Support NeoGAF

[FoxMcChief]

So I started Mafia and I see there are collectible cards and whatnot. You can flip the cards over and read them. I didn’t.

I almost never read content in games that isn’t required. For example, I don’t think I’ve ever read a book in a single Elder Scrolls game. Do you guys?

I’ll listen to audio logs, but I refuse to read in games. I just think about the waste of money it cost someone the time to think and write them. Thankfully we now have AI that can write side content bullshit.

 

[ReyBrujo]

I play most games only once so yeah, I pretty much read everything. Unfortunately that means I sometimes drop games like Mario & Rabbids, I can only stand Rabbids for so long. But hey, I come from dungeon crawlers, RPGs and MUDs where a single word in a description could be the difference between escaping with life or permadeath.

 

[Danjin44]

If its wall of text like this then no.

 

[Hrk69]

 

[adamsapple]

Yes, besides things like every enemy bestiary entry, especially if it's more than a couple of paragraphs long.

Mass Effect codex entries being the exception, they're all worth reading.

 

[IAmRei]

yea, mostly, something like mass effect series, are interest me. for me, recent game such as ff16 also has interesting lore. well, almost all games which has in game material, sometimes interest me sometimes not. it is very nice if the game have some degree of it.

 

[West Texas CEO]

Sometimes, if it richly adds to lore.

 

[Ibara]

Usually no. Sometimes I regret it because I find stuff interesting but I gotta have some form of mild adhd or something cause when text pops up I just mash buttons until it leaves the screen

To this day I have no idea what’s going on in any fromsoft game yet I’ve played all of them several times

 

[Bernardougf]

 

[Northeastmonk]

Sometimes. I like item descriptions with lore attached.

I use to really like audio logs like BioShock and DOOM 3 had where you listened to another person’s story.

The wall of texts is what I’ll skip. If it’s that important they should try and deliver it in a way that doesn’t make me squint for 5 minutes. I use to do this thing where if it was a game I was super excited about I’d read everything for a while and then once it all felt too familiar I’d start breezing over it or skipping it all together. FF16 was one where I skipped just about everything because it wasn’t catching my interest.

 

[EverydayBeast]

Have you read in game material lately? Almost every NPC has something to say these days.

 

[EverydayBeast]

Descriptions are important

 

[TGO]

I used to...
Short and sweet and giving vital information I tend to read but those that are just ramblings I just ignore.

 

[DaGwaphics]

If it's a game where I really need the information to progress or they are keeping things reasonably short RE style, I will read it. The games that have whole little books that are readable, well I'm not reading all that.

 

[Fbh]

Depends on the implementation.
If they are somewhat infrequent and/or short and add some context or world building, sure.

If it's like modern Remedy games (haven't played AW2 though) that bombard you with 25.000 documents in every new room you enter then fuck no

 

[TheDarkPhantom]

For most games, yes, usually adds a lot to the lore of the world and it's characters, helps to fully immerse you in the experience. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and Human Revolution are two examples where I read every single email at every single computer terminal and couldn't get enough, the writing was fantastic, lots of humor that genuinely made me laugh too.

 

[TerribleAtThisGame]

Habitually. Yes. Control is a good example. I read every goddamn scrap of paper somehow.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

only if I'm invested

 

[Roni]

First time around, I'll read everything. I'll read most of it on a replay if it's been a while too.

 

[CityHunter1981]

Well I don’t have much gaming time anyway with 2 children, so the last thing I want to waste this limited time on is reading.

Look I love the souls games, but I never read any object descriptions so it’s hard for me to understand the lore. I normally read about the lore somewhere on the internet the summary.
As much as I love the presentation, wish From Software would include more cutscenes or dialogue to understand the lore easier…

 

[Killjoy-NL]

Nope. Such a waste of time and more often than not too boring (like TES).

Gimme an audiolog and I'm fine, as I can just do other stuff while listening.

 

[FoxMcChief]

only if I'm invested

What games have you read everything?

 

[pasterpl]

Nope. Very rarely I am interested in games lore.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Fuck no. In fact I hate games that throw this shit in there as a way to tell lore/story. It's fucking lazy as shit.

