I mean the developers go about making them deep and what not? (I actually went ahead and just about memorized the whole KOF storyline and character traits etc etc for the hell of it same thing with Street Fighter)
Any the point of this topic is, Do you actually take storyline’s in fighting games seriously? or skip them to get to ass kicking’s?
They’re not meant to be taken seriously. Giving each character a simple motivation makes their designs a little more intriguing, but the stories were never meant to be the point. Guile is in it because Bison killed his friend. Ryu is in it for self-improvement. Honda wants to promote the art of Sumo. That’s all you need to know.
Please note that this statement is especially meaningful because it comes from one of our foremost authorities on comic books. (Seriously.)
They can be fun and can make things more amusing/enjoyable but they’re never a deal breaker. People praise Guilty Gears storyline, but even that is a load of garbage in game (even though it’s cool in general when you cut out the ‘stupid shit that happens because it’s a fighting game’ nonsense). But it’s all good – its there if I want it and I still enjoy them as a guilty pleasure, but if it’s not there I hardly miss it at all.
Unless it’s a game from a pre-established IP. I went nuts for Hokuto No Ken. :3
Here’s how the story goes:
I pick a character. You pick a character. I win. End.
I’ll admit I do know more than most about the SF storyline (due to actually reading parts of Tiamat and vasil’s plot guide), but it isn’t a dealbreaker for me. Playing with somebody is always more fun than trying to discern the SF canon. They can get intresting from time to time but aside from that, I don’t care much.
I do want to see an Oro trained Ryu somewhere down the line though… That would be pretty badass, but I guess it’ll be somewhat like how Gouken plays right now in SF4.
Owned? 
No, on the real, I think that it depends on the fighter. Guilty Gear, for instance, is pretty story-driven, whereas most people don’t even know that Virtua Fighter has a plot.
damn, i know all of my storylines of all ym favorite fighters. shit, i know some of the story lines of some of the shittiest fighters (aof, wh, mk, ki). then again, i am somebody who finishes a game with ALL characters and needs to have his shit complete i.e. art galleries and shit like that.
storylines don’t matter in fighting games and I feel the same about FPS games. I just load them up and go straight to multiplayer without ever thinking about single player. Actually I don’t really pay attention to the story in any game I play. I’m all about owning bitches over here! :nunchuck:
I think it’s great if they have them…but by no means is it necessary.
For example, Soul Calibur, IMO, has a legitimately good story, with good characters, and interesting ties to real historical events.
But outside of Soul Calibur, most fighting games I know of don’t have particularly good or interesting stories.
Woah, maybe my OP wasn’t stated well enough to some of you 
I’m not trying to egg you on to give a flying fuck or not about them, just your opinion, besides all the people I used to play in fighting games moved away (they’re were very few to begin with), and some of them just don’t want anything to do with them anymore (they play FPS’s and RPG’s and shit) and so out of sheer boredem I decided to pay a little more attention to the plot’s and stuff, besides unless you have you eyes closed and ears plugged I don’t see how you can play (ANY) fighting game and not learn a damn thing about the characters or story whether you enjoy it or hate it :rolleyes:… besides I’m down with handing out ass kickings but now a days it mostly has to be done over X-Box Live
What sort of meaningful opinion could one possibly have on something like this?
If it’s there ok if it’s not ok.
We all WANT a good storyline, but bottomline:
Gameplay>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Story
it depends on the game
sf is plain silly after 2 so why bother
I think its fun to learn about the storylines of fighting game characters, especially of your fave character in a game. When I was young and impressionable I actually liked the Tekken storyline, lol. But as the games went on it started getting too ridiculous. So now I just look it up if Im bored or curious. I really like Guilty Gears storyline because at least they tried. I appreciate the extra effort.
Ultimately the story in fighters isn’t of paramount importance…obviously the gameplay, especially the multiplayer experience, is what matters most.
…
That said, anyone who says story has no importance at ALL either:
A) Is ignorant of any game but SF or VF
or
B) Is severely underestimating the draw of a decent plot and characters.
If you think there isn’t a significant amount of paying customers that care about the stories in Tekken, KOF, and MK at least somewhat then you’re dead wrong.
Like it or not, the money of fanboy scrubs is just as good as your dollar, and so 1P/Story mode is actually a draw for some players.
From a business standpoint, if you could make people care about your characters and draw them into the story then that equals more sales, so why WOULDN’T you at least try?
Yes, improved graphics, netcode, gameplay, etc. will always be much bigger draws for a fighting game but think about how much money those things cost in proportion to just writing a good cohesive plot, character backgrounds, and dialogue.
I mean, look at how much people criticize the VF cast as being boring and unoriginal compared to the Tekken cast, despite Namco ripping off just about damn near everyone to create their character designs. Christ, Nina was actually a blatant ripoff of Sarah, but now most people believe the contrary.
What’s the difference? The Tekken characters (mostly) have background depth, decent plots, better dialogue, more charisma, better voice acting, and just more style from their poses and mannerisms. Even little things like Bryan chuckling when Anna digs her highheels into his nuts just add up to make a more engrossing experience.
I think it is somewhat of a necessity if you want people to appreciate the characters. But for gameplay, it’s not necessary.
Characters in fighting games are important. The more a person can identify with his or her character, the more they’re likely to want to play that character and contribute to their metagame. A nice story behind a character helps to popularise them.
However, I don’t think that stories in fighting games need to be really deep and unique (well uniquity is always nice) but even so, I’d be happy with a ‘tournament’ setting and a bunch of reasons for the characters to enter.
storylines is good for jokes
^ This is true.
Good for jokes and memes.
Which are top tier for any fanbase.
A good storyline can make an otherwise unnoticed game get a little attention. If the gameplay is good then people might keep playing it.
I’m generally interested in at least learning the barebones of the games plot. It can make it more fun to pick certain characters.
Giving a character just a little background, even if it is a shallow reason like generic vengeance can make the game just a little more interesting.