Your weird gaming rules

[flying_whimsy]

It is straight up impossible for me to play evil when there's a moral choice system. I've tried it, and almost immediately I won't be able to make the evil decisions. It really limits my playthroughs for games like fallout and mass effect, but it's probably the biggest rule governing games for me. This carries over into online stuff as well, namely as 'don't be a dick.'

In a similar vein, I can't let slavers or rapists survive, ever. It brings out this weird bit of rage in me that I can't keep in check: those guys are so bad I simply can't help it. In a game like fallout or elder scrolls, my character basically becomes the swift and bloody hand of justice.

Finally, I typically cheat first (in single player, never in multiplayer) and only go for skill plays for games that I really want to. It's more fun for me to be not only a badass in game, but to really play with what's possible within the game engine. Plus, I don't have time to really grind in for rpgs and stuff. I still like to leave the possibility of failure, though, that's way there's still a little challenge.

 

[Phasmal]

Talk shit, get hit: If an NPC is annoying the crap out of me, I'll probably kill them if I can. For instance, I give no fucks about Caesar's Legion in Fallout NV. The first interaction with them is basically "Hi, we're assholes, if you don't like it- kill us", and I'm like "Okay then" and killed them all. Sounds a bit drastic but NPC's have to go pretty far to piss me off.

Be (mostly) good: For games with moral choices or NPC's that react differently to you based on your actions, I always play it as good as I can. But I'm not above doing the odd evil thing as long as I can keep it quiet and I get some benefit from it.

Fight me: If I feel like something is too hard, I pretty much have to do it. I like doing this in games where there are achievements/trophies for the harder modes, so I have proof that I did it. I like a challenge. I like it even more if someone I know thinks I can't do it.

Don't romance the same person twice: If I'm playing a Bioware game or any other game where you can pair up, I like to end up romancing everyone, so I know which one I like best. I broke this rule a bit in Dragon Age 2, just because I had so many playthroughs, most of them romanced Fenris. I often wonder if I'd like a character more after I romance them, even if I'm not keen on them in the first place- I did that with Morrigan in the first Dragon Age (and no, I didn't like her after that either).

I just realised I am a bit of a mercenary in games. A lot of other people in the thread are like "Don't kill if unnecessary" and I'm over here blowing the legs off of a guy who was rude to me.

 

[Secondhand Revenant]

If indiscriminate slaughter is an option, try it at least once.

If I hate an essential NPC I will kill or dage them multiple ways if possible, even if it means I spend an hour reloading saves just to see them die. (Looking at you Rosh Penin)

Be as evil as possible in my first run. I like the dark side, dark magic, the evil stuff. It's fun to use the 'bad' powers. Though I sometimes need to grit my teeth to do the stupid evil stuff.

First run is easier run, wait until replay to try the harder stuff. For instance in games like Dishonored and Human Revolution where there are stealth achievements, I like to be less strict in my first run and allow for more mistakes.

Don't use consumables generally. I look at them and think of them as money being used up or a limited resource being used up. Same applies to really cool weapons that aren't infinite. Unfortunately I often end up saving things a bit too long.

That said, if I know things are coming to an end, go all out using everything. Make sure to get at least one kill with all the possible weapons and abilities...

 

[Generalissimo]

In solitaire always go from left to right: hearts, clubs, diamond, leaf.

Never skip a puzzle.

Never use "special" weapons unless absolutely has to, especially in Doom with the chainsaw and BFG.

Always go stealth if I can, though sometimes that's the point. Also non lethal.

New one, pick hard mode unless its bullshit.

If I can select a party, maximize the women in it.

I'm the same with that last one. In RPGs I always prefer to have an amazon brigade at my back, not sure why.

 

[Sonmi]

If pugilism is viable, I need to go for it.

Also, not a rule, but I tend to favourize terrible characters in fighting games.

 

[Callate]

I don't tend to start a game with weird rules, though I occasionally make weird rules as I learn the game (especially if I start to find it especially easy or need to create some sort of sense of artificial depth to make up for the game's lack of same.)

But I do tend to play "good guy" if there's a moral choice system. And "normal" difficulty, and with all the standard options turned on, as I figure that's usually how the game was "intended" to be played and I want to have a sense of the creator's vision before I decide the creator was making creative use of drugs when he or she decided that a random chance of death awaited your attempt to access healing items (for example.)

 

[Wintermute_v1legacy]

I don't think I have any weird rules. I can't act like an asshole, though. To this day I never played Mass Effect as a full renegade douchebag...

