Self-imposed rules and challenges

Started by Juno August 24th, 2014 9:57 AM
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Juno

OK I PULL UP

Age 28
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Posted 1 Week Ago
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9.5 Years
There are times when we over-play games to the point where we don't find them fun anymore, or simply outgrow the conventional way to play certain games - when that happens, some people may just decide to stop playing the game altogether, but sometimes, people make their own creative rules for the game, to either make an otherwise simple game more challenging, or just to play it in a different way.


Perhaps the most well-known example of this over here on PC is the large selection of Pokemon challenges - from Nuzlocking to mono-type challenges, players have come up with tons of creative ways to make Pokemon games more interesting and difficult.

Other examples of such challenges -

We all know the Sims as a rather casual franchise of games where you can go about living a relatively mundane life, but some players create elaborate scenarios and challenges that make the games more hectic and difficult (and in most cases, hilarious), like the Insane Asylum Challenge or Teen Runaway Challenge.

Another interesting thing some people experiment with is to take an open-world action RPG like Skyrim and just.. live like an NPC. Sort of. It's kind of the reverse of the above two examples, but it's hard in its own right, depending on the rules you set for yourself. Additionally, there are a number of mods to help you enforce such rules, like hunger, thirst and sleep mods (and maybe add some quests so you're not just living aimlessly forever). When you're not out aiding Jarls and slaying dragons, money can be hard to come by, so this is a different sort of challenge.


Personally, I tried living as a huntress in Skyrim, where I would only hunt animals for pelts to sell, and I also had a hunting guild mod downloaded, so it added some quests and a bit of a story to it - it was an interesting experiment, and a nice break from the usual story line.

How about you guys - have you ever added your own rules to a game, and played it in a way it wasn't meant to be played?

Sonata

Don't let me disappear

Age 27
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Indiana
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10.2 Years
I've been thinking about taking on a challenge in Final Fantasy X after I finish it on a regular run. No summons, no sphere grid, and no overdrives only death.

El Héroe Oscuro

IG: elheroeoscuro

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Seen April 10th, 2022
Posted August 21st, 2021
7,237 posts
14.3 Years
Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker - for the Gamecube, not the Wii U - is my absolute favorite game, and at time's I like to give myself challenges to spice up my experience with it. Right now I'm actually playing through it again and doing a "no sword" playthrough; I like to use just the Grapple Hook and Bow & Arrow for the most part - adds a little bit of flair to the game.

The other game I recently did a challenge for was the original Dead Space game. I did a Plasma Cutter-only run on one of the hardest difficulties and that was a lot of fun. It definitely adds a new experience to a game by adding challenges/restrictions to your gameplay, and I think I'm going to do that a little bit more when it comes to some games i own.
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Klippy

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In Skyrim, I did the exact same. I would craft characters and give them full identities. My rules were:

1. There was only one Dragonborn. My first character was the Dragonborn, so none of the others I used could have any Shouts or anything. The others could proceed to kill the first dragon simply so more dragons would appear, but that was it.
2. They were only allowed to have one skill. One was a Mage who became the leader of the Mages, one was a thief who led the Thieves Guild, but also killed and got involved with the Brotherhood. I also had several regular people who just hunted, built homes, had families, and lived commoner lives.
3. No fast-traveling for any character except the Dragonborn. This way I could interact with the world better and also see unique things I might miss otherwise. This led to a lot of fun.
4. Commoners were not allowed to steal or kill unless in self-defense. If I was caught stealing, I had to pay or go to jail.
5. Commoners were not allowed amazing armor. Many of my commoners were just hunters or farmers, so they were forced to only wear the basic armors and were never permitted to wear better. They could loot the armor or find it, but had to sell it or give it to a companion to wear.

Pinkie-Dawn

Vampire Waifu

Age 30
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Seen February 16th, 2021
Posted May 16th, 2019
9,528 posts
10.5 Years
My rule for all games in general is trying to beat the game while collecting all the hidden/hard-to-reach items in the progress. This self-imposed challenge cost me more lives than blindly speed-running through harder levels.

