Your weird gaming rules

[tippy2k2]

I just played through Metal Gear Ground Zero (holy hell would I have been pissed had I paid $30 for that but that's another topic). However, the game was a lot harder than it really should have been for me because I have a kind of a weird personal rule that I go by when I play video games...

Unless absolutely necessary (as in, the game gives you no choice), I will not kill guards, cops, or American/Allied soldiers.

It came up in the middle of my Ground Zero run in the weirdest way too. Now I know I have this qualm so I never even had my rifle out unless I was shooting out a light but my extraction from the base got...messy. In the game, you are able to call in your helicopter to pick you up. I called in the helicopter in the middle of the base, which probably wasn't the best tactical decision but I had to leave and I had to leave quickly. On the way out, people kept shooting my helicopter. Maybe it was just a plot thing and the helicopter was surviving that trip no matter what but on the way out, I really didn't want to shoot the soldiers. I ended up shooting...at their legs. I got away without killing a single soldier, even though it made the game a much bigger pain in the ass than it should have been.

So I'm curious if I'm the weird one here or if other people have their own rules they play by.

 

[tippy2k2]

Unless I have to, I don't kill dogs. I won't avoid or not play games because of it, but if I got a choice I'll go the non-lethal route.

Mythological canines such as Cerebi however are fair game.


And an old rule I used to have when it came to 2D platformers: Always have full health, even if you must drop down a pit and lose a life to do so. Yeah, looking back I too can't believe it.

 

[Kingjackl]

I have a bit of an OCD thing with ammo in shooters, where I always need my reserve ammo count to be a multiple of the clip size (for example, if the clip in my pistol holds 12 shots, the reserve needs to be 12, 24, 36, 48, etc.) because otherwise I feel like my character is walking around with a bunch of half full clips. Of course most shooters don't really have clips at all- you just press reload, your character fiddles with the gun model and your shots get magically refilled with the ammo you had in reserve.

Where it gets even weirder is I've taken to doing this for guns that don't have clips in the first place, like revolvers or pump-action shotguns. It's not the lack of gun realism that bothers me because I'm not a fucking redneck, it's just the maths not adding up.

 

[CaitSeith]

"In games with moral choices, be the good guy in the first playthrough". But what happens if the developers and me disagree on what is considered good or bad? Argh, the conflict!!!

 

[Bob_McMillan]

Like you, in stealth games, I never kill anyone who I feel doesn't deserve it. Made Dishonored hell for me. And if the game has stealth options, then I will go stealth.

I also never use aim assist. It's a principle of mine that leads to much rage in multiplayer FPS games.

 

[Quellist]

in stealth games, I never kill anyone who I feel doesn't deserve it. Made Dishonored hell for me. And if the game has stealth options, then I will go stealth.

I have that rule too although Dishonored actually made me break it. I couldn't subject Lady Boyle to a life as the sex slave of that wretched stalker so i killed her as painlessly as possible, brought the body to him then lit the bastard on fire. Serve him right too!

Beyond that, though not a rule as such but i'm a terrible hoarder. Medpacks, ammo, traps, whatever...i pick every level clean and use them only with miserly reluctance.

Came out in my favor playing KoToR though...i had no powers that could hurt Malak's Jedi 'batteries' so i had to kill him the hard way...and with a massive store of traps, grenades and medpacks it wasn't *quite* as painful as it might have been

 

[laggyteabag]

I have to explore, particularly if it is a multiple path linear game, or a RPG.

Example: If I am playing Dead Space, and it tells me to go left, then I will go right.

If I am playing Dragon Age, I need to check every single nook and cranny, just to make sure that I don't miss a quest or a piece of loot or anything; this made Inquisition HELL.

Oddly, though, if it is an open world game, like Fallout or Assassin's Creed, I really couldn't give a shit.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

Am the same. I 'd rather not kill if i have the option. Funny thing is with that MGS system, i got so used to non-lethal headshots that whenever i had no choice but to cap a sonna ***** in the head with lead, it actually felt brutal and unnecessary. Not something most games can achieve. Also no animals unless it's Far Cry because they want my tastey fat ass and i want their wallet crafting qualities.

Other mentions go to...me not reloading a weapon unless it is fully emptied (exceptions for panic moments). Always using stealth when i can, even for socialising! Bushes are nature's godsend, especially in real life. Always picking convo options that i believe will help them (unless they are a cooont). Always bows, silenced pistols, snipers and stabbies.
If i am fighting one on one and winning drastically, i'll handicap myself in various forms to give the other player some hope before snatching it away at the last minute...Mwahahahahaha!!!.
If i can ride an animal instead of a vehicle, i bloody well will.
Explore everything!!!

I always go to the left, if there is a split in the path ahead I take the left one, often I'll double back to see whats down the right but I always go left first.

Playing a shooter like CoD or Uncharted always try to get round them from the left.

It was only the other day that I noticed I did that and that I've been doing it for years, it was never anything I made a point of doing just something I did.

Huh, me too. It is weird, isn't it? Not sure why left is so enticing.

Unless absolutely necessary (as in, the game gives you no choice), I will not kill guards, cops, or American/Allied soldiers.

