Back in the '90s, when the term “crunch” arose, “fluff” arose alongside it to describe things like background detail and other things that would be called “lore” in a post-WoW world. So it’s a little weird to see background detail held up alongside the other kinds in this article.
“Fluff” always implies “unnecessary” to me - and so I could argue the application of the terms should be reversed. I don’t need another rules engine, it’s unnecessary padding in the pages of a new game, and instead I need a new game to show me lore, setting and concepts that I’ve not got to explore (or crunch into) before.
I’m not saying that lore is unnecessary or undesirable. I’m saying that historically, it was never included as part of what counted as “crunch”, and at the time was even taken to be its opposite.
Back in the '90s, when the term “crunch” arose, “fluff” arose alongside it to describe things like background detail and other things that would be called “lore” in a post-WoW world. So it’s a little weird to see background detail held up alongside the other kinds in this article.
“Fluff” always implies “unnecessary” to me - and so I could argue the application of the terms should be reversed. I don’t need another rules engine, it’s unnecessary padding in the pages of a new game, and instead I need a new game to show me lore, setting and concepts that I’ve not got to explore (or crunch into) before.
I’m not saying that lore is unnecessary or undesirable. I’m saying that historically, it was never included as part of what counted as “crunch”, and at the time was even taken to be its opposite.