Is non-storyline lore important to you?

[Ieo]

If I wanted to read a book, I'd get a book, I play games for it's gameplay and sure a good and elaborated story is good, like in PST, no need to stack books and books of content into the game to cater to a very little percentage of people that actually go through it all, most people don't even care enough to read all the dialogue.

most people don't even care enough to read all the dialogue.

I find it hard to believe that that's the case for the demographic that's demanding a return to the isometric RPG.

You would be surprised, for lot of people what they want is to blow up stuff with their fancy powers, not listen to a man whining about his hurt feelings or w/e

 

Considering the target audience and the hooks used, I wonder if you got lost on the Kickstarter page and accidentally clicked the wrong thing?

 

MMOs exist for a reason, it sounds like you're more into that. (Nothing against MMOs, I play one on the side as well when I do want to chop things up with minimal quest text.)

[Troller]

If I wanted to read a book, I'd get a book, I play games for it's gameplay and sure a good and elaborated story is good, like in PST, no need to stack books and books of content into the game to cater to a very little percentage of people that actually go through it all, most people don't even care enough to read all the dialogue.

most people don't even care enough to read all the dialogue.

I find it hard to believe that that's the case for the demographic that's demanding a return to the isometric RPG.

You would be surprised, for lot of people what they want is to blow up stuff with their fancy powers, not listen to a man whining about his hurt feelings or w/e

 

Considering the target audience and the hooks used, I wonder if you got lost on the Kickstarter page and accidentally clicked the wrong thing?

 

MMOs exist for a reason, it sounds like you're more into that. (Nothing against MMOs, I play one on the side as well when I do want to chop things up with minimal quest text.)

I didnt said I dont like reading, I said a good story is nice, but there won't be a single writer doing all the writing, and also not everywriter writes great all of the time, maybe he woke up and is pissed off at his life and does poor work, having a huge amount of lore is pretty much like expecting game developers to be like book authors, which I never expect in a game.

[Pop]

One thing I would like to see (and this is something I sort of expect what with Josh being a history buff) is uncertainty or possible bias coloring the commonly understood histories of the setting, and the notion that the tales you hear might be serving something other than the truth. This is something that the Dragon Age and Elder Scrolls settings do well, and I always appreciated it.

[RogueBurger]

I'm in the minority. I don't care about non-storyline lore. When I think back to a game like Baldur's Gate or Planescape Torment, I don't remember and cherish any of the fluff. I remember the characters for who they were in the game and how the interacted with me. I remember the choices I had to make, and the outcomes arose. I find fluff to just get in the way.

Edited September 16, 2012 by RogueBurger

[Parsifal]

The problem with fluff lore is that it requires phenomenal writing to be interesting, and that effort and talent should go into the quests, characters, dialogue, etc.

[IcyDeadPeople]

How important is lore fluff to you? Is it important? Do you feel it is unimportant?

 

Personally, I love finding books and other such items that you can read to find out more information about the history of the realm, other nations and people. I feel it really adds to the polished feel of the game and depth of the environment. Having said that, I always collect books and think of it as a mini game in a way. I like having somewhere to keep my collection.

 

I don't really see a distinction where any of the lore would not be story-related.

 

It's all one big narrative we are playing through - lots of lore books and side quests only serve to enrich that story and make it deeper and more interesting IMO.

Edited September 19, 2012 by IcyDeadPeople

[Monkcrab]

I'm setting/explorer type of player. The unimportant bits are more valuable to me than the important bits, actually. So. Yes.

 

That doesn't mean I want everything spelled out and explained ala DA:O though. Little mysteries and casual mentions of noodle incidents are great tools in making the world feel alive, as well as making you gradually learn about it as you go instead of dumping entire codexes on you at once (I do like codex dumping, but too much of it makes the setting stale). If anyone played Fallen London, basically a bit like that---that's one of the biggest draws of PS:T to me, in fact. The bit that stuck to me the most was not the main plot, as lovely as it was, it was freaking Es-Annon and the grave of names, the dude trying to talk to razorvine into growing. Small details like that.

Edited September 19, 2012 by Monkcrab

[Jarmo]

I don't care for in game or out of game books giving out background. I don't mind them, but don't read them either.

Well fleshed out game world is important though, and if the history comes up during the play, all for the better.

[Bobby Null]

How important is lore fluff to you? Is it important? Do you feel it is unimportant?

 

Personally, I love finding books and other such items that you can read to find out more information about the history of the realm, other nations and people. I feel it really adds to the polished feel of the game and depth of the environment. Having said that, I always collect books and think of it as a mini game in a way. I like having somewhere to keep my collection.

 

Collecting books? Surely you wouldn't want to carry them everywhere, would you? If only you have a place to store your collection. It would be even cooler if that collection had a tangible benefit for you. I remember old pen and paper D&D sessions where my wizard built a stronghold and had his own library (among other things). It was cool to get circumstance bonuses on lore checks while in my library. Hmmm... /jots down a few notes

[Terror K]

Very important. The world would feel fake and forced if everything revolved around the main story and plot entirely, and we'd end up with Pokemon Syndrome.

[incubus9]

One of my favorite books in terms of world building was the Wheel of Time series. I always loved the bits and pieces of history and lore interwoven into the story that really fleshed out the world. Having flavor text on items, stories told by tavern patrons, songs told by bards, always made me feel more immersed in the game. One of my favorite parts of the Elder Scrolls games was reading all the books I would find all over the world. Having that level of world building makes the story seem like something that didn't begin with the start of your adventure, and something that won't end when you finish.

[Blam]

Well its good when there is some geological/tactical/resource reason for settlements. Having some sense of history there makes worlds more intuitive and they don't feel so randomly generated. I don't know if its important to have as much as its noticable when it's missing, when townsfolk all feel like they've been churned out of a cloning machine last week.

[Umberlin]

Yeah, yeah it's important to me. In and out of the game, to find those little extras that make the world what it is. If you're making a role-playing game, a real role-playing game you need that information to make a character that really fits in the world you're playing in. You can't do that unless you have some basis. Otherwise you just hop into a game, and the storyline drags you along by the nose with no care for what sort of character you're playing. To make a background about who your character is, what they do and everything else you need that supposed fluff.

 

Otherwise your character might as well have appeared out of thin air.

[descalabro]

Yes, it's very important, specially when it's related to weapons and armour.

[Lucas]

It's absolutely important, it greatly enhances immersion and makes the whole world created by the designers more believable. Like I wrote in a topic yesterday, this would be achieved by created some sort of "codex" or lorebook akin to the one in Dragon Age: Origins or even The Witcher.