Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a story-driven single player game; I just don't need them in my mmo's.  I have three principal issues:- 

Firstly, it always seems slightly absurd that I am 'the' hero, when I know full well that the hundreds of people who completed the quest before me, and the ten people gathered around me speaking to my npc, are also the same hero. 

Secondly, the stories are generally too prescriptive.  My character is no longer my own, it is performing someone elses actions and speaking someone elses lines. 

Finally, it is bloody expensive.  Voice acting and cutscenes on every little 'kill ten rats' quest (SWTOR) drains money that could be better spent on more mmo-y features. 

They are my thoughts on the matter, please feel free to add your own.   

All what i want in game is longevity good gameplay, to be addictive. Don't want perfect graphics with empty world, if i want good story i will read book or i will be play single player game.

I will take for example DDO anyone who play this game will be know what features have this game turn aside some p2w things. With some more effort this game will be perfect.

No, personal stories are not needed for a successful mmorpg. Many people forget what the last 3 letters mean..... role playing game,

for those that dont know what RPG means:

"Role-playing refers to the changing of one's behaviour to assume a role, either unconsciously to fill a social role, or consciously to act out an adopted role"

I feel a good mmorpg needs a good balance of other features to allow this to happen. Most newer games center on either pve or pvp. You neglect so many other types of players by doing this. And the excuses for this is absurd. You need pve, pvp, crafting, social hubs, interaction, a good sized world, housing, animal/creatre interaction, and so much more to give us the tools to role play. Not hand us a story and lead us down a set path and tell us what to do.

Story can only get your character so far. Once its done, your character is stuck in a loop of doing dailies, raids, and warzone over and over as content. To me this is not a good game style. Why i prefer sandboxes and games that give you tools to make your own future and the freedom to explore the full game.

People that need a story, just arent creative or lazy in my book. Its not what mmorpgs are about and it has turned the genre into the fast and easy games of your console rpgs. Then people wonder why the games only last a few months and go f2p as a result. Complain constantly that the game didnt live up to the hype.......... how can it when all it has is story and nothing else.

I am glad many dev teams are taking a stand against wow success and trying to follow them. Happy to see a large number of sandboxes coming out finaly. I think majority of people are bored and tired of these newer games. Its the same old stuff. This will help promote competition and get the themepark devs back on their toes and perhaps we will get better games from both ends.

Originally posted by ShakyMo
I found personal story boring in swtor and even more noting in gw2, although thankfully in gw2 the story is purely optional.

The story was good in tsw, it would have made a fantastic sprpg.

I very much preferred the way GW2 handled it.  The way SWTOR did it actually sort of killed the game for me.  I could pvp for experience (at an outrageously unnacceptable rate but it was possible) but still was left having to do the story or just not really be able to play higher level areas at all.  That coupled with the fact that in that game i was forced to grind through the same boring story that i didn't even enjoy the first time if i wantd to make an alt of the same basic class...

GW2 was fine though in that Its there for those who want, but can just be ignored and you can pvp to 80 instead and be fine.

truthfully though, in the spirit of the topic, i agree with the others who would rather just see the resources spent on better game systems put into place.  Maybe theres a demographic out there though who feels the storyline makes or breaks the game.  I'm just not certain why those people would be playing MMORPGs.

edit: i'm not really trying to bash SWTOR's story as boring. I find ALL story bits in games boring.  It is quite a personal preference of mine and nothing more. I am a poor judge of story quality.

Do we need a prescripted, choose your own adventure, type of personal story? I say a big hell no to that. What players of a massively mutliplayer role playing game need are tools and events to where they can create stories themselves.

For example "A river dragon has crawled out of the river and is rampaging through the city", or "The mighty barbarian horde approaches", or even "I don't know about you but I've about had it up to here with living in a mud hut in the middle of the swamp, why don't we band together and build a city out of stone where we have something better to use as toilet paper than leeches?"

Those are ways players can feel they are a part of the game world and actually matter. The way its been done traditionally they just end up being one of many faceless clones standing in line to aquire their own personal "One true sword of destiny". Which makes the whole endeavor entirely pointless.

I finished about level 50 in my personal story on GW2 but leveled to 80 so from what I did in that game, I guess I don't care as much about personal story as other things since I didn't jump to finish it.

I agree, the whole "You are the hero" schtick is a little tired. If the NPC knows everything that needs to be done and even where to do it and how, it does make me wonder why they are waiting around for me, agoraphobia or what. The worst are when they have some uber weapon that will do the job and hand it to me, then I just want to walk away. If all you needed was this weapon to be used, you don't need me because it's right there in your hands.

No. Single-player games are my "personal stories". I think the optional route GW2 took is quite good, but I'd still prefer that money going somewhere else.

Single-player stories in instanced games like GW1 or Diablo are fine, though.

Originally posted by elocke
I think they should be necessary.  The best MMOs I've played:  FFXI and Lotro were filled with awesome storylines that made them different from the rest of the offerings in the genre and make me keep coming back for more and their updates.  Games without a personal storyline, even as a side option always end up boring me i.e. Eve, SWG, WoW, Rift(yes some of these have storylines, but they aren't reliant on my character to be told).

As you seem to put so much weight on single player storylines I think you need to ask yourself why are you playing an MMO instead of a single player RPG?

Originally posted by Yamota
NO. Stories which does not make some sense in a MMORPG setting has no place in an MMO. It is a cop-out by devs instead of trying to flesh out the virtual world.

As much as i'd love to agree with your statement, i have seen first hand what happens in a "fleshed out world" if the Dev's dont put something in to make you understand how the world works. FoM for example just dropped you in the middle of a game with a very Deep Virtual World, However because people were just getting drop into the middle of it the majority of players just simple thought "Gank Time"

My opinion is that you NEED something to start the player base off, like how EvE opens up. Without it you the game will crumble quickly. THis is why i say you need the community, and given that we had a Massive influx of people coming from Call of Duty, We need some kinda story to give them perspective.

Originally posted by Yamota

Originally posted by elocke
I think they should be necessary.  The best MMOs I've played:  FFXI and Lotro were filled with awesome storylines that made them different from the rest of the offerings in the genre and make me keep coming back for more and their updates.  Games without a personal storyline, even as a side option always end up boring me i.e. Eve, SWG, WoW, Rift(yes some of these have storylines, but they aren't reliant on my character to be told).

As you seem to put so much weight on single player storylines I think you need to ask yourself why are you playing an MMO instead of a single player RPG?

Maybe because he is not a MMO purist and is going with the flow? MMOS have eveolved and are still changing and are not confined into rigid definitions or rule sets anymore.