Pillars of Eternity - preparation for neurotic gamer
For the umpteenth time I try to play/enjoy and finish this wonderful RPG game, which premise and setting I absolutely love!
I’ve discovered that to fully enjoy [in my way] the experience of gaming I must have an absolute control over what’s happening and choose each dialogue option/quest resolution with being fully informed on the outcome.
Otherwise I get way to upset, anxious and fight the urge to restart. Why play RPGs then? The whole purpose of such games is to immerse yourself, pretend being someone else, let loose on the responsiblity and weight of RL decisions and acting an impulse, right?
Well, if you feel like you have very little control over your RL [as I do], then you try to aqcuire as much power as you can through the in-game universe.
Is it projection and OCD? Definitely yes.
Does it take away my joy from gaming in the long run? [I cannot finish any game as each playthrough has to be perfect] Yes.
Does it make me even less inclined to achieve anything’in RL? Probably yes.
Do I want to stop? Never.
Ok, so let’s move on to the preparations I’ve made beforehand to make my gaming experience easier on my neurotic self. Once I’ll progress into parts of the game I’ve never played before, staying in the same save will be difficult - below actions are sort of preventative measures.
First of all, I’ve prepared Excel spreadsheet with:
my character/my fave companions stats
preferred personality traits that show up during interactions
conditions of different solutions to companions quests
list of items that I was not able to pick-up/unlock at current level
list of self-imposed rules that give more structure on how I play [example: I cannot use camping supplies between the maps unless at least one of the party members has their health at “yellow” level and unless my mage and druid are out of 50% or more of at least 1 spell castings. I “have to” rest though before each dungeon level, regardless of the party stats].
Stronghold events and fights that I get through the game.
I also have my character stats ready - I do not really look into MIN/MAX and getting most out of class, what I try to achieve is some sort of symmetry in how I allocate attributes to party members as well as some coherency in the “story” I roleplay in my head for them.
I’ve listed the rules for saving/reloading/moving between maps/talking to NPCs/fighting - overall around 10-15 rules which structures the game and make it easier [for me!] to complete quests in the “right” order.
* Please note that some of those preparations are done by spoiling myself through the official guides and walkthroughs and are also a result of many re-plays [never moved past the II Act though]. For me, it’s always a thrill of getting to know all about the game vs leaving main plot untouched so I don’t spoil myself 100% of the content.
Typing this out [and honestly, this doesn’t even list most of the rules I have!] made me feel sort of embarassed?
Hope I’ll let myself finish the game this time.
snowghoul
turnnoffyourmind
s-u-f-j-a-n-s-t-e-v-e-n-s
yousharknotpass
tangentwithtanner
titsay