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Favourite way(s) of playing

Alfons

Prophet
Joined
Jul 25, 2014
Messages
1,031
I play games like they are games.Depending on what game it is or how complex the systems are I might skim through a faq to see how to build my character.I had enough times in different games where I played for around 8 hours or more to find out that my character is shit.It was so shit that it was better restarting than pushing through.I think at this point I can figure out most games so I try to avoid it but if you have a lot of options I still might resort to faqary.

When building my character I focus on combat,there are a few reasons for that:
1.Most games have a lot of it,so it seems like a good idea to be good at the thing you are going to be doing at least 60% of the time.
2.It is the most enjoyable thing for me in games.
3.The second most enjoyable is exploration,and while doing it you will probably be fighting often.

After combat skills are moderate-high I start focusing on lockpicking type skills and after that on speech skills which I rarely use.
In terms of quest progression,it depends on the game.When I have the freedom to go wherever I want I usually pick up all the quests I can and forget about them when I start exploring.
About playing it iron man,I play it anti iron-man,its almost a compulsion.I never do anything game breaking but my view is that if it's in the game then fuck it,why not.

Overall from a roleplaying standpoint my dude becomes more of hunter/scavenger/treasure hunter than a hero.only goes to town when he is out of supplies or accumulated so much shit he has to sell some of it to make room.
 

imweasel

Guest
I always play the good guy, who suckles peasants cock (not gay) for XP and special items.
 

Cool name

Arcane
Joined
Oct 14, 2012
Messages
2,147
All my characters are an idealized little me. I will fiddle for days on the character creation trying to make one which looks just like me or as close as possible, even if such look makes no sense in the setting or the gameplay. I will build a character which somehow reflects a romantized take on me, so they will always end up being physically weak and somewhat sickly witches or dual classed witches/archers wearing the prettiest clothes regardless of stats or utility. I will take the abilities which sound cool to me or which act as romantized reflections of abilities/skills I have or am trying to attain, regardless of mechanics or bugs or utility.

I take shit way too seriously. I am unable to RP or LARP at all, as I am completely unable to put myself on someone else's shoes. Even in successive playthroughs, I will always pick the same dialogue choices and do the exact same thingies I did, systematically, and I will play a very similar if not identical character, unless enough time has gone by for something else to make more sense now. To do otherwise, it feels like cheating - I would have never picked that option or gone there before going over there if I had not been told by a friend the reward was awesome, so why do I deserve that particular reward? What have I done to attain it myself? Even if I go to a place first and am later told, I have not to go to that place until much later, every single playthrough afterwards I will first try to go to that place before going to the proper place, and I will do an honest attempt to tackle it at that time, because it never occurred to me to do it in the proper order until I was told which the proper order was. >.<

I just won't do meta. As in, this particular enemy is really easy if you use this particular spell? Good to know, but I won't do it because if I hadn't been told I would never have discovered it myself, as I don't really like that spell so I never have it prepared. To do so would be cheating, so I will just have to defeat that asshole using what I am naturally inclined to use. Or, if you go there right away and get this particular weapon, the starting areas will become easier. Sure, but my natural tendency is to explore things methodically and systematically, so it would be cheating to break that pattern.

But sometimes I become really good at doing shit the hard way because of this. Kind of how I became stupidly good at footwork and bare hand parrying in Dark Souls because carrying shields is tomboyish and they do not match any of the outfits I like to use, or how I never use the stair trick on the Capra Demon because it never occurred to me to run up the stairs until I was told to do so. I tried it once, and it worked, and then I deleted the character because I just felt I did not deserve that victory at all. It wasn't MY success, it was someone else's, so I didn't deserve to proceed with the game at all. >.<

Maybe that's why I like to LP stuff. It is not really MY playthrough, so I can just go wild and do stupid shit for lulz and profit.
 

