video game, but how well will they traslate on the screen or novel?  Most video game stories, with the exception of Grim Fandango, are pretty cliche and unoriginal in terms of the central plot, though still entertaining.  There is a reason why the author's writing is on a video game and not on a published novel or movie.


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## kintaris (Jul 13, 2005)

I agree with the above, with the following exceptions

Metal Gear Solid
Monkey Island
(both series)

MGS actually consists mostly of video footage, and even includes a short novel about previous events on the disc. It is mostly a bit unbelievable, but only as much as The Matrix etc. It could stand up to many modern films.

Monkey Island is one of the only games i've played that is truly originally funny, maturely so too. Its like Monty Python with pirates. And that's not because of the gameplay either - thats because of one liners, character rapports and blatant anachronisms. That is more intelligent than your average sitcom.

So I agree that games could never stand up to films and books. But as a resource they can be of good use to authors and imagineers in general. Don't rule them out entirely!

(P.S. Metal Gear Solid actually stirred more emotions and changed my worldview than watching LOTR, and almost as much as Donnie Darko...)

kintaris


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## ThatWierdGuy (Jul 13, 2005)

Ahh yes, I forgot to mention Metal Gear.    Also a good story.


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## kintaris (Jul 13, 2005)

Whoops I forgot Grim Fandango, even tho it was Monkey Island people who made it. Very very original.

One interesting computer game was Discworld Noir. A book as a game! It worked extremely well and really captured Terry Pratchett's humour and style.

kintaris


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## Vos (Jul 13, 2005)

Your right, maybe litirature isn't the best word, change that to "well good writtain story" or something.

Is anyone really going to say that Chrono Cross wasn't original? It was far more original then most books I've read.

 FFIX was pretty well writtin and original (Even if it was slightly influenced by Dragonball).

I haven't played Xenogears, Hodge, is it any good?

I love Metal Gear Solid, but alas I bought it seconed hand and it freezes about 7 hours in.


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## Kane (Jul 13, 2005)

Yeah, "well good writtain story" sounds great.


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## Surprise (Jul 13, 2005)

I'm sorry, but a lot of RPGs (with a little tweaking) would easily compare with some great novels. And, though the flaming will come in torrents right about now, I will compare THE LORD OF THE RINGS to a few RPGs.

The Lord Of The Rings - A small group of Humans, Hobbits and Elves travel across a vast country to destroy the Ring of Power in the fires of Mordor, effectively saving the world.

Chrono Trigger - A boy and two girls from the year 1000AD in a distant world accidentally fall through a time portal which leads them to the year 2300AD, discovering that a threat that came to the planet 65 Million years earlier would end the world 999 years after their home time.


I'm sorry, but... That makes LOTR seem extremely corny.


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## Kane (Jul 13, 2005)

Time travel pieces about trying to save the world from a cataclysmal event are so cliche.  They don't even compare to LOTR.  Any corniness possessed by LOTR can be attributed to the animated movie, and a couple parts of the new movies.  The book is pretty serious, and the history behind Middle Earth is anything but corny.  I've read just about everything Tolkien wrote regarding Middle Earth.  It's some good stuff.


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## Vos (Jul 13, 2005)

Lol, I ment "Good, well writtan story"

Lord of the Rings is one of the few books that I'd put above the best RPGs. 
While Chrono Trigger was a little (very little, it followed the earth's timeline pretty closely) cliche, Chrono Cross, the sequal, was really original.


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## ThatWierdGuy (Jul 14, 2005)

Sorry "Surprise", but LOTR was very original for its time and influenced a whole generation of writers including the writers from Squaresoft.  Probably not original now, mostly because everyone has ripped the storyline from it in some shape or fashion (a group of heroes travel to distant lands filled with obstacles with the ultimate goal of destroying a single great and powerful evil to save the world).  Plus, although I havent played Chronotriger,  Kane has a point, a time-travel storyline of discovering a destructive event outside of the present that could destroy the world, erase, or change time has been done plenty of times and is very cliche, while LOTR was extremely fresh for its time.  Adding a manga flair and littering the story with fluff like sub-plots doesn't make a story anymore fresh or original, just hides the fact that it isn't.     

