The culmination of the breadcrumb trail left by the writers, the search and discovery of bits and pieces in the world, and the assembly later on to complete a story. Some will span continents, some will span expansions (time) to completely learn the entirety of a tale. Months or years of not knowing that lead to enlightenment about a subject, whether it be a family recipe or the answer to whom the dragons made an agreement with and why they allowed for a new era -- the feeling of having definitive answers is the reward.
If the question is what specifically right now, it's either whether or not gnomes will discover something near Terminus or the disappearance of the ogre leader, his rise to power and destruction of the prophecy.
The tragedy of the Dark Myr on Terminus. The Death of Syronai, and the unhonored sacrifice of the Myr in the Deicide War.
This tragedy is foundational to the psyche of the Dark Myr, and will be the base of my Main's intended character arc after Launch.
At first arrogant and disdainful of other races, he discovers that the ancient threat his Grandfather suspected is real, and beyond the ability of any one people to resist. Like his Grandfather before, he builds strong bonds with his companions beyond the seas.
The Halflings passion in hunting wraiths. It allows for a loose hold upon selfcontrol with regard to the actions the Halfling can take when in the presence of any wraiths.
A normal and otherwise fun little Halfling can become ravenously possessed and reason and good judgement fails. Much like the mental state of a Skar when deciding whether to eat its own feces, no reason is applied, just acts of instinct.
What intrigues me most is why these races have been brought to the world and whether other races will be brought to Terminus too and who by. Along with that, what is the full text of the Dragon Accord and how does that affect the races on Terminus. Will the Dragons return from their seclusion and what will they bring if and when they do?
Apart from that, everything else really! Why? Because, thus far, it is a great yarn.
I do read what is released, but I'm not making too much of an effort to put it all together and become immersed, yet, if you know what I mean.
I'm sure you won't be 'undoing' much as you go, but I'm kinda wanting to wait until it's more settled and complete to really dig in.
I agree with @chenzeme, though, that the whole concept of worlds colliding and what might be behind that is excellently intriguing (and, of course, an excellent 'design' for an MMORPG). The overarching sense of different races from different planets/universes/dimensions/whatever-it-is being squished together sets up for a lot of potential 'energy'.
Best part of the lore so far is not what is written, but what is left out. Most accounts are told by fallible people who usually do not have the full story. It is told through the eyes of the inhabitants which leaves open all sorts of room for player content and theories.
I also like the fact that everytime a new piece of lore comes out, I know that I can take that info and apply it to my time in-game and it be meaningful. I know where to go for certain resources, or certain mobs, or factions or loot; its meaning isn't arbitrary.
Whatever it is that is happening on the grand stage outside of the world itself. The gods are fleeing from something and leaving their other/home worlds and pooling up around Terminus.
But I saw a dreadful power spread its wings over the cosmos, and it pierced my faith in the past. I stared into the eyeless face of an eclipse as it bore down upon my world, crowned in the dust of those it had already turned to nothing. I have felt the hands of my pantheon torn in two, witnessed that cosmic power grip the very god I worshipped with indifference, withering him to a dead husk. The ground beneath my feet splintered as my own planet's invincible beauty was crushed by an unseen hand, only a fragment of my people spared. I was blind with fear, I called the Sun dead. I believed in nothing.
Yet nothing did not claim me. This world is filled with those it did not claim, preserved by an unseen hand, perhaps at great risk. Though I have no evidence of it, there is a war waged beyond our gods for many things, and this world is one of them. To these higher sovereignties we gave our nothing, and they have given us Terminus. Though lain in a bed of thorns, this world is a cradle of infant hope for we old orphans. This is our wild, delicate cosmos now. This is our undeserved inheritance, our humble crown. And we must exhaust ourselves knowing and discovering it, lose ourselves defending it from within.
I think my favorite part of the lore, at this point, is just seeing it come into existence and seeing it be connected to the world.
I have always believed that lore is one of the most important aspects when it comes to connecting players to the world. Lore even impacts the players who don't really dive too deeply into it. It is really exciting to see the detail, effort, and passion being put into the cultivation and implementation of the lore.
Simply that it is new. All new races (i.e. not dorfs and pointers, et al) would have been a bold move, but I will take the lore-newness with gusto.
Thunderleg said:
Simply that it is new. All new races (i.e. not dorfs and pointers, et al) would have been a bold move, but I will take all the lore-newness with gusto.
As someone who is also more excited by new races, I will say Pantheon has done a good job of bucking the traditional trend behind established races (besides human but come on, how original can we get? Maybe a cannibal society?)
That if I was the sort of person that was eager to play and wanted to RP, I would hurriedly glance at the manual and log into the game and learn as I go and as I learned how to play the game I would be exposed to the lore organically. I would use this to fuel some RP and when I got capable in playerability or at least enough with my level I would probably get attached to my character and want to learn about it and in so doing, THEN start reading the lore outside of the game to learn what I could. I would probably log in afterwards and bore people by peppering my conversation with references to the lore I just learned like: well, being a human surely you consider gnomes strange, or, here, Skar, I have some rotten meat for you I hear you people like this and other racist comments thinking I am cosmopolitan and expecting some kind of C.S. lewisian response~why yes, the shortness of their stature is foreign to our eyes, or indeed, the rotten meat carries bacteria that is important to our digestive system, thank you kind Myr. Let us make our way to...and hope that others RP in step or share what lore they know.
ButI can only tkae Lore in small doses as I would want to remember as mucha s possible just so I can RP accordingly as the situation arises.
Ooo very good point @Manouk. I too value the more organic (largely perception-based) *way* lore is intended to be consumed in Pantheon, in its own right.
The lore is really fun to read, someone obviously put a lot of thought into it. I'm waiting to learn more, (like if there are more racial traits, are there more classes per race, crafting specs, etc) To finalize my various alts. It takes a lot of time to meld it all together.