There's also this one self-imposed challenge in Pokemon where I EV train my Pokemon with their correct EV points throughout the main campaign. If a trainer's Pokemon has the required EV point(s) for one of my Pokemon, despite having whether or not it's at a type disadvantage, then I'll take that risk as long as my Pokemon has a type advantage move.

Hiatus

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Posted July 24th, 2021
12,283 posts
10.8 Years
Super Mario 64 is one of my most favorite games of the series, and have played it a dozen of times--DS and N64 versions combined. Currently, I'm on another run, but this time, I always try avoiding small enemies (Bowser's minions, or whatever else we know them by), and fight against bosses only. It's kind of tough, especially when they come rushing down at you and you can't do much things other than hitting, but it's still fun. In some way, it gives me a new feeling, so to speak.

When I still had Megaman Battle Network 5, I would save the game before battling against any foe during liberation missions, and would force myself to defeat within three or so turns. If I can't get the job done, then I would immediately reset and start over. Doing such things does help get you rewards, so in the end, it thankfully pays off.

Dustmop

Fight for what makes you happy

Age 30
Seen November 27th, 2022
Posted September 7th, 2016
932 posts
9.2 Years
I honestly feel like I'm the only person on this forum to have never done a Pokemon challenge. {XD}

Most of the challenges I've done were pretty generic, like knife-only runs for a few action/shooter games. RE4 was ridiculously easy for that. Knife is the best weapon.
Also modded Fallout 3 to be more of a survival game. The RTS (real-time settler) mod was fab, especially with the ones to recruit anybody as a companion (they've gotta help build your new town, ya know) and the New Vegas style cook book mod. That was stupidly fun to do. But I think the Zombie Apocalypse one was overkill for that.. So many spawned so quickly. My poor settlers. :c


Lately, with my ever-increasing Steam collection sitting around collecting dust, the only "rule/challenge" I've given myself with any game has been to finish one before starting another. It's a lot harder than it sounds and, so far, I'm losing. The only new game that's kept my undivided attention from start to finish was Spec Ops: The Line.
I honestly feel like I'm the only person on this forum to have never done a Pokemon challenge. {XD}
So I'm not the only one?

The only time that I ever have done a self-Imposed challenge is the time that I challenged myself to complete Megaman X using only the Megabuster and the time that I challenged myself to complete it without dying.

I've done both in under two hours by the way.

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On and off, I do Touhou lunatic runs on 90/120 FPS for the lulz.
Liu Kang ftw.



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Starry Windy

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I was having a simple Pokemon Challenge on occasion, so that all of the Pokemon in my party have same Exp. points or levels. If one of my Pokemon's Exp points is a bit higher, I'd switch to the one with lowest Exp to make them equal.

Juno

OK I PULL UP

Age 28
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Seen 2 Days Ago
Posted 1 Week Ago
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9.5 Years
In Skyrim, I did the exact same. I would craft characters and give them full identities. My rules were:

1. There was only one Dragonborn. My first character was the Dragonborn, so none of the others I used could have any Shouts or anything. The others could proceed to kill the first dragon simply so more dragons would appear, but that was it.
2. They were only allowed to have one skill. One was a Mage who became the leader of the Mages, one was a thief who led the Thieves Guild, but also killed and got involved with the Brotherhood. I also had several regular people who just hunted, built homes, had families, and lived commoner lives.

Me too! I believe I had 7 characters, two of which were Dragonborns (technically my first character was just the boring 'jack of all trades' character, 'cause I was a nub and I just joined every faction and learned every skill with her, and the other one was purely a Dragonborn character - I modeled him after the Nord in the trailers; iron-clad and all). The other ones would only join one faction/guild and have skills relevant to what they are, like in your second rule.

Another challenge I recall picking up in Skyrim was the pugilist/no weapons challenge, where you only used your fists and punched your way through life. It was surprisingly satisfying and so much fun.

The only new game that's kept my undivided attention from start to finish was Spec Ops: The Line.
I noticed, in my Steam activity page - you finished that in like two days haha.

