I am finding it much easier to create a fantasy world for a videogame than for a pen and paper campaign
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I am finding it much easier to create a fantasy world for a videogame than for a pen and paper campaign.
In a videogame, you won't get players trying to walk beyond the edges of the map or asking questions about things you have not prepared. It feels much easier to just come up with the stuff that you know is going to be relevant and not have to think about what my lie outside the play area. -
I am finding it much easier to create a fantasy world for a videogame than for a pen and paper campaign.
In a videogame, you won't get players trying to walk beyond the edges of the map or asking questions about things you have not prepared. It feels much easier to just come up with the stuff that you know is going to be relevant and not have to think about what my lie outside the play area.Some of the greatest video game settings out there _do_ ask those questions, though. My favorite example of this are the #ElderScrolls games, which have massive amounts of lore which might not necessarily be relevant to the plot, but which do wonders for player immersion - one day I want to do a "Let's Play #Skyrim with a Folklorist" stream.
(Incidentally, this is one of the things where I thought that #Starfield fell flat.)
Another good example are #HorizonZeroDawn and #HorizonForbiddenWest - there was a staggering amount of thought put into both the vanished world of the "Old Ones" and the various tribes of the present.
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Some of the greatest video game settings out there _do_ ask those questions, though. My favorite example of this are the #ElderScrolls games, which have massive amounts of lore which might not necessarily be relevant to the plot, but which do wonders for player immersion - one day I want to do a "Let's Play #Skyrim with a Folklorist" stream.
(Incidentally, this is one of the things where I thought that #Starfield fell flat.)
Another good example are #HorizonZeroDawn and #HorizonForbiddenWest - there was a staggering amount of thought put into both the vanished world of the "Old Ones" and the various tribes of the present.
@juergen_hubert @yora I think the Elder Scrolls could actually do with following through on its lore rather better in gameplay, that said.
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@juergen_hubert @yora I think the Elder Scrolls could actually do with following through on its lore rather better in gameplay, that said.
Eh, the lore itself is so contradictory that it could be interpreted in any number of ways. As it should be - consider how messy real world religion, mythology, and folklore can be!
And as a folklorist, I can appreciate how they keep "canon" vague and contradictory.
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Eh, the lore itself is so contradictory that it could be interpreted in any number of ways. As it should be - consider how messy real world religion, mythology, and folklore can be!
And as a folklorist, I can appreciate how they keep "canon" vague and contradictory.
@juergen_hubert @yora Yeah, I don't necessarily mean hammering it down, I just mean interacting with characters' beliefs about it more. Especially regarding religion: except the Talos controversies there's really only the odd quest here or there for Skyrim characters if you want to dig into the religious side for example (and most of the daedric stuff is daedra very directly poking you to clean their laundry or get their shopping rather than thinking about their cults).
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@juergen_hubert @yora Yeah, I don't necessarily mean hammering it down, I just mean interacting with characters' beliefs about it more. Especially regarding religion: except the Talos controversies there's really only the odd quest here or there for Skyrim characters if you want to dig into the religious side for example (and most of the daedric stuff is daedra very directly poking you to clean their laundry or get their shopping rather than thinking about their cults).
@juergen_hubert @yora Or another way to put it, there's not really a ton of interest available if you want to play most Elder Scrolls games as a priest or as a religious character, despite there being so much theoretical depth to those systems.
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@juergen_hubert @yora Or another way to put it, there's not really a ton of interest available if you want to play most Elder Scrolls games as a priest or as a religious character, despite there being so much theoretical depth to those systems.
One of the things I did like about #Starfield is that you could pick some background elements which had some influence on the story. Having parents around was pretty fun, for instance.
I would like to see something similar for The Elder Scrolls 6.
