Breakfast Topic: Do You Care About the Lore?
by David Nelson 
Oct 31st 2006 at 8:00AM
Every time Blizzard makes any move that might upset the already established Warcraft lore, some players seem to get very, very annoyed. I personally don't grasp the lore well enough to know when Blizzard is putting something in the game that would conflict with some other piece of Warcraft history. Sure, I know why most of the factions do what they do, and the basic outline of the Warcraft universe up to this point, and I like to read the quests to get some further info, but I am by no means an expert. However, some folks most certainly are. And if the claims of many of the hardcore lore junkies are to be believed, some of the moves Blizzard has made, such as the faction placement and class selection of the new Burning Crusade races, practically ruins the game for them.
Are you a lore junky? Does it send you over the edge when Blizzard makes a game change that totally contradicts the history of Warcraft? Or do you simply not care?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
DÖT Oct 31st 2006 8:07AM
no
Ken Oct 31st 2006 8:26AM
I personally love the lore. I played Wc3 before WoW so that's probably why I'm a bit more interested. It is quite satisfying when it comes to meeting characters you've played as or met in a previous games.
That said, I don't care if they change the plot a bit to adjust it to fit WoW better.
D Barrett Oct 31st 2006 8:43AM
I think the people that know what Star Trek episode 22-5 is about or know who that guy "Grevious" sp. was at the beging of the most recient Star Wars movie care. I think I might start being intersted however when and if the movie ever comes out.
Bulletdog Oct 31st 2006 9:08AM
We are dealing with a game that has to accomodate keeping 7 million people happy most of the time, so as much as it must bug some people the overall benefit out weighs the need of the few.
John Oct 31st 2006 8:42AM
I love lore. For me, being immersed in Warcraft makes the game that much more enjoyable, so when I see Blizzard change something, it usually is a big deal to me. I have always been a paladin in games, and with Blizzard allowing the Blood Elfs to be paladins in the expansion, I not only think it is wrong, but goes against what a paladin is in general.
So basically, yes, lore means a lot to me.
Kryz Oct 31st 2006 8:56AM
I really do wish I had the motivation to get more into it. I played WC3, but never beat it as WoW came out, so I jumped ship in the middle. I've since gone back just to see how similar things were to WoW as far as landscape and things goes, and it was great seeing the story behind the places you would normally not look twice at while playing WoW.
Oh if I could only find the motivation to read the lore books in SM...
Ephor Oct 31st 2006 9:01AM
There's a difference between "lore" and what shows up in the quest window every time you play. I scarcely ever browse in-game text of any sort, but knowing the story from the manuals and in-game cinemas of previous warcrafts certainly adds to the experience.
That said, lore-quality and lore-consistency are two very different things, and I'd much rather Metzen coming out and say he messed up (see: Eredar lore) than trying to shoehorn new ideas into an old story, which if you've every heard about DC comics' crises you'd know, is never a good idea.
However, in any version of the lore Blood Elf paladins make perfect sense. They steal holy light using arcane techniques, what's so non-cannon about that? If you don't like horde pallies, fine, but lore is not the way to justify it.
Drewp Oct 31st 2006 9:04AM
the lore is so insanly rich from the story of medivh to the story of the brothers stormrage its like taking the LotR and making legolas a dwarf who was missing a leg and has a gambling problem
Md Oct 31st 2006 9:27AM
Do I care about the lore? Not particularly. I have read what's available on the Internet though.
I think what bugs me the most about WoW, in terms of lore, is that the two factions really shouldn't be fighting. The orcs aren't blood-thirsty killers anymore. If you read the lore in the game manual, it ends with a human leader (can't remember her name.. she's in Theramore) aiding Thrall in defeating her own father to save the truce between the orcs and humans.
But, now we're killing each other... with no new justifications given (that I've seen). It's not really like Thrall to fight for the heck of it. Taurens are hippies. Night elves are basically tasked with being the peace keepers of the world. Etc.
