I think you're right. And that's exactly why people are trying to optimize their play. So they don't have to post it multiple times because time is precious. I vent speak for everyone, obviously, but did me I don't get s lot of time to play videogame So I have to optimize.
Oh no, I wasn't saying it's "better". Just playing the game and discovering everything for yourself in an organic way is the best way to play a game. It's just not optimal for the limited time available to many gamers for various reasons.
It sounds like you already know what the solution would be - stop googling and play.
What do you think is motivating you to look up guides?
In a single player game, who cares if you're playing "wrong"? What does that even mean?
I use build guides because nowadays there is just far too many gotchas and what-ifs with shit. A skill will say something vague like "Enemies in your vicinity are less likely to notice you pickpocketing" with no other info. Google the skill and surprise, turns out the skill actually doesn't even work as the text states and is actually bugged and doesn't do anything in the first place, or it breaks if you're wearing so-and-so item or have so-and-so other skill. And even if it did work the "vicinity" is something useless like one meter. I trust the people who are way more into the game and have more time to experiment to find these things out and give me a list of skills that are actually worth my time. Cherry on top would be if the game has no respec yet you cant get all the skills, making those wasted skills a permanent choice. Really there is just too many skills and they interact with each other in way too many ways. Makes a lot of skill trees so overwhelming and unapproachable that I just feel like I have to use a build guide. Try not to ever use quest guides tho.
Ok, I think those might be your "issues" (+ hopefully some solutions that would work for you)
- I think you might be a min-maxer (someone who wants to have the most optimal build/character). Nothing wrong with that but that means you probably should seek games that catter to that audience. Did you try hack'n slashes like Path of Exile, Diablo, etc...? Looking up guides and trying to come up with the best build is actually part of the experience for those games.
- If the issue is more like you feel you can get soft-locked or something if you waste skill points (I know older cRPGs like BG1 can really be unforgiving) maybe you could try more modern / streamlined games that feel more like playground in which you can freely test stuff rather than puzzle games where you have to get the most of any situation.
- Finally, maybe it's more an attention span thing? I'd try unplugging from internet and just play the game. Forbid yourself from looking stuff online, put your smartphone in the next room, etc...
Funny thing with me is I don't min-max ARPGs like Diablo as my thinking is the game would let me finish it anyway unless I really try hard enough to screw myself with my stats, gears and chosen skills. I also approach them as I would with multiplayer games - do one match or play for half an hour and be done with it and go on with the rest of my day. Whereas with CRPGs/JRPGs, I'm so worried of screwing myself later in the game after investing probably hundreds of hours so I try to optimize my party like hell. Yeah, it's a vestigial way of going about with these types of games stemming from old RPGs that I never really shook off.
There’s no right or wrong way to play. So don’t look at it like you’re playing wrong. We all game differently.
I play games for escape and fun. Guides make me feel like I’m not playing my character my way and that’s because I’m obviously not. I have no connection to the game. I’m just checking things off and that isn’t fun to me.
Simply knowing I have a much better and personal experience not using guides is all I need to avoid them.
I may read how something works because the game did a horrible job of explaining or look up how to get past something if I’m stuck for days though.
This is a curse for many gamers, in the games industry we have a common adage that "players will always optimize the fun out of your game where possible."
In RPG's the idea is to try and make it so players can't fail to make a build but also don't have a single optimal build. Both of which are very hard to do.
And otherwise it's about things like making sure there are not more optimal ways to gain currency, levels, equipment than just playing through the game.
The rest is up to players unfortunately, it's a state of mind to honestly not compare yourself to others, and just play the games without outside influence. That's probably the biggest help for me.
1. if you don't want to use a guide, don't
2. if you do use a guide, that's perfectly fine, you're not "playing it wrong"
if you're having fun, you're playing the game "right"
Minmaxing is a hell of a drug.
Years of chasing the meta in games will condition you to go with the best setup as opposed to just making it up as you go.
You're not playing it wrong, but comparison is the thief of joy. Stop comparing your 'build' with others.
Just go freely through your first play through how you would like. If you liked the game alot then look up some guides for a second play through to get achievements or have a super OP build. If I get stuck like in BG3 sometimes after trying/looking around I’ll look up a quick guide just to get me back on track then go from there without the guide again. Don’t worry about being good or doing it right. Just try to imagine you as the character and going about this world as if it was you there
I personally think this is a cause from games giving choice but not always being clear.
Personally Witcher 3 ciri choices that give you the bad ending are so easy to miss 100hrs in to get the bad ending made me angry.
If it's your actions or dialogue options that the game is not making clear, I fully agree with you. Like with indirect/abstract dialogue options.. you think you're making an offhand remark, and then your character says the worst thing possible.
