Most important of the two... 

Action.

Multi-player

Why else would I bother with an mmo? They're typically lacking in both action and story when compared to single player games which can focus more on those aspects.

Originally posted by bronecar

The way I see it, gameplay should always come first, followed by a solid background story. After all, MMORPG's are not novels.

 

I strongly believe they should coexist, but if I were to choose, I'd say drop the lore and go for the gore.

 

So what are your thoughts on the matter?

I agree with you. Gameplay first, everything else second. If the gameplay is not good, people will not play in the long run.

Originally posted by bronecar

The way I see it, gameplay should always come first, followed by a solid background story. After all, MMORPG's are not novels.

 

I strongly believe they should coexist, but if I were to choose, I'd say drop the lore and go for the gore.

 

So what are your thoughts on the matter?

Lore. No doubt. Without a story of interest, there's no investment or interest in the outcome.

Originally posted by TUX426

Originally posted by bronecar

The way I see it, gameplay should always come first, followed by a solid background story. After all, MMORPG's are not novels.

 

I strongly believe they should coexist, but if I were to choose, I'd say drop the lore and go for the gore.

 

So what are your thoughts on the matter?

Lore. No doubt. Without a story of interest, there's no investment or interest in the outcome.

Wut ze fak?  So a game could come out that had absolutely amazing gameplay, fantastic pve, incredibly pvp and an immense crafting and market system. and you wouldn't play it if it had a weak backstory?

Originally posted by bunnyhopper

Originally posted by TUX426

Originally posted by bronecar

The way I see it, gameplay should always come first, followed by a solid background story. After all, MMORPG's are not novels.

 

I strongly believe they should coexist, but if I were to choose, I'd say drop the lore and go for the gore.

 

So what are your thoughts on the matter?

Lore. No doubt. Without a story of interest, there's no investment or interest in the outcome.

Wut ze fak?  So a game could come out that had absolutely amazing gameplay, fantastic pve, incredibly pvp and an immense crafting and market system. and you wouldn't play it if it had a weak backstory?

I'm sorry...I was under the impression we were to answer either LORE or GORE.

Of those 2, I feel a better story will entertain me far more than a rolling head will. Plenty of games offer "gore". A good back story such as Dungeons and Dragons, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings I would argue fall into the "lore" category and bring with them their own sense of wonder from fans.

Again, of the 2 options...LORE or GORE, I'd be much more likely to play a Star Wars based game, simply for the lore, than one where I can slit throats or pluck out eyeballs with sticks.

Gameplay is infinitely more important than either of these options to me as well, but it wasn't a choice.

I agree with OP. The game play is most important. If I want a story I will watch a movie or book.

that said, the experience of story telling in table top D&D can be fun at times, but its still usually just a break from roling dice and crunching numbers.

Originally posted by TUX426

I'm sorry...I was under the impression we were to answer either LORE or GORE.

 

To make it more clear, ofc there are exceptions, as I mentioned earlier Gothic 1.

However, what I'm saying is if you were to choose out of those two.

I can't imagine there's anyone who doesn't enjoy both aspects in a single game

Whether most people realize it or not, lore is the basis every game and comes first. If there was wold peace so to speak, there would be reason for you to have that suit of armor, or laser rifle in your hand, or the need to know how to cast a magic missle spell, etc.. 

Originally posted by Mithios

Whether most people realize it or not, lore is the basis every game and comes first. If there was wold peace so to speak, there would be reason for you to have that suit of armor, or laser rifle in your hand, or the need to know how to cast a magic missle spell, etc.. 

 yeah but lets be honest an frank. What % of MMO players do you think could tell you the lore of the game they have played for years?

I don't really see how the two are seperable. Take Asheron's Call for example. The gameplay wouldn't have been a fraction as good as it was without the incredibly rich lore the game world had. The storyline and setting was interesting, the creatures in it were unique and it made an incredible contribution to the way the game felt. WIthout its uniqueness AC1 would have been drab.

