Do you ignore storytelling in games when it gets poor?

I do it notoriously, you know? Either when the game sets certain inexcusable level of ineptitude from the beginning or when it has been decent throughout but took a nosedive from certain moment on. IMO video games rarely make their plots and lore consistently engaging through the whole game. Even games like The Witcher 2! What I also hate is when a game feels already exhausted on the level of lore but keeps spamming you with more of the same and thinks you should pay the same attention as you paid at the beginning. I'm talking about games with collectable journals for example, like Tomb Raider. Even in games with non-intrusive storytelling like Dead Space 3 I ended up ignoring most of the text based logs and longer audio ones because it was ruining the pacing and I'm the kind of a guy

who'd enjoy stellar story over action!

What are you like?

When I played vanquish I checked out during all the cut scenes. So stupid...who cares. The gameplay though was amazing.

Good enough story that make sense will do it for me. On the other hand great characters are more important a lot of time. For example uncharted games don't have great story but the characters were awesome IMO (Drake, Elena and such.) yeah sometimes I ignore those journals too depends on the stage, but sometimes I use it as a break lol At the stage of my life I can't really play non-stop action games.

Do not talk bad about the witcher, I hold that franchise dearly, and you're hurting my feelings. On topic, yeah sometimes. Halo 3 was such a game. It was the only Halo game I've ever owned and played through. Couldn't stand the storytelling mixed with evil space turkey-midgets. Perhaps it's because I jumped right into the middle of the series. Resistance was another one of those franchises. Felt out of place and silly, and I couldn't give a damn about the main characters. Worse is, I got suckered into playing the whole lot on ps3.

Yeah, never understood the hype about Halo's story. It is shit. In Halo 3 the cutscenes barely made any sense.

tend to ignore the story unless its really compelling.

Yes, because most story-telling in games is there to serve the purpose of interrupting you, and being annoying.

If you're going to put story-telling aspects into a game whether they be journals, cut scenes, video logs, or people talking to you, make sure the don't disturb the pace at which the player is wanting to play.

Half Life is a good example. The first game has some of the best story-telling in gaming, but in HL2 Valve decided to put a handful of instances in the game where you're forced to wait for people to talk between gameplay segments, and you can only beg that they end soon.

Depends on the game

This, idk why some people thought this was some sort of revolution in story telling that you can control the character during basically a cutscene. It's really just annoying, most recently being BF4 at an even worse level

No. I simply don't play them.

It just seems like a step back from HL1.

I've played through HL1 probably a dozen times, and each time I do I learn more and more about what is actually going on at Black Mesa. It's just fascinating to me that the entire story can change because I take the time to listen to a random scientist speak one line of dialogue.

In HL2 they still continue that type of story-telling for most of the game, but those controllable cutscenes are just lame.

I much prefer HL1 where it's entirely up to the player how much they can immerse themselves in the game, and not the developer stripping control from the player.

Yeah, why let me control the character when I'm basically locked in a room until the NPCs finish talking. It just ends with the player character just jumping around and throwing crap out of boredom

yeppers

In all honesty I tend to stop playing games that don't have atleast semi-compelling stories altogether. I'm at the point where gameplay can no longer fully sustain me.

Hence the reason I stay way from most Japanese games.

Yes.

Videogame stories are atrocious majority of the time. So checking out is a preferred route.

I tend to not complete games with really bad stories. *glares at FFXIII*

I usually enjoy or at least take notice of the story in a game, even when it's poor; but the exception is pretty much any FPS these days. I could not care less about the stories in FPS games.

I ignore it if it's not the main focus. However if the game tries too hard on the story then I will judge it.

Coming from a writer, a bad story is torturous for me. Even a mediocre story feels like a wasted opportunity. I hope this generation of consoles will put more focus on proper storytelling than just having some programmer write a bunch of nonsense.

depends if the story gets too convoluted..then of course the words they use "in that world/realm" ..eg. I switched off in FF13 with LaCie, ButtCie, ICie..UCie, Cie, Cie..crap. :P

I guess so. But I really don't expect anything incredible anyway. I take it for what it is. A new story telling medium.

