Self-imposed restrictions

[Kabas]

My self-imposed restriction is to avoid clogging my inventory with items.
Consumables are to be used the moment a slightest opportunity presents itself, everything else i am not planning to use are to be immediately sold or better yet left on the floor where i found it.

 

[Borelli]

Finishing Myth campaign without losing a single unit.
It was mostly an exercise in frustration and save scumming because of GODDAMN TROWS .

 

[Cyberarmy]

I limit resting in most games, my parties rest when they are all at deaths door with below zero spells abilities.
Intensive use of consumables is strictly prohibited, like only 1 pot/scroll for each combat encounter.
I tend to try saving most NPCs that attacked by enemies or "accidents" even if it's an scripted event. Which mostly ends in screwing up the game
I also try to lure enemies to guards or other NPC to get rid either of them. Duality of men.
In strategy games I try not to lose my bases/cities often halting my campaign just to defend them.

 

[barricade]

i never rest in dungeons, never craft anything, i never use OP spells (unless i'm playing kotc2 using archmage mode), also no min-maxing, and unless i'm playing (again) kotc2 or dungeon rats i always create characters with shit stats.

 

[POOPERSCOOPER]

I'm a very bad gamer skill wise and I try to never save scumm (never replay for a better outcome) which usually turns into scenerios where I'm completely ass fucked and borderline have to start a new game because I'm facing some really bad scenerio and not even close to the requirement of doing well. Example being all health potions gone, all party members dead, no money, and under level with poor level up decisions. Those experiences though probably create the most interesting and fun times I've had in games.

 

[Arbiter]

Example being all health potions gone, all party members dead, no money, and under level with poor level up decisions.

Reminds me of my first attempt to play Morrowind as a pure mage.

 

[Reality]

Some games can feel like they have a whole second game inside then with restrictions

Pistol start (not pistol only) in Doom
No hero / no defense level ups in age of wonders 1

Other games need house rules because they have designs that cripple singleplayer longevity

No trading in 4X with super generous ai (warlock, Age of wonders 4)

Autowar in 4x with capital sniping (I still snipe it's just more interesting than when I do it against unresponsive so that lets me full surround in neutral state)

Only one blank scroll > genocide scroll in a rogue game

Finally there are times attack games

Most videogames are bad for sleep but I find a good round is actually good for sleep and easy to walk away from. One million points in 3 minutes is ideal... It's tiny compared to score attack on endless, but it gets you off computer quickly and you don't have to dream about what you could have gotten.

 

[Kabas]

I see a lot of people are trying not to savescum.
As a compulsive savescummer myself i have trouble comperehending their thought patterns.

 

[Ash]

We like a game to be a game, not a trivialized carefree F5 F6 simulator.

 

[Kabas]

We like a game to be a game, not a trivialized carefree F5 F6 simulator.

Your thoughts are alien to me.
Why would you want to replay the same segments that you have already beaten just because you made one mistake?

 

[Ash]

because that's what a game is, they're fun, and replaying segments should also be fun in moderation (and also likely to play out differently each time anyway). If not fun, stop playing shit games buddy.

Heightened tension, challenge, strategy, competition, adrenaline and more. That's what you are missing out on, especially so in games with cleverly implemented save restrictions.

You don't get to whack off F5-F6 playing chess.
You don't get to rewind time when you kicked a football a little wide of the goal.
You don't get to restart from half way up the climbing wall at the climbing gym, no, the actual designed test is from the bottom to the top! Starting from the middle is cutting the specifically-designed challenge in half. This makes it much easier - no tension, little challenge, no fear you lose grip strength and fall, no adrenaline, competition forget it, everyone is gonna be disappointed in you, as am I for not understanding such basic concepts (but you are far from the first, believe me, I ain't mad at you, just disappointed).

 

[Kabas]

Wouldn't call starting a new chess game or a football match after a loss the same thing as restarting game from the last checkpoint. Former can go differently after each start(kinda like rogulikes) while in most of the later examples the level will stay exactly the same.
Don't see the challenge and heightened tension in being forced to replay the same part that i have already beaten over and over again and i doubt that a physical activity like climbing the wall from the bottom is as tedious as that.

 

[Ash]

Wouldn't call starting a new chess game or a football

bro you don't always start a new game when you miss one shot in football, nor do you always start a new game of chess when you make one bad move. Both have room for failure (unless you're playing against the absolute goat), just like video games.

Stop making excuses, you know what I am saying makes absolute sense, just say you're not into it/it's not for you, admit you're a sissy, and move on.

