I wrote a little article called Viewpoint at Gamedeveloper.net, and I''d like to hear what you think.It''s not very good, but it''s about something you should think about.Some of you will propably think it''s ridiculous or stupid or that it doesn''t say anything (I sound like johnnyfish ) but check it out please. Here''s the link : Viewpoint : Part I Thanks runemaster, god of stupid jokes

Well personally I''m gonna have to agree with Landfish on all this (not to say that others have made good points too). However, I also think that the matter of gameplay vs. story is all in what type of game you''re making.

If it''s a fighting game like Street Fighter or something, then guess which side wins: gameplay. Story can play an important part in these games too (like in Mortal Kombat), but to me that is never AS important as gameplay in fighting games.

Then there''s RPG''s. A tie. Either that or one really close call. The reason for this is in RPG''s there''s generally a "circle of entanglement" between story and gameplay. For instance, in Final Fantasy Tactics, the gameplay "entangled" the player into the story. Then the story gives him a cerain mood, where he actually WANTS to fight and win. If he does win, he feels triumphant, and wants to play some more. Soon he''s addicted.

The fact is, there are many RPG''s with very excellent gameplay, though, but with pretty bad stories. One guy on this board brought up FF7. Actually a good example, as when you examine the very ludicrous plot, you find so many totally unrealistic (not spectacular, not fantastic, unrealistic) events in it. Yet it still maintains its seat as one of the most popular games around, because of the gameplay that entangled the player into the game, made him addicted.

Still, there many games out there that start out great, w/ plenty of action and a great storyline (so far), but then just become boring and very disappointing. Like Vagrant Story. The beginning starts out with Ashley Riot, a man who is basically hunting down a warlock in a huge castle. The gameplay and rising action of the storyline both kept the player going up to the end. And what a sad, sad, SAAAAAD ending that game had. After all that action and story and everything else, does the hero kill the villain in a dazzling fight-to-the-death? NO! Instead the warlock gets stabbed through the back by some other guy we didn''t even pay attention to.

What I''m saying is that different game genres urge different story genres. "You can''t put an RPG story to a Tetris game," someone here said. That''s exactly right. Yeah you go defeat the evil king and his minions by dropping blocks down a well. That''s great.