Actually, the fluff in RPGs is my biggest pet-peeve, who cares if Main character #7 has a brother who is still alive and now wants to kill him?  Must we go find him if it has no relevance ot the core conflict? Who cares M. Character # 5 might be his secret father, who is collaberating with Irrelevent Villain #3 and Love interest#2? (who will later be revealed to belong to a guild of psychics called "The Minds", in irrelevant-dumb-plot-twist #9)   Apparently gamers do, since these distractions from the plot are in the majority of RPGs, but you don't have to play an RPG to get this kind of entertainment, just go watch a soap opera.  In a 2-3 hour movie, try to stick this kind of fluff that constantly steers away from the main plot, and I gurantee you you will bore most Western audiences out of their mind.  Some will stay and enjoy the movie, most likely people who like soap operas, and the rest will leave.  (George R.R Martin's "A Song of Fire and Ice" had a lot of sub-plots, but they all revolved around the central conflict, the game of thrones, which is what made the story work and made it somewhat interesting.)

Tolkiens influence was not just inside the realm of fantasy eithier.   Issac Asimov, who influenced directly or indirectly almost every Sci-Fi author after him, also labeled Tolkien as one of his big influences.  Asimov learned from Tolkien that in order to create a new world and make it come alive you must create a detailed history that goes along with it. I am not a diehard fan of Tolkien,but I do enjoy his work, and achnowledge his impact on modern writing.

And honestly, I thought the plot of Chrono Trigger sounded pretty corny, like something out of a 30s or 40s pulp-magazine.  Change those numbers around and you get a plot thats been done much more then once.  Perhaps its execution is much better, hence its appeal, but original it is not.  It got old after "A Wrinkle in Time", and the hundruds of pulp-adventures in the 40s that butchered the concept to death.


Out of curiousity, do you mean the world ends when evil now resides there?  Because if the world will end 999 years after their time, how could they travel to the year 2300AD after the world ended? The world would be gone.


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## Vos (Jul 14, 2005)

Well, the planet isn't completely destroyed, just really worn down and everyone is on the verge of starving to death.


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## Viper9 (Jul 14, 2005)

I don't think I'd say that any RPGs have storylines equal to those of great literature, because too much of the story is filled in and determined by the player.  Variability is too high.

But I will sya that, as a geeky youth, I played RPGs a hell of a lot - -especially pen and paper ones like Rifts.  And it was my experience GMing those games, coming up with plots and characters, and co-ordinating subplots, etc., that got me into writing.  That's where I dveloped my love of literary creation.

Anyone else have that sort of experience?


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## kintaris (Jul 15, 2005)

I personally dont think its the RPGs that have the good storylines in games anyway. I've never found RPGs groundbreaking even from a gameplay perspective, and they all just run into one to me. The best storylines in games - and in my opinions the ones that are contenders for 'as good as the movies' - tend to be third person action games such as MGS, Onimusha, Prince of Persia...Even GTA: San Andreas (although i don't think that could be a film, more of a mini-series, and even then only the serious, non-lets-kill-everyone bits).


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## Vos (Jul 15, 2005)

Just how many RPGs have you played, Kintaris?


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## a15haddad (Jul 15, 2005)

I truly believe Metal Gear Solid has the best storyline of any videogame series.  Although many complain Sons of Liberty is convoluted (more cut-scenes than gameplay, about 8 hours of it), it's personally my favorite- perhaps because it took me so long to fully understand.  While, yes, it is a bit fantastic, it is very faithful to political and military methods and, most importantly, it all "makes sense".  I would consider Metal Gear Solid as a far greater piece of art than Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, for instance.  However, video games can't really be classified as literature.

Honestly, I've never really gotten into RPGs; to me they seem pointlessly drawn-out.  I'm not willing to spend hours leveling up or going around to talk to someone when it's a videogame.  However, from what I've heard Square's games have fantastic stories... although I can't comment on them.


