Your weird gaming rules

[Erttheking]

I usually only kill innocent people right when I'm about to turn the game off or if they're really annoying. (Funny story. I dropped a bunch of C4 at the feet of Joshua Graham in Fallout NV just before I turned the game off and tried to blow him up. He still had half of his health bar left and just limped up to me. As if saying "What? That's all?")

This is a specific game example, but in Bioshock 2 I refused to use the brainwash Plasmid. After what happened to Delta at the start...it felt wrong.

I don't desecrate corpses anymore, this is something a friend hammered into my head (Though sometimes I do pile them up if the game allows it. Kind of a kill count thing)

 

[Poetic Nova]

-Finding every secret in games that have such a thing
-No crosshairs
-No aim assist (it's a bullshit mechanic, even on controllers)
-Minimal as possible HUD, for immersions sake. In HL2 I ended up with just the numbers shown on the HUD.
-I don't kill dogs if I can help it, this bit makes me feel bad when I do drive over a dog in Carmageddon...

 

[Pheo1386]

- I'm allowed to play for one day before deleting the save and starting again (this time knowing how to best start)
- no easy setting, normal is bare minimum, hard is preferred
- if there's a bow, I HAVE to get it and make it my main weapon if viable
- if I like it enough to complete it more than once, I have to try for the platinum

Might be seen as odd, but it's the way I play and gives me joy.

 

[Gorrath]

I don't know if it's a rule so much but I tend to save items "for later" so much that I end up almost never using them. I will re-fight the same mission 90 times without using any buffing items just because I think I might need to save them. I don't know how many times I've run through the same area in Fallout 3-NV-4, dying over and over, not even remembering that Med-X is a thing or how much Psycho would have helped. I'll stand around clubbing a death claw with nightstick seventy two times after running out of ammo and never once stop to think that I could have made it much easier on myself.

 

[maninahat]

Mine is that I deliberately use way more bullets on an enemy than necessary, even when they have clearly gone into their death animation or have already dropped to the ground. It just feels more appropriate and realistic thing to do in a battle.

 

[happyninja42]

I don't know if it's a rule so much but I tend to save items "for later" so much that I end up almost never using them. I will re-fight the same missing 90 times without using any buffing items just because I think I might need to save them. I don't know how many times I've run through the same area in Fallout 3-NV-4, dying over and over, not even remembering that Med-X is a thing or how much Psycho would have helped. I'll stand around clubbing a death claw with nightstick seventy two times after running out of ammo and never once stop to think that I could have made it much easier on myself.

I have a similar issue, though it's mostly because I forget about the drugs. I mostly avoid using them, because it's really easy to become addicted, and I dislike the withdrawal penalties. I mostly just deal drugs in those games, selling them as I gather them up for cash, and in the case of FO 4, I cook them myself. I have zero issue with it, since there isn't any illegality to the drugs at that point. I sell them to adults, and they can use them or not, not my business. I've made an insane amount of caps cooking up crates full of Jet.

 

[UltraDeth]

- Avoid as many civilian casualties as possible.

- Take the morally good choice, as long as it's not one of those "carrot on a string" morally good has negative repercussions and vice-versa.

- Take everything that could help.

- Complete every side mission before the end.

- Although I tend to take the Warrior path, I like to invest in everything, strength, magic and stealth. Be ready for everything.

- This one I follow as a gamer. Play a series from the beginning.

- Go for the full 1000g/Platinum trophy on any game where 100% isn't hampered by Co-op, Multiplayer or DLC.

 

[Gorrath]

I don't know if it's a rule so much but I tend to save items "for later" so much that I end up almost never using them. I will re-fight the same missing 90 times without using any buffing items just because I think I might need to save them. I don't know how many times I've run through the same area in Fallout 3-NV-4, dying over and over, not even remembering that Med-X is a thing or how much Psycho would have helped. I'll stand around clubbing a death claw with nightstick seventy two times after running out of ammo and never once stop to think that I could have made it much easier on myself.

I have a similar issue, though it's mostly because I forget about the drugs. I mostly avoid using them, because it's really easy to become addicted, and I dislike the withdrawal penalties. I mostly just deal drugs in those games, selling them as I gather them up for cash, and in the case of FO 4, I cook them myself. I have zero issue with it, since there isn't any illegality to the drugs at that point. I sell them to adults, and they can use them or not, not my business. I've made an insane amount of caps cooking up crates full of Jet.

It's kind of funny, I'd crack down on the gangs for selling the drugs to innocent people and getting them hooked but I sell my own drugs to the traders, who no doubt do the same damned thing. It's a bit of cognitive dissonance with my playstyle. I like to roleplay that I have an agreement with the traders; I'll keep them stocked up so they don't have to deal with the dangerous gangs and in return they will only resell to hospitals or the roving doctors. I wrote a short story from the POV of a trader who broke my rules and offloaded a bunch of the drugs I had made to the Great Khans. The story centered around the trader trying to escape across the wasteland once the courier found out and came after him. It culminated an old-west style showdown between the trader and his body guards vs the courier, Cassidy, Dog Meat and Boone outside of the Nevada Highway Patrol Station as the trader was trying to escape back to the Mojave Outpost.

