Poll: Style vs Efficiency

[Zannah]

A lot of games, not to say most games allow some sort of customization, be it "what gun do I pick for my cod class", be it where to place your buildings in Fps' or be it choosing armor, looks and making decisions in a bioware rpg.

Sooner or later, In all those games you will reach the point, where you have to decide between doing what is stylish/cool/baddass, and doing what is the most eficient. This can range from not picking the gun you like the most, to wearing ugly helmets with nice stats, or a dialogue decision that you make for the offered reward, not because you mean it.

I myself am the kind of person playing almost exclusively for style, even if that means to suffer serious disadvantages, I'm the kind of player that spends three hours in the character creations screen, wearing a dress and spending skillpoints on Intelect and Charisma as a melee in games like Morrowind or Dragon Age (And I recall completely refusing to wear powerarmor / use heavy or laser weaponry in fallout 3)
On the other hand, I know people whose style is the complete opposite, the kind of people that would exchange their character for a black gelantine blob any second, if they'd get exp for it.

So I'd like to ask - do you tend towards efficiency or towards style?

 

[Bat Vader]

I go towards both style and efficiency. In Dragon Age I level up my characters charisma and cunning but I also level up their strength and dexterity as well.

I like being able to use heavy armors and heavy weapons like swords and axes. The armor may look a bit ugly but it will save your life.

 

[Henrik Persson]

This is difficult for me to vote, since I care very little for what I look like, but I usually play my characters according to a personality I've decided it has. So I'll always choose the most fitting dialogue option regardless of the reward unless I'm making a perfectionist run. To be fair, what I'm wearing is also based on what my character is wearing and I've actually never played one that's so vain that he/she is willing to risk death by wearing subpar equipment that's prettier. I do occasionally change into something more stylish if I'm sure there will be no combat for a while.

 

[NeutralDrow]

Style, definitely. It's not really all that noticeable when I play RPGs like what you're describing, but go against me in a fighting game, and if I don't pound you in a suitably awesome way, I'll hope that I at least get finished in a way that makes me proud.

Then again, when it comes to RPGs, my main in WoW will probably wear the same pimping hat for the rest of his career.

 

[cerapa]

Depends on the situation. I use as much style as possible without dying.

 

[Kelbear]

A lot of games, not to say most games allow some sort of customization, be it "what gun do I pick for my cod class", be it where to place your buildings in Fps' or be it choosing armor, looks and making decisions in a bioware rpg.

Sooner or later, In all those games you will reach the point, where you have to decide between doing what is stylish/cool/baddass, and doing what is the most eficient. This can range from not picking the gun you like the most, to wearing ugly helmets with nice stats, or a dialogue decision that you make for the offered reward, not because you mean it.

I myself am the kind of person playing almost exclusively for style, even if that means to suffer serious disadvantages, I'm the kind of player that spends three hours in the character creations screen, wearing a dress and spending skillpoints on Intelect and Charisma as a melee in games like Morrowind or Dragon Age (And I recall completely refusing to wear powerarmor / use heavy or laser weaponry in fallout 3)
On the other hand, I know people whose style is the complete opposite, the kind of people that would exchange their character for a black gelantine blob any second, if they'd get exp for it.

So I'd like to ask - do you tend towards efficiency or towards style?

I prefer to be as efficient as needed to kick the ass of whatever challenge I'm up against. If I am succeeding with a sufficient margin of comfort, I can shift towards style until I reach a happy balance.

Which is also why I prefer games to disassociate style from efficiency! I really liked how City of Heroes made the character appearance completely separate from the loot. This led to a lot of hours just spend customizing and recustomizing appearances. It's like a second game in the game.

 

[Wolfram23]

If it's my first playthrough I'll often do whatever will give me the best advantage (such as choosing the "right" dialogue in Fallout 3 or DA:O) but any subsequent playthroughs I'll choose style. Just have fun.

In terms of gear I tend to lean on whatever has the best stats, unless it's either really butt ugly or there's a nice looking piece only slightly worse.

 

[Cowabungaa]

I find that clean efficiency is a certain style of it's own. There is a certain beauty and satisfaction in pulling off that perfect headshot, and I prefer the looks of energy efficient martial arts like Jeet Kune Do and aikido.

As for gear in RPG's, I usually keep different sets. One to look cool, one to kill things with. Though I'll definitely keep the cooler looking one if the difference is only marginal. I felt kinda bad after I had to swap an awesome looking shield (true dwarven style) for a stupid little turtle shield in WoW this evening. Sadly that turtle shield was infinitely better.

 

[LordGarbageMan]

If it's multiplayer, than I never waste time pulling off stylish moves, because I can't risk that. I'd rather win, basically. Single player games like fallout or gta 4 I'll spend some time experimenting.

 

[Meggiepants]

Whenever I can, I like to play with the best of both worlds

I like to wear the Lucky Shades in Fallout 3. Not only are they stylish, but I get +1 to my luck stats. I love it when stuff like this is included in games.

I have been known to forgo certain armor simply because it looks too stupid to be worn. I don't care if it makes me a tank, the Blood Armor in DA is horrific to look upon.

 

[fix-the-spade]

In shooters: Efficiency rules, if looks stupid, but works, then it ain't stupid. Focusing on style just makes you dead.

Driving games: Styles generates efficiency, keeping it smooth and flowing will often translate into faster lap times.

Real Life: Balance the two, no one will pay attention if you have no style and no one will pay attention for long if you don't have the abilty to back it up.

 

[Racher]

I go for efficient, but good looking gear mostly. Upgrading the numbers mostly to keep up with the difficulty scaling (if there is such). Otherwise it's totally eyecandy for me.

 

[Hurr Durr Derp]

Depends on the game and the situation.

If it's a singleplayer game or just a match for fun, I go for a mix of both.

If it's a competitive multiplayer match, everything takes a backseat to efficiency.

 

[GodsAndFishes]

When I'm not very good at the game or in the early stages I'll go for stats. But once I get further in I'll go almost purely for style. Fable 2 gets points for not having armour stats and allowing pure style all the way.

 

[Jasper Jeffs]

I go for style, unless efficiency is needed. In WoW, I'd get kicked out of groups for wearing a tuxedo, so I wear whatever has the best stats, which usually looks badass anyway. On Fallout 3 though I wear a business suit and use guns like Ol' Painless. It makes the game harder, but it also makes my guy look dope. The same goes for most games really, another example is using the poor weapons on GTA IV instead of the expensive ones.

Off topic: I liked how on Aion you could transfer the stats from your best armor over to something else, so for example I could buy a Kimono item with 0 stats, and place the stats from my good chest piece on the Kimono. I wish other MMO's did that, especially WoW. I'm sick of seeing the same looking armor everywhere.

 

[Regiment]

My characters need to be usable, but I'm not averse to making them weaker so that they look good.

(I'm still mildly miffed that Soulcalibur 4 ties performance to costume. Every character doesn't look good with huge shoulder armor!)