Your Gaming Standards?

[Chessrk]

What rules/standards do you set for yourself when it comes to gaming? Do you make it rule to always finish a game's single player before touching it's multiplayer? Do you always finish games regardless of how terrible they are?

I've listed a couple that I follow:

-Never Easy-
I usually start games off games one difficulty above normal to test the waters, but usually swallow my pride and go back to normal if it's too much for me. If 'normal' is too much for me though, I usually bash my head against the controller until my brain figures out how to play 'normal' competently.


-The Blind Playthrough-
A first playthrough is like a fine wine; you cherish it slowly, explore it's every nook and cranny, and thank the skies if it's good. You just can't use a guide on it without ruining it. The second playthrough on the other hand, that's when you can start mixing cheap beer into the wine just for the sake of getting drunk... I guess.


-Two Playthroughs MAX (in a row)-
Imagine my surprise when I found out the only trophy I needed for the Dragon Age platinum trophy involved getting a Warrior to level 20. "That's one more playthrough" I said, and decided to start my third playthrough. Long story short, I got extremely bored with the game around the half way mark; I was getting the same equipment, going through the same dungeons, doing the same quests! I didn't even finish the playthrough! I hit level 20, got my platinum trophy, and then proceeded to write 'trophy whore' on my forehead with a sharpie. Not exactly a great final memory for a great title.

-I Decide, Not my Karma-
One of my friends recently finished Fallout New Vegas, he was a 'good' character, and thus did many a good deeds. I can respect that, I suppose. There was however one peculiar moment when he had the choice between an obviously good choice and an obviously bad choice- the kicker here though was that prior to this he mentioned how cool this particular quest was, and how cool the weapon he got was for doing it. Problem? Well, all that 'cool stuff' he was talking about came from the 'evil' choice, and it absolutely blew my mind when I saw him pick the boring 'good' choice.

I still remember my first Kotor playthrough; I was 'good' character, and thus did many a good deeds. There was one point however, where I had to deal with two rival families, and I forget the details but I remember having the option of finishing the quest peacefully or convincing each family to partake in a mass mutual homicide. Long story short, the blood bath was awesome, and I had fun dancing on their corpses =). I then saved a kitten from a tree, cause you know, I was a 'good' character.


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What about you guys? Any personnel rules you like to follow?

 

[Ldude893]

My personal rules:
-Play Easy first.
-Don't rush through in Single Player, it'll ruin the experience and leave you ignorant of the artistic effort put into the game. Feel the full impact of the single player experience.
-Always play the good guy in RPGs (what can I say, I'm a good guy in real life and I'll most likely be a good guy in games as well.)

 

[josemlopes]

I basicly do what you do, although its "Never Normal", it is hard but thats why it is called that, also games are too short now so I need to make my money worth the time.

Also I usually start in RPG's doing what I want but in the end I just do what ends up being the best. It is something that needs a change, I hate games that just because I wasnt in one of the extremes I dont get anything special, like a decent ending. Its like in the good path its "The Hero saved the world", in the evil path "The Hero dominated the world", if you get in the midle "The Hero did what he had to do and went home to watch some TV". Its like no one cares.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

I always play the good guy in RPGs (exception to that rule is Renegade Commander Shepard, she's still a hero, she just has a more... 'hands on' approach), I don't like people to have a poor opinion of me, even in video games.
If I have the choice, my mages and thieves/ninjas/assassins are always women (imma love me some sexy mages and thieves/ninjas/assassins).
Never play on easy.
Never use the most widely used character in a fighting game (I hate you Ryu).
Always choose accuracy/speed over power.

 

[MassiveGeek]

When it comes to most games, I prefer to play on the lower modes, especially my first playthrough. If it's like a "conquer and master" game though(say, Mirror's Edge) where you can perfect techniques and do stuff differently, then I usually crank the difficulty up the second/third time around. But if the story is more of the focus, I usually go on the lower settings.

Take my time, do ALL side quests and explore just to be sure. I don't want to have a major screw up my first time around(like in Fable 2, I was a good guy, but totally missed the quest where you help the Temple of Light, and it was ruined when I came back from the Spire

I'm almost always good. The only time I've been "bad" is in ME1 & 2 because FemShep is much more fun when she's a total badass rather than a saint. Also I've promised myself to sometimes play through Fable 2 as an evil character with full purity, because you look cooler that way.