Avellion

Erudite
Joined
Jan 9, 2014
Messages
756
Location
This forum
Overall Playstyle: Combatfag with some diplomacy on the side as to not miss out on potential side quests.
Fighting Style: Support, buffing, debuffing, utility, control, bonus points if I can make my enemies kill themselves. The more utility characters, the more fun, Dedicated damage dealers and healers are boring in comparison.
Party: Fully custom parties. Preferably of sizes between 6-8.
Resting: Limit resting to roughly once per day.
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
On Subsequent playthroughs: Hex edit, save game editors and cheat codes to play as gimped characters if the game doesnt let me to otherwise.
Waifus: None.
Death: Should be punished, when a game does not penalize me for playing badly, I stop giving a shit about my performance.
 

Dorateen

Arcane
Joined
Aug 30, 2012
Messages
4,332
Location
The Crystal Mist Mountains
I'm only interested in party-based games so I can recreate the characters from our PnP group from the 1980's and continue our adventures in the computer role-playing medium.
 

nomask7

Arcane
Joined
Apr 30, 2008
Messages
7,620
I wouldn't say it's something I do often, but one of the best experiences I had with a CRPG was when I avoided using the map in Hordes of the Underdark. I'd recall there were hidden teleports on the first level of the dungeon that would teleport me elsewhere on that level, orienteering could be harder than you might think. Very atmospheric game when played like that.

Other than that, I like to play warriors who are strong and have a sword and shield. If I use a two-hander, I won't get to be excited about as much loot - sword instead of sword and shield. If I use a wizard, I don't get to be excited about finding swords, shields, and armour. So I focus on a warrior in games that don't have starting parties (the Baldur's Gates and Neverwinter Nights).

Gothic 2 should definitely be played with a warrior. This is more a fact than a way of playing. I prefer swords, either one or two handed because there are no shields.

I like to have characters that can talk well, especially in the Fallouts, but I don't like the dialogue tree system in general these days (you never have to think of what to say, just pick from a set of choices), an especially crappy system when combined with character skill drivenness, so if I ever get back to playing these kind of games I'm not sure what I'd do.
 
Joined
May 1, 2013
Messages
4,499
Location
The border of the imaginary
Go in Blind, restart 3-4 times to figure out stuff (typically till midgame) and then mondblut through that playthrough.

Succesive playthroughs are for RP/LARPing after I figure our the best way to steamroll shit.
 

bloodlover

Arcane
Joined
Sep 5, 2010
Messages
2,039
Gothic 2 should definitely be played with a warrior. This is more a fact than a way of playing. I prefer swords, either one or two handed because there are no shields.


How come? I played it with an archer and it was quite enjoyable, though very easy.
 

Somberlain

Arcane
Zionist Agent
Joined
Mar 5, 2012
Messages
6,202
Location
Basement
How come? I played it with an archer and it was quite enjoyable, though very easy.

Doesn't it have some kind of awful auto-targetting system? I think I once tried ranged, recoiled in horror and never looked back. Melee combat in G2 is pretty fun though.
 
Joined
Jun 20, 2014
Messages
906
Location
Malaysia
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
I love playing turn-based games than real time.
Like most, first play through is always with a melee guy wielding the biggest weapon he can find.
 

murloc_gypsy

Cipher
Joined
Jun 23, 2014
Messages
323
Whenever I'm in a game and am about to hit some enemy, I pause and roll a d20. If I miss, I ALT F4, uninstall and try again later. :rpgcodex:
 

nomask7

Arcane
Joined
Apr 30, 2008
Messages
7,620
Gothic 2 should definitely be played with a warrior. This is more a fact than a way of playing. I prefer swords, either one or two handed because there are no shields.

How come? I played it with an archer and it was quite enjoyable, though very easy.

It's too easy if you play mage or bow man. Cross-bow man I'm not certain of since I haven't tried. Cross bow is slower so it'd at least be harder against the dragons.

Anyway, basically I'm convinced that the game was designed and balanced for melee warriors, and the mage and archer character types are there because it's just the thing you do if you're making a CRPG: you give character type choices. Basically, a marketing department driven design decision.
 

