Does writing stories for games like CoD or Halo require skill?

[fireflame]

One day I imagined a story for Doom(it was not out yet) and someone said I should be hired by 343 Industries because the story was unoriginal and full of stereotypes. Which led me to think story modes, despite being removed from some series, are still played by many people who buy FPS or TPS. Despite the success of those story modes, those games are often criticized for having "dudebros" or uninspired stories about one guy saving the day.
So does it really require skill to write a story for a game like Halo or Call of Duty? Video game reviews often give the feeling that you could just walk inside the gaming studio, write a bland military story, and the job would be done,or that an AI or script could write the story.

 

[Iyagovos]

Yes.

 

[ASleepingMonkey]

Even if they follow stereotypes/cliches, they're still enjoyable and fun. Not to mention, characters people love and remember in both franchises. It takes a lot to make something as cliched or stereotypical as a Call of Duty campaign worth playing, they're awesome summer blockbusters and sometimes they do have genuinely great moments.

Not to mention I feel like Black Ops and Infinte Warfare are largely very original in the grand scheme of things.

It takes a lot of skill. You don't create Soap or Price from a lack of skill.

Edit: Anyone who has ever tried to write a story knows that shit is HARD. Even if you're doing a riff on something done already, it's not like someone is smashing their face into a keyboard and submitting what comes out.

 

[Deleted member 54320]

Sure that title will go down well.

 

[Deleted member 8861]

I would imagine it requires some skill to navigate the constraints of game development, especially such high-scale game development, as an author, regardless of premise.

That doesn't make the stories themselves better though. I don't think many dudebro AAA games really have good stories, but they still take sincere effort to create.

 

[nel e nel]

I dunno, I'm playing BlOps 3 right now, and it seems like the only skill set you need is how to search tvtropes.com

 

[Star-Lord]

Of course, it may seem dumb but let's be honest better then majority of people can come up with that right back to set peices.

 

[Daniel Westlake]

This feels like the dumbest question ever written.

 

[Karlinel]

No John, YOU are the demons!
Anything more coherent than that takes skill.

 

[ckareset]

Try it again right now and see how it turns out

 

[ASleepingMonkey]

I dunno, I'm playing BlOps 3 right now, and it seems like the only skill set you need is how to search tvtropes.com

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Yeah BO3 is a terrible CoD campaign, worst in the series if you ask me. Don't look to that as an example.

 

[Eumi]

Yes and it's a pretty shitty take to imply that they don't.

Both Halo and CoD have had interesting and creative writing, with Halo especially having ballooned out into a whole universe with books, short films and more capitalising in the narrative. CoD even tried its hand at non-linear, fragmented narrative with its Zombies mode between WaW and BO1, and whilst it was super B movie camp it has a really unique presentation that I haven't really seen in other games.

You should be better than this, honestly. It doesn't take much thought to see the work that goes into these games. Sure, not always, but it's there.

 

[zedox]

Wow.

Yea, it does.

 

[Silky]

God I hate this OP topic

 

[Kahoots]

Not really.

 

[Nilaul]

Introduce random alien species, that wants to kill off humanity for some generic reason, introduce a bold space marine who somehow commits genocide on a technologically superior alien race.


May I be hired now?

 

[mullfuchs]

Writing for commercial games is difficult mainly because narrative comes last, and thus writers have to shoehorn new story beats or major changes every time things are cut or changed, which happens incredibly frequently.

 

[Daniel Westlake]

Of course, it may seem dumb but let's be honest better then majority of people can come up with that right back to set peices.

Click to shrink...

No the f*** they can't. That's just a disrespectful statement to be honest, people think they can because they see it and then it seems obvious to them without realizing the fact that stringing together bombastic set-pieces without said set pieces becoming utterly tiresome instead of thrilling requires a different type of writing talent then is commonly appreciated.

 

[Cenauru]

There is a huge difference between an amateur script and a professional one. Doesn't matter on what kind of story it is, it's still extremely noticeable when someone doesn't know how to convey a story from ideas into a readable or watchable format. People saying they could do better probably don't write and think it's as easy as coming up with a scenario in your head.

 

[blonded]

You're really underestimating how much work actually goes into these

 

[GUNDAM STARDUST]

Silly question. Of course. And talented people do it.

 

[BraXzy]

Nah. Pretty much anyone can create a game universe with the same amount of lore as Halo in about... an afternoon?

Spoiler

What a ridiculous question...

 

[JusDoIt]

Absolutely. The very worst video game writing, movie writing, TV writing, comic writing, or whatever you can imagine takes lots of hard work and thought.

Oh, and by the way: COMING UP WITH IDEAS IS NOT WRITING. It's not even the start of writing.

 

[Hyun Sai]

Yes, as even writing a good OP requires skill too, obviously.

 

[Daniel Westlake]

Yeah BO3 is a terrible CoD campaign, worst in the series if you ask me. Don't look to that as an example.

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Hell as god-awful as Black ops 3 is the vast vast majority of people couldn't write anything approaching that narrative

 

[Kyoufu]

are you fucking serious lmao

 

[LegalEagleMike]

Halo writing may not be Oscar worthy but theyve created characters and worlds better than the vast majority of games. Also call of duty has put out some decent stories as well.

 

[ZhugeEX]

Yes.

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