Why does Valve hate stories so much?

[vanguard_anon]

Um, because those games are meant for multiplayer and watching the same story movie over and over again each time you play online would be frustrating.

Exactly, there was more story to L4D but the beta testers hated it so they pulled it out. For example, the opening scene of No Mercy used to be 5 minutes long. They explained a lot more and of course had some kind of back story. People hated waiting for it so they shortened it to 30 seconds or so. When the helicopter picks you up at the end he used to explain that he just a street pickup that got rough. The he would say he didn't feel so good, he was obviously infected, the helicopter would crash, and you would start the next escape mission. However, that made a "play through" a 4+ hour experience and people didn't like because they didn't feel like they "won" at the end of each episode. Basically, the beta community pulled the story out because it's better without it.

I think they are right. If the lead into No Mercy was 5 minutes long we'd all complain about how horrible that is. (Making it skippable might be good enough though.)

BTW, I learned all this by playing with the developer commentary on. You can do it yourself, it's pretty interesting.

 

[asiepshtain]

Seeing that they are working on another Left 4 Dead, I'm starting to wonder why Valve have made such point of removing most or all story from there games

They are, after all, behind Team Fortress, Counter-Strike and Left 4 Dead; all games focus on online gaming, that lack a story/campaign mode (Before you rule L4D as an exception, I'll just point out that the little story to that game seems satirically flat).
I suppose it makes sense, since most of the audience is jaded about stories in games. Most games, especially shooters, seem to have a flimsy story to tie the gameplay into a neat singleplayer experience, but are usually lengthier and less linear. Valve is different in that they are completely devoid of that system. Even in Half-Life and other games from Valve, the story seems to simpler, taking a backseat to the mood and atmosphere.

So, any one else notice? Or, am I over-analyzing?

Also, Left 4 Dead doesn't have a story, stop contradicting me!

I disagree,

I think valve are on the front of developing a new form of story-telling, one suited for video games. Video games are about interaction not dictation, and so require more open stories. Ones that are created by the surrounding and infered by the player instead of forced upon him.

Think of it like this, if gordon freeman were to speak he would have one voice, the voice valve gives him, as long as he stays mute his voice in our minds is our own voice. They create him not by having speak but by the reactions of people tp him. It leaves just enough room in the story for the player to be part of it instead of a listener.

 

[asiepshtain]

Seeing that they are working on another Left 4 Dead, I'm starting to wonder why Valve have made such point of removing most or all story from there games

They are, after all, behind Team Fortress, Counter-Strike and Left 4 Dead; all games focus on online gaming, that lack a story/campaign mode (Before you rule L4D as an exception, I'll just point out that the little story to that game seems satirically flat).
I suppose it makes sense, since most of the audience is jaded about stories in games. Most games, especially shooters, seem to have a flimsy story to tie the gameplay into a neat singleplayer experience, but are usually lengthier and less linear. Valve is different in that they are completely devoid of that system. Even in Half-Life and other games from Valve, the story seems to simpler, taking a backseat to the mood and atmosphere.

So, any one else notice? Or, am I over-analyzing?

Also, Left 4 Dead doesn't have a story, stop contradicting me!

Sorry but I think you're missing what Valve is all about. All their games do tell a story but it's a subtle one that is inferred rather than spelt out in plain letters. Left 4 Dead and Protal both have messages on walls that gives clues to the background story. Team Fortress has the 'Meet the..' videos and a tiny descriptive paragraph on their website. In all these cases your imagination is stimulated to fit in the blanks. TF2 encourages me to make up my story about why these two teams are fighting.

And take Half Life 2 for example, when I play it I see it primarily as a love story between Gordon (i.e. me) and Alyx. When I play the game my motivation for playing stems from wanting to save Alyx. Someone else playing it might follow the 'save the world' story line instead.

In my opinion Valve is a master story teller that let's the indivdual create their own story that they like the best. They ignore the big, obvious, boring cutscenes found in other games and instead use subtle hints and clues to create a story which is far more real.

I read this after I created my own post, similar in heart.
I agree completely.

 

[Ushario]

To answer the OP's question with another question: Why does Hideo Kojima hate gameplay so much?

Bwahahahahha!!! Oh thank you.

Poor Hideo, he really should have stuck to books.

 

[Earthbound Engineer]

As you said, most shooters have flimsy stories anyway and making a storyline usually takes away from the game play. So whats better:a half-ass shooter with a flimsy storyline (Halo or CoD) or an amazing game with no storyline (TF2 or L4D). Very seldom do you get an awesome game with a deep storyline (maybe Half-Life).

 

[TsunamiWombat]

Original L4D had dynamic cutscenes and a story but it was removed to streamline play.

Oh L4D, you could've been the best game ever... then they announced your sequel.

 

[classyplatypus]

Seeing that they are working on another Left 4 Dead, I'm starting to wonder why Valve have made such point of removing most or all story from there games

They are, after all, behind Team Fortress, Counter-Strike and Left 4 Dead; all games focus on online gaming, that lack a story/campaign mode (Before you rule L4D as an exception, I'll just point out that the little story to that game seems satirically flat).
I suppose it makes sense, since most of the audience is jaded about stories in games. Most games, especially shooters, seem to have a flimsy story to tie the gameplay into a neat singleplayer experience, but are usually lengthier and less linear. Valve is different in that they are completely devoid of that system. Even in Half-Life and other games from Valve, the story seems to simpler, taking a backseat to the mood and atmosphere.

So, any one else notice? Or, am I over-analyzing?

Also, Left 4 Dead doesn't have a story, stop contradicting me!

I see what you mean, but Valve does this on purpose most of the time to create different style games. either that or coming up with stories was just too hard, for example making a story for Team Fortress 2 that actually made sense would be pretty hard.