What ho,
The thought struck me the other day.
- Starcraft 2 & Heart of the Swarm - Great story, soon to be concluded with Legacy of the Void.
- World of Warcraft & Warlords of Draenor - A questing-experience which ranges from OK to great depending on zone, but hardly any story at endgame.
- Diablo 3 & Reaper of Souls - Very short campaign, finished in a couple of hours. Decent story, but heavily criticized for being too shallow.
- Hearthstone - Utilizes old lore, but doesn't create lore.
- Heroes of the Storm - Utilizes old lore, but doesn't create lore.
- Overwatch - Has no campaign mode, although it will tell some story via other means, such as environmental storytelling and character bios. Regardless, primarily a multiplayer game using its lore as a loose framework.
It seems to be that right now, Starcraft 2 is the only game that emphasises lore as much as its multi-player aspect - and that trilogy is soon to be concluded with no good chance of additional installations within the next 5 years at least, probably.
I remember back in the day, when games like Starcraft, Warcraft 1/2/3, and Diablo 1/2 were extremely focused on telling great stories. Fun gameplay has always been at the forefront with Blizzard, but it has never gone without an epic journey. Arguably, lore is what made these games popular to begin with.
What do you think - is the Blizzard of the future just an eSports publisher focusing all their resources on compelling multiplayer gaming; are we just hitting a low point by sheer accident; or are there great things to come?