 

[octavius]

I avoid romances in CRPGs, 'cause I'm afraid the rewards will make my character too OP.

 

[Spukrian]

I try not to savescum. In games that allow it I try to make a build and stick to it (e.g. melee only in a game focused on guns). In RPGs I try play a role (regarding moral choices etc.) to some extent.

If it's a game I like a lot and have played before several times, I might do some other restrictions in a playthrough (e.g. I finished BG1 Solo with a dwarf F/T).

As for achievements, I don't really care in general. But if it's one of my favourite games I'll probably try to get them all, because it's an excuse to play the game a few more times.

 

[Dick]

So self-imposed limitations... not sure if this falls under this criteria, but given the fact that the more immersed you are in a game, the more authentic the whole experience becomes, I keep my trusty belt next to me. Each time my main char gets hit by an enemy, like e.g. currently in Xulima, I whip myself with it, not too hard of course, just according to the inflicted damage upon my mainchar. Yes it does take a certain sensitivity to strike the balance between getting immersed and not injuring yourself too much in the process, but it does work pretty well after some time.
And no, when my main char dies on screen, I do not apply excessive punishment for obvoius reasons, rather I hit myself once (and maybe a bit harder than normally) in such a case and plan on not loading an old saved game until the next day in order to continue playing, for the sake of simulating some kind of death and revival of my main char.
I can say that the level of immersion has increased quite a lot for me since practicing this technique.

 

[Glop_dweller]

Finishing Myth campaign without losing a single unit.
It was mostly an exercise in frustration and save scumming because of GODDAMN TROWS .

The problem with Myth 1&2 is that the games accept unit commands even when paused—and this is not recorded in game films. You can pause the game, and issue commands (to every unit), and when un-paused they will all execute simultaneously, even with units on opposite sides of the map.

 

[Iucounu]

Why would you want to replay the same segments that you have already beaten just because you made one mistake?

One reason could be to learn not to make more mistakes, or in other words play more carefully.

But there can also be situations where you may want to take a big risk as an experiment - not because the game requires you to, but because you're curious - and then quicksaving before prevents a boring replay. For example, if reaching a low-value cache requires dangerous parkour you would likely not consider the reward worth the risk unless you could quicksave before, akin to setting up a safety net.

 

[Ol' Willy]

New Vegas with no fast travel and no VATS

 

[3 others]

Only acquire domestic footballers in Football Manager

Extra challenge: when coaching in France, the players must be WHYTE (challenge level: impossible)

 

[Hagashager]

In Infinity Engine games and games that use Vancian Spell memorization I wont memorize multiple instances of the same spell. I quite like this limit.

In DnD style games I also usually wont have more than one 18 in my stats at character generation.

I don't normally follow munchkin strats, not so much for ethical reasons but more that I don't want to cripple myself during one portion of the game so I'm overpowered in a later portion.

I recently tried that mod for Kotor 1 where you start Taris as a Jedi. Doing so makes you comically overpowered in the later half of the game, but Taris is designed with non-Jedi in mind. Low Level Jedi are like low level mages, they can't a take a hit. Taris proved remarkably difficult.

 

[Butter]

I avoid romances in CRPGs, 'cause I'm afraid the rewards will make my character too OP.

Protect your vril, boys.

 

[Mebrilia the Viera Queen]

For those who are into this sort of thing, what are some self-imposed restrictions/challenges you set for yourself to make a playthrough more fun?

No cheesing. If it go south it go south i like overcoming the challenge.

 

[StippleAlpha]

No pickpotecking and no stealing.
I loath the whole "romanticism of criminal life" thing.
This also means no combing through chests and drawers in NPC houses, taverns and such.
Dungeons are fair game though.

Limited resting.
And no resting where it's logically impossible, like outside of boss room.

And never ever use potions, because I might need them later!

Yeah, forcing myself to turn off klepto mode and just ignore all the shiny things I could take really helps me keep my pace up and not get bored with the game. Same with games that have limited opportunities for XP--I'm always tempted to do the NPCs' quests *and* kill them to farm as much as possible. Then I end up over-levelled and bored.

I like Witcher 3's treatment of potions where they regenerate or whatever so you don't have to feel like you're failing at min-maxing if you use one.

 

[processdaemon]

If I'm playing a Soulslike with a ranged build I never touch melee weapons (or spells that substitute for them) at all. Most of the time ranged is a strictly easier option but when you refuse to get close at all it makes some bosses that get melted on normal playthroughs much more fun.