I can't even stand audio logs because I'm really not in the mood to pay attention while I'm doing other shit. I don't want to just stand there listening to it doing nothing else.

 

[kiphalfton]

Was playing Doom Eternal, and despite there being hardly any cutscenes there's several dozen codex entries scattered around.

Makes zero sense considering the game and how linear it is.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

What games have you read everything?

everything? I don't know if I read or listen to everything. but to be invested enough to try to "take in" the story and lore:

i distinctly remember doing it actively on FFXIII.... years after I realize the game just had a bad story and confusing lore.


but when I did it organically because of me being invested in the world:
FF 7,8,9
TLoU.
The First 2 Fallout games.
The MGS3 codec conversations.

are the first to come to mind.

 

[RCU005]

I have wanted to make this thread for so long, I'm glad someone did it.

You can tell developers did a great work and worked very hard on a game that it's huge, has great graphics and awesome music, overall huge AAA budget, etc. But I just can't imagine the effort it should take to write so many content within games. There are games that have literal books written with so much content, lore, in-game history, etc.

You have George RR Martin taking decades to finish his books, but then there is someone writing twice that for just one game. But then, I really think very few people actually read most of it, and less than a handful all of it.

 

[GinSama]

Always, anything that helps the world building I spend my time to collect and read.

 

[Kupfer]

Nope

 

[Robb]

Very much depends on the game and how well written or interesting the content is.

I love scanning in Metroid Prime and do read/have read most the logs and descriptions, for example.

I can't even stand audio logs because I'm really not in the mood to pay attention while I'm doing other shit. I don't want to just stand there listening to it doing nothing else.

Also agree with this. I’d honestly rather just have text than audio logs that ramble on while I’m doing stuff. I’m happy to just read whatever it is when/if I feel like taking it on.

 

[Bert Big Balls]

Depends on the length of the text, how often I stumble upon them, etc. Most of the time I don't bother, but if it's just small snippets of information then I will.

 

[gaming_again]

If it's an immersive RPG then yes, as much as is possible.

 

[SHA]

No.

 

[Bring Back Scalebound]

Tried to read the first paragraph of every Doom Eternal lore thingy, mind-numbingly boring shit...
And if it's well written, it has to be a game I REALLY love, to read that stuff.

On the other hand,

I heard every single tape in Metal Gear 5, besides "that" one with Paz (I'm a pussy), and it was one of the most engaging things I ever experienced in a game, and it massively added substance to the game.

It was implemented really well.

 

[RoboFu]

That's something I know I'm different now than I was as a kid. I use to love to read every dialog in a rpg. Every npc rambling .. every cutscene.. now I'm just frantically looking for the skip button.

 

[Rockondevil]

I often intend to and give up within an hour or so.

 

[Portugeezer]

When I start a game and I'm trying to get into the world, yeah, I read stuff.

Later into the game, nah, I skim read and get some keywords and that's about it.

 

[ChoosableOne]

I don’t think I’ve ever read a book in a single Elder Scrolls game

I've read most of in game stuff it except for these, and apart from learning the safe code, I didn't see much benefit or contribution to the story.

 

[existensmaximum]

Rarely.. I skim through that kind of stuff to see if there are any clues or something that gives me a new mission. Otherwise, it's a full-time job to listen to audio logs and read memos, books etc found in games. I very rarely have the patience because there's often soooo much of it.

Unless it's really vital to the story and well made. I like it when games respect your time and include mostly relevant stuff, hints and Easter eggs - not meaningless filler stuff.

 

[peek]

Only if im super into the game. Like the souls games I always read everything. Oh and resident evil. Oh and... okay I guess I do read that shit.

 

[GymWolf]

I read logs, books, audiologs, characters bios etc. (also it depends on how much invested i'm with the world, lore etc.)

I'm not particularly fond about reading item descriptions to glue all the pieces of the plot by myself, i just watch a vaaty recap when i'm done with the game.

 

[Mownoc]

I usually read lore when I first start a game but after a few hours stop bothering if there's a lot of it.

 

[darth.shrimp]

I'm currently replaying through Grim Dawn with a new character, and the lore notes add so much to the game, I'm re-reading almost all of them. Everything from Malmouth or Port Valsbury reads like a Lovecraft novel. The world building added by Forgotten God is insane.