Is it such a bad thing to adhere to lore?

[HeyYou]

Why should folks get upset that modders "violate" lore, when the company that makes the friggin' game plays fast and loose with lore themselves? Cyrodiil was supposedly a jungle/tropical rain forest. Looked more like Maine, or even possibly Germany to me..... No "tropical" or "rain forest" to it at all...

[Ghogiel]

It'll be funny if they do another TES set in Cyrodiil and they retcon it back to jungle

[HeyYou]

It'll be funny if they do another TES set in Cyrodiil and they retcon it back to jungle

 

They will blame it on global warming due to all the fireballs. :D

[Vagrant0]

The underlying question is not if it is a bad thing to adhere to lore or not...

 

The question is "Does something that is entirely optional and which potentially breaks lore REALLY affect the playing experience of those who do not use that thing?"

 

How does it actually matter that in one of the millions of parallel playthroughs of a game, that someone is riding around Skyrim on a cellshaded pony in armor that is essentially a pair of bandaids, dental floss, and a bit of lace? That's like getting visibly upset upon learning that someone likes a different flavor of icecream than you.

[imperistan]

I tend to find that those who get upset over a mod, even if they don't use it, usually get upset because that person put so much effort into something they don't like when they could have put the same effort in something more akin to their own tastes. Usually these sorts don't even realize thats the reason they're mad.

[Vagrant0]

I tend to find that those who get upset over a mod, even if they don't use it, usually get upset because that person put so much effort into something they don't like when they could have put the same effort in something more akin to their own tastes. Usually these sorts don't even realize thats the reason they're mad.

That's not really a valid reason either. People make mods because it is something that THEY WANT TO MAKE. Usually, if it breaks lore in an obvious way, it's because the person making the mod happens to have liked that thing enough to go out of their way and add it in. If they were doing something that didn't really interest them, it would likely never get done no matter how skilled they were just because there wasn't anything to keep them going.

 

Frankly you'd be more justified to run around a WoW roleplaying server and reporting people for not having an extensive character biography, or having one which does not properly account for key events in lore... In a game with panda monks and dozens of references to things outside Warcraft cannon.

[Tidus44]

The thing bout the question is, we likely tend to assume that everyone who plays games (and posts) is a happy, healthy, well adjusted individual who has a good measure of control of their emotions and is stable. The simple fact is that there are some individuals who do become quite (for lack of better terms) obsessed and addicted to their game(s), somewhat the same as a gambling addiction. And not that the video game is at fault, but the individual may be predisposed or even have other mental health issues that are not present in other areas of their life. While the numbers are relatively small, and there are levels or degrees and phases of addiction, it does exist and does include those who become quite upset about the game and can be quite offended by others who do not share the same level of addiction or obsession.

 

Personal experience; a middle aged gentleman suffering a fatal heart attack while arguing on a chat group about a game; a 4 hour stand off with a 14 year old who being punished by having his computer game taken away threatening to set himself, his sister and the family home on fire unless he got his game back; and recently, two university students sharing a computer in the dorm, one broke the others jaw and fractured his cheek over how to play and/or mod Skyrim.

 

I tend to look a bit closer at posts about lore and/or immersion and game play and when the "tone" of the post gets my "spider sense" tingling, I "walk away".

 

Its not a bad thing to adhere to lore or immersion or a style of play so long as it isn't a condition or limitation to the enjoyment of playing the game and it isn't a source of irritation if others don't play the same or hold the same opinions, is the way I look at it.

 

I think the line gets crossed to lore mongering when the debate becomes less of a free exchange of ideas and more so an exchange of insults. I'm just thankful I don't have to make that call on the forums.

[grannywils]

This is and always has been my position on lore-friendly vs non-lore friendly mods and on all mods in general. If it is not to your taste, simply bypass it and use something that is. Why does it matter if one person wants to ride a motorcycle down the icy paths of Skyrim while the next trudges along wearing a bearskin. We each play our own game to our own preferences. I wish that I was capable of modding, but I am hopelessly inept. However, I have had no difficulty finding mods that work for my preferences.

 

I guess I just do not understand the ongoing debate over "how the game should be played". Did we not all pay the same price to buy the game? Should we not all have to option to play it in any manner that pleases us?

 

I guess my answer to the original question is, no, it is not such a bad thing to adhere to lore; but then again it is not such a bad thing not to either. Depends on one's individual preference doesn't it??

[Deleted472477User]

thank you everyone for all the awesome answers!

 

I did think a certain level of "Those modders are wasting their talents on stuff I don't like instead of stuff I do like!" went into it. Sure, I would prefer to see more mods in my style, but I can't mod my way out of a paper bag and I have all the artistic talent of a dead turtle, so I either find someone agreeable to do it for me, or I just shut up and deal.

 

Tidus44, yes, I did assume someone who was otherwise normal except maybe for control issues and a bug up their butt. Those examples you give are horrifying, and they not only point at issues the people have with their gaming lives, but other underlying issues as well.

 

I also will never understand why people have such a need to tell others what to do over mods. And it isn't just mods: we wouldn't have 90 percent of the world's problems if the human race didn't have a tendency to be controlling butthats to each other. "My views/religion/way of life/mod preferences are better than yours, and if you don't agree, you suck/are going to hell/I will kill you/call you names." Maybe someone some day will figure it out.

[imperistan]

I tend to find that those who get upset over a mod, even if they don't use it, usually get upset because that person put so much effort into something they don't like when they could have put the same effort in something more akin to their own tastes. Usually these sorts don't even realize thats the reason they're mad.

That's not really a valid reason either. People make mods because it is something that THEY WANT TO MAKE. Usually, if it breaks lore in an obvious way, it's because the person making the mod happens to have liked that thing enough to go out of their way and add it in. If they were doing something that didn't really interest them, it would likely never get done no matter how skilled they were just because there wasn't anything to keep them going.

 

Frankly you'd be more justified to run around a WoW roleplaying server and reporting people for not having an extensive character biography, or having one which does not properly account for key events in lore... In a game with panda monks and dozens of references to things outside Warcraft cannon.

 

Its a totally valid reason. It doesn't make the actual act itself right, but thats a valid explanation for why a lot of people do it.