Video games have always had one key element no matter what genre you play the most.  This key element has been within the games, hidden; only known to individuals who look for it.  The element I am writing about is mythology of the game, characters, and players.  It is rampant throughout any game that you can think of, WoW, SC, LoTR, Halo, MoH…the list goes on.  This phenomenon has not just recently been added to video games as of late, but has been in each and every game from the beginning.  To give an idea of what the mythology of a game would be equivalent to is the video game’s lore.

This lore tells about where the game came from, who the characters are, and whether their moral orientation to good or evil is apparent.  For gamers, this is a very important tool to play the game by because it allows us to immerse ourselves deeper into the content of the game.  It can be said that the games that do not do as well in the gamer community do not have a lore that can keep people interested for long.  It usually is more of destroy this, beat this guy, and win the game.  Gamers want more than this in order to play the game.  They want a STORY.

The storylines in game are very important to the entire game.  That ability to relate to someone else is one that is apparent in all of us and human culture.  We want to feel like we matter and that we are recognized by others.  It is basic psychological theory.  We run around the real world in order to make a difference and talk to people.  We make friends, take a partner, and make more individuals that want to relate to the world.  This innate ability that we feel drawn towards comes out in video games as well.

Although video games have been losing that storyline as of late, no lore = no storyline; there is some hope with the upcoming Destiny game where you get to build the lore around your character and work with the way you look and behave in the game.  Character creation is very important in this element as it is what drives lore.  Where do the characters come from, how did I get to be here?  What did I do to make my character develop in this fashion?  These should all be questions you ask yourself when you play these games and think about why you are drawn to the game itself.