Dustmop

Fight for what makes you happy

Age 30
Seen November 27th, 2022
Posted September 7th, 2016
932 posts
9.2 Years
I noticed, in my Steam activity page - you finished that in like two days haha.
Haha, it would've been done in one day, but Boyfriend interrupted. :P As someone with PTSD, I honestly walked into it expecting to hate it... but it was a rather pleasant surprise. One I couldn't put down, and now highly recommend.
Seen September 18th, 2020
Posted February 18th, 2018
7,741 posts
16.6 Years
The only necessarily self-imposed challenge I've done would be a Poison monotype of... I forgot whether it was Red or Blue. I got to Celadon and then also a bit bored. I would've continued it at some point but lost the data.

I did a no bonfire run in Dark Souls 2 for the ring that makes one's right-hand weapon invisible. I actually only ended up bothering because I made my first & main character resemble Saber (so I wouldn't regret my choice of appearance and could cosplay without any effort). A multiplayer game that gives you bragging rights rewards is quite nice; just a shame cheaters edit the them into their inventories... Anyway, it's actually a very easy challenge (just a bit tedious) if you start it with a lot of provisions (Repair Powder being one of the most important). I comletely forgot I'd regain all my Estus charges each time I die until late in the run, so I saved them and I suppose it was almost a no Estus run too.

Mikekillkill

Musket Marine

Male
Texas
Seen July 19th, 2016
Posted March 29th, 2015
30 posts
10 Years
Well i have my ruleset to a map i call "Boxxed in Locked in" I made this map,
and it was for Red Alert 3 and It's Expansion Uprising....
Its were your restricted to one oil derrick , minimum starting funds, and if i choose... Random Crates... The worst part about this is... Your pretty much next to your enemy, confined to a tiny map, you pretty much build a base in the foe's base... Pretty much no Ore nodes, so ore collecters will be useless... Unless you play the Rising Sun...

So Therefore, you have to outwit, destroy the enemy with turrets and a terrible economy...
Forcing 911 to send the military is something you really dont wanna do, except when you
KNOW your staring down a zoroark,

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(I used to be "Mikekillkill" I changed my name for reasons...)

Entermaid

Non-binary
The States
Seen November 6th, 2016
Posted October 27th, 2016
2,138 posts
10.4 Years
The worst one was the star fox, single shot challenge.

No upgrades to blasters, if you do accidentally obtain a weapons upgrade, you must break one of your wings within 10 seconds, and downgrade to single bullets, or start the level over depending one how challenged you want to be. This does however make the combat levels against Wolf's fleet much more fun and rewarding.
#Team Popplio & Brionne

Candy

Age 26
Female
In OJ Land
Seen 1 Week Ago
Posted August 22nd, 2020
3,813 posts
14.3 Years
I've never actually did any challenges aside from Pokemon ones.

...wait, there's this one time where I did a Mage run at Hard Mode in Rune Factory 3, aside from the first dungeon. Mainly because I don't have the money to buy any spells at the time. Let's just say... by the time I'm able to use spells, my RP depleted rather quickly, I had troubles against magic-resistant bosses, and my VIT stat was so low that despite my attempts in healing so much, I get knocked out a lot...
_
Zhuang Zi
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Necrum

I AM THE REAL SONIC

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Portland, OR
Seen August 20th, 2019
Posted July 13th, 2017
5,080 posts
10.9 Years
Well, apparently I missed out on making this thread by less than a month. :(

Anybutt, I beat Bioshock without Vita Chambers, which is actually something that can be enforced in game now, but at release it wasn't so I would count it as a challenge. I am thinking about doing other games with "one life". Borderlands 2 (wish you could turn off Hyperion New U Stations) and Half-Life 2 are games I would like to try it out with, and of course there's also Halo games with Skulls on.

I play a lot of games that are inherently hard as it is, like Super Meat Boy, Don't Starve, and various Roguelikes. So for me, it's not hard to make a jump to playing games in a harder way.