Putting the 'role' back in role-playing games since 2002.
Donate to Codex
Good Old Games
  • Welcome to rpgcodex.net, a site dedicated to discussing computer based role-playing games in a free and open fashion. We're less strict than other forums, but please refer to the rules.

    "This message is awaiting moderator approval": All new users must pass through our moderation queue before they will be able to post normally. Until your account has "passed" your posts will only be visible to yourself (and moderators) until they are approved. Give us a week to get around to approving / deleting / ignoring your mundane opinion on crap before hassling us about it. Once you have passed the moderation period (think of it as a test), you will be able to post normally, just like all the other retards.

Cheating is endemic in rpgs. Being forced not to reload puts you on disadvantage

With 75% hit chance, what would be your 'real' hit rate?

  • 200%. Just hitting is for weak, I always start encounters with good critical

  • 60%, since birth im not lucky

  • 75%, only ironman

  • 80%, I only reload if I miss 3 times in a row

  • 85%, I only reload if missing 2 times in a row breaks my perfect strategy

  • 100%, missing breaks my strategy


Results are only viewable after voting.

lukaszek

the determinator
Patron
Joined
Jan 15, 2015
Messages
12,621
Its not cheating if everyone does it.

So what if I reload 20x times to get this achievement? Im not going to be in 40% of steam user base that didnt get it.

I'm just fixing RNG. With my 75% hit rate I shouldnt miss twice in a row.

And other lies we are telling ourselves(trojan horse argument, *wink* *wink*)

Save scumming is not specific to rpgs but its where i find it most relevant. In other genres its hard to recreate exact scenario to expect different outcome.
Cheating got this interesting peers-pressure factor. You cheat not to be worse than someone. You cheat because someone else does it so its only fair that you do it too. Hence I'm bringing this to illustrate:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wo...ese-teachers-try-to-stop-pupils-cheating.html
Riot after Chinese teachers try to stop pupils cheating
What should have been a hushed scene of 800 Chinese students diligently sitting their university entrance exams erupted into siege warfare after invigilators tried to stop them from cheating.
According to the protesters, cheating is endemic in China, so being forced to sit the exams without help put their children at a disadvantage.
By late afternoon, the invigilators were trapped in a set of school offices, as groups of students pelted the windows with rocks. Outside, an angry mob of more than 2,000 people had gathered to vent its rage, smashing cars and chanting: "We want fairness. There is no fairness if you do not let us cheat."

Now putting hurt feelings aside im curious about following: can you estimate what is your real hit chance? If you were to count hits and misses through your game would it be close to in-game 75% or more like 85-90%?

How much peer pressure forces you to have perfect encounters? Im curious how would real hit rate be affected on niche game vs AAA title.
 

CaesarCzech

Scholar
Joined
Aug 24, 2018
Messages
445
Im between 2-3 in Row depends on the game and the situation, missing 2 times against boss okay makes it somewhat cinematic, But i wont My soldiers shitting like Stormtroopers against freaking sectoid or Cannon fodder.
 

Black Angel

Arcane
Joined
Jun 23, 2016
Messages
2,910
Location
Wonderland
Are you sure d20 only fell on your head from top shelf when you were young? Can you now show where on the doll RNG/dice rolls *really* touched you?
 

CaesarCzech

Scholar
Joined
Aug 24, 2018
Messages
445
Are you sure d20 only fell on your head from top shelf when you were young? Can you now show where on the doll RNG/dice rolls *really* touched you?

Here Comes fallen Angel, we are all too used to their fetishes, but Dicephilia is something weird even for the standarts of the Hell.
 

Sigourn

uooh afficionado
Joined
Feb 6, 2016
Messages
5,624
The only time I actively savescummed in an RPG was when I faced Frank Horrigan. I must have died 100 times in that fight. I couldn't reprogram the computers, and I couldn't get the soldiers to side with me.

