Why is gameplay > lore?

[Hardkorr]

There are blue posts that justify that the reason why certain events aren't shown in game is because Blizz believes that the gamplay is more important than the lore. Therefore, implementing the events in the game, for lore's sake, would mess with the gameplay. However, one of the many things that make videogames such a unique medium is that gameplay is the lore. The way characters act, react, and pretty much all the action establishes progression and characterization. Why bother having books, comics, other mediums that deeply affect the lore instead of just containing them as asides or isolated events that help characterize individuals? Why not focus on the gameplay first and have the lore spring from the encounter design instead of treating them as separate things?

[taliey]

Because World of Warcraft is at its a core, a game.

Sure as a game, it puts much more weight on lore, and that lore is usually what drives the game in the first place, but what most people have to recognize is that World of Warcraft is fundamentally a game.

All the best lore in the world won't compensate for the fact that your game sucks.

CoD is a good example of a game with no lore that succeeds. World of Warcraft simply incorporates more lore into their gaming experience.

Also, regarding not having lore events, time and resources are vital. Game developers have to decide whether to implement events that have lore or not, so the dimension of acceptability and feasibility is introduced. Sure having more events is nice, but it has to meet the bottom line of whether it enhances the gaming experience or not.

Lore compliments the game; not the other way around. Lore serves the game; not the other way around.

[Hardkorr]

We're actually agreeing on the same thing. Lore stems from gameplay in videogames. I'm not asking for main lore events to be in game, but rather for game events to be the main lore. However, that is not the case due to major lore events being in other mediums. So to clarify I'm confused as to why Blizzard treats lore and gameplay as different things, with one having greater value, when in reality gameplay is the lore. Hell, even CoD has lore in multiplayer, but most people don't care to recognize it.

[Belloc]

Because this is a game, not a book.

[dashflash890]

There are blue posts that justify that the reason why certain events aren't shown in game is because Blizz believes that the gamplay is more important than the lore. Therefore, implementing the events in the game, for lore's sake, would mess with the gameplay. However, one of the many things that make videogames such a unique medium is that gameplay is the lore. The way characters act, react, and pretty much all the action establishes progression and characterization. Why bother having books, comics, other mediums that deeply affect the lore instead of just containing them as asides or isolated events that help characterize individuals? Why not focus on the gameplay first and have the lore spring from the encounter design instead of treating them as separate things?

Because I don't give one single fuck about lore. And many others dont either. This is a game not story time.

[Deleted]

cuz a GAME is about GAMEplay. See what I did there? Did you really need to make a post about this shit?

[ComputerNerd]

Gameplay is what keeps players paying.
The game is not trying to replicate some fixed and already described lore, but has to have new lore invented and holes filled where there simply wasn't anything.
That is going to result in contradictions, and lore which screws around with gameplay.

[StationaryHawk]

It's much easier and less time consuming to portray some events through books than in-game, I presume. Additionally, it allows you to explore a few more angles than an in-game event would in my opinion.

[Deleted]

Because this is a game, not a book.

Most games tell stories.

[Sesto]

Because I don't give one single fuck about lore. And many others dont either. This is a game not story time.

Story is an aspect of a game, you know. It's like saying "i don't give a fuck about the OST, this is a game not a concert" or some other stupid thing. You might not care about that aspect of the game, but many others do.

Anyway, on to the actual topic, the answer is obvious as others have pointed out. For most games, gameplay trumps story, and World of Warcraft is one of those games.

[Deleted]

snip

Could you specify the events you speak of?

[Zka]

Because you play the game, not the lore
I don't even understand people who are interested in the lore, all honestly. It's pretty irrelevant when it comes to how enjoyable your raid or pvp content is.

[Aquamonkey]

There are blue posts that justify that the reason why certain events aren't shown in game is because Blizz believes that the gamplay is more important than the lore. Therefore, implementing the events in the game, for lore's sake, would mess with the gameplay. However, one of the many things that make videogames such a unique medium is that gameplay is the lore. The way characters act, react, and pretty much all the action establishes progression and characterization. Why bother having books, comics, other mediums that deeply affect the lore instead of just containing them as asides or isolated events that help characterize individuals? Why not focus on the gameplay first and have the lore spring from the encounter design instead of treating them as separate things?

They only say gameplay>lore when there is a conflict. When implementing something in game just for the lore would yield a bad gaming experience or take away dev resources from something else that would yield better gameplay.

They've cut quite a lot of lore-building things that would have good gameplay just because they didn't have time to get around to it.

[ACES]

Lore doesn't matter. What matters is what you're doing when you play. If you want lore read the books, if you want fun log in and play.

[Sesto]

Because you play the game, not the lore
I don't even understand people who are interested in the lore, all honestly. It's pretty irrelevant when it comes to how enjoyable your raid or pvp content is.

I'm not sure what's so hard to understand, lol. Some people just enjoy fiction; it's not exactly a hard concept to grasp.

[grimsanta]

Well, they used to say that it was hard to convey story in an MMO, and that was certainly true. But now they have scenarios that are key to the progress of your character, so it's really not an excuse anymore.

But books are easier, can still go into more depth, and are another revenue generator.

If I had it my way, the would alternate WoW expansions with Warcraft RTS series, to expand the story. The reason that so many people felt that cata and MoP came out of nowhere was because they had a weak lore background. The reason WotLK was so popular was because of W3 and W3:TFT.

Sigh, I really wish there was a Starcraft MMO, that story was so much better, though HotS left something to be desired.

[WarlockTriqz]

I simply think it's laziness. For example, the Theramore scenario when it was first released at the end of Cataclysm. This could have been so much more with a fairly small amount of development. A few simple quests before and after the scenario would have helped out tremendously. But, instead, we have this scenario with absolutely NO context to it. If you wanted to know what was going on, you had to read a book. And, what happened during this scenario that no sees...a major lore character (Rhonin) is killed, sacrificing himself to save Jaina. In game, you don't find out this information until the Isle of Thunder solo scenarios. I'm pretty sure that heroes of our renown would have learned that information quite a bit sooner than that if a major faction leader died.

Story gives the gameplay context. The gameplay gives us the chance to simulate ourselves doing something epic in a fantasy world, rather than just reading about it. IMO, story and gameplay should go hand in hand.

[Jester Joe]

Because you play the game, not the lore
I don't even understand people who are interested in the lore, all honestly. It's pretty irrelevant when it comes to how enjoyable your raid or pvp content is.

I would disagree with this. I'm not a huge lore nut, but I'm pretty sure all the lore behind the Lich King made him way more of an enjoyable victory than beating Garrosh up. At least to me it would of, so you can't really claim lore is irrelevant.

[foxHeart]

Most people don't care about the lore so it doesn't get attention, whereas a game like Bioshock Infinite, people who play it are more than likely looking for a heavy emphasis on story. And seeing as Blizzard is a business, they cater to what gets them bank. They focus on gameplay and get authors to do their work for them because that's what big franchises do - they stick their fingers in everything possible. Shirts, toys, keychains, whatever.

[bison91]

i the one who play WoW coz of lore...i would not dare to pay for disc and ofc not monthly sub...
I care less for the gameplay... one thing that i like is alterac valley..besides lore...i hate raiding and will never raid coz of gear..its boring and wastes too much time.
+ they are trying...they try to add more lore into WoW..in every Xpac there are more and more cooler cinematics and quests in which main vilians/good guys exist and we can experience it besides killing antagonists and and then show "the end"...wod must bring even much more and progress much more then now...and WoD is an example of where should be showed a very good storyline not just one boss..whole bunch of them