Although, I remember playing Red Dead Redemption a few months ago, and I shot this old guy for his land. Once he was dead the game told me I could have just... bought the land. But I didn't even think twice, so I just arrived there and started shooting. I did feel like an idiot afterwards so I suppose it's ok.

Also when I was younger, playing the first GTA whenever I saw "those orange dudes" I had to run them over and

 

[KissingSunlight]

I don't have weird rules. My rules are perfectly normal. I said, "They are per-fect-ly nor-mal!" *eyes everyone suspiciously*

Seriously, I don't have any hard or fast rules when it comes to gaming. The only one the comes to mind is that when I have been playing a game for awhile. I get stuck on a particular level. I quit the game and pick it up later on.

It's interesting that some people have moral qualms about hurting people in videogames. I have some similar qualms. It's just more preferences than rules. I love playing shooters. I don't like realistic military shooters. It bothers me on a deep level to be shooting realistic looking people. Sometimes I get bothered playing a guy in a fighting game beating up a small woman. The most recent example I experienced was playing God of War 3. I accidently killed some civilians fleeing for their lives. I was initially bothered that I did it. Then I realized, Kratos is a violent jerk. So, it was acceptable for him to do that. So, I killed some more civilians before I moved on. I'm not perfect.

Speaking of which, when I play games with moral choices. On the first play through, I just go with I think is the best decision. I do that more out of curiosity to see how moral the game developer thinks I am.

 

[Igor-Rowan]

The Mario & Luigi RPG series has this battle system that allows to dodge enemy attacks, completely negating the point of defense. So after I beat one, I complete the game again without doing any grind whatsoever, completely avoiding enemies in the overworld, just boss fights for the sake of testing myself.

 

[Extra-Ordinary]

This isn't my rule but I'm gonna go somewhat against the grain here and say that everybody dies in a stealth game or at least gets knocked out if I'm strictly told "no killing".
I'm terrible at stealth games and the less eyes that can see me, the better.

Anyway.

Not so much an in-game rule, I have them but I can't think of them right now, but I will never finish Crash Bandicoot out of respect for my father.
He's not dead or anything, here's the story: When I was quite young, five or six or seven, I watched him beat Crash and I never could, Crash 2 and three, sure, not Crash 1. I'm sure I could now, at this age and skill level but my dad doesn't play games anymore and I don't want to take that away, you know?
Then again, he's got no problem kicking my ass in original Donkey Kong, maybe he doesn't need both of those...

 

[The Almighty Aardvark]

I don't have any hard rules, but I do have a lot of habits. For one, on non-portable RPGs I will attempt to get through the game with as little grinding as possible. I hate grinding, and it's a massive waste of time. Thus, to avoid this I will just keep trying over and over again at my low level until I manage to beat whichever boss/area happens to be giving me brief. There was a hunt in Final Fantasy XII that I chipped away at for over an hour before dying when it had less than 1% of its initial hp. I was literally a shot or two away from killing it, but my only remaining character was Balthier and I couldn't stop long enough to get those shots off without it first killing me.

Where this falls apart a tad is that I'll do this even if it takes twice as long as grinding otherwise would have. There are some games that I just have not finished because of my stubborn refusal to grind. In Final Fantasy X I was underlevelled enough at the final boss that my entire party would become one hit by a single one of his attacks. I managed, through great difficulty and preparation, to have one character remain alive with a sliver of health. I was never able to beat him though, and dropped the game after that point

I also have the common "rule" that I won't use any rare consumables until I get to a fight where I really need them to progress. Which usually ends up with me having the consumables until the very end of the game, or never using them, yet having 20 or so of each of these rare items.

 

[Spider RedNight]

1. If I have free reign of character creation/input, my male character will be the ultimate Jesus and my female character will always be the fun-loving, snarky asshole who does what she wants because she can though she usually tends to be more good than bad. Along the same lines, if given an option that includes voices, I will always pick the character with the voice I know (i.e. Playing as a Male Jedi Consular in The Old Republic because he's voiced by Nolan North, picking the "Troy Baker" voice in Saints Row 3)

2. If there's a rogue/stealth option, I will always go for it. Also doesn't matter what game it is, I will find a way to utilize that sniper you gave me, dammit. I don't have any qualms for killing (unless it's Dishonored), I just like not getting caught.

3. Fallout and Elder scrolls are amazing when it comes to weird little character tics - if I'm playing my Argonian from Skyrim, I will steal every single cabbage I can find as some sort of "cabbage saviour", etc.