It's really one of the most unabalanced boss fights I've ever seen in an RPG. Unless you have a build dedicated to it, you won't be able to beat him fair and square without savescumming. Well, technically you can, but I figure it would take many, many, MANY deaths: in the range of hundreds.

Other than that, I don't see the point in savescumming unless the game is terribly designed.
 

Beastro

Arcane
Joined
May 11, 2015
Messages
7,952
an angry mob of more than 2,000 people had gathered to vent its rage, smashing cars and chanting: "We want fairness. There is no fairness if you do not let us cheat."

Why not chant demanding no cheating take place at all?

One of the odder aspects of human nature is the race to the bottom. Put bad people in a group of good ones and the bad ones don't get better, they influence the good ones into being worse.

The relatively small city of Zhongxiang in Hubei province

Population (2010)
• Total
1,022,514

:M
 
Last edited:
Joined
May 11, 2007
Messages
1,853,654
Location
Belém do Pará, Império do Brasil
The only time I actively savescummed in an RPG was when I faced Frank Horrigan. I must have died 100 times in that fight. I couldn't reprogram the computers, and I couldn't get the soldiers to side with me.

It's really one of the most unabalanced boss fights I've ever seen in an RPG. Unless you have a build dedicated to it, you won't be able to beat him fair and square without savescumming. Well, technically you can, but I figure it would take many, many, MANY deaths: in the range of hundreds.

Other than that, I don't see the point in savescumming unless the game is terribly designed.

To be fair, you're fighting a genetically-tweaked Super Mutant Cyborg in Power Armor pumped full of drugs. Your character is just a dude, at best, a slightly enhanced dude. Horrigan is not even human anymore. They should have made the fight harder.

I actually think that set-up is pretty clever, and kind of a series subversion: You can't ALWAYS get out of conflicts with speech and stealth, but you can use it to make them easier.

There's many ways that fight can go:

1. You fight Frank, the soldiers AND the Turrets. Hardest fight in the series.
2. You fight Frank and the Turrets, soldiers are on your side. Hard but doable, especially if you have your own party alongside the soldiers.
3. You fight Frank and the Soldiers, turrets are on your side. Not hard at all because you can just heal himself with super stims and then start crit-shooting Frank.

There's also the fact you can just trash the turrets at the start, but that's kinda meta-gamey because they don't start hostile and you have zero idea that the end-game fight will happen there. Which also results in:
4. You fight Frank and the Soldiers. No Turrets.
5. You fight Frank alongside the Soldiers. No turrets.

Also, if you went your way slaughtering things through the area and didn't clear the barracks area before, you will waste time on the barracks and will lose clock time. So, the Horrigan fight will become a timed fight. Last time I finished the game, I think I had two minutes until the Oil Rig blew because I went through the entire barracks shooting, and then to Horrigan.

Enclave Oil Rig is also such a cool area that it feels fulfilling doing it as any build. Its also the ultimate OG Fallout combat romp that makes Mariposa and the Cathedral look easy - every single Enclave Trooper has 200 HP, APA and a end-game level weapon (Gauss Rifle, Turbo Plasma, Pulse weapons, Rocket Launchers, Vindicator Minigun, etc), not to mention the Turrets and killbots.
 

FeelTheRads

Arcane
Joined
Apr 18, 2008
Messages
13,716
I couldn't reprogram the computers, and I couldn't get the soldiers to side with me.

Unless you have a build dedicated to it,

Couldn't reprogram the computers, couldn't get the soldiers... well, what kind of build did you have? My guess is a shit build.

Dedicated build. Fucking lol. Here's a "dedicated" build: Gauss Rifle.
 

Jacob

Pronouns: Nick/Her
Patron
Joined
Dec 24, 2015
Messages
3,336
Location
Hatington
Grab the Codex by the pussy
Someone really should make a tag for OP related to this deterministic crap. Preferably with a lame deTerminator jokes mixed in.
 

