What if we were to see a system where Lore is fed to the playerbase during loading screens?

The Anagram King··8 votes·2,209 views

Like most of the people who frequent this section of the forum, I'm a bit of a lore fanatic. I love the suspension of disbelief; to be caught up in a story and thrown into something resembling a living, breathing and - above all - expanding world. I often don't make the effort to learn about or seek out these stories, however - not unless my imagination is pre-emptively piqued by something that interests me. I mean, come on - walls of text? I'm going to admit, I don't often give them a chance; and I suspect that most other lore fans are of a similar mindset.

Even when it comes to organising paragraphs on some... some... backwater forum (you shouldn't read too much into that statement), aesthetic can mean all the difference between a captivated (Yay!) audience and a sleugh of begrudging replies demanding that you insert some more spaces and punctuation.

"But what, Anagram King, is the point you're trying to make, here?!"

Well stop interrupting me and I'll TELL you:

The fact of the matter is, I can understand why Riot wants to cut down on lore. I can. People are sometimes quite fickle. We have situationally short attention spans and don't always respond predictably to new concepts. Sometimes, we're quite invested in a champion or situation; or just in the mood to read and feel vicariously creative. Other times, we're just not interested in certain stories or intricate patterns. Heck, sometimes we just aren't in the mood.

Riot is dipping into multiple art genres. Comics and cinematic pieces; monologues and short stories.

In, fact, in ONE lucky Jinxchampion's particular case, they even commissioned a music video. And it was a good video. They're sitting on the cusp of an internal artistic revolution - a situation in which every character could have not only their own, unique style and ability set - but their own individual mediums. So why not capitalise?

At the moment, the loading screens between matches are simplistic. You see your team. You see the enemy team. Then you wait anywhere between 30 secs - 4 minutes for everyone to load in.

What if these load times were a little more enjoyable? A little more lore-friendly? What if, when loading into a game, the players were exposed to facts and tidbits; stories and media? What if Riot's creative and narrative departments were given the task of hooking players into the game world while they're loading into the game world?

Keep the pics of all the individual champions - but they don't have to take up the whole screen! Imagine loading in one day and being subjected to a snippet of the Jinx music video. Or to a monologue by Gangplank, talking about how dead his dad is (that's a nasty precedent). Even low-end computers could benefit from this new feature, being gifted simplistic pictures of champions or of characters related to champions.

#Whether stills of Kassadin with his daughter... http://40.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5s3uh8Mqg1qipjd4o1_1280.jpg

#Or two powerful foes going toe to toe in battle... http://img04.deviantart.net/5fd0/i/2014/260/b/c/face_off_with_jayce_and_viktor__by_rwcombs-d7zku90.jpg#

#Or pics of a new sea-based champion that's being released on April 1st (this time for sure!)... http://img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130724151310/elderscrolls/images/b/bd/Horker_(Skyrim).jpg

Riot has the means and the influence to turn League into a lore fan's dream. Your playerbase HAS to view these screens each and every time they play your game - so why not spend this time providing them with something aesthetically pleasing? Something that will tug at their heartstrings and encourage them to go learn more? Something warming to the senses, that will improve their demeanour going into the game?

Did you catch that last bit? I barely believed it, myself:

Maybe, if we're very lucky - media could positively influence the toxic nature of the game. Going into a game aesthetically pleased? This could be an interesting twist on behavioural patterns in the player-base. If we're lucky.

Riot - you want to reach the playerbase through multiple mediums. You want to encourage them to fall into your world. What better way to do this than by showing them the world they're loading into before they begin playing inside of it?

... Of course, this is just one fan's opinion.

13 Comments

Iceborn Pippin2 votes

It would be nice if it did occur. I do get bored looking at the same loading screen.

The Anagram King1 votes

I don't mind it; being that I generally minimise it in order to continue reading or writing until the 'spawn' sound happens (;p).

Nonetheless, I have to wait a few seconds before I can alt+tab. Wow me with a good picture or a media snippet, and I might just keep on looking at the loading screen, instead. Lots of game franchises display concepts and pictures during loading transitions - but very few try to turn it into a game; or an adventure.

