I really really dig playing overwatch, and I like the character designs, but there seems to be a large following on the interwebs of people really into the overwatch lore, which begs the question where are people getting this lore from? I know there are outside-of-game animated shorts and such, but each plays as a sort of self contained thing and doesn't do a great job of illustrating the relationships between all of the characters. Honestly, while it makes sense from the gameplay perspective, I'm surprised in a way that the game lets characters who are supposedly antagonists to each other in the lore be on the same team. This lack of distinction means that other than some obvious examples (Reaper isn't very friendly with Winston) I'm not entirely sure who's a member of Overwatch and who's their canonical antagonists. I guess my point is, while I know there is lore info out there if you dig online, I wish there was a bit more Overwatch lore clarification in the game itself. Maybe have a titanfall 1 esque "story" mode where you have to choose characters who would actually fight together when composing a team. I don't know it just sees odd to me that Overwatch supposedly has so much lore that is in no way reflected in how the game is played. Makes it almost feel like more of a fighting game than a shooter (not that that's necessarily a bad thing, its just different than shooters are ussually presented).

For as great as the game is, the implementation of the narrative is some of the laziest I've ever seen. It's not really in the game at all, and I think the reason is exactly what you mentioned; they have to dance around the whole "Why are friends fighting each other?" idea. Their solution seems to be just don't put any story in the game at all. It's a half step, they tried to dip their toes in with little throw away lines between certain characters and all the stuff they have outside the game and scattered across the internet.

It's not lazy at all, it's their intended vision. The game is a team based online only multiplayer shooter. The lore can easily be ignored or delved into depending on your interest. Not everyone cares about the story of Overwatch. If you do, here's a bunch of free well done comics and animated shorts on the internet.

It's not lazy if it was intended.

@frostyryan: I agree with this, if we compare this to a game like Destiny (whose lore is something I absolutely adore,) they both appear to hide a lot of their backstories behind websites postings that you have to delve into in order to get the complete picture.

However, with Destiny I get overly annoyed because the campaign in that feels like it relies on that investment for you to get an understanding of what you are doing or why you are going to a place, and the activities that you are doing mention people you may not be aware of unless you explore that.

For Overwatch, I don't feel that burden of explanation but that could just be because of the comparative lack of seriousness in the lore as it is applied to the game's minute to minute. I don't feel upset because I'm in Hollywood and I don't know why it matters that I walk along a car. The tone of this feels so loose that I'm just happy to be a floating zen robot shooting orbs at a moon gorilla.

@frostyryan: The fact that there are numerous posts just like this across the internet with people wondering where the story even comes from is proof enough that it's not implemented into the game well. I actually think the lore itself is pretty cool. But the way it is implemented into the game is in fact lazy, because it is just not in the game at all. The animated shorts and comics you speak of aren't even in the game!

Any time the user has to go to resources outside of the game to get information about core concepts of said game, the developers have failed to some degree.

@tesla: on the other hand I'm sure there are millions upon millions of people who play Overwatch that don't want to know the first thing about these character back story's and instead just want to shoot each other.

That makes no sense.

The story ISN'T a "core concept" of the game. The story isn't SUPPOSED to be implemented into the game at all. The game is intentionally separate from the story content. That's not laziness or anything of the sort. The story content is free to anyone who cares to dive into the story content, all in one website even. They intentionally left the game a game and the story aspect a free extension of it. I don't know how else to explain it. The story isn't intended to be a core aspect to the package you get when you get the game. Knowing lore isn't gonna help you get objectives and they know that.

@frostyryan: I don't know, I think that your argument would work better if they didn't make any nods to the lore at all in the game. The fact that there is this whole intro video referencing a supposed story that is then never expanded upon in game at all, well it may not be super off putting since it is at its core an online shooter, but it is confusing. I'm not asking for a story mode or anything really, but at least a text description of a character's backstory in their heroes gallery section would have been nice. The lack of this by no means makes it anything other than a super great game, its just kind of puzzling. Honestly though this might all just be a fault of the marketing campaign, where very elaborate story-based pixar-looking animated shorts were shown to advertise a story-ambivalent multiplayer objective based shooter (I'm specifically thinking of the one in the museum with winston and tracer and reaper and the two brothers. Also I am very much for the argument of it being lazy/annoying to put lore stuff outside of the game. Sure its for free, but before you made your post I didn't even know such a website existed. Again none of this is game-breaking, just puzzling.

Welcome to Overwatch, where the lore is made up and the plot doesn't matter.

@jdizzlefoshizzle: The game's intro video is the weirdest thing. Winston says "are you with me" at the end like you're about to partake in an adventure or something but then you play the game and it's just multiplayer objectives. That's weird for sure.

However I'm specifically against the argument that it's "lazy." That's an adjective consumers like to toss around a lot and it's almost always an inaccurate criticism. I get not liking the separation of story and game. I even sympathize a bit. But it's simply just not lazy. This was their vision for delivering the content. Whether or not it was a very good decision to do it like this is a different discussion. Saying it's lazy though is, well, lazy.

Oh and the website in question is the Overwatch website. It's not like, hard to find the story content at all.

@frostyryan: The story isn't supposed to be implemented? According to whom? The whole disagreement between us is you immediately forgive this while I see it as an area to improve upon. But no one can argue that the story is implemented into the game in any meaningful way.

Blizzard, as evidenced by the game they released. The story isn't a major part of the game. They had the time and resources to implement story content in the game and chose not to. The route they're going is dividing the story and the game.

@frostyryan: Agreed. Some people think that can be improved upon, while others think it is an infallible and irreproachable choice. To each their own.

@tesla: If I'm being honest, the Junkenstein event did make me crave story content.

My real hope is for an Overwatch movie or series some day though!

@frostyryan: yah I agree lazy isn't the right word. More like strange or annoying.

Lazy is how I would describe the Destiny approach to story, not Overwatch. To me it's like complaining that there is no story in Counter-Strike or Quake III. The only way you could say it is lazy if you think there is some unwritten rule of god that every game must have story for some reason.

Wasn't a large part of the plot and reason for the Overwatch group made up on the spot? Like they had all these characters and tried to find a reason for them being where they were?

Having read most of the character backgrounds, I can confirm that there are traces of a story that links some characters together but in terms of a background that would make the whole thing make sense, not so much.

@dudeglove Re: Symmetra and Lucio, Symmetra is an agent of this sort of oppressive, super shady city-building corporation and I think Lucio is a freedom fighter against their policies.

I would have liked a campaign. Around the time it launched, I remember people saying things to the effect that they are into the character designs and art style and would love to have some story gameplay around that. Even if it was just a tournament or whatever, even most fighting games have some kind of story or arcade mode. But I also don't need a lore explanation for why these characters are killing one another endlessly in multiplayer, valhalla-style.