A lot of discussions that come up here seem fundamentally based on two different visions in terms of how people play the game. Some roleplay, some powerplay, others do a little of each.
Personally, I almost always roleplay, and I always pick party members according to the character I'm playing and/or based on the NPC's personalities.
I can't see the point of powerplaying a game like BG2/ToB. It can be won with almost any party combination, and it offers so much more than hacking your way from one repetitious dungeon to the next.
Thoughts? Preferences?
Sorry for the tone of my poll questions, I couldn't resist
Spoiler
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Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup. Spoiler
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.......All those moments ... will be lost ... in time ... like tears in rain.
My personal choice for pc-gaming is the role-playing experience, there are enough console games out there to satisfy my power game playing urges.
I like a game with lots of choices, this seems to appeal to my obessive-compulsive side.:laugh:
I do not intend to tiptoe through life only to arrive safely at death"-anon
Roleplaying. If I wanted to powerplay, I'd open the console, turn my group invincible...and fall asleep from boredom.
To the Righteous belong the fruits of violent victory. The rest of us will have to settle for warm friends, warm lovers, and a wink from a quietly supportive universe.
Even though I might sound like a powergamer in mid argument or advice, I prefer roleplaying.
I think that thieves provide more roleplaying opportunities than other characters do.
Anyway, powergaming might be alright when testing different strategies online and what not. I'll admit, I've part of a small "dueling club" on Gamespy for the BG games. Yes, that was fun, but keep in mind that most of us here know it inside and out. I still roleplay. I may solo the game sometime, but still, I can roleplay alone. It doesn't have to be with a party. A roleplay can be a character versus the entire world.
“The world breaks every one and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially.”
I always have the best intentions to role-play the game but always seem to fall into a good level of powergaming midway through SoA. I do avoid blatant cheese and just out of boredom hardly ever use Timestops or Dragon Breaths anymore. But while I've found most of the replay value through trying out new classes and NPCs, I don't think I've ever used some of the weaker weapons like daggers or darts (and very rarely clubs or spears); and have never carried Cernd or Anomen through a whole game (admittedly Anomen is powerful but, like many, I can't stand even listening to him).
I suppose on some level after so man playthroughs--such that there are very few dialogue lines I haven't seen before--that much of the role-playing for me is actually finding new ways to powergame.
I tend to do both. Actually I always starts out roleplaying. I don't know if it's an excuse or not but even if you're roleplaying there's no reason the character cannot use it's abilities and use powerful abilitycombinations
But I have to admit that I usually tend to have only customed characters, seldom NPC's. My average party must have 2.5 or 3 people in it.
But sometimes I feel like powergaming, and then I usually solo a thief. There's no class who powergam easier then the thief, you just use all her abilities and woah, you're powergaming.
I decided who I want based on whatever... It may be someone I haven't used for some time or it may be to have a specific combination of npc's.
When that is done I try to use my characters as effectively as possible. Oh I may decide that this time I want to try this type of weapons for once but then I'm back to trying to maximise my party's eficiency.
If it's a single player run, I usually spend lots of time to get a feeling of the characters and npcs around me and enjoy following the story.
On multiplayer it tends to go to 100% powergaming because of the game mechanics that in my opinion doesn't offer a decent support for roleplaying purposes (chat is one example).
"It's a man's obligation to stick his boneration in a woman's separation, this sort of penetration will increase the population of the younger generation." - Cartman
I doubt that anyone does 100 percent roleplaying and 0 percent powergaming. The game is't designed for that. You could take a "chaotic evil" reputation and justify everything you do with egoism, inconsequence or brain damage, but you'll miss a lot of the game if you roleplay a lawful or good character.
If you're metagaming you might be able to construct absurd roleplaying reasons to do most things, but that's just another form of powergaming.
Unlike most people on this forum, whilst I know TOSC just about back to front, I am still a relative newbie in SoA. I therefore do a lot more powergaming than I do in TOSC. However, I suppose that I also do quite a lot of roleplay, as I just do what I would do in that situation. Needless to say, because I do that, I choose my alignent to reflect my personality, which I reckon is Chaotic Good.