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## Hodge (Jul 15, 2005)

Vos said:
			
		

> Just how many RPGs have you played, Kintaris?




Yeah, _Xenogears_ is set up in such a way that it's more of an interactive story than a game... And the storyline is very original. It's made by Squaresoft, but the only thing that resembles any of the Final Fantasy games is the interface. A very complex story full of plot twists, character development, and neato things.


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## Vos (Jul 15, 2005)

I think I may check it out, if I can find it seconed had.
I already have a few on my list. Breath of Fire 4, Legend of Dragoon, Jade Empire. I'm trying to beat FFIX again, along with FFVII before the movie comes out this fall. I still haven't finished Breath of Fire 3. I heard Xenogears is long though, like 80 hours. My attention span for a game usually go's at about 20 hours when I get stuck at a puzzle or something.


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## Hodge (Jul 15, 2005)

I beat Xenogears in about 60 hours, but I also tried to find all the secrets. It's long, especially for only having two discs. But it's good. Very good. And much of the game time is actually used up with speech and interaction between the characters. I love it—none of the characters are cardboard cut-outs. None of them. And on the same note, nothing is as it seems, either...


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## ThatWierdGuy (Jul 16, 2005)

I actually enjoyed Zone of the Ender's story, even if it wasn't completely original.


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## LensmanZ313 (Jul 17, 2005)

Well, gamers and game designers can become good writers. Michael A. Stackpole has designed--or helped design--role-playing fames, pen-and-paper-and-dice and computer, and has written some really good SF/fantasy stories; Walter Jon Williams designed a few games and turned out _Hardwired_ and other novels, as well as writing the _Hardwired_ Sourcebook for the R. Talsorian Games' _Cyberpunk_ RPG; E.E. Knight, another gamer, wrote the RPG for his _Vampire Earth_ novels.

And, there are others . . . .


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## kintaris (Jul 17, 2005)

sorry, you're right, i haven't really played them that much. For all i know you might be right about the stories, but that kind of fantasy has never been my thing anyway. From the length of most RPGs i guess they must have reasonably good stories. I just never got into the whole RPG thing from a gameplay perspective either.

But i apologise for my earlier comments because i really havent played enough to have an opinion on them


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## Kira the wanderer (Jul 18, 2005)

Well, it depends on what kind of rp you mean. Do you mean the type people write on the internet or the game type?


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## Marsieux (Jul 18, 2005)

Hodge said:
			
		

> I beat Xenogears in about 60 hours, but I also tried to find all the secrets. It's long, especially for only having two discs. But it's good. Very good. And much of the game time is actually used up with speech and interaction between the characters. I love it—none of the characters are cardboard cut-outs. None of them. And on the same note, nothing is as it seems, either...



Xenogears is good, but its sequel was a complete letdown, which made me hate the first one.  But, I think videogames are just a new medium through which great literature can be expressed.  It may not be considered great literature yet, but probably should.  Some of the best stories I have ever experienced are from videogames.  Examples include:  Most of the FF series, Halo (cliche yes, but a fabulous sci-fi nonetheless.  But Halo 2 wasn't), MGS, and Syphon Filter.  I found Syphon Filter 1 and 2 highly enjoyable, but I never got around to the others.


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## Lobe (Aug 8, 2005)

I think potentially, video games could be the highest form of art.  Think about it,  just about every artistic skill you care to name can be used in their production. 

There is writing, for the storyline and character dialogue.  Directing, for voice acting, live acting or animation.  2d art (such as paintings, drawings etc) used for backgrounds.  3d art for characters, environments (these could be likened to sculpting and architecture).  Music and sound effects design. Programming.  It's all there.

Video games have enormous potential, but I don't think that any of them have come anywhere close to reaching that potential as of yet.  I enjoy a good RPG as much as the next person, but I've not come across one with outstanding writing (if you can recommend me one, please do).  I think that video games should be taken seriously as art, not necessarily literature - although that comes into it.  I think that because the medium is still so young it hasn't attracted enough of the right people.  But with time I'm sure that it will.


