Things you've learned to always do or never do in RPGs

[urmom]

Well, in my experience hoarding all kinds of potions and scrolls can pay off against big bosses. And I mean fights where you literally run out of stuff to throw at them magic-wise.

That was my original justification too but then I'd think, "but what if there's a BIGGER boss? Maybe there's an even harder challenge elsewhere and I'll need all these minor healing potions for that precise moment when it comes down to the wire." I run myself into mind loops and by the time I'm prepared to use them the final boss is often a push over and easily defeated and now I finished the game with an entire lab on my back.

OMG, this has ruined several RPGs for me (and IRL). I can't NOT hoard junk.

 

[Jedi Master Radek]

The most relatable thread on the Codex. I read through this thinking: "hehehe sounds just like me"

 

[Jedi Master Radek]

Well, in my experience hoarding all kinds of potions and scrolls can pay off against big bosses. And I mean fights where you literally run out of stuff to throw at them magic-wise.

That was my original justification too but then I'd think, "but what if there's a BIGGER boss? Maybe there's an even harder challenge elsewhere and I'll need all these minor healing potions for that precise moment when it comes down to the wire." I run myself into mind loops and by the time I'm prepared to use them the final boss is often a push over and easily defeated and now I finished the game with an entire lab on my back.

I feel psychologically bad when the number of collected consumables/ consumables converted to money doesn't increase over time. Using them in combat feels like cheating. It feels like being a human failure.

 

[samuraigaiden]

Try all the skills, use all the items. But save first

 

[Eastwood]

When a demon offers a reward if you free him, take a deep breath and think it over...

Better option yet is to free the demon, get his reward and then force attack him before he despawns. Can apply that to any bad guy really

 

[JarlFrank]

Never equip boots on my female characters because I want to see their cute feet

 

[bionicman]

I used to pick the hardest difficulty if possible since I like the challenge, but now I mostly pick the normal difficulty since I've realized that the harder difficulties are often badly implemented and designed in RPGs (e.g. HP-bloated enemies that just take extra time to defeat but provide no extra challenge).
I prefer when games don't let you pick the difficulty, like Nethack or Dark Souls... and picking a certain character class = difficulty setting, so it's just a different style of play. But those sorts of games are rare nowadays I guess.

 

[VHS9000]

1) Check all the top-tier weapon game can offer you before you pick a weapon proficiency. Otherwise suffer wielding your +2 shitstick of elecricity all the way.
or
2) Just pick longswords.

 

[Ol' Willy]

That was my original justification too but then I'd think, "but what if there's a BIGGER boss? Maybe there's an even harder challenge elsewhere and I'll need all these minor healing potions for that precise moment when it comes down to the wire." I run myself into mind loops and by the time I'm prepared to use them the final boss is often a push over and easily defeated and now I finished the game with an entire lab on my back.

My wizard run on Dom in Underrail: I found one trance - drug that significantly increases your critical damage - early on, somewhere in Junkyard. Wasn't able to craft more, wasn't able to buy more, so I carried this one with me through the entire game, till the very end.

Used it to kill Tchort in one turn.

 

[jac8awol]

Never do side quests or even sneeze in the direction of a goblin off the critical path. Any exp apart from the absolute bare minimum will make you horribly over-leveled for modern games' 'nightmare' difficulty, in turn killing any challenge, accomplishment or enjoyment.

 

[CanadianCorndog]

Dogpile all of your party on one enemy in a group of enemies. It's better to obliterate one enemy than slightly damage a whole bunch of enemies.
Make a wizard type character that you can turn into an uber wizard because it's easier to find NPC fighters than wizards.
If you don't have high speech or charisma you will be limited in non-combat options because designers can't conceive of creating special speech options for low charisma.

 

[Lord_Potato]

Never do side quests or even sneeze in the direction of a goblin off the critical path. Any exp apart from the absolute bare minimum will make you horribly over-leveled for modern games' 'nightmare' difficulty, in turn killing any challenge, accomplishment or enjoyment.

