Theme Week: I Heart Lore!

[kirbithan 1,709]

 

For this season’s Theme Week theme of “VHL Lore,” I wanted to pivot the topic since I haven’t been around long enough to know the ins and outs of the league’s 17-year long storied history despite being a member for over two years now. Thus, I’m going to tackle the theme in a different way, and that’s through the importance of individual player lore: the stories, personalities, and other ways that users express themselves through writing for their players.

 

Media spots and VHL.com articles are especially significant for sharing lore, as they allow users to craft their players to their liking— as more than just lines of code that run in STHS, but as characters and people. What do I mean by this? Well, my first and previous player Lachlan Summers was more than just a page of stats to me. He was already a pre-established original character that I had written a backstory, personality, and all the little tidbits about that I had tweaked to fit into the world of the VHL. Of course, a few career point tasks like the biography are ways for users to delve deeper into their player’s lives and elaborate on their origins, but I enjoy seeing and reading the media spots from those who truly go out of their way to build their player as a person and add onto the foundation as their career progresses.

 

For Lachlan, he has an established family: a mother, sister, husband, brother-in-law, a dog, and even a baby on the way (that I’d mentioned during the interview media spot I had written a few weeks back). Of course, he’s also best friends with Sadie St-Louis, and even after his VHL career has ended, he’s seeking out work within the Davos organization to stay connected to the league. Just because he’s retired doesn’t mean I’m going to abandon my first player! I find it extremely fun to add these little tidbits into players, maybe because I just enjoy creating original characters and fleshing them out  as both a creator and artist, so they don’t feel so flat and one-dimensional. Plus, going further into your player’s story allows for a plethora of opportunities for media spots and allows you to share them with other members of the VHL, hence why I really enjoy story or interview based articles when browsing the forum since it differs from your standard media spot, so I can get a glimpse of what drives these players/characters. 

 

With River, I haven’t had much of a chance yet to explore more of his personality besides his biography and a few interviews for the most part, but I definitely want to establish more of his character and his blossoming relationship with a fellow S96 draftee (if you know, you know). Speaking of which, there are plenty of wonderful and talented members of the league who are far more skilled in storytelling than me, like my good friend @OblivionWalker. Lee has written some great pieces that really tell you about who her player, Slava Kovalenko, is as both a person and a player, which include: his roots as a Ukrainian-Canadian, personality, values, accomplishments, and relationships. It’s truly refreshing and fun to see how Slava’s character has transferred to the VHL realm and how seamlessly Lee has made it work. 

 

I know a lot of other members enjoy writing humorous articles about their players' shenanigans with some hilarious headlines that always get a laugh out of me, and to me, these examples I’ve listed and more are some of the most important pieces of VHL lore, because they are inherently human and allow users to embrace their most creative selves, as well as connect to their players beyond the scoresheet. I hope others share the same sentiment!

 

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