Does Lore Matter?

SBFord

Does Lore Matter?

Does lore matter or is it wasted resources on something most PVPers just ignore? MMORPG’s own Timothy Eisen used to think the later but now he thinks the former, read on to find out what changed his opinion.

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Jermzy

Lore is the reason why some races cannot be certain classes....which is why i hate lore.

SEANMCAD

I never pay attention to Lore or story. The only exception to that is Elite Dangerous and the reason is because players can affect it.

Bloodaxes

I like to have a reason on why am I supposed to be the good guy and save those people.

So yes, I need a lore in my games.

jmcdermottuk

Lore is essential, it's the foundation upon which all the other building blocks rest. Too many games have a class that just doesn't fit or feel right and it's usually because there's no reason for it in the Lore. It doesn't have a foundation and feels wrong.

Lore is the basic starting point for your world building. Without it you may as well be dipping into a hat for random ideas.

Samhael

I usually don't pay too much attention to lore. It's nice to have around and to inspire developers but as long as whatever I'm doing isn't too glaringly dissimilar in feel to the surroundings, I'm ok with with or without it.

waynejr2

How many does lore matter threads do we need?

SEANMCAD

waynejr2 said:

How many does lore matter threads do we need?

more than one I think is reasonable

meddyck

I'm very disappointed in your pro-cake sentiments, Tierless.

Sovrath

Lore matters to me. It helps define what my character is and isn't and allows me to sort of "go with the lore" or "break with the lore" in a way that makes sense in the game world.

FaunNoe

Lore matters, but could matter even more if it was based upon the players. If they could drop everyone in a land with no lore and the lore would be built based around the actions/Non-action of the players. That would be interesting. 

SEANMCAD

FaunNoe said:

Lore matters, but could matter even more if it was based upon the players. If they could drop everyone in a land with no lore and the lore would be built based around the actions/Non-action of the players. That would be interesting. 

yes that is exciting and its not a stretch to see how interesting it could be at least from those who have imagination. 

If I was to design a game that would be one of the key cornerstones of the game, as well as a system of player created quests, allow players to become nobles in the world in a way is not just title only.

ceratop001

Lore most of the time reminds me of unnecessary commercials. If lore affects your character in a substantial way I get it, but most of the it is just annoying and poorly translated

SEANMCAD

ceratop001 said:

Lore most of the time reminds me of unnecessary commercials. If lore affects your character in a substantial way I get it, but most of the it is just annoying and poorly translated

it does. it feels like stuff the developers just assume the game needs and players just assume they want.

that is how i see it, I think both need to experience life without it and see how that roles for awhile

Volgore

Lore not always matters, but GOOD lore always matters.

Good lore, delivered in an intersting, involving way.

#goodlorematters!!

rvhausen

Lore played a big part in drawing me into the original world of DAoC. I suppose it matters less in a pvp arena, but I'm hoping CU is better than that.

SEANMCAD

rvhausen said:

Lore played a big part in drawing me into the original world of DAoC. I suppose it matters less in a pvp arena, but I'm hoping CU is better than that.

wait...the lore of DAoC was that compelling to you?

Krynt0k

Me too seanmcad. Who didn't want to go to camelot and see the round table? Our used to all meet up and have guild meetings in person at a round table. Maybe nowadays it's not that intriguing. But when everything was still new and shiny it definately mattered! I miss the social days of role play

Caerulei

I can only enjoy games with a well made world and lore. Does not matter how good the gameplay or mechanics or community are, I will not stick to a game that lacks in the lore department. Lore is the only reason I progress in the game (to see what's next).

SEANMCAD

Krynt0k said:

Me too seanmcad. Who didn't want to go to camelot and see the round table? Our used to all meet up and have guild meetings in person at a round table. Maybe nowadays it's not that intriguing. But when everything was still new and shiny it definately mattered! I miss the social days of role play

but you dont need a game that gives you the approval to role play as Knights of Camloet to do it anyway. All you need is a castle and a table that is round.

mgilbrtsn

I don't really pay attention to lore but I do like flavor.  By this I mean that I don't know the specifics of the lore, but I like the consistency and the 'highlights' that further the adventuring.  However, I don't listen to long speeches or read books.  

Sovrath

SEANMCAD said:

Krynt0k said:

Me too seanmcad. Who didn't want to go to camelot and see the round table? Our used to all meet up and have guild meetings in person at a round table. Maybe nowadays it's not that intriguing. But when everything was still new and shiny it definately mattered! I miss the social days of role play

but you dont need a game that gives you the approval to role play as Knights of Camloet to do it anyway. All you need is a castle and a table that is round.

