Weird gaming habits

[Joni Odin von Hassenstein]

I have yet to spend money on a PC game and I might not for a while.

Do you mean you obtained your copies "by other means than spending money", or do you mean you only play on other platforms?
In any case:

 

[Dedup]

I have a tendency to spend hours getting fiddling with dosbox settings to get a game working just how I want. Once I'm satisfied I turn off the game and never end up playing it.

I also sometimes add more randomness to games by rolling a die or some other method to make some decisions. For example when creating characters in Elminage I have some excel macros set up to randomly determine a character's race, age, gender, and alignment.

 

[PocketMine]

Speaking about hoarding - I started to learn and cured myself from it.
Like Stalker ShoC. You gather all that guns but what you buy for it? Well, nothing. Nothing after few hours of the playthrough.

Stalker ShoC didnt cure my hoarding habbit since i kept most guns and instead of selling them installed mod that raised weight limit by alot. Same with Stalker CoP except this time i limited my gun collection to 2 handguns 2 assault rifles 2 sniper rifles and RPG.

 

[Dr Skeleton]

I almost never play in windowed mode. Too distracting. Even if the window covers the entire screen.

If there's a prequel in a series I will play it first, then the game that was released earlier. I dislike prequels in general, when a prequel is announced for a game I like I'm only about half as interested as if it was a sequel.

I tried mapmaking/modding more games that I can count, but I hardly ever complete anything. Usually I just get bored or realize I"m unable to do what I set out to do without putting hundreds of hours into it or assembling a team for the project. The worst part is that when I play the game later I see stuff I wanted to change and consider modding it again

I sometimes fail to play the way I set out to. Legion playthrough in New Vegas using energy weapons for a change? Nope, the Courier will have none of that, it's House and guns again.

I hate when games use inflated numbers for no reason. Give me a simple system where health and damage is worked out in 10s, maybe 100s, not 1765 damage on the starting weapon. Anything after first two numbers is just annoying clutter.

I used to keep dozens of save files with names like "aaaaaaasaassd1222211" for each game I played. I got rid of it somehow.

 

[Got bored and left]

I always name saves "aaa", "bbb", "ccc" or "111", "222", and so on. Unless something very special happens - once in CKII my character was kinda randomly instaled on the throne of the HRE, I couldn't help but name the save "WTF"

I also have a wierd way of playing games in general. I tend to play something all the time non stop for a week or two, and then, if the game isn't finished yet, I just kinda stop. I don't abandon anything, I don't delete the game, I just kinda leave it there for a period of time, usually a few months. It's not even that I get bored or whatever, I just... stop playing. Then I come back to the game and the process repeats itself - in the case of games like Football Manager, as in games that don't really end, potentially indefinetely. That's why I have some problems finishing games longer than about 25-30 hours, it just takes me a looong time to actually finish, regardless of the quality of the game. Odd, I think. One notable exception is Fallout: New Vegas, I just couldn't leave that game hangin'.

 

[Dr Skeleton]

I always name saves "aaa", "bbb", "ccc" or "111", "222", and so on. Unless something very special happens - once in CKII my characer was kinda randomly instaled on the throne of the HRE, I couldn't help but name the save "WTF"

Come to think of it I do something like that too. It's A1, A2, A3 for one character/party and B1-3 for the next (if I have more than one at a time, I usually don't). I also delete all saves when I finish a playthrough.

 

[pippin]

I'm kinda lazy when it comes to naming savegames. It's just *character name* *number of save*, or just naming the save after something I made in the game, like "collected item", "killed boss", "won fight" etc.

Edit: I do like it when the game names your saves automatically though.

Also when I'm playing rpgs, I try to use a dex or char build first, then I use a full melee one. Generally, the games that I replay the most are those who allow different builds, even if they are kinda linear.

 

[Blonsky]

Every time i install a game and start it for the first time i go into settings and just look at all the options the game has before starting it.
When i was younger i always tried to learn key bindings from the settings instead of tutorials, but now im just tired of memorizing it that way.

