VG247 put up an interestung piece this week discussing in part the Assassin’s Creed franchise, which I realize is not an MMO, but the gist was that Ubisoft Montreal has been pulling away from “historical accuracy” to simply tell a better story.
“We’ve always used the excuse, ‘History is written that way, so that’s the way it should happen. […] While we have found many other explanations for many other things through the power of the Animus, a game is not a movie – the minute you push up on a thumbstick you’ve made a decision to move left or right. We shouldn’t hide behind the excuse that that’s the way history happened – you’re making decisions every second you’re playing a game.”
Granted, Marc-Alexis Côté is talking there about creating player agency, but I thought it would make an interesting topic, and it’s one that comes up a lot in MMOs and multiplayer games, whether we’re talking actual history or sacred lore – about female soldiers in period pieces or playable dwarven gals in Lord of the Rings.
I already know I’m not much of a lore purist; I’m reminded of that every time I see a lightsaber battle in Mos Eisley during a time when no Jedi existed. But while I roll my eyes at the glowsticks, I’m still staunchly over in the “if it’s fun, let’s do it, and who cares what the lore says” camp when it comes to gaming. How about you? How much of a historical or lore purist are you in MMOs?
Every morning, the Massively Overpowered writers team up with mascot Mo to ask MMORPG players pointed questions about the massively multiplayer online roleplaying genre. Grab a mug of your preferred beverage and take a stab at answering the question posed in today’s Daily Grind!