I do a bit of both. I always want a pumped up charakter cuz... I grow crazy bored when my char misses 15 hits in a row So I just get them to the point where they are eligible in combat, but not overhyped
kmonster wrote:I doubt that anyone does 100 percent roleplaying and 0 percent powergaming.
I voted the third option. But if the first option is 0%roleplay-100%powerplay and the second 100%roleplay-0%powerplay, then the third option would be 50%-50%? For myself, I would put 70%roleplay-30%powerplay. There are a lot of parameteres that require discussion.
"The neurosis and the madness of Robespierre or Baudelaire were much more fertile for humanity than the "health" of some "x" shopkeeper of that time."Cornelius Castoriadis(The Imaginary Institution of Society)
Ian Kognitow wrote:I don't think I've ever used some of the weaker weapons like daggers or darts (and very rarely clubs or spears); and have never carried Cernd or Anomen through a whole game (admittedly Anomen is powerful but, like many, I can't stand even listening to him).
I have tried a dagger-wielding mage and discovered that the daggers are nowhere near as varied/powerful as I expected - I keep bone-blade +4 available, but once I had the SotM, it just didn't seem logical to keep to my knife-maniac. shame that short-swords didn't get included as daggers - because then it would be a lot more fun. I was tempted to SK a switch in proficiency between dagger-shortsword, but it felt too much like cheating, even though the dagger ***** was based on misremembering whether some weapons were daggers. proficiency is something you need to decide on and stick to. I have usually done ***** in katana for celestial fury, but I decided on a change.
staves are not a bad choice, as there are a few different ones in the game.
I like to get really powerful and the fighter-mage dual is a powergame attitude, but it is really just to overcome what I consider an flaw in the rules - the 'weakness' of mages. in real life, there are many clever people who are not physically weak or don't have weak constitutions - nor is there a reason why weapons training cannot be integrated into serious study - look at the monk class. sometimes we resort to power-gamer style strategies to overcome the limits of game rules on a computer. a real-life DM added to the role-play experience and could be reasoned with. you can't convince a game-engine!
"All the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players"
What`s a definition of the two? If you`re soloing, then I assume that`s powerplay.
I`m going around with me (fighter/mage), Jaheira and Imoien. Does that make me a powergamer?
I nearly always use Jaheira because of her romance (I00000 xp) and her versatility.
davfrahen wrote:What`s a definition of the two? If you`re soloing, then I assume that`s powerplay.
I`m going around with me (fighter/mage), Jaheira and Imoien. Does that make me a powergamer?
I nearly always use Jaheira because of her romance (I00000 xp) and her versatility.
I think DW's seeking replies that indicate what you usually do when playing. Do you play for power, without regard to how your character would act in a given situation? Do you spend time developing a character's past and making present choices based on these? Hence, powerplaying, or roleplaying. It's possible to be something of both, of course, which accounts for the third option.
To the Righteous belong the fruits of violent victory. The rest of us will have to settle for warm friends, warm lovers, and a wink from a quietly supportive universe.
I prefer to role play. I am currently playing a Paladin in BG I and if I bring in an evil NPC they wouldn't last very long when I don't go around kicking in doors or just harrassing people with my sword. I usually go with the "good" reponses during dialog. Though sometimes I'd just like to go with the response that says, "I don't take lip from the likes of you. Draw Steel!" And just start swinging.
I will admit to letting Imoen rifle through people's houses looking for gold. OK, I do the same thing sometimes. I would think a Machiavellian player would choose those NPCs that would be able to fulfill the quests the best.
Machiavellian = Powerplayer?
I'd play tabletop RPGs if I could, as I prefer roleplaying, but I will wear the best armor possible, use the best weapons I can find, ect.
BTW, an argument can easily be made to support "using the best stuff" possible as roleplaying as well (as characters WANT to survive, and will use the stuff that grants them the best chance to do so).
What do you mean by powerplay?
"A life is not important, except in the impact it has on other lives."
-- Jackie Robinson