 

[Durandal]

I usually edit the audio settings to put a larger emphasis on the music
I usually use the current date as the save name
Even if I complete a certain section, I sometimes reload to do it better without taking as much damage
I'm kind of averse to using items other than healing stuff in battles

 

[sullynathan]

I have yet to spend money on a PC game and I might not for a while.

Do you mean you obtained your copies "by other means than spending money", or do you mean you only play on other platforms?
In any case:

Both

 

[oddech_wymarlych_swiatow]

That used to be what PC games were about, getting the most out of the hardware. Now it's all "meh don't worry tards will upgrade every 6 months so no need to optimize".

That reminds of another absurd of mine - I feel kinda of guilty every time I upgrade my hardware - 'Dude what's the point of upgrade when you haven't even touch [let's create random list of those games that come to mind at this moment] Celtic Tales, Bahamut Lagoon, Parasite Eve, Suikoden 2, Prisoner of Ice, Xenosaga, Dark Reign, Fantasy General, Power Instinct, Hired Guns, Cybermage, Legion, Front Mission, Star Ocean, Pył, Fate: Gates of Dawn, Eradicator, Jedi Knight 2, Chrome, Seiken Densetsu 3 ... etc. [I could add another 20, or 40 or 60 additional titles in a blink of an eye] and all of this stuff run perfectly on your current rig?'

Between NESclone and Pentium PC I had old 386MHz PC with 8 MB RAM, that was like 1997 year when such comp was consider garbage, I had some fun with few games like Prince of Persia, Lotus 3 or Scorched Earth but overall felt scorn for my inferior rig that was unable to run modern games [back then - Hexen 2, Blood, Virtua Fighter 2 and so on] - was so stupid back then. It may be due to lack of software available back then (no common access to internet in Polad that dayz) but NOW, it would be kind of cool if I were limited to 386 machine for some time (gaming purpouse only of course) - I'm sure now I would sqeezed 300% of that hardware, playing Goldbox games, old Wizardry shit, Urkuul, Ultimas, Wasteland... long MONTHS of fun without a single urge to upgrade.

 

[pippin]

Hardware discussions are always fun. I remember my first PC always froze when I finished playing AOE2.
But you have to take in consideration that we have many manufacturers, and developers often secure licenses with a few of them, so they can't ensure your game will work with any given hardware combination. And that's only for PC's, we also have to consider that games are made with consoles in mind these days.

 

[kwanzabot]

anything that is able to be named by me is almost always poo and/or anus and/or vagina related

all my planets in sins of a solar empire are named after fecal related activities for example

Poopy Bum and Scabby Vag are popular choices for char names


good times

i think i just caught autism

 

[I'm Big Into Anal]

and i just found the secret to encouraging serial lurkers to post

 

[LennyFromMotorbread]

I never eat a goddamn thing when I'm playing games 'cause I don't want to taint my keyboard keys with Cool Ranch dust like the rest of yous.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

I never eat a goddamn thing when I'm playing games 'cause I don't want to taint my keyboard keys with Cool Ranch dust like the rest of yous.

Aren't you supposed to be dead?

 

[Beastro]

I always play characters based on my own identity, or rather based on aspects of my own personality. During character creation, I always try to create myself. If I can't somehow identify with the player character, I can't immerse myself and won't play the game. I can't recall ever having played an elven, dwarven, or female character.

Not really weird, besides the racial/gender choices.

We all pick facets of ourselves to play as or use it as a baseline for taboo breaking ( I find playing a cruel, terrible person so entertaining because it's a total 180 from how I normally am).

My usually shtick is playing a stoic that likes to wryly point things out funny things, something I do myself at times, but that can be hard given how one dimensional personalities are in RPGs where stoic = brooding, humourless twat and joker = exaggeratedly comical and unfunny idiot.

