Might and Magic Confessions of a Save Scummer

[Invictus]

My name is Melmoth and I am a Save Scummer

It all started with Might and Magic 3 Isles of Terra, it wasn’t my first CRPG (that would be Hero’s Quest later to be renamed Quest for Glory) but while playing M&M3 I came to realize that while the world was predetermined (not a Rogue like randomly generated game like Daggerfall) things like chests, hidden catches and even enemy drops where not... so you could get a nice iron sword, some boots and a box of first aid or a wooden sword a few useless rings
Mmm let’s reload to see what we can get

and thus the madness began

Saving before opening any chest or destroying an enemy nest became second nature to me and with such a big party there where always compromises; should I try for some protective gear especially for my Wizard or maximize my damage by keeping that gold bow to make sure my archer could damage enemies before melee?

The possibilities where just so delicious

Now now don’t you judge me like that, and look at it from my perpective; would you waste that valuable Odin Rune (from The Summoning) turning into a battleaxe or try to get a stat boosting item instead?

Oh and the devs knew of such devilry since the also made sure some special items would only randomly spawn on certain chests (like the Holy Basher in the Wizardry games) or there where random drops from enemies too including the toughest bosses!

So I started save scumming for almost everything, and my mind kept running “Maybe I can get a better drop here and how come that axe has appeared already on other chests, does that mean I could try for some of the items I had already seen on those chests?”

Madness I tell you... madness

Then I realized some games didn’t go for this, some wonderful games like Gothic and Morrowind had a static world so I could just focus on the game and simply forget about saving and just... enjoy the experience

But then the madness took another turn; since the items where mostly the same maybe I could make things a bit easier by going straight for the best items on my replays as to make the game easier. That fabulous Mentor Ring is literally just a stone throw away from town and that White Blade of Woe is sitting just enticingly on that shelf...

So stuck between those two devilish design philosophies I was

Then I kind of forgot about it; most modern games were far too lazy to hand place items but the chests and rewards were mostly generated the first time I entered a dungeon or maze and with even fantastic games like New Vegas had a healthy mix of hand placed special items and random rewards so I mostly just enjoyed my game time without trying to maximize my rewards

I would sometimes find a game that would cater to my save scumming proclivities like Wasteland 2 trying to get the sniper ammo or that sweet Mariachi outfit and those fixes proved to be enjoyable throwbacks to my earlier life as a save scumming junkie
as well as the odd replay of my favorite Might and Magic games or Grimoire

So there it is now if you don’t mind I just restarted a new party for Might and Magic 3 Isles of Terra and just got the Mountaineering skill so I can loot those sweet sweet hidden catches in the Valley of the Gargoyles... oh so many wonders to indulge in

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery.

 

[Bester]

 

[octavius]

If you're gonna save scum at least have the decency to do it in a hard game, not an easy one like MM3.

 

[grimer]

Then I realized some games didn’t go for this, some wonderful games like Gothic and Morrowind had a static world so I could just focus on the game and simply forget about saving and just... enjoy the experience

morrowind also had level scaled loot which were randomly generated the first time you open the container. although there are a couple of powerful items that are set to appear at a relatively low level like the ring of toxic cloud which does 600 poison dmg over time and in that case you save scum to avoid overpowered loot in a futile attempt to stop the game from becoming too easy

 

[Ghulgothas]

You missed a golden opportunity by not naming this thread SS Anonymous.

 

[Ghulgothas]

My name is Ghulgothas and I've been abusing saves for 10 years now.

It started small, ya know. Reloading before bosses is no crime, and neither is pluggin' a save you made while your party was still in town. But before too long I found myself making a save on every screen transition, who'd want to wait through all that loading again, right? But then that little voice started callin' to me "You never know what's around that corner, why not make a save just in case?" and that's just what I did, again and again. Before too long I found myself savin' after every 10 paces, after every encounter, after every bit of party banter. Reloadin' at the littlest bit of unexpected adversity, after all I had the saves for it! I even started hoardin' saves for each party member pre-level up, just in case they didn't live up to my likin'. I mean what kind of craven psycho keeps that shit for so long without realizing there's a problem? Eventually my poor SSD just couldn't take it anymore, the aggregate weight of thousands upon thousands Infinity Engine, X-COM, Gamebryo and Pathfinder saves broke it's poor little heart.

My marriage is in shambles. I hope one day I'll be able to see my kids again.

 

[Tavernking]

What would you do if a game didn't let you save scum? i.e. only one save file allowed at any one time

 

[Lambach]

Hi Melmoth and thank you for sharing.

My name is Lambach and I too, am a Save Scummer. If the game allows it, I will Quick Save before every decision, no matter how small, and replay it over and over until I get the most optimal, power-gaming result. And I know I don't even need it because 95% of games are easy enough that they can be beaten by a chimpanzee with a learning disability. But it's like I just have to power-game, I have to get the most optimal result and I just.......

 

[rusty_shackleford]

What would you do if a game didn't let you save scum? i.e. only one save file allowed at any one time

You'd still be able to savescum with only one slot.

A mainstream game that handled it the best was post-patch Kingdom Come: Deliverance. You can save & exit anywhere(added in patch), use a limited consumable to save, or find a bed to sleep in.
Saving to 'pause' your state and return at a later point should always be as unobtrusive as possible(save & exit.) Checkpointing in case of failure should require effort from the player(limited consumable, finding a place to rest.)
Yeah, I know you can still savescum in this system by save+exit and manually backing up the file. It's more about the developer saying "hey, this isn't the way we intended the game to be played. You can do that if you want, but you might ruin your experience" like using cheat options.

I used to savescum a lot, now I just roll with whatever the game gives me and keep going. Started doing it a lot less after getting heavily into roguelike games.

 

[Fowyr]

Now now don’t you judge me like that, and look at it from my perpective; would you waste that valuable Odin Rune (from The Summoning) turning into a battleaxe or try to get a stat boosting item instead?

I know your conundrum. My solution was to reload 500 times.

 

[Darth Roxor]

sits down among the addicts and non-chalantly presses F5 with a smug look on his face

 

[mondblut]

The only thing more fun and addictive than gambling is gambling where you cannot lose.

 

[Nijar]

Where's the fun in that?

 

[lukaszek]

randomness is corrupting people

 

[Citizen]

My name is Melmoth and I am a Save Scummer

A damning confession.... You're going down freak

 

[Nijar]

randomness is post

 

[Sykar]

You should join the SA. No not this

Spoiler

I mean Savescummer Anonymous!

 

[thesheeep]

Today I received my SS member card for the local KKK chapter.
I'm very excited for the first meeting.

Finally, a place where I can talk about my addictions.

 

[Gregz]

cRPGs wouldn’t exist without savescumming

 

[octavius]

cRPGs wouldn’t exist without savescumming

Gregz wouldn't exist without savecumming.

 

[Gregz]

Save is the most powerful spell

 

[Sweeper]

So... you're playing the game as intended?

randomness is corrupting people

Deterministic system > RNG?

 

[Scroo]

If you don't save scum you have never lived.

Mfw I press F5 in a game and nothing happens

 

[Sykar]

On a somewhat more serious note I am a little on the opposite side of this, mostly just saving before a dungeon and before big boss fights usually but more importantly play with self restrictions outside of that like only allowing me one rest per day and almopst never using consumables, but also not selling them because you know they "might" be useful later, only to be so outdated that they are useless like basic health potions in BG 2 ToB content and only cluttering up the inventory so the only use they have is to at some random point use them all up on my low HP tank who can guzzle a dozen or two before even remotely getting to full health.