Sigourn

uooh afficionado
Joined
Feb 6, 2016
Messages
5,624
To be fair, you're fighting a genetically-tweaked Super Mutant Cyborg in Power Armor pumped full of drugs. Your character is just a dude, at best, a slightly enhanced dude. Horrigan is not even human anymore. They should have made the fight harder.

I'm not saying the fight being hard doesn't make sense. I'm saying it's stupid to use logic to justify a fight being completely unbalanced and against the player. In order to have a chance, I had to metagame destroying the turrets and killing Frank's buddies. It was a really shitty way to end and otherwise really fun game, because enemies can critically hit you, and in the case of Frank Horrigan (if I'm not mistaken) a critical hit essentially means you die. When the fight lasts for so long, you are guaranteed to be critically OHKOd quite a few times.
 

Commissar Draco

Codexia Comrade Colonel Commissar
Patron
Joined
Mar 6, 2011
Messages
20,856
Location
Привислинский край
Insert Title Here Strap Yourselves In Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Divinity: Original Sin 2
The only time I actively savescummed in an RPG was when I faced Frank Horrigan. I must have died 100 times in that fight. I couldn't reprogram the computers, and I couldn't get the soldiers to side with me.

It's really one of the most unabalanced boss fights I've ever seen in an RPG. Unless you have a build dedicated to it, you won't be able to beat him fair and square without savescumming. Well, technically you can, but I figure it would take many, many, MANY deaths: in the range of hundreds.

Other than that, I don't see the point in savescumming unless the game is terribly designed.

To be fair, you're fighting a genetically-tweaked Super Mutant Cyborg in Power Armor pumped full of drugs. Your character is just a dude, at best, a slightly enhanced dude. Horrigan is not even human anymore. They should have made the fight harder.

I actually think that set-up is pretty clever, and kind of a series subversion: You can't ALWAYS get out of conflicts with speech and stealth, but you can use it to make them easier.

There's many ways that fight can go:

1. You fight Frank, the soldiers AND the Turrets. Hardest fight in the series.
2. You fight Frank and the Turrets, soldiers are on your side. Hard but doable, especially if you have your own party alongside the soldiers.
3. You fight Frank and the Soldiers, turrets are on your side. Not hard at all because you can just heal himself with super stims and then start crit-shooting Frank.

There's also the fact you can just trash the turrets at the start, but that's kinda meta-gamey because they don't start hostile and you have zero idea that the end-game fight will happen there. Which also results in:
4. You fight Frank and the Soldiers. No Turrets.
5. You fight Frank alongside the Soldiers. No turrets.

Also, if you went your way slaughtering things through the area and didn't clear the barracks area before, you will waste time on the barracks and will lose clock time. So, the Horrigan fight will become a timed fight. Last time I finished the game, I think I had two minutes until the Oil Rig blew because I went through the entire barracks shooting, and then to Horrigan.

Enclave Oil Rig is also such a cool area that it feels fulfilling doing it as any build. Its also the ultimate OG Fallout combat romp that makes Mariposa and the Cathedral look easy - every single Enclave Trooper has 200 HP, APA and a end-game level weapon (Gauss Rifle, Turbo Plasma, Pulse weapons, Rocket Launchers, Vindicator Minigun, etc), not to mention the Turrets and killbots.

Its easy fight you plant plastic explosives on president he dies, you pick his card and turn all robots and turrets against enclave, you also can talk scientist onto releasing FEV inside rig killing all civies. You recruite SGT Bro Granite and Hoorigan dies from their fire + turrets. Its beautiful fight cause its actually much easier when your RP as rouge than warrior.
 

Roqua

Prospernaut
Dumbfuck Repressed Homosexual In My Safe Space
Joined
Apr 28, 2004
Messages
4,130
Location
YES!
I don't understand the premise. The overwhelming vast majorities of games don't allow save/reload in combat so the question is moot. This would make more sense if you were talking about picking pockets or a lock. Or even opening a chest with random loot. I don't restart a whole combat encounter because I missed. I restart if I am losing the encounter. Unless it is an extremely difficult encounter and that miss means I will lose, then I restart.

