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Play the Game, Skip the Story: Difference between revisions
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'''Deckard Cain''': [[Mythology Gag|No one ever listens!]]|''[[Diablo III (Video Game)|Diablo III]]''}}
Some games are sprawling epics centered about a cast of compelling characters and emotional twists and turns. Some paint pictures of entire new worlds with [[All There in the Manual|considerable background material]] and long and involved histories. The amount of detail that goes into some games' storylines can rival a big-budget movie or television series. Other games are made with [[No Plot, No Problem|no plot at all]] - the players just want to [[Rule of Fun|have fun]]. Others may have a [[Excuse Plot|bare minimum]] of one.
But then there's this trope: an especially unfortunate attempt where it is clear that the developers genuinely ''did'' expend a lot of time and effort on a game's plot... They clearly were trying for, if not greatness, at least competence. Unfortunately, nobody else cared. The story might be ham-handed and laughable, the cutscenes might be jerky and unconvincing. All too often, though, maybe the company's only "mistake" was developing the story of a game designed around or played primarily for multiplayer, competitive, or online play. Either way, the story goes unnoticed, since most of the player base finds it completely irrelevant to actually playing the game.
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<!-- %%comment%% This trope isn't inherently bad. Players who just want to get to the action are not 'bad players' any more than players who are interested in the lore. Don't criticize either in the examples. And conversely, don't gush over how amazing and epic and tearjerking your favorite plot is just to prove how horrible people are for ignoring it. -->
{{examples
== Adventure Game ==
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** People cared about the stories long before that since SNK constantly pulls out fan favorites for arbitrary reasons, like Joe in XI. It's the reason the Dream Match games, 98 and 2002, where the story is ignored in favor of who would make a fun fighter, are the most popular.
* And ''[[Mortal Kombat]]'', obviously. It has a convoluted and (probably deliberately) ludicrous backstory incorporating numerous gods, planar beings, rivaling clans of robot ninjas, etc. Most of the players probably don't realize which characters are the good guys, not least because [[Face Heel Revolving Door|many of them swap allegiances constantly.]]
** The beat-'em-up [[Spin
** ... until [[Mortal Kombat 9]] turned things around with a long, detailed, and very popular story mode.
* In ''[[Street Fighter]]'' all characters do have their motivations, but most of them are pretty simple. "This evil dude, Bison, killed your friend/father/classmate/whatever, and you want revenge".
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== Real Time Strategy ==
* [[Blizzard Entertainment]]. All their modern franchises (''[[Diablo]]'', ''[[Starcraft]]'' and ''[[War Craft]]'') do in fact have stories, and there are the hardcore "lore-fans" who spend time debating of them, but most players ignore them completely. All three franchises also have loads of [[All There in the Manual|supplemental materials]]. It doesn't help that the ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' plot is governed by the need to ultimately have almost every major character arbitrarily turn evil so the players can fight them. Of course, as a result, they became [[Genre Savvy]] enough to know they can get away with [[
** On ''[[Diablo]] II'', multiplayer mode ''skips'' cutscenes, which doesn't help.
*** Only if you do not have them installed. You can skip them at will or watch.
** Most people got Starcraft 2 and leapt right into Multiplayer.
* ''[[League of Legends]]'' has a surprisingly deep and complicated story for the League, the various factions and many of the champions. You'd never know from playing the game, though, as most of the lore is on their website, and the story unfolds in the Journal of Justice newsletter.
* ''[[Defense of the Ancients All Stars]]'' in fact has backstories, mostly elaborated on in DotA 2. The game's more known for the [["Stop Having Fun!" Guys|people]] it attracts.
== Role Playing Game ==
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== Shoot Em Up ==
* [[Shoot
== Third Person Shooter ==
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* In a non-game context, many classic movies are treated this way by film historians and students. Nobody teaching ''[[Birth of a Nation]]'' in a film class wastes any breath on the plot; they just focus on the film's many stylistic tropes, and if they have time make mention of the historical context and heavily racist overtones. Similarly, ''[[Metropolis]]'' is watched today for its groundbreaking special effects, futuristic architecture, and kickass robot - not its romantic plot or political message (as the screenwriter intended).
** That often ties in with [[What Do You Mean
* Porn films - really, you're not watching those movies for anything but the porn.
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[[Category:YMMV Trope]]
[[Category:Play The Game Skip The Story]]
[[Category:Trope]][[Category:Pages with comment tags]]
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