Lore and Order: Miniature Wargames Unit

 


    Dad jokes aside, I must admit that the topic of lore is one that is pretty close to my heart. I will be the first to admit that for me I will be hooked by lore first and gameplay second. In the realm of videogames I will admit that both the Mass Effect, and Dragon Age, games hooked me not with graphics, gameplay or design but kept me interested with the story, world building, and lore. I have asked other gamers this fundamental question, and through this piece will ask the same of you my readers. 

    "Would you still play a game with no consistent, clear, or substantive lore?"

    I do not think that I could personally do so. I think when we talk about lore we often forget its purpose. To create a world, and for that world to have the various levels of depth required to provide a key outcome. Immersion, or emotional buy in for the audience. Whenever I see this in the various fandoms I move through they are always turning themselves inside out over the lore of their chosen properties. I like to sit off to the side like some David Attenborough and observe the cycles of nature play out again and again. Yet the conversation about the lore seems to completely ignore its purpose, or rather it paints a new purpose over the top of it. 

    At its base the lore serves to give both immersion and reason to the IP. It is the vehicle to take the audience into that work and get them invested. Take Warhammer for example if you strip away the lore and setting all you have is an incredibly expensive game of army men. It is like that insane radio commercial from GTA Vice City for the Degenatron videogame console. If you take away any and all lore why bother getting invested at all? What's the point? Why would someone take the time to push around weird expensive army men if they were not even slightly engaged in the story?



        There is another reason for lore to matter in an IP. It provides an official storyline for the fans. Fans new and old have something to link into and share. They have it in common, and have shared points of reference. Take for example Star Wars and the expanded universe. For decades various authors wrote their books to continue the adventures of our favourite characters. In addition to this we have a raft of videogames as well to further provide fans with stories, characters, and lore to follow in. Then Disney came along and well...

    They did not want to colour inside the lines whilst they moved forward and so they wiped the slate clean, and it had nothing with not wanting to pay royalties to those aforementioned authors ( https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/apr/28/disneymustpay-authors-form-task-force-missing-payments-star-wars-alien-buffy ). Yet sass aside this was the equivalent of ripping the skeleton out of the IP so that you can build on it again as you see fit. Which is exactly what Disney did. This divergence resulted in two separate lores for the IP the Disney Universe(DU) and EU. Take for example the two versions of Luke Skywalker's lore. In the EU you get him starting the new Jedi order and you can even go there in games like Jedi Academy (Brilliantly ported onto the Nintendo Switch by the way), you can have as he was presented in the DU. Where he makes a Jedi order tries to kill his nephew then disappears to milk weird sea cows. Now exaggeration aside you have two entirely different lore streams and fans that tend not to cross them. Moreover will angrily take eachother to task over it. What is lost here is that shared touchstone, that would otherwise provide that body of lore. 

Outta nowhere smashing expectations for spectacle

    Moreover, once you begin to erode, change, or otherwise retcon the lore it is very tempting to wholesale make changes whenever your new take requires it. Fans of Star Wars all know how much the Haldo ram scene caused friction between fans online. Yet there is no denying it was spectacular it ignited more arguments than who shot first Han or Greedo. Some of them even caught me because even in a world of 'lazersword fighting space wizards' I, and arguably many commentators, enjoy a modicom of internal consistency. When I saw this on the big screen I could not help asking questions. 
'Wait why not simply do this all the time?'
'How have they not weaponised this?' 
However, longwinded treatise on how lightspeed and Hyperspace aside it was a core piece of lore just whoofed aside for the sake of spectacle. Although there have been some creators in the DU who have voiced that they are chaffing against the lore. For example the writer for Kenobi complained about the confines of the lore after the release of the show. If only there was some kind of blueprint they could have used to make the show.

I,and I hope many others as well, value my time and money. It is partially I have become so unforgiving with my media and product engagement. If you do not hook me then I am out and if i sense you give zero fucks about your lore or internal consistency then I am out. To put it in business terms I would tongue in cheek call it 'consumer confidence'. If i have no confidence in the game, media, or IP then I do not invest my time and resources. 

This is not rocket science. Games with great lore get me invested. I pick factions, I banter, I can meme and joke. It deepens my appreciation and dare I say immersion. So I can feel like im doing something worth my time and resourses and not just buying glorified diy pop vinyls (https://kotaku.com/funko-pop-harry-potter-disney-mandalorian-landfill-1850278083 ). So again I ask you my readers. Do you think you does lore matter to you?

As always enjoy your hobbying and remember hospitality is sacred

-The Khan




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