I know I’ve harped on this before but playing Fallout New Vegas has brought me back to a persistent problem in RPGs: motivating the main quest. I know I’m not the first to say that FNV has a singularly un-inspiring beginning. I’ve just been shot dead in the course of doing some seemingly pointless delivery for some faceless client. By a stroke of good fortune, I’ve been brought back to life. What do I do? Of course, I should go and find the person who shot me!
Or… I could happily stay out of their way, figuring that life is cheap in a nuclear wasteland and I’ve already pushed my luck to breaking point. Who really cares about a lost poker chip anyway? Maybe I should just spend my time in this bar buying drinks and fleecing the locals at Caravan.
(more…)
(or, at least, the more readable summary 
, by Christopher Vogler). I do not intend to review that book here, but rather respond to Michael Abbott’s recent post on 