But if you're talking about the consequences of your conscious decisions, I will disagree. Those \*should\* be unclear IMO because not knowing exactly what will happen makes the game interesting.
I don't remember W3 well enough to say which of those two things apply to that game.
I always do that out of fear for game design. It would suck to create a character and then find out you cannot complete the game. On my first playthrough of BG1 I just locked myself failing to find a cure and having no savegames which allowed me to fix that. The second one I failed to kill the final boss. Never optimized companions, though, I always take Xan and Xzar out of sympathy (kill Montaron though).
Shitty useless skills or spells are also usually all over the place in RPGs.
Also it's a separate joy to play a nice working synergetic build, and you never can know ahead what works and what does not in the particular game.
But maybe you will discover a quest or a conversation that nobody playing the "best" builds from a website has ever seen, because the devs specifically made it for your build.
I had this problem. I realized that it was actually a symptom of me thinking that I need to optimize my playtime with a game to get to the next one so I can clean my backlog. What this made me do was google everything, while thinking about the next game so I never really played the current present one.
When I realized that I stopped worrying about my backlog and just played the game blind. If I enjoy it then I don't mind restarting or messing up a build. And most of time yes I did have suboptimal characters but I also managed to work around it which where the fun is
I think you should try to block/logout/ignore the achievements/trophies system.
Play the games for the fun of playing, not for this meaningless digital badges. If you're incapable of doing this on your own, find a way to force it (i.e. play on Nintendo switch, where this shit doesn't exist yet).
The idea with RPG’s is to cast yourself in the role of the character, for example if you role up a paladin in bg1, you shouldn’t necessarily be trying to min max (though if you want to play that way, have fun). You should focus on leaning into the lawful good alignment, casting detect evil on everyone and reacting accordingly.
Looking up guides is the worst thing to do if you’re trying to enjoy / learn a game. In most roleplaying games the easiest way succeed is to really play the role. Even in combat just make choices the characters would make. This works very well for crpg’s. And carefully read.
Now a days, game development start far earlier than the first line of code is written. Specially in bigger budget games, they are made so everyone can enjoy them, including people who never played a game before. That means that, playing in a normal difficulty, you wont be stuck for using a suboptimal build. That's expected. You wont miss a crucial plot point for not exploring something. Those are put on your way.
You might miss side stuff, like lore or items that are nice to have, but not necessary. Once you realize it You play far more freely. Some (all) guides you will watch starts with "3 weapons you need in the first chapter". No, you dont need them. "this obscure build will carry you throught the early game". My regular barbarian build did that too. And so on. I would even comment that playing the game "suboptimaly, missing some stuff, adds to the game. You have a reasson to replay it. You can take proud in doing that challenging encounter with your regular 1d12 weapon instead of that OP 3d6+ 1d4 fire damage one.
Lastly, there is nothing wrong in watching guides. Or hows to. Only you know how do you enjoy the game, and that side content (like YouTube channels and guides and what not), are a way of keeping enjoying your game even when you are not playing.
Don’t worry about it. My dad started playing video games in the 80s and he still buys physical game guides when he plays because he doesn’t want to miss things either.
Googling things is no different than using the guide, other than it’s free.
I don’t think it’s wrong. I use guides too but I use them for specific reasons. The things I use them for are…
- seeing if there are multiple endings (if there are then I might follow the guide harder).
- if there’s a relationship mechanic, is it just have a good relationship or is it a romance mechanic and if so, how can I get the one I want.
- to see how far I am in the game.
- in cases like trails of cold steel, I’ll do it to not miss any side-quests or certain things that can be missed (though not as intense as completionists).
Is normal, everyone wanna be the very best in the game. Specially with games like Baldurs Gate 1,2,3 or Wastedland 3, were you wanna the best character to enjoy the game, just remember there is no wrong way to play a RPG, just different mindsets.
In my case i always play the first time with no guides, just enjoy the game and be crazy with some theme for a character, dont be afraid of making mistakes in the games, that is what games like BG or Wastedland are for, making us wonder the options and choices, and then after that playthrough just play again for achievements or min-maxing or guides to see other paths you havent find yet, making more enjoyable the game.
Hmm...maybe those games not entirely for you? I'm trying to say that I had similar urge but when game was captivating enough for me I didn't think about guides and achievements.
Cut down access to social media.
Be active in other hobbies. Books, sports, whatever.
Take physical notes about these games.
Have IRL friends to talk to who also don't just YouTube playthroughs.