If I'm playing a game without ironman mode my chance to pick pockets and locks are 100% if there is something in the pocket or chest I want or it gives XP and I want XP. In ironman if getting caught picking a pocket leads to everyone turning hostile and ruining the game I don't risk it and don't pick any pockets or waste skill points on a useless skill.

The same goes for a game - in FO 1 it allows save scumming in combat. Since it is hugely beneficial to kill everyone at the first raider camp and save scumming makes anything possible I kill everyone at the raiders camp. If FO 1 had ironman I would not attempt killing everyone at the raider camp unless I thought I had a reasonably high chance of being successful at it including getting a string of unlucky crits against me, so I would just skip it and get the lady out peacefully.

It all boils down to mechanics and gameplay. Does the game promote a certain type or not? For instance, ToEE was developed and balanced around Ironman. That means it should be played on Ironman (or my homemade ironman for it since it sometimes corrupts your itonman save).

Do I never cheat in a game? No, I sometimes do to skip what I know I could do if doing it is boring. For instance, some games have pick pocketing with no xp and you get only gold. I will skip the hassle of going around picking all pockets by estimating the average of gold received from picking a pocket multiplied by the number of people I could pick the pockets of. I'm a very rare, selective and discerning cheater. I used the cheat thing for Grimiore to add an item in my party you only get from a specific starting area that is used later. My justification for this was not even noticing you could change starting area so I was making up for the game fucking me out of a choice I didn't even know I had.

If a game has random rolls for stats like Wizardry I do not roll a 4 and say, "Gee, that sucks." I roll until a get a big roll. If I want to start with a Samurai there is a 100% I am starting with a Samurai.
 

Master

Arbiter
Joined
Oct 19, 2016
Messages
1,160
The same goes for a game - in FO 1 it allows save scumming in combat. Since it is hugely beneficial to kill everyone at the first raider camp and save scumming makes anything possible I kill everyone at the raiders camp. If FO 1 had ironman I would not attempt killing everyone at the raider camp unless I thought I had a reasonably high chance of being successful at it including getting a string of unlucky crits against me, so I would just skip it and get the lady out peacefully.

Was it even fun savescumming the entire freaking camp? How long did that take, the whole day? You could've just come back later.
 

Roqua

Prospernaut
Dumbfuck Repressed Homosexual In My Safe Space
Joined
Apr 28, 2004
Messages
4,130
Location
YES!
The same goes for a game - in FO 1 it allows save scumming in combat. Since it is hugely beneficial to kill everyone at the first raider camp and save scumming makes anything possible I kill everyone at the raiders camp. If FO 1 had ironman I would not attempt killing everyone at the raider camp unless I thought I had a reasonably high chance of being successful at it including getting a string of unlucky crits against me, so I would just skip it and get the lady out peacefully.

Was it even fun savescumming the entire freaking camp? How long did that take, the whole day? You could've just come back later.

Come back when there is a time limit and when coming back will be far less valuable? I do content as it presents itself when I can. I've played FO2 a million times and lost each time due to time limit. The last couple times I played I even increased the time limit thinking it would help. I clear content as the game's mechanics and my OCD need to check every last nook and cranny as I clear it. Again, if FO1 had an ironman mode I would have done a peaceful option and just skipped it. I would never pick a pocket, and I'd never fight huge armies.

But just as a fan fact - I have gotten into two large arguments in the last year or so with people claiming they can kill the whole raider camp when the first get to it without cheating or save scumming. I just don't see it as a mathematic possibility. These are the same type of geniuses that tell me BG 1/2 had super challenging and tactical combat.
 
Self-Ejected

aweigh

Self-Ejected
Joined
Aug 23, 2005
Messages
17,978
Location
Florida
lukaszek

hey man, could you explain why it is that true randomness isn't possible? i read somewhere that a coin flip isn't a flat 50% chance, why?
 

As an Amazon Associate, rpgcodex.net earns from qualifying purchases.
Back
Top Bottom