What is important about a story, especially a video game story, is the player''s involvement in it. He must care what happens to the protagonist or protagonists. But if you don''t make the world real, with metaphysical rules that must be adhered to and instead make yours an "anything goes" kind of universe, then there is nothing about the world that can reliably be said, nothing can really be acheived or known about it. In short, you have removed all possible motivations, from the search for truth, to the acheivement of some goal, or protection of some value, etc. These are the sorts of things you need to have a plot. Because the results of your actions cannot be predicted, there really is no meaning for any actions your character takes, thus no real motivation for your character to spring into action, therefore the story won''t seem real.

So, yes, metaphysics are important if drawing your player into the game world is important. As far as what your inhabitants beliefs are concerned, it certainly can help to create an immersive world but that''s a separate issue. I''m tempted to say that it''s also important. Mostly because I can''t think of a story where the beliefs of the characters are not important. And the beliefs of the populace invariably affect the individual, so that''s usually important too. Although it''s always better to show your characters acting on their beliefs rather than spending a lot of time telling the player what makes characters tick. A game isn''t a socratic dialogue, and action is better for a game anyway.

Beat monsters to death with a lollypop.
www.happybigfun.com

Solid metaphysics is about collision detection between ghosts, right ?

(Sorry )