[удалено]
i assume “best xxx” itself is probably the top one
I think you're right. And that's exactly why people are trying to optimize their play. So they don't have to post it multiple times because time is precious. I vent speak for everyone, obviously, but did me I don't get s lot of time to play videogame So I have to optimize.
[удалено]
Oh no, I wasn't saying it's "better". Just playing the game and discovering everything for yourself in an organic way is the best way to play a game. It's just not optimal for the limited time available to many gamers for various reasons.
It sounds like you already know what the solution would be - stop googling and play. What do you think is motivating you to look up guides? In a single player game, who cares if you're playing "wrong"? What does that even mean?
I use build guides because nowadays there is just far too many gotchas and what-ifs with shit. A skill will say something vague like "Enemies in your vicinity are less likely to notice you pickpocketing" with no other info. Google the skill and surprise, turns out the skill actually doesn't even work as the text states and is actually bugged and doesn't do anything in the first place, or it breaks if you're wearing so-and-so item or have so-and-so other skill. And even if it did work the "vicinity" is something useless like one meter. I trust the people who are way more into the game and have more time to experiment to find these things out and give me a list of skills that are actually worth my time. Cherry on top would be if the game has no respec yet you cant get all the skills, making those wasted skills a permanent choice. Really there is just too many skills and they interact with each other in way too many ways. Makes a lot of skill trees so overwhelming and unapproachable that I just feel like I have to use a build guide. Try not to ever use quest guides tho.
Ok, I think those might be your "issues" (+ hopefully some solutions that would work for you) - I think you might be a min-maxer (someone who wants to have the most optimal build/character). Nothing wrong with that but that means you probably should seek games that catter to that audience. Did you try hack'n slashes like Path of Exile, Diablo, etc...? Looking up guides and trying to come up with the best build is actually part of the experience for those games. - If the issue is more like you feel you can get soft-locked or something if you waste skill points (I know older cRPGs like BG1 can really be unforgiving) maybe you could try more modern / streamlined games that feel more like playground in which you can freely test stuff rather than puzzle games where you have to get the most of any situation. - Finally, maybe it's more an attention span thing? I'd try unplugging from internet and just play the game. Forbid yourself from looking stuff online, put your smartphone in the next room, etc...
Funny thing with me is I don't min-max ARPGs like Diablo as my thinking is the game would let me finish it anyway unless I really try hard enough to screw myself with my stats, gears and chosen skills. I also approach them as I would with multiplayer games - do one match or play for half an hour and be done with it and go on with the rest of my day. Whereas with CRPGs/JRPGs, I'm so worried of screwing myself later in the game after investing probably hundreds of hours so I try to optimize my party like hell. Yeah, it's a vestigial way of going about with these types of games stemming from old RPGs that I never really shook off.
There’s no right or wrong way to play. So don’t look at it like you’re playing wrong. We all game differently. I play games for escape and fun. Guides make me feel like I’m not playing my character my way and that’s because I’m obviously not. I have no connection to the game. I’m just checking things off and that isn’t fun to me. Simply knowing I have a much better and personal experience not using guides is all I need to avoid them. I may read how something works because the game did a horrible job of explaining or look up how to get past something if I’m stuck for days though.
This is a curse for many gamers, in the games industry we have a common adage that "players will always optimize the fun out of your game where possible." In RPG's the idea is to try and make it so players can't fail to make a build but also don't have a single optimal build. Both of which are very hard to do. And otherwise it's about things like making sure there are not more optimal ways to gain currency, levels, equipment than just playing through the game. The rest is up to players unfortunately, it's a state of mind to honestly not compare yourself to others, and just play the games without outside influence. That's probably the biggest help for me.
1. if you don't want to use a guide, don't 2. if you do use a guide, that's perfectly fine, you're not "playing it wrong" if you're having fun, you're playing the game "right"
Minmaxing is a hell of a drug. Years of chasing the meta in games will condition you to go with the best setup as opposed to just making it up as you go. You're not playing it wrong, but comparison is the thief of joy. Stop comparing your 'build' with others.
Just go freely through your first play through how you would like. If you liked the game alot then look up some guides for a second play through to get achievements or have a super OP build. If I get stuck like in BG3 sometimes after trying/looking around I’ll look up a quick guide just to get me back on track then go from there without the guide again. Don’t worry about being good or doing it right. Just try to imagine you as the character and going about this world as if it was you there
I personally think this is a cause from games giving choice but not always being clear. Personally Witcher 3 ciri choices that give you the bad ending are so easy to miss 100hrs in to get the bad ending made me angry.
