SOOO

[Sailor Spoon]

I wanna know what makes a good story.

[Ryner]

Re: SOOO

Good characters.

[Big Rick Cook]

Re: SOOO

Believability, or plausible suspension of disbelief.

A logical progression of your story elements from one key scene to the next.

Characters who feel like real identities inhabiting a world that also feels like it has its own identity and is not merely a vehicle for the plot.

Plot devices, especially very obvious plot devices, to move the story forward are used sparingly.

Understanding of the language you're writing a story in and the ability to craft that language into interesting and unique sentences and scenarios and dialogue.

[Deeth Irteen]

Re: SOOO

An ending that doesn't feel forced to appease the soccer moms.

[Wavelength]

Re: SOOO

Aside from what everyone else said (Big Rick's advice in particular was excellent), here's a few more things that I feel can make or break a game's story:

Sympathetic characters who are likable and who really have a motive for what they're doing. They also should feel like they have a reason to be part of the story: don't focus on them for one arc and then have them tag along without doing anything of consequence for the rest of the game.

Good pacing. If your characters have a goal in mind at the beginning of the game, you can have them take a bunch of steps toward achieving that goal, or you can introduce twists to change the goal throughout the game. What's not good is when you force the player into performing all sorts of other deeds in the meantime to extend the length of your game. Ideally, the player should really feel like they accomplished something after completing every single story segment. Especially for RPG Maker games, short is better than meandering.

A deep world. Rick already mentioned this and I love that he did because it's SO important. The more the player can interact with the world outside of the main plot, the better. The more things go on in towns and other places without being tied to the main plot, the better. The more fun little touches players see, the better. The more your characters themselves interact with non-plot-essential elements, the better. It really helps draw people into your game.

Good integration with the gameplay. The more disconnect there is between your characters' actions in the story and your actions as a player, the less believable your story becomes. If you get a superweapon, don't make it a plot-only thing. If half the world got destroyed, make sure you see that when you're running around the world.

Believable dialogue. I can't stress how important this is. Characters all should have their own motivations, virtues, flaws, and styles. Make that come through in their dialogue, but be subtle. Just as importantly, make sure they don't all speak using your (the writer's) style; some characters will sound more brash, more calm, more confused, more frenetic, more intelligent, more amused, or more cynical than others, and that should show in their diction and word choice.

[Alzar]

Re: SOOO

Agree with Ryner. Good characters with interesting scenarios.