Night Goat

The Immovable Autism
Patron
No Fun Allowed
Joined
May 6, 2013
Messages
1,865,441
Location
[redacted]
Codex 2013 Codex 2014
In settings where magic exists, I'll play a spellcaster because I like having options other than hitting something with a sword every round. In more modern settings I'll play a ranged weapon user, because bringing a knife to a gun fight is dumb. If there's alignment, I'll typically be neutral - I despise do-gooders, but the evil options are usually pointless cruelty that doesn't benefit me. I usually play as a woman because I wish I was one I, uh, don't want to look at a dude's ass while I'm playing, right bros?
 

jagged-jimmy

Prophet
Joined
Jan 25, 2008
Messages
1,550
Location
Freeside
Codex 2012
I play min maxed OP char who does everything to get optimal XP fom quests (like kill for the Underground boss in the Hub, then rat him out to police and help kill him).
 

Maiandros

Learned
Possibly Retarded
Joined
Dec 26, 2012
Messages
296
Location
Infinite Space
summing up the reasons pretty much reminds me once again why i skipped the monocle crap..

- Would like to say i start as chaotic evil, but barring -two- exceptions i can recall right now, each and every other title out there pretty much has fuck all of a choice. True(tm) choice mind you. Artificial/superficial choice, aplenty, nothing real though. The way is to quest humbly. Always. With some spice of intellect numbing on top. Do exactly what a lawful good would do, but hey, different topic choosing/reward in the end..Death stroke one.

- Would like to say that i am a stubborn person, and that despite this i do a thorough play to learn the ropes, no matter how hamstrung i am by my choices, so i may replay the game later. What you deem as meta(?), though i refrain from using the term, as meta signifies to me concepts of a touch more import than gaming runs. Unlike most here however, seeing the story unfold once cuts down any desire to replay everything all over again. For any game. See artificial flavour. Like artificial choices above.

- Would also like to say that everything may, if only occasionally, be ameliorated by a good combat system/intro of some interesting mechanic, but the truth is:
a) killing elves, fairies or robts for the upteenth time just because has kind of a reduced appeal to one possibly retarded such as moi
b) killing elves textured differently/named slightly differently is still killing elves
b) after a certain age, killing pixels (ie nothing here is real) just for the sake of killing pixels has this definite sound to it. Like a "wake the fuck up" alarm type of sound to it

- Some of the most interesting, most promising games i (personally, have not played the amounts others have in here) have come across..had fucking RTWP combat. Almost insta fuck that shit, and i swear, oh did i not try.

- Some of the most open or mod-friendly games i have come across were built with such a narrow mindedness, such a limited engine capability that nothing managed to overcome that sombre feel of "ah..what if" you get every time you see something that could have been SOMETHING, but some idiot left it out. See i used to serve coffee and do CS, but such is the industry that i have by now been "promoted" to des/dev. Because good coffee equals both creativity AND ingenuity. Like Starbucks! (irony)

What still is of import is the factor of p-e-o-p-l-e.
That defines my choices, my favourite way(s) of playing to quote your OP.

People, and what may come out through them. Meaning the odd PnP and the odd MMO.
D:OS...D:OS is a bit of an anomaly, lol, i am actually very surprised catching myself considering a second play-through
 

Lhynn

Arcane
Joined
Aug 28, 2013
Messages
9,824
One of my PnP characters, the one that fits the setting well and whose class will have the biggest advantage in said game.
 

epeli

Arcane
Joined
Aug 17, 2014
Messages
719
I really don't have a single preferred character archetype as far as class/morality goes, but I'm an explorer. Every nook and cranny must be explored, every mystery unraveled. No stone will be left unturned.

I play min maxed OP char who does everything to get optimal XP fom quests
I often end up doing this and hating myself for it. Can't shake the metagamer mentality.
 

