One of the biggest problems in game stories is introducing the player into a game. Its hard because the player has no knowledge of the past and so it is hard to link the player to a character. So far i have seen two ways of doing this. One way is giving the player amnesia. This way you have to figure out who you are. Something like this is done in ff6. Another way is to have the player assume that they know who they are, but they only get a vague idea from the people around them. Something like the legend of zelda. Other sories like ff7 mix these two techniques. Im sure there is a better way of introducing the player. Making the player start off as a baby might be overkill...What have you guys come up with?

A few paragraphs in the manual always worked in the past. Or put those paragraphs in-game. Or as a short video sequence.

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Part of every good story is a sense of mystery, be it small or large. When you introduce the player to the character in the case of a non-silent protagonist, I think it would just be best to put the player through a "training course." I don''t mean Half-Life Black Mesa Training, but if you remember FF7, after the bombing run you had a good feel for the type of characters you were being put in charge of. In literature, you''ll always notice tat the first chapter of any novel teaches you how to read the novel, by always giving just a little more information than is normal for the way the novel''s world works. FF6 did this, when the old guy (a member of the Returners) told Locke (another member of the Returners) what the Returners was. On your first pass, these things always help.

You don''t have to give the player amnesia.
Sometimes it helps, but you could reveal the story ''as you go'' such as in the Heroes Chronicles Games

Theres always an amnesia by choice. What I mean by this is that the main character refuses to reveal his past to anyone. However, that model usually needs a complementary character who slowly drags the past out of the main character.

-> Will Bubel
-> Machine wash cold, tumble dry.

how would u guys feel about starting off as a kid in a mmolrpg and then growing up in an environment like harvest moon, which will eventually lead into something like everquest (long sentence)? That way no amnesia and you know everything about your character.

The idea of growing up could be really interesting. Maybe have quests and such that are more lighthearted and non-violent, then as you age things get more dramatic? I have an idea on the amnesia thing, probably been done before, but have amnesia and someone comes and tells you about your life, and then you discover through the course of the game you had been lied to? Wait, I am almost sure it''s been used.

Max Payne started out talking to himself and had flashbacks in the game. Part of the game was about seeking his answers about how he got here in the first place.

Sometimes you''re just a grunt in a tank. The camera zooms in from above, showing everything exploding around you, and the view slowly zooms in on a tank that you are piloting. (Theoretical idea)

Quake, Doom: Everyone else dies, you''re all that''s left. No need for character depth, just kill or be killed. Your character is that you are a soldier and that''s it, except for how your voice sounds when you get hit, or the look on your face. Remember Doom''s bloodied face smiling in a sinister way when you pick up a BFG or blow up a bunch of enemies with missiles? Gross, but funny. I mean the guy looked on the verge of death anyway, yet still found the strength to snicker.

I really liked Half-life''s character intro. I was in the locker room, found my locker and got clues about my identity by looking inside. Plus, it was my first day at work (wasn''t it?), so noone else really knew me. While I was trying to figure out how to get to my environment suit, the scientist in the locker room walked over and said, "You don''t know what you''re doing, do you?" That was funny. And the accident in the test chamber? Spectacular. I knew nothing about the game when I started playing it.

Let''s see, what would be a new and interesting way to introduce a character? It''s hard to say, sometimes the character is more the environment than the player (like getting transferred to a new precinct as a cop. How everyone interacts with each other at the office and on the beat has more substance in the game than anything that is true about your own life).

How about a game about a version of the afterlife, and as you''re speeding towards whatever surface is there, you get to choose the form you take (be it humanoid or creature) and learn about the world around you from your character''s perspective?

Growing up would be horrible.
Having to eat and sometimes to sleep is annoying enough

We, or at least I want to live in a FANTASY world, not a real world.

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The main character could reveal his past, or others could reveal it to the reader.
Example: Hello John, how''s your parents.
"Well, alec, my father is doing pretty good at the smithy, but my mother''s seamstress business is pretty bad right now."

that reveals many things... His upbringing, environment, (both parents work... suggests they are poor, and that he has few bro''s sisters (mom wouldn''t have time to care for too many and work)

etc.

Growing up and living in general seemed to work pretty good in harvest moon. Anyway im just about to post a few ideas to some guys that r making a mmolrpg with me. Just some stuff i came up with, we probably wont use it but anyway, here they are:

-Before u start u have to define ur genitics. I want to design a system by which you can have the cpu randomly generate a sequence or u specify 1. Your genetics will alter parts of your character''s model, give you longer ears and the such. It can also enhance your ability to gain strength, see farther, hear louder, and learn faster.

-When u start you start off as a fairly small kid, like a totteler(hope i spelled that right). You are eiter an orphan (out in the woods somewhere) or you get parents, depending on how many couples in the game want kids. Anyway, you grow up, doing your chores, farming and running erands with your parents. Or if you''re an orphan you wander around trying to survive. There will be no guards in this system. If some village or kid gets killed, tough luck This will make people want to seek revenge

-The game itself plays like a strategy. Workers are actual players in the game. Each player interacts in a system like the game cultures, going about their daily routine. As you get older you can choose to work in this village and live a life like harvest moon. You can get maried, have children, work and become ritch. It would also be interesting to see players interacting in an environment like a bar. Buildings will literaly be constructed by the player using lego like bricks and other raw materials (or you can hire someone to do it).

-You can also choose to be a nomad or warior (there are differing weapons and magics that let you customize). In this case you are either employed by a god in an army or go exploring and dueling. The world itself will be littered with creatures and mobs of npcs, getting tougher as you move away form civilization.

-As players advance through this game, if they get good enough (this doesnt mean just a good fighter, it can be anyone who gets very good at some profession) you become a god. As a god you get to order the people around you. You can switch between being a god and your previous character. Anyway, as a god you give orders and build your kingdom. You give text message orders to players and direct orders to npcs. When you build a building you can also put a layout of how you want the buildings to be constructed and can create special structures. You get a constant supply of some resource of your choice to pay your servents. The interface however will be 3rd person. Throughout the world there will be seeing stones that will allow gods to go omnicient view, giving them easier control of their kingdom (sort of like warcraft 3). Gods become invincible when they are in god mode, but this lasts short periods of time.

-There should be no "levels" ie player levels in the game because this discourages battles. You grow by using an ability over an over. The more you use it the more powerful it becomes.

-When anyone dies they start over as a kid. This allows you to explore many of the different possibilities of the game (and also makes it difficult to become a god).

Again, we probably wont use these, im just throwing out ideas to make the game unique compared to current mmolrpgs.