 

[happyninja42]

I don't know if it's a rule so much but I tend to save items "for later" so much that I end up almost never using them. I will re-fight the same missing 90 times without using any buffing items just because I think I might need to save them. I don't know how many times I've run through the same area in Fallout 3-NV-4, dying over and over, not even remembering that Med-X is a thing or how much Psycho would have helped. I'll stand around clubbing a death claw with nightstick seventy two times after running out of ammo and never once stop to think that I could have made it much easier on myself.

I have a similar issue, though it's mostly because I forget about the drugs. I mostly avoid using them, because it's really easy to become addicted, and I dislike the withdrawal penalties. I mostly just deal drugs in those games, selling them as I gather them up for cash, and in the case of FO 4, I cook them myself. I have zero issue with it, since there isn't any illegality to the drugs at that point. I sell them to adults, and they can use them or not, not my business. I've made an insane amount of caps cooking up crates full of Jet.

It's kind of funny, I'd crack down on the gangs for selling the drugs to innocent people and getting them hooked but I sell my own drugs to the traders, who no doubt do the same damned thing. It's a bit of cognitive dissonance with my playstyle. I like to roleplay that I have an agreement with the traders; I'll keep them stocked up so they don't have to deal with the dangerous gangs and in return they will only resell to hospitals or the roving doctors. I wrote a short story from the POV of a trader who broke my rules and offloaded a bunch of the drugs I had made to the Great Khans. The story centered around the trader trying to escape across the wasteland once the courier found out and came after him. It culminated an old-west style showdown between the trader and his body guards vs the courier, Cassidy, Dog Meat and Boone outside of the Nevada Highway Patrol Station as the trader was trying to escape back to the Mojave Outpost.

Sounds like a cool story. I can't recall any cognitive dissonance on my part regarding drug dealers in those games. For the most part, the only people who are known to be drug users are the...I think they were called Freaks, as well as Raiders. I have no choice but to be hostile to them, as they are nothing but hostile to anyone else. But the missions that involve dealing with drug dealers, like in FO 4, that one that starts in Diamond City, I just don't do them usually. If there is some level of moral ambiguity on the part of the group, like that gang of fairly hostile people in the drug trade from Diamond City, I just avoid doing it really. Mostly because I found that whole quest line as a lot of people trying to do something self satisfying, and I'm the one helping them do it. You start trying to help that guy get revenge on the guy screwing his wife, and then you help the guy screwing his wife, get a leg up in the drug trade. And then you can possibly help another person depending on who you side with in that drug deal. It's all a case of self interest shit behavior on all sides, and I just avoid it. xD

OT: If I'm playing a thief character, I like to have a "calling card". Like in Skyrim, I would take feather quills and save them up for my heists. Then I would rob a place, and leave a feather on the doormat right inside the house. I also would get revenge on people who pissed me off by stealing everything worth a single coin in their house.

There is this one dark elf in Skyrim, that shit talks you if you get near him in a tavern. I'd never talked to him, never met him, and he speaks very insultingly to me upon first meeting me. This annoyed the shit out of me. So I waited in the tavern for him to go home, followed him to his house, and then waited until he was asleep. And stole everything, EVERYTHING in his house that had a value, including a safe that had some very incriminating stuff in it. I felt really good after doing that. xD "insult me will you mother fucker?! Have fun living in a barren house!"

 

[RaikuFA]

In Pokemon, I have to have my starter and the first pokemon I catch with me at all times. At least till post game.

 

[MysticSlayer]

In multiplayer shooters, I don't look at the scoreboard (or at least try not to) until the end. It just adds stress knowing how good/bad I'm doing the whole time. I'd rather just relax and assess myself after it is all over.

I also refuse to make choices based on anything statistical. I know people complain about things like Paragon/Renegade, Friendship/Rivalry, and karma meters in gamers, but I just can't. I'll always play the character. If that means missing out on an upgrade, not passing a speech check, or losing a party member, so be it.

In Call of Duty, I also always ran a stealth-based class. I remember finding the silenced MP5 (or P90), Cold Blooded UAV Jammer, and Dead Silence combo in CoD4 and finding it absolutely hilarious that everyone was acting like the equivalent in MW3 was overpowered. It took five games for that class to catch on despite being one of the best from the beginning! Guess that's why I got called a hacker running that class. Everyone was too stupid to realize that it was possible to hide from everything thrown at you.

 

[JUMBO PALACE]

In multiplayer shooters, I don't look at the scoreboard (or at least try not to) until the end. It just adds stress knowing how good/bad I'm doing the whole time. I'd rather just relax and assess myself after it is all over.