On the other hand, without the great gameplay mechanics, like the seamless world, interesting magic system, and fast paced combat, the setting would've been wasted. I don't really see how lore and gameplay can be divorced. An MMO has to be sufficient in both areas to be worthwhile. 

That being said, I find the lore in WoW to be incredibly annoying for some reason. I enjoyed the gameplay at first, but the setting just put a bad taste in my mouth, which is why I couldn't continue. On the opposite end I really liked the setting and lore of Anarchy Online, but the gameplay was just a little stiff (those indoor missions ughh)

I think both are very important.   The gameplay  and  lore attract me to the game.  Both are what drive me to actually play it.  And both are what keep me playing it. 

The gameplay is what allows you to do what you want and be who you want. The lore gives purpose to it. 

To me, Gameplay = Mechanics and Interactivity   and   Lore = asthetics and background details

Gameplay is what gives you the freedom to do what it is you want to do in the game. It incorporates the combat systems, crafting, house decorating, pvp etc.  You need to have fun things to do in a game.   Why play a game rich in lore that has no or very little interaction?  Gameplay is what makes a game a game and not a movie.

Lore is what gives the gameplay life.  Lore is the reason that the game is even happening in the first place.  Lore covers the main story and why the world you're in looks the way it does.  Lore is all of the little side stories of npcs, villages, castles and agry bosses that add dynamic to the world and make it feel alive.  IMO there is nothing worse than going to a dungeon and not even knowing why it is there and why you need to kill the boss in it.  I like to feel like a part of the world I'm playing in and have a reason to do things or not do them.  I love a game with rich settings that took a lot of effort and talent to lay out.

In a way the mixture of gameplay and lore is like a mixture of Engineering and Art. Two different types of gifted people making one thing.  Sure you can make a building that functions but can you make it beautiful and unique?

GUY!

how many of you who think lore is important could right now without looking up anything tell us the lore of the game they are playing?

Originally posted by SEANMCAD

GUY!

 

how many of you who think lore is important could right now without looking up anything tell us the lore of the game they are playing?

Lore is not restricted to just story.  It is what gives the world structure and controls the environment. It is why your gear looks the way it does and what the NPC has to say, etc. It's there weather you realize it or not.  Maybe not as much as other games but you've gotta have some sort of method to the madness.

Originally posted by Blitz555

Originally posted by SEANMCAD

GUY!

 

how many of you who think lore is important could right now without looking up anything tell us the lore of the game they are playing?

Lore is not restricted to just story.  It is what gives the world structure and controls the environment. It is why your gear looks the way it does and what the NPC has to say, etc. It's there weather you realize it or not.  Maybe not as much as other games but you've gotta have some sort of method to the madness.

how do you know your favorite game even has lore? For all you know the quests could be saying 'go get sword X it has no meaning in the world"

Both preferably.  Initially I started playing MMOs for a chance to experience another world.  So lore - in the immersion sense - is important.  Lore in the pre-written stuff sense is not important.  I couldn't care less how many novels about your world there are, this doesn't actually improve lore unless you make your gameplay lore-relevant.

That being said, i've played both types of games: EQ2 for example has absolutely atrocious irrelevant lore that has nothing to do with gameplay.  EQ2 does however have great group and raid gameplay and I've enjoyed playing it for that despite the awful lore and lack of immersion.   On the other side of the coin, there are games like Mass Effect 2 (not MMO, but example works).  ME2 has terrible gameplay, pretty much all the "gameplay" bits are just an excuse to get your character to the next point in the story/lore.  The lore and story are fantastic though, so I was happy to go through the lame gameplay just to experience the lore.

The best games have both.  

Originally posted by TUX426

Originally posted by bunnyhopper

Originally posted by TUX426

Originally posted by bronecar

The way I see it, gameplay should always come first, followed by a solid background story. After all, MMORPG's are not novels.

