Lore of Game

As they're all just armies of robots I don't know why they'd need a reason to fight. They're programmed to fight. Other's are programmed to build. They're just a self replicating army, so expansive that they can't be totally defeated, and so simply spread from planet to planet mining resources to endlessly produce more and continue the fight.

I guess at some point the Human race reached some kind of interplanetary level and built robot armies to fight most of the wars, except we all died out and only the robots remained, continuing to follow their orders of course.

That seems to me more interesting and unique than robot armies controlled by AI with 'intelligence' enough to have it's own culture, idea of 'race' etc Surely if there were AIs so advanced they'd know the best chance of survival (the only true goal) would be to ceasefire and merge into one super entity. So simply having legions of robots with only enough 'intelligence' to follow their basic programmed orders, create plans etc to defeat the enemy but NOT to ensure it's own survival (why would we programme that?) seems very cool and logical.

But yeah overall I agree there shouldn't be too much lore, since often it sucks. Just having enough to wind up and let the game roll is fine I think. Mystery is always good too.

Commanders are not just robots. They're AI. Not just Artificial Intelligence but Advanced Intelligence. They have as much "reason" as any of us humans.

I love lore and I want as much as I can get. The reasons behind decisions (in this case, war) are just as interesting as the war itself, if not more so.

I would like to have some lore or story but they could also do that very smart with special objects in the world (on the Planets). That would be like in Demons Souls where u had the story told most of the time by the world itself. In DS it was that i was looking at a scenery and thought "wow what happened here, was it that and that or maybe it's because of...".

They could do the option (maybe in a tutorial) to have objects telling some background story and have to work the users head and fantasy for that.
An example: If u had a Planet and u see some ruins of scyscrapers and the rooftop of buildings in the sand/ground or some facilities showing they produced some old robots (wrecked there) or advertisement showing "the new robot type X-101 is out" or such stuff, you could think there was a civilisation and it produced the robots but it is gone but they are still there. So u wouldnt need a real lore, no text or storyteller to tell you, you could just play on a normal planet but the scenery tells you what the story is.
That would be, in my opinion, the best if they do that.
Would be best if they create a simple Planet with these objects (a unique one) as a tutorial so u can learn the basics and stuff and also see what it is about with the lore while u play it. Making the Planet a bit like the Earth from the environement and it's done and all are happy.

Yes, if there was a campaign here then something like that might be ok but in an effectively sandbox game the Commanders are only a representation of the player and have as much reason as you put into them. PA doesn't seem to aim to drag you through a story you don't care about, it doesn't force decisions on you that you wouldn't want to make, so giving Commanders 'reason' seems rather trivial, whether they had it in TA or not. This isn't a story sequel.

With all the customisability and modding etc I expect people will create their own factions, or clans, which people can be a part of with their own lore. Something like WH40k, although perhaps less anal, where there's plenty of interesting background tit bits but you can pick and choose what you want and add your own.

Player 'lore' could even be a feature in the game, where along with tournament and game news there could be an available library of lore featuring backstories, favourited fan fiction etc, created by players and perhaps managed by a few community leaders or Uber guys to build up the canon, if there is one.

So you think there should be quite a bit of lore or not? In one breath you say Uber shouldn't have much, and then in another you say they should build up a potentially huge amount based on player input.
I'm confused as you seem to to talking out of both sides of your mouth.

I don't think anyone really played the previous games for their story. KISS.

*Raises hand*

I played it to hear the story AND blow stuff up. I like to connect with my games on as many levels as possible if I'm going to be playing them for a long time. Lore plays a big part in that. If the lore is incongruous or absent then that's one less reason for me to play.

I played Total Annihilation and chose to play mostly ARM because I sympathised with their cause.
I played SupCom and chose to play mostly Cybran because I sympathised with their cause.

In Planetary Annihilation I'll attach myself to a particular Commander... not because of its gameplay effects, but because I sympathise with its cause.

Some of you may not care about the Lore, but some of us do.
Learning and understanding the why's, the when's and the who's is important. Maybe not AS important as learning the strategy of the game but I'd still place it high enough to warrant an investment from the designers.