4. Never ever ever ever use a guide when finding Riddler trophies/puzzles/what have you. We don't need that crap, I can do it on my own. As soon as I turn to a guide for Riddler trophies, I might as well give up my right to breathe.

 

[BeerTent]

For me?

I often try to play a little "in character." So I try not to metagame too much unless it's a competitive game like TF or something.

If I find that the game is a bit easy too, or easy to cheese, then I impose rules on myself... This started with Fallout 3 when I ran a "Wasteland Murder" sort of character... Arclight helmet was my only helmet, Metal armor was my only armor, and it was all Melee and Explosives to solve every problem. (And then the unhealthy obsession started with welding masks and hammers.)

For Watch-Dogs? Pistols only. (Not that it mattered. Game was a goddamn slog I don't know why I buy Ubisoft games.)
For Space Engineers? Small grids only get 6 "slots" for tools or weapons. Large Grids get 12.
For The Culling? Trident is OP. If I find one, it gets sold or tossed far away. (Though, my partner can use it if he wants.)
For Warframe? All Story/Quest missions must be done alone.

 

[Guffe]

Not to be an asshole when playing online.
That's the weird rule I have.

 

[FPLOON]

Horror-base games are only played with headphones on...Peggle and Pokemon can be played with the sound off...Porn-eque games are never played in the daytime...I set up my gaming sessions in advance...I always play a new game longer than my average gaming session...I write down all potential in-game mathmatical equations/stat boosts...Other than that, on <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/9.855274.21182355>a related note... I will sometimes play a game like I'm a beta tester...

 

[DrunkOnEstus]

If I'm given the choice, my character will be female, every time. I'm a man. I don't know why this is, and I've put an unreasonable amount of thought into why this is at that. I have no attraction to men, I'm not a very feminine guy, and I never wear women's clothes or whatever (though I recognize those would be ignorant or simple explanations anyway). If the game has a pre-made protagonist you must play, I'm "fine" with it, I simply don't have the bothering in my mind that playing a male when I could be female gives. HOWEVER, said character is always lesbian if there's romance options. If I'm playing a game with a pre-made female protagonist and they seduce a guy, that's fine; but there's no way my crafted female goes after the D. It's all very strange.

If playing a new PC game for the first time, I always visit Pcgamingwiki to see if there's any quirks/bugs I should look out for, the best way to optimize the experience, whether or not I should use my controller for it, and to see if modding is possible and what mods I should get (this isn't just a graphics thing, it helps to know if the game natively accepts my Dualshock 4 or if there's PS buttons I can mod in if it doesn't). For demanding games, I'll run through a few different graphics config against my FPS to determine whether it's worth using V-sync or not. In all, I probably spend about an hour before really playing a new (3D) PC game; this is also why I like to wait until after post-launch as the community has had time to compile information about the game, and the devs have had time to patch what would have previously been issues. None of this is a problem to me, I've been a techy person my whole life and I actually enjoy this aspect of it. If I'm playing a console exclusive, I can accept the state the devs had to present me with, but I do wish I could make a Red Dead Redemption or Bloodborne have the presentation it deserves.

Like others here, I always save buffing items "until I really need them", a time which never actually comes until the final boss. Of all the Final Fantasy games I've beaten, the final boss has received insane random item use from me as I realize there's no more opportunities to save them for.

In games that have lore books like Oblivion/Skyrim/Witcher...I want all those motherfuckers. Probably my favorite thing about Skyrim was that I could have a house to use as a library, and I will always get sidetracked by my hunt for books I don't have for my library. It doesn't matter that all that lore is online, it's not the same as reading the lore books within the world.

Similar to the last one, I don't skip audio logs. I've played SS2-Bioshock:Infinite and know where all of them are, and if I'm replaying one of them I can't skip one to save time, I feel like getting that story and context is still part of the experience of actually completing the game. If I haven't played a new game that is similar in structure, I will spend a lot of time scouring to make sure I haven't missed one.

I used to always select "normal" difficulty because I figured it represented the intended HP/damage/enemy balance that the developer intended for the game experience, but in the last few years (and accumulated experience with Souls games) games have gotten easier or seem easier on normal and oftentimes normal doesn't pose enough of a threat to cause tension or provide a satisfying challenge. Now I always pick "hard" and drop to normal if I'm dying way too much or obviously need to learn more advanced systems.

There's probably more, but I've typed quite a lot that nobody will read anyway so that'll do.