Speaking on the Storytelling panel at this year's Games Convention Developers Conference in Leipzig, Germany, Oblivion designer Ken Rolston and adventure author Bob Bates have argued that games shouldn't try to shoe-horn in deep and complex storylines, because the medium has yet to properly integrate such complexities as part of interactive entertainment.

When asked on whether games should incorporate more involving plots, Rolston stated unequivocally that it was "the worst idea I ever heard." He explained that this was because of "our inability to pay off on all the choices that there should be available. It's so difficult to make a genuinely complex dramatic choice."

"As an author of a story you have to push a character into doing things it wouldn't want to do in order to grow the character. As a game designer it's not fair to make the player have to do that," added Bates on the topic.

On the subject of back story, Rolston argued for deliberate ambiguity, with environmental clues and hints, allowing the player to fill in their own blanks. Bates, meanwhile, isn't convinced: "What passes for story in most games is just revealed backstory, and that is really that. It can provide some context, but fundamentally it's uninteresting. I want what's in my mind to poison your mind, and that's not going to happen with ambiguity."

More from GCDC soon.

By Luke Guttridge