I totally agree on that. It is something the armies in games are up to, you want to know their motivation and how they are fighting. It is much more interesting to play such games and keeps u motivated, or maybe not you personaly but many other players out there, if u know why these factions are fighting or why there is a war at all. For example i play in Dawn of War, the Imperial Army or Space Marines cause i like their style and art of thinking in this universe but i dont care about Orcs or Eldar, i think they are cool but i'm not playing em cause i cant identify with their motivation or all the other stuff.
A lore can be very important and u can build up lore in many different ways and many of these ways are quite a simple way to do that and have still a great effect. One of these methods i already mentioned, another one is something League of Legends is doing, giving every Hero a Lore in a short Text. Uber could do that in PA with some Selfmade Planets you can play on and tell a short Background Story about what happened on this Planet and why it is how it is. For example generate a Metalplanet with some stuff and write a Text and tell that this is where the Robots are from. Simple, but could easily satisfy players.

Don't get me wrong, the deep booming narratives are a great thing to have. But there's actually very little story in the TA universe. It's a very barebones backdrop, with a straightforward kill-them-all campaign and the rest left to your imagination. Hell, there's more lore in the game's glossary than there is in the lore!

Supcom tried to flesh out the story with more factions and people and conflicts. However it too mostly exists as a backdrop for exploding robots.

We don't really have people in PA. They're all calculating machines, perhaps with personal quirks but machines nonetheless.

I couldn't care less for "Lore".

Needs moar John Patrick Lowrie

Much more John Patrick Lowrie. Talking about how the robots ended up in an endless war in a short IntroVideo would be cool. Enough Lore then...

And for you that may make them less relatable.

I however, have a somewhat more relaxed terminology when it comes to "people".
I include sentient AI robots in that list without hesitation.

They aren't "machines with quirks" in my eyes. They're a person with a personality.

Scientifically a human is just a machine with personality... it's just biological rather than mechanical.

And I disagree about there not being backstory and fluff in the TA campaign. Reading (and listening) to the mission briefs gives me context. Doesn't matter that the objective of "kill them all" is the same, I still like knowing why. Why here? Why now?

The only question I have but like many ideas above is the same question I always have. Why are the robots fighting each other? I get that they mindless drones but why they fighting each other. Why does one army attack another? They same robot breed only commanders different.

I don't think so. I was trying to give you what you want without me being stuck with Post TA Story Disorder, or something.

PA isn't a direct TA sequel. I never cared for TA, I thought PA looked cool and interesting as a new and individual game. Story is great if it's interesting and unique and I think countless legions of robots fighting an eternal, unwinnable war is potentially more interesting than the usual different factions, ideologies etc. My point is that there's no reason to stick to the old idea of what a 'Commander' is because in PA it can be anything. For me it is simply a representation of the player, so surely the player should also decide the story for his own Commander.

As it is, it seems like Uber want the players to create their own experiences so a library of background details that's open to public input is the best way to build that IMO. If player profiles are persistent and recorded (and therefore Commanders also) then stories can be weaved out of those. The PA lore could be a collection of recorded battle reports from it's players. The great wars between various Commanders will be written down in fan fiction and the exact replays will even be available to rewatch. Legendary players will emerge and go down in PA lore history!

As there is no campaign in PA why not let the players build there own continued story, as the battles go on. We're not restricted to a linear story path this time around. The story can be on going as games are fought. Clans can be the new factions, or individuals can be the renegade warring tribes.

Of course Uber reserves the right to create their own story at any time.

This is why I don't play football and chess and stuff. There is no lore.

Except that Commanders are not blank slates. They have unique abilities that are derived from their philosophies on how war should be waged.

If Commanders were all the same with no individuality, I'd agree with you... but they're not. (see above)

I feel that some games just don't need lore. Especially multiplayer/skrimish based games.
Like unreal tournament, the story doesn't matter you just wana kill people, have fun and listen to the announcer.

PA Lore:

- It begins with some dude tinkering around trying to make a bot.
- The dude gets angry with other dudes who are also trying to make bots.
- ???
- War on a cosmic scale!

:mrgreen:

I would of thought the lore would of been like, Humans built robots, Humans died out, Robots carry on doing what humans do and fight over resources.

Does a game where you fight robots with asteroids and blow up planets really *need* in-depth lore?