Open-World or Plot-Driven?, Which do you prefer? Options

[TheDreamWriter]

This is the basis of a new long-term game project that I am developing (Explorer, exclusive to RPGRev).

It is an open-world explorer with no pre-set plot. The game will evolve around the player's game style.

If you complete a quest, it may unlock one quest but lock another from access. But, at the same time, you could sit at home farming.

Do people think it would be better for a game to be open-world or plot-driven?

~TDW

[amerk]

An open world concept really only works for online MMORPG's, because the developers behind such games continue to expand on the world the players are in, creating multiple quests, achievements, side stories, etc. One group of players could spend hours on one quest, while another group is focused on other quests. The world continues to expand, new stories are added, and the players can more or less dictate how to proceed.

But even within those side missions, there's usually some form of restriction. A newbie generally can't go after the big bad for the ultimate weapon until he's had a chance to earn the right, and the stamina, to do so... unless he's very lucky or has found a way to cheat the system. And each quest still has their own goals.

Trying to create an open-world concept from a one-man-show for an indie game made out of RPG Maker doesn't bare so well. I'm not saying it can't be done, but I've only seen a small handful of such games in the various forums I've been a part of, and usually they end up flopping or going incomplete. The reason is simple: it's easier for a one man team to create a simple game with a more linear focus than it is to create an epic game with tons of epic possibilities.

Considering that this isn't going to be an MMORPG (unless I'm wrong), your game will either have to end somewhere, unless you plan to continually provide patches for the game, but then you need to ensure everybody's previous saves can carry over (not an easy task to do). You want a game that ends with a bang, leaving people wanting more, or at least appreciating the time they spent on it. Sure you could have a quest-driven game with no real plot, but what does the player think in the end? Was it worth their time? What was the point?

This doesn't apply to all games. Certainly, puzzle fun games meant to earn a high score, or a pet sim game meant to always loop with random results to keep your pet happy and healthy, or farming, etc., these games really don't have to have to have a plot, but rather than a plot, it should have a goal, and that's what you need to decide with an open world game:

What is the goal for the player?
What will I do to execute such a goal?
How have I emphasized this goal to the player?

Another idea is to remove the complete randomness of the game (ie., open world concept), but find a way to create replayability. Do the players choices or sequence of actions change the outcome of parts of the story (if not the whole story)? Think in terms of Chrono Trigger. Different things had different consequences, thus leading to a variety of different endings depending on what you did or didn't do, in turn create the need to replay the game a different way, and all of this while still having a main plot.