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## Ilyak1986 (Aug 8, 2005)

RPGs have amazing stories if done correctly.  Legend of Dragoon was pretty linear though the story really starts when you face off against your first enemy dragoon and then gets better when the support female has a flashback to 10000 years ago with a huge floating city and all kinds of chaos going on.  If there's one thing LoD did right, it was backstory.


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## Surprise (Aug 10, 2005)

I said nothing about it being unoriginal, I'm just saying it was pretty lame. Reading the first book, it felt more like reading someone's journal from a walk in the woods. It was walking and scenery and singing and once every 20 pages something would happen.


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## Farror (Aug 11, 2005)

Suprise, I think your comparison is ridiculous, no offense, but not video game I've ever played matched up to the Lord of the Rings. (And yes, I have played Chrono Trigger.)

I think my favourite plot from a game was The Legend of Zelda, Ocarina of Time.


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## Monkey King (Aug 11, 2005)

I'd say that games can compare with movies and above average books, if they are done right, as many have said. However, because they are so intereactive and so complete it can actually weaken the story telling. The whole point of reading a book is to create the world in your own mind. Something the game's creators have already done for you. It's the same thing with movies. They can be extremely emotional and wonderfully entertaining. They are certianly an important part of our culture. But they should never completely replace reading. I'm willing to say them say about games.


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## Dephere (Aug 15, 2005)

Just want to say this: they should not be concidered great literature, but they should be conSidered great literature.


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## Pardot Kynes (Aug 16, 2005)

What about DnD?


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## Ilyak1986 (Aug 28, 2005)

DnD has a zillion books on it.  Forgotten realms?  Hi there.


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## Inspectre (Aug 28, 2005)

I heard planescape torment had a good storyline. i don't know cause i never played it but at least heard it was....


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## Raistlin (Dec 20, 2005)

Well a lot of RPG's have great storylines.  Grandia 2, Xenosaga, FFX, FFVII, ect... all had great storylines, but I don't really think you could call them literature at all until they actually have a story written out on paper; I don't even know how good these would translate if they were written out.  So no, I don't think they should be considered great literature, although I do love them


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## LA (Dec 20, 2005)

Although an adventure and not an RPG, the best game story ever was Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars


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## Mike C (Dec 25, 2005)

RPG's are as much great literature as My Little Pony and Care Bears.

Like, uh... not.

If you're looking for great literature, have you considered maybe trying a book?


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## Dephere (Dec 25, 2005)

I'm sorry but if you consider FFX a great story you need a good slappin', or perhaps read some genuine literature.


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## shoggoth (Dec 27, 2005)

Hmm..I would agree..


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## Dephere (Dec 27, 2005)

Thank you shoggoth. At least someone has some sort of taste around here.


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## Hodge (Dec 27, 2005)

_Xenogears_ and _Marathon_ (especially) have storylines that belong in book format. So damn good...


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## blankslatejoe (Dec 29, 2005)

careful not to mix up 'well written' game with 'good game'...personally I found Bioware's games to be bad games with good writing.... an unplayable mix. But that's me... plenty of people seem to love 'em. (admittedly, I've only tinkered with KOTOR.. never messed with NVN or JE)

good writing in a game will never be enough to keep me involved. Good gameplay with bad writing, on the other hand, will almost always win...a lot of really fun games out there have horrendous stories... writing is just not the bang-for-your-buck aspect that it is in film or literature... which is sad, but makes sense. how much of a story does tetris have?  


I'd call Morrowind a great RPG with great writing... it's got some quirky...quirks  you have to get over, but in the end it's one of the most expansive and engrossing games ever made.

For some non RPG games with excellent writing:

-Deus Ex (the first one only, though it flakes out a little in the last bit)
-System Shock 2 (this was a pretty influential game when it came out)

More recently; 
-Pyschonauts had an enjoyable story, beautifully delivered. And nothing compares to the amazing absurdity, and downright genius of the No One Lives Forever series.

-I'm glad someone mentioned Grim Fandango earlier too, that's considered to be one of the best, if not the best, writing ever to find it's way into a game.


oh, and FF6 (3 in the US) is worth another mention too....absolutely unparrallelled at the time.
great topic guys!