 

[shini]

The only rules I have can be reduced to "Don't waste time".

When stuck or if the game has hidden content, use whatever resources available (guides to sidequests, walkthrough, maps etc).
Never choose hard if it's available for a first playthrough.
When in doubt, research instead of experimenting.
If boredom creeps in, just quit.

 

[MarcFirewing]

Take it slow and steady on normal difficulty. Slowly let the game wrap itself around you and be enveloped in the storyline. Then, after you have it down, bump it up to the hardest mode possible and start rampaging.

 

[Drago-Morph]

My standards:

- Play on hardest first, second, and always.
- Don't use guides except for finding collectibles (for example, The Truth in Assassin's Creed).
- Play an RPG at least two times, one as good and the other as evil.
- Finish single player before playing online, unless it's CoD, because to CoD I ask: "What singleplayer?"
- Do ALL the side missions before beating the game.

 

[pyrosaw]

-Play on normal
-blind walkthrough.
-scrap fun.

 

[Cazza]

I play on easy so the difficulty doesn't annoy me. I try not to rush, in sandbox games like GTA I normally get stuck going one mission to the next. I try to stop that as much as possible. I only use guides when a puzzle is really hard. Never for hard gameplay. I go "good" to make me feel better. I do finish single player before playing multiplayer. Thats easy because now days single player is short. With longer single player games I do a large part on it before trying multiplayer. One playthrough unless I really enjoyed the game AND there is a another to play the game.

 

[BoredRolePlayer]

I play on the hardest I can play at the moment, clean playthrough with no guide. And if it's a game with collectibles I use a guide my second run to find them all if I feel like it.

 

[scorptatious]

Start out on the default difficulty setting. I do want to have some sort of challenge, but at the same time, I don't want any spikes in difficulty along the way

Don't use a guide unless I'm stuck. Which is more than likely to happen during most RPG's.

In a game where a morality system is in place, always play the good guy.

Play as the warrior/soldier/melee class kind of character in certain games.

 

[GundamSentinel]

Explore everything - talk to everyone, search everything, get every possible item.

Normal on first playthrough - (except for genres I suck at (hack & slash, racing games))

Take it easy and enjoy the view.

Play single player first

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

-Check trophy/achievement list for miss-able ones. FUCK YOU "God Of War", and your total lack of Level Select for some stupid reason! If no miss-able, play blind. If miss-able, play blind with exception of ach/trop locations.

-Play Normal or Hard first run.

-Only play Easy when replaying levels for missed items or achievements or trophies. (Beat Vanquish without dying, for example)

-100% completion on single player game mode, outside of the ludicrous. Tier 1 mode in Medal of Honor earned the FUCK OFF, from me. Time limits AND no checkpoints AND increased difficulty AND less ammo?

-Never try and achieve 100% completion on JRPGs anymore. It's a thankless task, and takes ages. *glares at Disgaea games*

-If on DS, take 7 months to beat a 10-15 hour game by playing only 5 minutes a day due to uncomfortable loose/broken screen hinge. (Ace Attorney Investigations) I still love my DS, but I'm not gonna beat Dragon Quest 9 until the 3DS at this point. And I've had it since the day it came out in May.

-Play Mage/Rogue in WRPGs, depending on mana regeneration rate. I was Rogue in Dragon Age, due to mana regen AND cooldown timers both being in effect.

-Prioritize gameplay over story. I don't care how good the story is, if I'm bored to death outside of the plot. (Red Dead Redemption, I'm looking at you!)

-Avoid non-humorous adventure games, survival horror, sports games, and sim racers

-Diablo-esque RPGs MUST HAVE RESPEC. Fuck you Sacred 2, after 40 hours of my High Elf, I find out that my build is crap for higher difficulties.

And a new rule, put into effect once I saw my large gaming backlog...

DO NOT REPLAY ANY RPGS!

You people already on your 4th New Vegas character or 20th Mass Effect 2 playthrough or 32nd Persona 4 run...YOU ALL DISGUST ME!

I have a lot of RPGs that I own and are untouched, and I'm not playing a 30-60 hour game TWICE.

 

[rokkolpo]

1.Hardest mode (except for horror games)
2.Find out everything.

 

[oplinger]

I usually play the middle difficulties for my first play through, but recently decided to play hardest all the time. I still end up being too good...

Other than that, I just watch the full credits of any game I beat.