Not heard this term before, but presume it’s to do with people saving often? So this must refer to single player games, no? Who cares enough about how people play their games on their own to comment on it, let alone coin a term for it? Seems a bit sad to me.
I mean, I use the term to describe the action to others when I do it. I don’t actually hold some elitist view that it’s wrong, rather, I’m being ironic to make fun of those who do. It’s a useful term in an of itself, without having to be exclusively for elitist use. It’s convenient short-hand for something like “I save-scummed my way past that boss”, or “I save-scummed every time I failed stealth” when simply describing how you played something to someone else.
And save scumming is absolutely and an intended mechanic in games like BG3, preventing it would be the easiest thing ever, but lots of games even go out of their way to make managing multiple saves convenient. Immersims go even further, in Deus Ex there are hotkeys to let you instantly set a save point at any time so you can load back to it when things don’t go your way, or you want to try multiple approaches before committing to one.
It’s even taken into consideration as a max difficulty option in some games, were the game will prevent you from backing up your save, and delete it upon getting a game-over.
For example let’s say you go to disarm a trap, and fail. The trap probably goes off and you take some damage. It you load and reroll on the trap, that’s one version of save scumming.
Maybe you have a particularly hard battle. You enter the battle and a specific character doesn’t roll high enough initiative or maybe their first attack/debuff fails. You load until a certain character or debuff hits, that’s save scumming.
Maybe you have a few different dialogue choices. You want to ensure a specific reaction/outcome. Maybe you need to roll to make that happen. You load until that happens.
Maybe you’re given a dialogue choice. You think your character is being snarky. You think you’re being playful with your characters. Turns out you’re wrong. You load and pick a different option.
Maybe you’re mid battle. You realize you’re going to lose. Maybe you’ll survive with one character, but realistically you’ll all die. It’s not worth playing another 20 minutes just to die. You call it and load an old save.
Maybe you know you’re going to win a fight. You only have enough resources for one fight. Maybe a character will die that you can’t revive without going on a long adventure. You can do it. It’s going to be easy. But it’s going to take a bunch of time. You figure you aren’t that far into the battle. Reload.
It’s ultimately a single player game (yes, you can play with friends). If you’re having fun, save scum all you want. If you think the game is “too easy” maybe save scum less.
Consider it you do save scum, you might be missing out on something. A character who always succeeds might not be fun. A character should have flaws. Going into a battle under prepared could make things more interesting.
Long story short, no, people who despise save scumming still reload an old save. Unless you’re playing “hardcore” (you die, you die) you go back in time. You save scum.
The difference is that if you lose in battle the game can’t go on, your only choice is to reload or start a new game. Making a choice in a dialouge is not the same thing at all and will never force you to reload. I always try to live with my choices even if the outcome is bad, it’s all part of my own story.
I encountered one the other day and it was the first time I’ve ever seen this in BG (or any other table top game). I failed a check that resulted in an instant TPK. It utterly hilarious honestly. I’m really glad I failed it just for the experience. Thankfully I obsessively quick save.
That’s a great idea. I’d probably reconsider some choices if the right party member asked me to. And if Astarion disapproves, then I know I must be doing something right lol.
Frankly I feel like if we didn't kill Vivec in 686,432 alternate realities then there would have just been trouble. Man was already getting too big for his britches before the playable part of Morrowind even opens. If he was just left to his own devices without the Nerevarine to interfere probably nobody would have ever lived a peaceful life again. Last thing we need is an immutable God that also can't keep it in his pants and has nobody to answer to that is a credible threat to him.
Only reason Vivec didn't cross the sea to be known in Skyrim is that he knows damn well the Nerevarine took his ass out 686,432 times in alternate realities and that Nevvie is still lurking in the shadows staring him down from the safety of the Creation Kit. He makes one wrong move and I'll fuckin delete his UID, erase all evidence of his ever existing, 'cause Vivec is not the only one that learned what CHIM was, motherfucker.
Or, Vivec is still to this very day savescumming against the player. 686,432 attempts to survive his own final battle. It never ends. Wave upon wave of Nerevarine, ceaselessly stomping his ass, never letting him escape no matter how far back he tries to reload. An infinite loop of CHIM vs CHIM that will continue as long as there are players willing to try again.
I'm pretty sure every single conversation I've had with that man has started with an audible IRL "Ah, God, just fuck off, Volo"
I don't hate him enough to murder him but I do definitely hate him enough to make snide comments and minimize his conversations as much as humanly possible. Maybe I should just heave him in the ocean and call it a day. Is he useful for anything later?
I wasn’t destroying anything lol. I just talked to the cleric, cut scene started, homey won initiative and proceeded to beat the shit out of her. It was over in like 3-4 turns
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