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## Dephere (Dec 29, 2005)

Morrowind was an awesome game...NVN not missing anything that spectacular, the hype is more than the game deserves. KOTOR I proved to be a fun game, nothing out of the ordinary when it came to writing, while KOTOR II was a horrible game. It was just a repeat of one. 

Anyway, the point is even if an RPG had good writing it doesn't become literature. 

Definition-The body of written works of a language, period, or culture. 

So unless an RPG were adapted to a written copy it cannot be considered literature.


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## Dresdor (Dec 30, 2005)

Some of them can compare to modern literature, and some cannot.  The simple fact that a game has to cover all the choices a character can make is another thing.

For instance, KOTOR and KOTOR 2 does an excellent job of making you think you have a choice the entire time when the whole thing leads to two endings: a good one and an evil one.  The story is excellent as is the character development.  I find games like this much more entertaining, story-wise than a novel.  They also take more commitment than a novel and more time.  Let's face it, you can rush through a good novel in a few hours, but KOTOR will take longer to complete, especially if you do side missions.

Baulder's Gate and Neverwinter Nights had good stories because they're based in D&D fiction, which is very in depth and well done anyway.  If anyone's played the Witch's Wake series for NWN, you know how good RPG stories can get.  They can compare, but literature will always be more mainstream.


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## Laeidjrughty (Mar 31, 2006)

i liked interplay's fallout 1 and 2 when it came to character development 
when it came to choices it was pretty awesome 
and also it had a great background and from there its like "here you go do whatever just do this one main objective and try to not die"


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## Scarecrow (Apr 3, 2006)

Dephere said:
			
		

> I'm sorry but if you consider FFX a great story you need a good slappin', or perhaps read some genuine literature.


 
I have read genuine literature, and I prefer FFX.

Come to think of it, though, I doubt I'd like it as much if it was just a novel. Too many abstract Japanese ideas...


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## Wolfeyes (Apr 21, 2006)

I've played a giant load of RPGs as well as read hundreds of books (I confess, I'm a bit of a nerd) and quite frankly it depends on the game. RPGs like Final Fantasy (with few exceptions like X-2), the Shadow Hearts series, Tales of the Abyss, and Xenogears have pretty good stories. But if it's got an average story like Dragon Quest VIII then no.


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## TinaD (Apr 22, 2006)

I enjoy participating in RPG's particularly those that provide an opportunity for collaborative storytelling and challenge the imagination.  They are interactive and can provide hours of enjoyment.

Some of the story books that I have read based on RPG settings like Whitewolf have provided an avenue of superficial escapism, much like a penny dreadfull that you keep aside for a rainy afternoon.  They are by no means comparable to the classics or even what I would class as a fullfilling and enjoyable read, but are easy enough to skim through and allow the mind to relax for a few hours.

Something more challenging and fullfilling would be the Forgotten Realms series (R A Salvatore) and Dragon Lance books (Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman). These RPG based books are definately more likeable, and having read them I usually find I don't mind spending the money on them (books are expensive in Aus but I like buying books). I still wouldn't compare these to the Classics Novels but I would class them as great fast passed fantasies and a great read.  Usually I find that I take an interest in a few of the characters - like Drizzt (Fortgotten Realms) or the kender Tasslehoff Burrforrt (Dragon Lance) who has unfortunately died    Unfortunately, they can become an addiction and some are rather thick and too heavy to always carry around.


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## Brody (Apr 22, 2006)

I'm biased: I run several text-based online RPGs. But I do find that they're great collaborative writing exercises. They push people to improvise as characters in real-time, using language rather than macros and graphics to move the "game" forward.


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## dwellerofthedeep (Apr 24, 2006)

I work a lot with D20 games (mainly modern), it was my favorite hobby until I started writing seriously. I find it takes the same energy to write for my RPG as to write for my book.

I don't give my best stories to my games, I can't afford to use them up like that because I'm no machine when it comes to plots.

Having said that I'd say CRPGs (or any video game with few plot choices) could have a decent story, though I haven't played one that did (FFX included, those liches were uncalled for).