I never eat a goddamn thing when I'm playing games 'cause I don't want to taint my keyboard keys with Cool Ranch dust like the rest of yous.

I think a lot of neat freaks in this thread would die if they had to use my keyboard with it's thick layer of nail clippings and dried milk and coffee sitting underneath the keys. I keep them and rest the keyboard in sanitary condition and wipe up any spills on it, but I've never bothered to open the thing up and get to that mess underneath.

 

[Zlaja]

I have a tendency to spend hours getting fiddling with dosbox settings to get a game working just how I want. Once I'm satisfied I turn off the game and never end up playing it. .

This describes my several "playthroughs" of Daggerfall.

Every time i install a game and start it for the first time i go into settings and just look at all the options the game has before starting it.

In what universe is this weird? Oh wait.....

I almost never play in windowed mode. Too distracting. Even if the window covers the entire screen.

Ruins my fuckin' IMMERSHUN too.

I hate when games use inflated numbers for no reason. Give me a simple system where health and damage is worked out in 10s, maybe 100s, not 1765 damage on the starting weapon. Anything after first two numbers is just annoying clutter..

Makes me wanna quit playing altogheter. Fuck you, Two Worlds!


Also, I can't stop saving all the bloody time. Every 5 minutes and sometimes even after just 1-2 minutes. Even if I haven't done anyting of note. The person who invented the quicksave should be shot.

 

[CryptRat]

I hate fleeing battles (when it's not completely necessary) to the point that when I flee instead of dying I generally reload my last save game (and not even always immediately, sometimes a little later).
That also means that when monsters are visible I have to kill all of them, even if they're constantly respawning.

 

[Got bored and left]

Also, I can't stop saving all the bloody time. Every 5 minutes and sometimes even after just 1-2 minutes. Even if I haven't done anyting of note. The person who invented the quicksave should be shot.

True that. Funny thing is, I've only very recently taught myself to actually use quicksaves, before that I always went for normal saves, no matter the circumstances. I dunno why - I guess I mistrusted the quicksave function, or something.

 

[laclongquan]

I always play characters based on my own identity, or rather based on aspects of my own personality. During character creation, I always try to create myself. If I can't somehow identify with the player character, I can't immerse myself and won't play the game. I can't recall ever having played an elven, dwarven, or female character.

Not really weird, besides the racial/gender choices.

We all pick facets of ourselves to play as or use it as a baseline for taboo breaking ( I find playing a cruel, terrible person so entertaining because it's a total 180 from how I normally am).

That is weird, by my standard~ I usually play female caucasian whenever possible, and only male asian if there's no way around it. My characters generally have nothing to do with me other than a common policy of Lawful Good even if we start from Neutral. We only stay near neutral if the game scripts are badly written/designed for Lawful and Good option.

This come back from the days of Fallout 2 where at first I chose the thieving girl prototype before customizing her.

 

[JarlFrank]

Almost always play as a woman when given the choice, likely a reflection of a deep-seated repressed identity issue.

Same with me, WHO WOULD HAVE GUESSED RIGHT

I also attempt stealth in every game, including ones that clearly have no stealth mechanics whatsoever. I replayed a lot of older FPS games recently to re-evaluate them and I was crouch-walking everywhere and hiding without even realizing it, even in games where the enemies always know exactly where you are and rush you no matter what.

More recently, I've taken to doing pacifist runs as much as a game will allow, even in games where the entire focus is supposed to be on killing thousands of enemies.

While it's not that extreme with me, ever since I laid hand on the old Thief games, I've become a stealth-player if there is a viable stealth path. I go in guns blazing in games that don't have stealth, but if it has stealth in any way, I try to go through without a single alert, if that is even possible, or at least drag out the inevitable combat as long as possible by picking off enemies the stealthy way one by one before committing to an attack. I stealthed Deus Ex, the No One Lives Forever games, Elder Scrolls and new Fallouts, even attempted it in Return to Castle Wolfenstein. Thank you, Thief, you made me into a stealthfag.