Zombra

An iron rock in the river of blood and evil
Patron
Joined
Jan 12, 2004
Messages
11,539
Location
Black Goat Woods !@#*%&^
Make the Codex Great Again! RPG Wokedex Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Codex+ Now Streaming! Serpent in the Staglands Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 BattleTech Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
Depends on the type of game ... generally in a single-character game, I will envision a very definite character and then push the stats during creation to fulfill that character. Usually I will go against the grain a little and make combat-weak characters if there are noncombat type options, or sometimes I'll make a "combat monster" who sucks at everything else. Then I will play that character to the hilt, rejecting quests the character wouldn't like, not stealing stuff unless the character is a thief, etc. I have three or four 'archetypes' to pick from in every game, and often I'll have several different concurrent playthroughs happening at the same time, which makes it really interesting to see how reactive the game is. If my pacifist tries to talk to the bandits, will that work? If my psychopath wants to burn down the whole town, will that work? And so forth. Finding character-appropriate solutions to everything is my greatest fun in RPGs.

It's been too long since I've played a party-based game to really have an established style; it's harder with multiple PCs to role-play in a very strict direction unless the characters are all the same (which I would never do). But I still try to make every character an individual and portray them accordingly. Actually in ToEE recently this was fun; I gave different social skills to different characters, and depending on who started a given dialogue, the outcome could be very different.
 

Nikaido

Arcane
In My Safe Space
Joined
Sep 14, 2013
Messages
521
Location
9th Hell
I tend to play a version of myself that wouldn't be as constrained by the world as we are in the real world through law, society etc.
So I play characters that are even more backstabby, untrusting and selfish. In games that feature a good system for rogues I tend to play them, I revert to wizards or clerics when that is not the case (like pretty much all D&D based games).
In more combat focused games, I try to study the system before settling on a build and I tend to burst a vein or two when a game lacks information about the stats/build system (like D:OS before the wiki got populated. For eg none of the documentation, be it the pdf manual or in game doc, said anything about Int having an impact on cooldowns! I hate that kinda stuff.), so in those cases, I opt for going through the first few areas with different new characters until I settle on with stronger knowledge of the game systems. Once I'm decided on something though, there is no going back, and I don't savescum if I made a choice that seems wrong gameplay wise.

I am an anti-completionist, I greatly dislike spending a lot of time on irrelevant fluff/fetch quests and I don't like the impact it has on the party power (doing too much content tends to overlevel you and brings down the fun of combat in most RPG). I'd rather have to reload after losing a boss fight and having to think the tactics over than go back somewhere else to grind some more levels. So I'm more positive toward RPGs where smart actions can pay as much as grinding your way through. I do enjoy combat though, and don't skip battles that are in my way. I just don't try to complete every single bit of map available. Side quest wise, I'll focus on what makes sense for my character and being a gofer/postman is not a part of it unless there are serious gains involved.

Despite being a combatfag, I can enjoy a story focused game when it features meaningful choices outside of the classic "hero" routes, which is why Mask of the Betrayer will always have a place in my heart, despite the horrible combat. I absolutely can't enjoy story-focused games with classic hero/save the world narrative though if their combat is crap. I just wish more games were like MOTB, where "evil" choices aren't bad guy fluff but have a meaning, consequence.
 

Siveon

Bot
Joined
Jul 13, 2013
Messages
4,509
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Mostly good/neutral types with little to no min-maxing or save scumming. Most of the knowledge I know about the game beforehand should be from the manual.

If it's a single character game I play a spell-caster, and with parties I tend to make a balanced team with one bard/diplomat type. Completionist runs are just boring, so I don't bother with any of that.
 

skyst

Augur
Joined
Jul 26, 2010
Messages
294
Location
Philadelphia, PA
I always play an intelligent and charismatic character and make sure to max diplomatic skills as soon as possible. I'm not so great with people irl and seeing those huge, paragraph long responses for having high conversational abilities in games like Fallout give me a greater sense of reward than finding a suit of power armor or whatever. I also loot every box and talk to every person but rarely pick any pocket.
 

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