*snip*
He's right. I know that every game, simply by playing through, will cause the player to 'see' a story, that they created themselves. That one can only be controlled so much by the story writers and designers. The 'story' referred to in the my first post means the one that
can be controlled by the designers, i.e the underlying story that unfolds through cutscenes, scripted events, characters and the like, the one that they write and try to instill into the game.
Let's take an example we all know; ST and ST:R. ST had a story; of that there was no doubt. The thing is, you couldn't really see the story, hidden as it was behind the bad gameplay, plot holes, forgettable characters and various other issues. The story was very much on the backburner, and ST to me seemed like a bunch of random missions that they wrote before writing a story and linking them together.
ST:R, on the other hand, took that story, overhauled it, fixed it, put it to the forefront. You've all played the gameplay before; there's nothing new in terms of gameplay. You're there to see the story, and I'm pretty damn sure you all saw it, whether from nearly being Shivan-jacked or escorting the science cruisers.
The story I think you're referring to, General, is the one you experience through blowing up Lokis, panicking at the Shivan On A Fighter; the one each player writes for himself as he plays.
That story that I'm referring to, however, is the one written into the missions, through triggers, scripts and the like is the 'story' I'm referring to. The one that exists way before you play the game, and is there to give backbone and hopefully bring the game to life.