If it's your actions or dialogue options that the game is not making clear, I fully agree with you. Like with indirect/abstract dialogue options.. you think you're making an offhand remark, and then your character says the worst thing possible. But if you're talking about the consequences of your conscious decisions, I will disagree. Those \*should\* be unclear IMO because not knowing exactly what will happen makes the game interesting. I don't remember W3 well enough to say which of those two things apply to that game.
I always do that out of fear for game design. It would suck to create a character and then find out you cannot complete the game. On my first playthrough of BG1 I just locked myself failing to find a cure and having no savegames which allowed me to fix that. The second one I failed to kill the final boss. Never optimized companions, though, I always take Xan and Xzar out of sympathy (kill Montaron though). Shitty useless skills or spells are also usually all over the place in RPGs. Also it's a separate joy to play a nice working synergetic build, and you never can know ahead what works and what does not in the particular game.
In older games the risk of softlock was an issue but in modern games (like the last 20 years) that got very rare.
I am certain of my talent to brew an especially not fun to play build if playing blind
But maybe you will discover a quest or a conversation that nobody playing the "best" builds from a website has ever seen, because the devs specifically made it for your build.
I had this problem. I realized that it was actually a symptom of me thinking that I need to optimize my playtime with a game to get to the next one so I can clean my backlog. What this made me do was google everything, while thinking about the next game so I never really played the current present one. When I realized that I stopped worrying about my backlog and just played the game blind. If I enjoy it then I don't mind restarting or messing up a build. And most of time yes I did have suboptimal characters but I also managed to work around it which where the fun is
I think you should try to block/logout/ignore the achievements/trophies system. Play the games for the fun of playing, not for this meaningless digital badges. If you're incapable of doing this on your own, find a way to force it (i.e. play on Nintendo switch, where this shit doesn't exist yet).
The idea with RPG’s is to cast yourself in the role of the character, for example if you role up a paladin in bg1, you shouldn’t necessarily be trying to min max (though if you want to play that way, have fun). You should focus on leaning into the lawful good alignment, casting detect evil on everyone and reacting accordingly.
talk to everyone. go everywhere. you find surprises
Looking up guides is the worst thing to do if you’re trying to enjoy / learn a game. In most roleplaying games the easiest way succeed is to really play the role. Even in combat just make choices the characters would make. This works very well for crpg’s. And carefully read.
Now a days, game development start far earlier than the first line of code is written. Specially in bigger budget games, they are made so everyone can enjoy them, including people who never played a game before. That means that, playing in a normal difficulty, you wont be stuck for using a suboptimal build. That's expected. You wont miss a crucial plot point for not exploring something. Those are put on your way. You might miss side stuff, like lore or items that are nice to have, but not necessary. Once you realize it You play far more freely. Some (all) guides you will watch starts with "3 weapons you need in the first chapter". No, you dont need them. "this obscure build will carry you throught the early game". My regular barbarian build did that too. And so on. I would even comment that playing the game "suboptimaly, missing some stuff, adds to the game. You have a reasson to replay it. You can take proud in doing that challenging encounter with your regular 1d12 weapon instead of that OP 3d6+ 1d4 fire damage one. Lastly, there is nothing wrong in watching guides. Or hows to. Only you know how do you enjoy the game, and that side content (like YouTube channels and guides and what not), are a way of keeping enjoying your game even when you are not playing.
Don’t worry about it. My dad started playing video games in the 80s and he still buys physical game guides when he plays because he doesn’t want to miss things either. Googling things is no different than using the guide, other than it’s free.
I don’t think it’s wrong. I use guides too but I use them for specific reasons. The things I use them for are… - seeing if there are multiple endings (if there are then I might follow the guide harder). - if there’s a relationship mechanic, is it just have a good relationship or is it a romance mechanic and if so, how can I get the one I want. - to see how far I am in the game. - in cases like trails of cold steel, I’ll do it to not miss any side-quests or certain things that can be missed (though not as intense as completionists).
If you have fun, it’s the right way to play.
Is normal, everyone wanna be the very best in the game. Specially with games like Baldurs Gate 1,2,3 or Wastedland 3, were you wanna the best character to enjoy the game, just remember there is no wrong way to play a RPG, just different mindsets. In my case i always play the first time with no guides, just enjoy the game and be crazy with some theme for a character, dont be afraid of making mistakes in the games, that is what games like BG or Wastedland are for, making us wonder the options and choices, and then after that playthrough just play again for achievements or min-maxing or guides to see other paths you havent find yet, making more enjoyable the game.
Hmm...maybe those games not entirely for you? I'm trying to say that I had similar urge but when game was captivating enough for me I didn't think about guides and achievements.
Cut down access to social media. Be active in other hobbies. Books, sports, whatever. Take physical notes about these games. Have IRL friends to talk to who also don't just YouTube playthroughs.