Togira Ikonoka3 votes

reminds me of DBZ Budokai 3 where you could spin the control sticks and spawn the saibamen; the faster you spun them the more you spawned. i had more fun loading than fighting sometimes XD

The Anagram King1 votes

You nailed it - that was PRECISELY what I was thinking of when I wrote that response. I was always trying to beat my record - not that I can remember what my record was anymore. Upvotes for you! ;p

Togira Ikonoka1 votes

my record? lots. no number. just lots.

Darrosh Jewfist1 votes

I think a possible compromise between incorporating Splash Arts + Lore immersion/infodumping during loading screens is maybe to have lore relevant to the champs being selected.

In FF13 you could read some quick journal entries. Now, while I personally think they're pretty bland - it's still better than nothing and certainly shouldn't be the primary source of narrative delivery - but it seems cool for smaller stuff. It could be nice to read some journal entries or really short stories/rumors/gossip on current League champs - maybe these quotes/text can be updated weekly.

For example, one week if you played Gnar, you might get a text popup that says 'Gnar is currently enjoying Freljord mammoth as part of his diet' and then the next week, 'Gnar now prefers fish because there's less wolly hair balls' or something.

Small steps. ;-;

SchaakaKon1 votes

Sounds like a great idea! Unfortunately it would be shorter than than that line about Nauty swimming in the air

The Anagram King1 votes

Hey, lore doesn't need to be exclusive to loading screens. But surely we could do something with those few minutes of waiting time? Maybe even something interesting enough to stop players minimising the game as they load in.

Getting players invested enough to watch your loading screens? Just Imagine the potential in something like that.

PutThe3dgeD0wn1 votes

You know, this idea has actually been done before by an online FPS called Combat Arms.

(Yeah, yeah, Nexon is cheap and evil; that aside)

If I remember correctly, at least at one point, when you were loading into the various maps you were given a paragraph or two on what your teams were fighting over or what was happening in that sector. And as they released more maps and game modes, they really managed to make you feel like there was a deeper world behind the gameplay in spite of the overall lack of storytelling Combat Arms had (after all, it was just your typical multiplayer shooter; but somehow it had more of a story compared to the likes of Counter Strike which basically had nothing at all).

It may not be precisely what a lot of lore fans want, but this does sound like an interesting idea.

The Anagram King1 votes

Lots of games try to minimise the dull and monotonous nature of loading screens by throwing in art and music; but very few seem to think of capitalising on the half-minute of load-in time as a means of pushing their story or brand, subconsciously.

Riot has lots of subtle design, plot and story elements deeply engrained into their world. Imagine if they fed it in snippets to their fanbase. Imagine if they did it well.

This kind of thing could, if nothing else, dramatically expand the amount of fanfic writers on the internet. :P

BurakkuHishou1 votes

Ok here is the problem i see with this system. When people load into the screen, will everyone get the same piece of lore? Will veterans have to see the same piece of early lore multiple times before they see later ones, or are the newer players going to get dropped in some random location in the lore and be utterly confused as to what it's saying. I guess a system could be implemented that gives each player a different lore piece when they load in, but that seems like a lot of trouble.

The Anagram King1 votes

The system I imagine would be one that prioritises interactive emotional aesthetic. That is, to say - videos, engaging pictures, narratives (voiced), etc, etc. This would not be exclusively lore; or progression of story (though this could be included).

Example: The Jinx music Video. You'd have an art piece as the loading screen background, depicting Jinx in some fashion and/or advertising her "album." On one side of the screen, you have your team and the enemy team listed. On the other, you have a snippet of the Jinx music Vid (maybe even the entire thing, if file size and loading time is not too heavily impacted).

While you load in, you can hit a button to activate this video and the player gets to listen to/watch a fun vid depicting a prominent champion. Riot gets free exposure, players get hooked into the game world ("Mai new waifu!")

REAL lore (in earnest - you know, the big stories of the game world) would also have to be featured somewhere else. But this lore - the media and art featured while loading into games - would have the purpose of encouraging players to go and seek out said lore.

A portrayal of the game world, followed by interaction with the game world. Players get the example. They get the practical. Now, if they like, they can go learn about the theory behind it.

Shénzhì1 votes

The title of this thread totally got me. Like ... snatched me like O___O

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