In the end I think the one thing that will always make a game story lose to a book or movie story is the interactivity, to much of it and the story weakens.  To little and the gameplay weakens often to the point of total suck (I'm looking at you FFX).  Pick up a book if you want a story.


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## jrudder (Apr 24, 2006)

If you want an excellent video game that also has a good story, play F.E.A.R. It's also the only game that's ever scared me when I played it. But I agree that most video game plots aren't too great, and ones with good plots are hard to come by. As for RPGs, I have never actually participated in one but people have shown me some text ones and some are rather intriguing, especially when they players seem to be good writers as well.

BTW, dweller, I like your sig; great movie. "Old McDonald had a farm...e-i, e-i, o. And on that farm he...shot some guys. Badda bang badda bing badda boom." lol


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## ♣7♣ (Apr 25, 2006)

I'm not sure if RPG based novels are exactly "literature". They are a form of writing, though.

-Phil♣


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## Ayla (Apr 26, 2006)

Increasingly, more gaming companies are getting very serious about the writing in their games and even hiring "professional writers" in order to create the most creative, original and engrossing storyline possible.

I agree that "literature" is probably the wrong word to use for the genre - but I do think that we can expect even better game writing as the industry continues to grow.

And I'm inclined to think that anything that gets people reading is good - a good interactive storyline in a game may lead a person to reading greater adventures.

PS - a look at my chosen avatar and name should make it obvious that I really did like Chrono Trigger...and don't forget Clan of the Cave Bear!


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## hirshmon (Apr 26, 2006)

I think that many RPGs can rival great books in terms of character development and plot, and of course, the atmosphere/setting is so much richer because you're not describing it...you're interacting with it and seeing it. (Especially Xenogears, Hodge, which is almost my favorite RPG... I've played through twice and it gets better each time. What an amazing game)

The problem with RPGs in comparison to books, I feel, is theme. It's a lot harder to have meaningful plots or characters in games that stand for larger ideas. RPGs are seldom as complex in meaning and books can use figurative language and many literary devices that RPGs have no way of incorporating. I think it is more feasible to compare great RPGs to great graphic novels, because it is hard to compare literature and RPGs, since their methods of conveyence are so different. 

With Xenogears, the plot was so much richer than, say, The Scarlet Letter. More happened, there were more twists, it was infinitely more exciting and intriguing. And the characters rivaled in richness...in Scarlet Letter the characters lacked complex, compelling backstories like Fei had, but they made up for it in their symbolic significance. Xenogears had a better plot, I feel, but The Scarlet Letter offers one of the most important questions of all time and answers it in an incredible way. Xenogears had themes, but none so grand or important as most great literature. The same goes for the other RPGs I have played.


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## dwellerofthedeep (Apr 27, 2006)

> "Old McDonald had a farm...e-i, e-i, o. And on that farm he...shot some guys. Badda bang badda bing badda boom."


 
Thanks for that, a good quote always brightens my day (It's 5:30 AM here so it's pretty helpful to have some light).


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## Syren (Apr 27, 2006)

+1 to the NWN and Witch's Wake references.

Some RPG's contain literature. Morrowind had in game books that had some great short stories in them... I recall one about a thief that broke into a tower of vampires that pretended at being a group of travellers or rich merchants or something. They were some sort of cult group, as such they offered to give the thief and his companion names to join their group and offered a meal or something... the names were something like 'Reppus' and 'Tressed', and at the end the thief realized that their hosts names 'Nitram' and 'Samoht' and the like were all spelled backwards.

Then he figured out they were vampires and his friend was Supper and he was Dessert.

There were loads of little stories like that, I thought they were pretty good. So in a way, RPG's can be literature... if you tilt your head and squint a bit.

//Sy


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## Ennui (Apr 27, 2006)

Videogames have just been named a form of art.

So techinically, RPG's could very well be caleld literature.

Other than all the voice acting now...


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## mN.sparroW (May 1, 2006)

Inspectre, Planescape Torment is a great game if you're into some retro action.


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