Sadly, as long as raids remain isolated from quest progression outside of them, stuff like this is what we get; rather than tell us a story in the game itself, they plaster stuff on their web page so that they don't have to write the story into the actual raid.
It's extremely haphazard, and results in things like the unlikely-to-ever-be-updated encyclopedia on the official WoW site that they added to explain all the TBC stuff that they didn't feel like comprehensively explaining in-game. The resulting sense of detachment feels like watching a movie without sound and being expected to download a transcript at home and read it to get the character dialogue.
Secondary content should complement and enhance the actual game, not outright replace it.
—A Forum Poster
about this trope's application in World of Warcraft
about this trope's application in World of Warcraft"Reassembly is the reverse of disassembly"
"...except you swear in different places."
- Parody of Haynes repair manuals, original source unknown.
I've seen people complain that Bungie doesn't include enough material from the books in the games, as though they should be part of a single interlocking experience where the story arc weaves from medium to medium like a drunk driver slaloming along the Interstate.
"RTFM"
—Well known admonishment to electronics users.
"Here, check out what I found. The manual. It’s all in here. If you read the story, you’ll find your way out. ‘Once upon a time, there were Lums. Harmony. Love. Peace.’ Boring! ‘Suddenly, a Black Lum transforms the Red Lums into Hoodlums. The world is in great danger.’ Ooh, here we go, here we go. It says here that Globox took off with your hands."
—Murfy, Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc
[Y]ou don't get credit for stuff you don't put in the movie because, now try to follow this because it's a pretty big leap, you didn't put it in the movie. I shouldn't have to wait months and watch all your deleted scenes to say "Oh, this finally makes sense," or pore through some non-canon books to say "Oh, so this isn't a pile of nonsensical horseshit after all." Sure, good films don't always tell you things on purpose, but that doesn't mean that a bad movie can get away with the same thing. Because while a good creator might say "I want them to ask what was in that box that drove him to do what he did," a bad one probably isn't saying "I want them to ask why is the villain doing something that even a coma patient would see as foolhardy, borderline insane, and actually likely to thwart his own plan?"
—SF Debris, reviewing Star Trek: Generations
I shouldn't have to read a book or play a video game or whatever in order to know this stuff. If that's really how it works, then the movie should say it! But the movie doesn't say anything! [...] It's why I'm not even bothering to try to look up EU explanations for stuff like Amidala's ridiculous outfits in The Phantom Menace; it's not in the movie, so what does it even matter? The EU seems to exist purely to explain away problems with the films, but in turn, the Expanded Universe has its own collection of people who have their own ideas for how Star Wars should be. And it's a big problem because they sometimes end up directly contradicting what the films say, if they say anything at all! This is why, when I'm reviewing these movies, I'm going 99% by only what's in the movie, because that's what I'm reviewing! Telling me that some discrepancy or goof is explained away in a comic or a book or a video game or something doesn't help, because how the hell am I supposed to know that? It's not in the movie! It's not! In! The! Movie!! I'm willing to try to rationalize stuff like the assassination method or Palpatine's plans, but the movie has to meet me half way here!
—Linkara, on the Star Wars Expanded Universe
Okay, here's where I am going to bitch about storytelling again, but what's the deal with the Phantom Ruby? Is it one, several, how many are there? In "Mania", doesn't Eggman just randomly find it? In "Forces", they mention Phantom Ruby prototypes, as if Eggman was constructing them! Remember earlier, when I asked why Eggman recruited Infinite and the Jackal Squad, instead of building his own mercenaries? That's all explained in a comic book. A prequel comic book. Why should I have to consult external media to understand a story? Couldn't you just as easily explain this within the game itself? "Episode Shadow" practically doesn't explain anything, other than the fact that Infinite isn't a robot. If I'm reading a book, I shouldn't have to watch the prequel movie to understand it. There should be a prequel BOOK! That's why movies based on books are called "Adaptations", because they ADAPT the original story from the book, usually omitting story elements You don't need to Know in order to understand the main plot. Sure, some times movies get it wrong, but they almost never make the audience ask too many questions since it usually gets explained. I get it, maybe it was a cross-promotion to get people to buy the comic, but it's just poor story telling of a plot that could've been really interesting!
— Charriii5, Everything Wrong With Sonic Forces in 32 Minutes
The name of this world is Nalthis, by the way. Mistborn takes place on a world called Scadrial, and Elantris on a world known as Sel. See the fun things you learn by reading annotations?
"If you need instructions on how to get through the hotels, check out the enclosed instruction book!"
— Mario
"So, yeah, people were caught up on the Twitter storm where he was talking about the “Flat Earth" thing, but in the song itself, he never seems to be able to find the time to actually explain how or why the Earth is flat, or why anyone would want to hide that fact if it’s true. No, for real, if your point is that the Earth is flat, don’t you want to at least use the words “Flat Earth Theory” at some point in the song? As a point of fact, quite literally, there are no lyrics in this song that directly talk about Flat Earth Theory. The only way you’d know is by the Twitter tirade he did around the time of the song’s release."
—The Rap Critic when discussing the background of "Flatlines" by B.o.B (Rapper)
"The book doesn't matter."
- CinemaSins, when reviewing a film adapted from a book (or other material), where details that might explain something was left out of the adaptation; the belief is a movie should stand on its own merits. Dragon Ball Evolution was an exception, due to fan request, with a bonus round of details & plot points that were left out that could have helped understanding the film's plot.
"One thing I like to do is open the Wookiepedia page for the Knights of Ren and read fun facts about each of them. Vicrul adopted several titles including Reaper of the Fallen! Ushar was known for torturing his enemies until they begged for mercy of which he possessed none! Trudgen was a collector of trophies from fallen conquests. I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE ANY OF THIS INFORMATION FUCKING CAME FROM! BECAUSE IT'S NOT IN THE MOVIE! Read the accompanying comic to learn all about Ushar.
"I'll tell you one thing: I don't give a were-rat's ass about what this as-yet-untranslated Japanese guidebook has to say about [Whisper Rubrum, Viridi and Croceo]. 'Dissect all the enemies as Professor Hojo do!'" (brings up an image of The Rise of Skywalker's novelization) "Where else have we recently had the need to buy cash-grab supplemental materials to make sense of an incoherent plot?" (brings up an image of the Hyrule Historia) "And you know you can always trust official guide books!"
— Robot Co-Op regarding Final Fantasy VII Remake
regarding Final Fantasy VII Remake