Off-Topic > All of all!

Is Lore That Mondo Important?

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Zoltar:
Yo, brahs! I'm here cause like I keep working on my game and then stopping in the middle saying "Wait my lore could totally be better and bomb less if I did this". I mean I know that's why some people even bother playing a game series like Undertale, Lisa,Bendy Off or FNAF.

But how important is Lore? Is it so important we should get it right the first game out? Or is it okay to wipe out once or twice and build a life preserver while you are like in the tumble cycle? Don't games do that?

Prpl_Mage:
I have to admit that I have no idea what that last sentence said but anyway.

The setting of the game is probably what gets attention, not the lore itself?
Lore is important as long as it adds something to the game. A game with good lore incorporates it into the game and makes it matter. Bad lore is when you just throw stuff at the player that just really adds nothing, the last two Final Fantasies did this unfortunately. JRR Tolkien is the master of Lore, he made lore for every single thing in his books which is why we even have Simmilarion to begin with - however that doesn't make it good, in fact it is very tedious to read some of his chapters because the lore derails the quest the characters are undertaking.

Donut:
 I don't think the lore in itself is important (many games don't bother and they are still very good games). However it shows you put thoughts into your world, and that it's not just random.
There are, in my opinion, two good ways to make lore:
- Using rich sidequests (makes them more interesting).
- Spanning in several games, but not too much in each individual games (Ivalice, anyone? I think this is still the greatest universe ever made to date - although FFXII was a bit out of the scope with all the encyclopedia entries of several pages).
And some bad ways, in my opinion again:
- Through items/equipment, etc... Like Souls game. It's tedious, it's useless, it's anti-fun, it's not interesting. I love reading but there's literally no point in those games, especially when two pieces of equipment often contradicts each other.
- Through encyclopedia... Like FFXIII, FFXV for example. Once again, I realise it's entirely not mandatory (except maybe for FFXIII?), but if the player is interested, discovering the universe through pages and pages in game is very boring. Either make a book of it, or make the discovery playable. It will make the player more enthusiastic, and he/her will remember more of it and its uniqueness.

So definitely, it's not mandatory, but I think lore can be nice to create optional PLAYABLE stuff. If you just want to make item description and encyclopedia, just do not bother. Most players won't bother either, so what's the point?

Moosetroop11:
I learnt this lesson when writing books. Never tell your reader something just because you want them to know it. It has to serve the story. If it's incredibly, mondo mondo MONDO important, then you have to work your story into a place where that information can be learnt, but if the story doesn't need that information, then the player doesn't need to know it either. It's all about letting go and accepting that the player is the most important thing.

I remember a review of The Old Man and the Sea which said something like "Not a word has been wasted."

zuhane:
I think the most immersive experiences draw you in without really ever explaining stuff and leave you to make your own
assumptions. Basically if you don't shove exposition and stuff down someone's throat and just make it feel more like you're watching
something unfold, it seems to be more interesting. It then leaves people to kind of fill in the gaps and expand on your lore for you.

So you could make lore available via optional notes or sidequests, but I always think it's cooler to do it subtly through characters and visuals
instead of directly stating something.

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