 

I strongly believe they should coexist, but if I were to choose, I'd say drop the lore and go for the gore.

 

So what are your thoughts on the matter?

Lore. No doubt. Without a story of interest, there's no investment or interest in the outcome.

Wut ze fak?  So a game could come out that had absolutely amazing gameplay, fantastic pve, incredibly pvp and an immense crafting and market system. and you wouldn't play it if it had a weak backstory?

I'm sorry...I was under the impression we were to answer either LORE or GORE.

Of those 2, I feel a better story will entertain me far more than a rolling head will. Plenty of games offer "gore". A good back story such as Dungeons and Dragons, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings I would argue fall into the "lore" category and bring with them their own sense of wonder from fans.

Again, of the 2 options...LORE or GORE, I'd be much more likely to play a Star Wars based game, simply for the lore, than one where I can slit throats or pluck out eyeballs with sticks.

Gameplay is infinitely more important than either of these options to me as well, but it wasn't a choice.

Reading the OP it seems to me hes asking if story or gameplay is more important to players, subsequent posts in the thread have also alluded to that idea. Hence my suprise that someone would pick story over gameplay... in a game. I think the OP just worded the title badly.

The lore takes much less time to produce than good gameplay, and it is created by people not working on the lore. Well at least it used to be until everyone and the tea boy was considered a 'writer'.

Originally posted by bunnyhopper

Originally posted by TUX426

Originally posted by bronecar

The way I see it, gameplay should always come first, followed by a solid background story. After all, MMORPG's are not novels.

 

I strongly believe they should coexist, but if I were to choose, I'd say drop the lore and go for the gore.

 

So what are your thoughts on the matter?

Lore. No doubt. Without a story of interest, there's no investment or interest in the outcome.

Wut ze fak?  So a game could come out that had absolutely amazing gameplay, fantastic pve, incredibly pvp and an immense crafting and market system. and you wouldn't play it if it had a weak backstory?

If the subject didn't interest me then "yes" I wouldn't play it.

Because by your definition, Hello Kitty online (or insert your favorite "hello kitty", "Madeline" or "curious george" IP here) could have all that and you'd play it.

And you very well might.

But I wouldn't. I have to buy into the world that the game is creating and want to pvp, craft, work the market, pve, etc in that world.

If it doesn't capture my imagination then I won't do it.

Gameplay first in a MMORPG, Story first in a singleplayer game.

That is why I so loved Star Wars Galaxies (pre-cu mainly) I already knew the worlds "history" I just wanted my character to life his live in that setting, unfortunaly many didn't like that which could make SW:ToR a pretty big succes.

To me it seems that the majority of people trying to play games in this genre need their handshold and if a game doesn't hold their hand those people due to lack of any kind of imagination feel a game will fail cause god forbid they have to come up with things of their own. Kinda a reason why sandbox games remain very niche. Now with imagination I don't mean the imagination to make up stuff not possible in a MMORPG, with imagination I mean make up stuff that is possible to do in a more virtual world which MMORPG's "could" be more like.

I would have loved Star Tek Online if they would deliver a sandbox experiance, instead they made the game a co-op game in route of a singleplayer road. But again I don't think if it would have been a sandbox game that it would have done better cause we know the majority doesn't seem willing to play a MMORPG that way. As seen with many pvp discussions people just want a multiplayer experiance and don't really want a world revolve around online rpg, but rather want a singleplayer rpg experiance with co-op options.

Overall I want a virtual world experiance where players are free to do what ever they feel like doing, does Jack want to be a farmer?, let him be that farmer, does Jack want a house, let the game provide him with one, these "could" be options, which again the majority of people into this genre can't seem to wrap their heads around cause for some reason they feel regardless if it's a option they "need" to have that house, they need to be a farmer. Options in this genre seem to be only for the niche who are capable of understanding them as options/choices.