I have never really thought of myself as a lore person. I don’t go into an MMO and memorize the lore or the backstory, not even games I love. Sorry, Elder Scrolls and Guild Wars; your lore is merely part of the backdrop, not gospel for me. Even the Star Wars lore I’ve picked up isn’t on purpose. I kinda just don’t care about the specific lore of the story you’re telling.
But the setting? Now that, I care about. And I hadn’t thought of how those are two different things for me until I’ve been back in Lord of the Rings Online this past winter. Listen, I am not going to go memorize Tolkien lore. I am not even going to read the quest text all of the time (we all know a kill-10-rats filler quest when we see one). But I am all about the setting, the way just being in the world makes me feel, how it convinces me to care and believe. It’s not doing that through quest text or wikipedia pages. It’s doing it with landscaping, lighting, maps, and so on, with a consistency in visuals and tone.
Are you more about setting or lore 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!