*shrug* Doesn't stop me from PvP (and only PvP).
PS: Ranking this week, yay. Stupid battle standard, boo.
Ravven Oct 31st 2006 9:30AM
Lore is very important if you play on a RP realm.
Even if you're not, I would think that history, lore and storylines being worked into quest lines would provide a much richer, more immersive experience. For instance, The Great Masquerade. Is the story essential to getting attuned? No, but how much more fun to have it play out this way. I did my first one on a PvE realm, not RP, and even so all my guildies who were in the area gathered in Stormwind, and we all walked to the keep, then participated in the fight. It was a lot of fun, and quite touching.
Ross Oct 31st 2006 9:38AM
Lore;
Stands for Lonely Overweight Retarded Elephants.
People take the stupidest shit too seriously sometimes.
Zabado Oct 31st 2006 9:48AM
I did, until the spaceberries landed... that sorta blew it for me.
hjungle Oct 31st 2006 9:48AM
Lore adds to the game’s immersion if, and I stress this, if you ware into that sort of thing. If you just want to run around, kill stuff, and collect items then you probably won’t care why there are a bunch of trashed wagons in the Wetlands or what’s up with that demon infested area in Ashenvale.
Personally, I love it. I love seeing little touches add to the game where I can stop and say, “Hey! I remember that!” or “Huh, I thought it’d be taller.”
Speaking of which, why not add some lore into your Around Azeroth shots? There are plenty of resources on the web and would take minimal research.
Sylythn Oct 31st 2006 10:20AM
I like finding new stories, whether in book or quest form. There's some really interesting stuff going on in Azeroth behind the scenes. I haven't followed Warcraft lore, mostly because I'm not a fan of the previous Warcraft-style strategy games - but I recently picked up "The Warcraft Archive" at the bookstore - which is a collection of the first 4 major storylines Blizzard created.
Draegan Oct 31st 2006 10:04AM
Eh, lore. To many people whine about it. The story is good, but this isn't a novel. The lore will be broken or added to it to justify game mechanics, hence BE Palidans. Get over it.
Unkle Oct 31st 2006 10:08AM
no.
SeiferTim Oct 31st 2006 10:19AM
I enjoy the lore to a point - I find it fun to find out about certain people, or events and then go somewhere in the game to see it first hand, and what's great about WoW is that the entire World is full of it's own history. It's not like some of those other games where they seem to throw some random feature in the environment, and then say "Oh, yeah, some battle happened there", Blizzard seems to have taken an active attempt to make it all mesh together. And it's not always the big things, like the instances, it's a lot of the little things that add up to a larger picture.
Theadrick Oct 31st 2006 10:37AM
I enjoy the lore, have played WC since WC2 came out, and find the backstory interesting and well written. Things like the Forsaken joining the Horde irked me, and the whole dranei thing... meh.
I do understand the reasons from a gameplay perspective however, even if it doesn't seem to fit lorewise.
So yes, I like the lore... but no, changes to the lore for the sake of gameplay don't kill WoW for me.
Melf Oct 31st 2006 10:49AM
I've played Warcraft since the original Orcs vs Humans. I have all the novels and enjoyed them thoroughly. That being said . . . I'm just glad that Medivh is being introduced into the storyline. Some of the questlines are awesome as far as lore is concerned (Raze'likh, VC, Strat/Scholo) but so many more are just mundane. I laugh everytime Nef starts talking about his shard progress and whenever C'Thun whispers me asking for a SM group.
I love the lore, but the new stuff isn't gamebreaking. It is NEW stuff, several years after WC3 is set, and it makes sense that it doesn't follow the "history" of it all. I would think that when Hyjal comes back into play that lore junkies will get a little more love though :)
Melf Oct 31st 2006 10:53AM
Oh, and I can't wait for Grim Batol either. That will be a lore lover's dream come true!