And while I love killing as many unnamed bandits as possible, when a character has a quest to give or even just a unique name in an RPG, I can't kill him. I always make sure to leave as many named NPCs alive as possible. If there is a quest with 3 possible outcomes, like, either decide whom to kill or reconcile the two parties so nobody dies, I go with the nobody dies option, always.

I'm also an obsessive-compulsive completionist who does every single shitty sidequest and explores every area of a level even if I know that area of the level has nothing interesting for me, but I have to go there to see it for myself, especially if the game has an automap that gets filled in by exploring everywhere. I never finished Morrowind because for me "finishing" would mean to have a completely filled out map with every single dungeon location discovered and every shitty fetch quest done.

 

[SquidLord]

I have become rather obsessed with doing things chronologically, starting with playing games chronologically in 2010; when it looked like there would never be any good PC games made again, and Kickstarter was still a couple of years away.
Now I've reached late 1996, so I've made decent progress (unlike CRPG Addict I don't waste time on games that are obviously crap) and played lots of great games I would probably never have tried if I stuck to my old habits (mostly replaying and modding my favourite games).

I also need to learn more about the influences and history of the games I play. There's quite a few games influence by Lovecraft, so I read most of his stuff, which led me again to read the writers that influenced HPL, like Edgar Allan Poe, Arthur Machen and Lord Dunsany, which again led to me having to read Weird Fiction, Swords&Sorcery, Fantasy and SF chronologically (currently reached 1942).
But sometimes I jump ahead. Before playing Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri I have to read Starship Troopers and The Forever War, which are the main influences of the game.


If a game is turn based and have evenly sized squares I must make my own map.


I always try to complete games using as little in game time as possible, if there is time keeping in the game.
Which is why I really like it when games reward you for it by getting a better score, like the M&M and HoMM games.

Do you actually have list somewhere or do you just figure it out as you go?

 

[octavius]

A mix. I have a list that is frequently edited. But for each game year I use Mobygames to make an initial list.

 

[Beastro]

Another is I find extremely hard not to play grand strategy games like Paradox's without forcing certain historical events. The worst is CKII where I'm constantly using the console and editing save fails to make historical rulers in many places stay alive and produce heirs of the appropriate names.

It used to be worse in the past where I'd make historical patterns play out like limiting or expanding powers to roughly correspond to real events though I've relaxed that now, but I keep the people roughly real for most famous dynasties.

Sometimes it works out oddly well as a mash up of both the real and alt history, like disintegrating my massive pagan Saxon empire in the early 11th Century only to have a child Catholic of the House of Wessex (In that game Alfred's "Greatness" came from losing Wessex to Mercia, fleeing to my court, converting and accepting vassalage in exchange for regaining the throne of Wessex, then England) succeeded to the throne of England. I quickly renamed him Edward the Confessor and made celibate. After that when he died without issue a pagan Wessex succeeded him and that triggered the Norman Conquest (I'd also conquered Normandy and installed their House in power there under the vassalage of my Catholic Netherlands client kingdom) amid a civil war as the pagan king attempted to remove Catholics from power produce mass revolting (Unless other unconquered areas I never removed any not of my religion from power and left it to Alfred and his heirs to deal with, which resulted in England remaining mostly Christian.

Also I cannot stand a random dynasty in a major place of rule having a shitty Coat of Arms. If they do I either make my own and save edit to give it to them or remove them from power.

I always name saves "aaa", "bbb", "ccc" or "111", "222", and so on. Unless something very special happens - once in CKII my character was kinda randomly instaled on the throne of the HRE, I couldn't help but name the save "WTF"

For me it was:

ass
bss
css
dss
etc

Then once at zss, the asss, bsss, csss, etc.

Now it's just whatever keys I randomly hit.

Doing that enough I quickly realized how much "random" button mashing isn't actually random at all. Always find it funny to hit 5+ keys across the board only to find myself repeatedly hitting the same patterns over and over at a common rate.