I don't think it's about approval. It's about an immersive world where "that one spot" holds the same meaning, at least starting out, to everyone.

If everyone in the game knows "that is the round table" then it has weight to those who care about it "being the round table".

Just like, say, in Lineage 2, the School for Dark Arts was probably THE place where the brown elves learned dark magic and then were referred to "The Dark Elves" after they broke with the Light Elves and had their forests cursed.

It allows one, for those who care for such things, to feel what has happened before. I often wondered about the giant swords on the Forsaken plains outside the giant's cave and wondered if those were used by the giants before they were destroyed by the gods.

SEANMCAD

Sovrath said:

SEANMCAD said:

Krynt0k said:

Me too seanmcad. Who didn't want to go to camelot and see the round table? Our used to all meet up and have guild meetings in person at a round table. Maybe nowadays it's not that intriguing. But when everything was still new and shiny it definately mattered! I miss the social days of role play

but you dont need a game that gives you the approval to role play as Knights of Camloet to do it anyway. All you need is a castle and a table that is round.

I don't think it's about approval. It's about an immersive world where "that one spot" holds the same meaning, at least starting out, to everyone.

If everyone in the game knows "that is the round table" then it has weight to those who care about it "being the round table".

Just like, say, in Lineage 2, the School for Dark Arts was probably THE place where the brown elves learned dark magic and then were referred to "The Dark Elves" after they broke with the Light Elves and had their forests cursed.

It allows one, for those who care for such things, to feel what has happened before. I often wondered about the giant swords on the Forsaken plains outside the giant's cave and wondered if those were used by the giants before they were destroyed by the gods.

but again. if you RP and your RP group says 'this table is the round table' then its the point of intrest.

I am not suggesting that the lore in your example doesnt have impact I think it does. I just dont think it has that MUCH impact but it appears I am wrong.

I doubt I will ever understand so fair enough

ApexTKM

As a pvper, I find lore very relevant, how empty it would feel, to fight people without faction symbols or general weapons, would feel very meh, thats why there has to be lore. To keep things interesting. I stopped playing some FPS games(those FPS games weren't very good either such as CoD) because they phased out the story to put more resources towards multiplayer instead of the story. If its not that great of a fps game I expect to play it for the story, ya' know? Its a shame.

Stop the stereotype of pvpers not caring about lore. I think it plays an integral role in PvP. Without lore I don't see the point in pvping if theres like no background to the conflict. I'm not going to DB this guy because the game says so, I'll DB the guy because my faction and the lore says so.

Wizardry

To me Lore matters but just like the entire game,it all has to be designed around each other.

That is why i detest linear questing which then becomes end game loot chasing.These two ideas have NOTHING to do with a game world,nothing to do with Lore and in all honesty none of the game world matters except chasing yellow markers around all game until end game loot chasing.

I can put it in another way,why bother to even make a game world and have Lore if all you do is chase yellow markers around?Why create the entire game universe if all you want to do is race to end level to chase the best loot?I detest that type of gaming because in reality,all you need to do is create an empty blank world,just plot down some yellow markers,create some instance maps and that is your game in a nutshell.
So yes Lore and my entire game existence should be centered around that lore,the combat should have the lore built into it,the quests again same thing.The stories should be centered around the Lore as well.I don't want some random "living story" crap where we just make up random shit as we go along.I don't want to see a Lego map or a super Mario theme map when that has NOTHING to do with the Lore of the game.I think you can see i am pointing the finger at GW2 and how the game is just a random mess of ideas with no real solid thought out design around Lore.Yes they did a good job in creating some story or prelude to the game,but i need to see that in the entire game not in some prelude speech.

Now one game that TRIED to do it right was that Trion game...Defiance,it built up the lore and tried to recreate it to the tee in the game.Just too bad not enough creativity and effort went into the game or it could have been good.

Sovrath

SEANMCAD said:

I doubt I will ever understand so fair enough

Well, that's the thing, I'm not a "role player" like other people are role players. But I do like playing a "role" in the world and creating a backstory and aligning with, or breaking with, what the world has defined as notable places, people, artifacts, etc.

Heck, I changed the color of my Valkyrie's hair in Black Desert as I didn't realize that Valyries in their academy were all red heads.

Now, I "could" have kept the different color hair and created a reason why it was different but for this character I felt that aligning with that academy felt more interesting so that is why the change.

I'm not going to go out and "role play" as a Valkyrie but I like the idea of creating a "character" and having that character be a part of the world, it's interesting to me.