Side content is often the most enjoyable and interesting. Limiting yourself to 'critical path' (provided you can identify it without metaknowledge) will seriously hamper the experience.

 

[mondblut]

will make you horribly over-leveled

That's the point of the game, dummy.

 

[JarlFrank]

will make you horribly over-leveled

That's the point of the game, dummy.

imagine not wanting to get more powerful in a game where the core mechanic is getting more powerful lmao

It's like playing an RTS without building any new units because at some point you got enough to overwhelm the enemy's base completely.

 

[mondblut]

imagine not wanting to get more powerful in a game where the core mechanic is getting more powerful lmao

It's like playing an RTS without building any new units because at some point you got enough to overwhelm the enemy's base completely.

"I skip on research in 4x games because I am afraid to have tanks and cruise missiles when the AI is still fielding spear-chuckling tribesmen"

 

[rusty_shackleford]

core mechanic of RPGs is dealing with loss
the only reason you guys think it's about getting more powerful is because your F5 key is so worn out that it's missing the text on it

 

[King Crispy]

I forgot a very important one:

- Never, EVER, read anything online about the RPG you're about to start playing. Go in blind, every time. Ignore what the powermonkeys keep screeching about.

 

[sser]

I forgot a very important one:

- Never, EVER, read anything online about the RPG you're about to start playing. Go in blind, every time. Ignore what the powermonkeys keep screeching about.

Beat me to it. Guess I'm the opposite of a min-maxer. I like to read/watch almost nothing about a game before I play it. It simply makes the experience that much better. Whenever I read too much about a game it sorta kills any desire to actually play it. If I read too much I also don't feel the same good vibes when I do make something powerful. I actually lapsed on this a little with Pathfinder after years and it was a quick reminder to just enjoy things first instead of dip into min-max character building. Some of this is also just my personality, games with indepth character builds I can spend more time making characters than actually playing the game. When I do replays of games I usually look for quirky builds instead of OP ones. Whenever the online forums are saying this skill sucks or this character is awful I often go right to those very things and see if I can make them work.

 

[lukaszek]

weak people playing games before wiki is properly populated

mind you im not talking about metagaming, just understanding systems. For example consider feats. If at char gen you can only view what's pickable and not full list, one needs wiki to properly plan

 

[rusty_shackleford]

I forgot a very important one:

- Never, EVER, read anything online about the RPG you're about to start playing. Go in blind, every time. Ignore what the powermonkeys keep screeching about.

Ruined a few games for myself like this before I started playing them entirely blind. Probably the best advice in the thread.

 

[CappenVarra]

don't pay attention to anything that doesn't involve a dice roll

if there is no roll there is no risk, and consequentially there is no reward

 

[jungl]

if your getting cold feet about a move and there is rng luck involved go ahead and do it. Games are boring when you play too smart.

 

[octavius]

I forgot a very important one:

- Never, EVER, read anything online about the RPG you're about to start playing. Go in blind, every time. Ignore what the powermonkeys keep screeching about.

I tend to agree, although I would like to know about patches that fixes game breaking bugs and such. But avoid talk about "builds" like it was mudcrabs.

 

[lukaszek]

don't pay attention to anything that doesn't involve a dice roll

if there is no roll there is no risk, and consequentially there is no reward

if your getting cold feet about a move and there is rng luck involved go ahead and do it. Games are boring when you play too smart.

so many badasses with finger already on quick load button

 

[Celeb]

1. Save before entering a big room. Save after finding shitton of healing items. Save before every battle. Save after saving to be sure I have saved.
2. Do not check story details, do not listen to game's soundtrack, do not read reviews, just check what skills are good online and play.
3. Do not spend skill points unless I am in trouble or have certainty my experience won't go to waste.
4. Explore everything around essential locations before advancing the plot.
5. Study prices and skills involving trade. There is a chance to break in-game economy.
6. Around elves, watch yourselves.