I can't ignore stories in the games I play, it is all apart of the quality and experience for me. The only games that are an exception to this rule are fighting and racing games, and sometimes even they aren't an exception.

If you ignore parts of a game to make yourself feel better about it, it just means you are lowing your standards in order to not have to deal with the reality that the game you are playing isn't that good.

Couldn't agree more, I mean old games like Goldeneye 007 would at least allow you to proceed to your mission(s) even if the NPCs are talking, you can shoot them if you want too. I guess you don't see that anymore in games of today.

Pretty much this, though I can tune it out and just enjoy the gameplay. I also don't care if the game doesn't put any emphasis on its story.

Video games have a long way to go, but that's fine. If I wanted an excellent story, I'd go read a book.

I generally ignore story for every game. I give it minimal attention, enough for me to progress through the game anyway.

Only a few games last gen had stories so bad I couldn't stand it, MGS4 being the one that comes to mind first. I'm fine with bad stories to an extent. Japanese have a real knack for making games with nonsensical plots actually fun to play. It strikes me as odd people will bitch about Bayonetta's story when it's like did they even play the game and are totally missing the point? The problem with a game like MGS4 is it took itself way too seriously.

I try to ignore/skip the story wherever possible, unless it's actually interesting to me in some way. In which case, I will at least watch the cut-scenes without skipping them or mentally tuning them out. I'm sure less than 50% of games are even passable to me story wise.

The most famous example I can think of ignoring a story is probably Borderlands. After a few hours in, I realized I just didn't give a damn about the NPC's or anything about it. But the gameplay itself was fairly solid and fun. I finished that game and DLC. In order to save time I pretty much skipped through every dialogue and quest log possible. Made my way through by essentially just activating the quest markers and following them.

Generally speaking, if it's poor story-telling like Resident Evil or Far Cry, it tends to be highly entertaining.

If it's a shitty movie game (Call Of Duy/Last of Us/Metal Gear Solid) that puts it's shitty story-telling ahead of the gameplay, it's a waste of money.

Story is one of the last things I care about, even in RPGs. Don't mix up story with choices/role playing.... I mean the overall story-arch which 99% of the time sucks even in the best of RPGs.... predictable BLEH. planescape and baldurs being exceptions.

If a game relies so heavily on story and graphics it mayaswell be a cow exclusive with no substance.

Yes. Metal Gear Solid is a prime example. I just don't like the story. Sure, MGS3 had some great characters and a good twist but that's about it. Every cutscene is just blah blah blah boring dialogue. I can't stand it. The gameplay is great but not a fan of the story so I usually just skip the cutscenes.

Most storytelling in videogames is poor.

I dont really ignore it, because sometimes it drives a gameplay scenario--giving it some context, or is critical in not making the player experience feel disjointed.

YES, a prime example that comes to mind is the MGS series. After MGS2 Subsistance, I quit caring about the series. It's as shame because MGS1 was great, cut scenes were tolerable at best.

Yes

I played Heavy Rain and Beyond Twice Each, take from that what you will.

No, I don't sit there and skip through the dialogue or skip audio logs (If I find one). Sure if the story is bad it's hard to feel engaged and I find it hard to pay attention to what's being said, but I won't skip any of it.

max payne 3 was that game, jesus Christ, that game had an awful fucking story,

the story was so bad that im sure they wont make max payne 4, why?

because the housers don't know how to write objective character stories,

but the gameplay was the best I have ever played.

bioshock infinite was the opposite for me,

the gameplay was so rote and boring,

that I just trudged through just to find out what happens in the story.

its a shame that one of the best stories in gaming have been matched with one of the worst games ever designed

Depends on the type of game it is. If I'm playing a visual novel or adventure game, I usually expect there to be a good story. If it's an RPG or cinematic action game, then I might half-expect a good story, depending on where the game's priorities lie. If it's a straight-up action game, then I couldn't care less if it had a good story or not.

You know what really bugs me though..... Its when a game just tells you what happend, I don't wana just hear what happened, I wana see it, I wana play it ! Don't give me a history lesson, give me a game !

If the gameplay is fun. If both stink then why play it!