I decided to make a game for myself and put it on the internet for the interested ones but i have come to a stop as i think all the features will be overshadowing the main plot or to rephrase it: the plot will just be a very small part of the game (this does however not mean that the plot wont be good etc)

i was wondering if making a game, a big world where you could freeroam and do whatever you wanted, like: tournaments, quest etc. A game filled with stuff to do but with no plot, or could you make it work with a plot.

i ask because i want to know what others think about the subject and then decide for my self

Think about mimicking Fable or Oblivion. Both have a plot but you can run all over the place and get lost in stuff and just never bother with the ending it or continuing the story.

If that's what you're going for sure, go ahead. It's a lot of work but you can do it. It's up to you if you want to bother with a plot. A fair warning, players who just freeroam with no objective or greater influence on the world like saving it will get board quickly though. There has to be progress no matter what, and it can't just be in stats and power.

I.E. Quests are like little stories in the game, and you can do big quests like becoming Guild Leader and learning about the story behind it. There really should always be a story, and it doesn't always have to be the main story.

So in summary: Putting in a plot can always do a lot more good than harm, and 99% of the time pays off.

I agree with Titanhex but I would go even further and say that a main plot is 100% essential. I think even a free roaming game needs some kind of closure and a main plot is the easiest way to achieve this. I know I never went through the main plot in Oblivion but simply knowing that it was there and that there was a way to end the game is what gave me the drive to explore. Exploring until the world runs out of content would get tiresome fast unless your a completionist so having a main plot just caters to a wider range of players and perfectionism xD.

Titanhex:i have played both Fable or Oblivion and completed them a few times though both where awesome i still wanted more content... though it could be just me since i did notice on other gameplays that i found quest that i didn't found on my first gameplay or i didn't found quest i found on my first gameplay, i intended to find all the subquest via internet and do them... i am not a completist, i just want to know wht there is to offer, like in fallout 3 the second caracter i made did all the sidequest and then ll the following characters did the quest that i found interesting in one way or another

i just cannot have a big place to run around in and see your point, the thing is i intended for it to have much history

Knot: then ill return to the original problem, wont all the other content outshine the plot if i make the game as i first thought

@ Your original problem: Yeah, it probably will. It did in Oblivion and Fable. Doesn't mean it won't be fun or that the plot won't serve it's purpose and benefit the game. There's a 99% chance it will.

a thought, would the problem disapear or would it become annoying if you had to do something like a questline in the major cities, smaler quest lines to smaller cities, in order to advance the plot and so it will be more apparent in contrast to a normal quested plot

Elaborate on this please.

take fire emblem you do one quest and advance in the plotline or other games where you only do a few quests to be able to advance the plotline, now what would happen if you created a similar game but with lots of content. to advance the plotline you will have to complete a series of say 10 - 15 quest in one place - wold that work as a solution or just be annoying

if i ask myself the same question then i think it would be a little bit of both

I think it could work really well actually. That'd be pretty innovative too. You have to get a series of events in every place to happen in order to advance the main plot line. Once everything is in place the major plotline continues along. I would very much so like to see that.

I don't think it'd be annoying at all, perhaps even fun. It'd of course be more focused on completionists but if done correctly and coherently you could create a very solid game. I say go with that idea. Mix them together. Doing the quests in different places sets the ball in place, then doing a single quest somewhere gets the ball rolling. Rinse, repeat, and vary it up some at different points to keep the idea fresh.

The only difficulty is that the quests would have to work somehow to set things in place. That would require further thought and many ideas on your part.

not to forget that there is supposed to be sidequest aswell, maybe ill do a hybrid of the two ideas ie. not to little quest and not to many quest in each areas to get it going.

I honestly think that's what most players want. Everybody in the RM community seems to prioritize gameplay, non-linearity, exploration, features, etc. way ahead of storyline, so... I think you'll be fine.

i have been thinking, what if i do this (what's quoted) but with an adition, the ability or lack of to do sidequest would be decided by your progress of the main plot

this is just an example so the numbers might be a bit of, anyway what if you started a new gameplay and you where only able to do 5 side quests out of let´s say 100 sidequests untill you do a part of the main plot which then allows you to further 5 side quests. i kind of like this idea though i do plan on a higher number of sidequest for availability depending on how far you have progressed on your main plot. and also not to forget is that there wouldn't be a need to complete the sidequest (since i do not aim this for the completist) as a requirement to begin the main quest - to clarify: it is not a requirement

I don't entirely understand what you're meaning about this, but since I'm going to be making a Fire Emblem game I'd appreciate a bit more defined elaboration on how you feel this would work.

have you played fire emblem? take FE The Sacred Stones for an example after the (what i call it) tutorial you race from point A to B. a quest being that you should reach a point, you get there kill some enemies/monsters, talk some and then one quest is done you can repeat this process, though i would call that, 1 quest. what i was proposing was that once you did that quest was to be able to explore the city or area for the chance of finding sidequest instead of just rushing from location to location.m If you however meant the number of main quests in one area, well then let us say you get to an area kill the enemies and do the talk, maybe you need to find something to continue and maybe you need to research it before finding it and then maybe you need to defeat a miniboss before finding it

quest 1
you need to find something but finds out that it´s location is hard to figure out, because of this you need to research it

quest 2
you research it and find where the latest location is known, but it just so happens to be that bandits now hold possesion of the item

quest 3
you pursue the bandits, find their hideout and eventually the boss, who once defeated drops the item, you now have to return so that you can continue your journey

now i do not know how you intend to do your game but if you intend it to be true fire emblem then you should stick to only a main quest doing the race questing. going from A to B Fighting Talking and continuing