Hey, what have you got against civilians then?

 

[Scarim Coral]

Well I used to do this thing with a new Pokemon game.

When I picked the starter, I shouldn't pick the same type I used in the last game-

Red- Bulbasaur
Gold- Cyndaqil
Ruby- Mudkip
Diamond- Chimchar
FireRed (yes I was late on buying it)- Squirtle
Platinum- Turtwig
White- Snivy
White 2- Ossawat
X- Froakle
AlphaSapphire- Mudkip

Yes I know I broke it since White (in saying so I do regret picking Snivy)! I guess with Sun or Moon, Rowlet or Litten.

Oh another one is when it come to RPG with armors stats, I ALWAYS wear the set, never mix and match the armour pieces for better stats! The only except to this is Guild Wars 2 due to the armours can become skin (change the apperance but keep the stats) and it was made more to be mix and match most of the time (mixing can result a good looking armour but other times it look really bad).

 

[Xerosch]

Hmm... mine seem to be really tame. Please keep in mind that I'm a 99% single player and enjoy story driven games.

- Don't kill anyone in a stealth game until absolutely necessary - or you're too crappy to progress for several hours
- When deciding for an action in RPGs don't reload but live with the consequences
- Brute force is cheap, good negotiation exciting
- Don't start with optional collectibles in a game as searching for it ruins the pacing
- Sidequests are optional unless they give you additional story bits or an alternate/better ending
- First walk in the opposite direction of where your quest tracker wants you to go
- Trophy-/Achievement-playstyle is OK in RPGs/Adventures (more story and possibilities), not in anything else

 

[2012 Wont Happen]

No general rules, although in my most recent character on Fallout 3 my rule was "behave like a radical Irish Catholic." My actions were mostly good, and anytime someone good died I gave them a 21 gun salute with a hunting rifle, but I did also massacre the Church of Atom on grounds of being infidels. Gave 100 caps to Saint Monica's every Sunday though.

 

[Sharia]

When I level up in a game such as Dark Souls, the level number for whatever the stat, must be an even number. I cant leave strength on 27 for instance....

 

[Renegade-pizza]

In solitaire always go from left to right: hearts, clubs, diamond, leaf.
Never use "special" weapons unless absolutely has to, especially in Doom with the chainsaw and BFG.

I recall Yahtzee calling this the "Giant Enemy Crab" syndrome. "I could nuke this giant crab to oblivion, but what if there's an even larger one around the corner?"

But, yeah. I'll often skip the "New weapon! Go crazy!" part and conserve ammo.

 

[happyninja42]

I won't kill sex workers, nor will I treat them like shit, even in games that encourage it like GTA.

I won't kill anyone if the game actually allows a no kill run. If not, I will try and minimize those I kill to hostile forces directly trying to kill me.

I won't pick a choice that benefits me at the expense of another person. Example: Agreeing to sell the little girls cat to a local butcher for money, instead of just rescuing the cat for her.

I won't kill animals unless they are hostile and I have to. When I played the free beta of The Division, I remember people just randomly shooting all the dogs they saw walking around. I hate that kind of shit.

If I'm leading an army, like in an RTS or something, I will generally build a strategy that minimizes my own forces casualties. I don't like "zerg rush" tactics, and instead build a self sustaining army that can heal it's troops, to try and prevent troop loss.

If there is a morality slider, I will take the Good route pretty much without fail

Fuck collectibles for achievements. That shit can burn in a fire.

Basically, my rules for gaming are "Don't Be a Dick" if the game allows you to do so.

 

[DrownedAmmet]

I only remember having one hard rule in a game, and that was to not use the flamethrower against humans in the Last of Us. Just couldn't deal with hearing them scream like that, a bullet to the head was much more merciful

But I also broke that rule once

Spoiler: Do I need to spoiler this bit

those cannibal bastards had Ellie. Seemed like Joel would have used any means necessary to get her back at that point

 

[DefunctTheory]

Unless absolutely necessary (as in, the game gives you no choice), I will not kill guards, cops, or American/Allied soldiers.

Yah, I'm with you, but it's less about the targets and more about the options available. If the game gives me the option to tranq/knock out enemies, that is all I will do - I did this in MGSV and Human Revolution almost exclusively (Though I did do an Explosive Revolver run, eventually, in Human Revolution).

 

[happyninja42]

Unless absolutely necessary (as in, the game gives you no choice), I will not kill guards, cops, or American/Allied soldiers.

Yah, I'm with you, but it's less about the targets and more about the options available. If the game gives me the option to tranq/knock out enemies, that is all I will do - I did this in MGSV and Human Revolution almost exclusively (Though I did do an Explosive Revolver run, eventually, in Human Revolution).

Yeah, personally I just fine I enjoy non-lethal playthroughs more. I don't find much gratification in wholesale slaughter in games. If the game gives me no choice, like the God of War series for example, or Lords of the Fallen, ok fine, whatever. But if I have the ability to resolve the challenges non-violently (or at least non-lethal takedowns), I prefer that. I find more gratification with that kind of game these days.