I also refuse to make choices based on anything statistical. I know people complain about things like Paragon/Renegade, Friendship/Rivalry, and karma meters in gamers, but I just can't. I'll always play the character. If that means missing out on an upgrade, not passing a speech check, or losing a party member, so be it.

In Call of Duty, I also always ran a stealth-based class. I remember finding the silenced MP5 (or P90), Cold Blooded UAV Jammer, and Dead Silence combo in CoD4 and finding it absolutely hilarious that everyone was acting like the equivalent in MW3 was overpowered. It took five games for that class to catch on despite being one of the best from the beginning! Guess that's why I got called a hacker running that class. Everyone was too stupid to realize that it was possible to hide from everything thrown at you.

Haven't played COD in awhile but this is the exact setup I would use when I was playing COD 4 and the assorted games that came after. I was always shocked that so few people played that way. People love to call you a hacker when you're smarter/better than them.

OT: Weird rules?

I don't know if I have any rules, just preferences. If there is a moral choice system I won't choose whether I'm being a good or bad character. I will play as if I am the character and just make the decision I think is right. At least on my first playthrough. After that I want to see alternate endings and such.

No kill / stealth runs are a favorite of mine like a lot of people have said. Also, sometimes I think I purposely avoid power ups or buffs because I want to be able to win without them.

 

[Slenn]

I don't know if it's a rule so much but I tend to save items "for later" so much that I end up almost never using them. I will re-fight the same missing 90 times without using any buffing items just because I think I might need to save them.

As another fellow has mentioned, I too have that habit. I also experience this when playing Pok?mon titles. I tend to gather up all the Max Ethers and the Full Revives and never use them until the Final Four.

An habit that I've observed that's become sort of a rule is that I tend to stop playing a particular title if my total play time is around 2 days or 48 hours.

I have this general rule that if there's a diplomatic solution to the problem, go for it. Wasteland 2 is a good example with its huge amount of multiple endings.

Another is in regards to skill checks. If the check does not have a success chance of greater than 60%, I won't bother doing it (or spam reloading saves) until my character gets a few more points in that skill. If it's greater than 90% and the skill check critically fails, then I'll reload a save.

 

[DefunctTheory]

Thought of another one - I don't do drugs. Ever.

This leads to a weird thing in Fallout where I don't use drugs, but at the same time I don't sell them, because they're light weight and expensive, so they're a convenient way to get caps when you're broke. But I never quite seem to be broke enough to need to dump them. So by the time I'm done clearing the wasteland of junkies and finished with the main story (And with how I play, all the side quest), I'm sitting on a hoard of drugs so massive it would make Tony Montana say 'God damn, that's way too many drugs.'

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

I always stack my unconscious enemies in one pile on any given map. In games where it's possible to "knock out" enemies and carry them around (so that their comrades don't spot their bodies and raise the alarm/awaken them), I usually put the first guard somewhere out of sight. After that, my objective becomes "add all remaining enemies to this pile". On massive maps I may eventually have to start another pile, but usually I will carry unconscious enemies clear across the map to the original pile, admire it briefly then move on.

 

[shteev]

Every level in DOOM has to be played through in a single sitting, with no saves, from a standing start (just the pistol+50 ammo). Alien Vendetta was tough, Hell Revealed was tougher, Hell Revealed 2 is largely defeating me

Never increase your stats until you find something that's too challenging/impossible.

Always skip the first upgrade and jump straight to a higher one. It'll save you resources in the long run.

 

[tippy2k2]

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?

They probably deserved it!

But you're right, that is also kind of weird. In games, I won't go out of my way to kill a civilian but I don't feel bad if Joe McEveryman gets caught in the crossfire during a gun fight with some drug dealers but if I accidentally take out a cop in that same fight, I feel bad about it.

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).

Generally I go non-lethal in those games for everyone too but sometimes I will flip the switch to Rock & Roll if I feel like they deserve it. For example, the beginning of Deus Ex Human Revolution when those guys are executing anyone they come across; I changed to live rounds and I murdered the hell out of any of the bad guys I came across. I would go out of my way to take one of them out if I saw them but could avoid them in that place...

 

[Bilious Green_v1legacy]

My only rule is: finish one game before starting another (games like Street Fighter or Overwatch don't count for the purposes of this rule, as they never end).

 

[DementedSheep]

In stealth games I don't use knock outs and I avoid killing most NPCs, especially if there is nothing indicating they're particularly bad. I know as far unrealistic things go there are a lot worse things in games but I feel like being able to just knock someone out for an indefinite amount of time without killing or causing some serious damage is a bit of cop out and it makes lethal/nonlethal a shallow choice. It also takes a lot of the stealth out of a game because you only have to worry about them until you can get up to them to knock them out. It's much harder to have to keep track of them.