help defining: hardcore and power players/gamers

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I would really like it if someone would clear my head about what exactly is a power gamer and how do u play like a power gamer, specific things, and also i would like to know how to play 'hardcore' or what exactly is hardcore playing, and if there are any other 'style' of playing (overall styles) then i would love! to be informed of them..... and yes i know these are newbie questions but believe me im just new to the forum, not to the game, but i dunno what 'style' im playing so yeah, would like it cleared up, THANKS!

 

Well, here are some broad impressions I've got of different gamer types, if they help. Keep in mind that these are all stereotypes, and every gamer fills these roles to some extent at different times:

Power gamers go for stats above all. The biggest weapon, the most powerful spells, screw anything else. And they really, really care about those stats. The rules are a big deal to power gamers; they know them all. They know what tactics work best in which situation, and they create parties based on who's the best in a fight, not who the most interesting NPCs are.

Hardcore gamers are nuts . They HATE people who cheat, even though it's a single-player game. They also despise people who use any tactics to make things easier on themselves. They enjoy playing solo characters. They download all the toughest battle mods on the net and play them on "Insane" difficulty, then complain that they weren't hard enough. Like powergamers, hardcore gamers know all the rules. But while power gamers know what they need to know to win easily, hardcore gamers have the rulebook memorized, and can win in the strangest ways imaginable.

Then there are role-players. They take NPCs cuz they like them, which can lead to some very odd combinations. They enjoy playing different alignments. Role-players get miffed because it's tough to be actually evil in BG2, and sort of pointless too. They nitpick the romances to death and write fan fiction to fill in any missing bits. They get personally offended when someone starts bashing their favorite characters. They wish there were thousands more dialogue options and choices about how to do things, more than any developer could actually have time to create.

I fall mostly into the last category myself .

There are other categories, like the completionists who find EVERYTHING in the game and write faqs (they're often power gamers too), and the programmers who mostly enjoy hacking the game and creating something new out of it. These people are a great boon in our little word.

[ March 10, 2004, 11:30: Message edited by: Neriana ]

 

thanks a lot im sort of a combination of the 3 main types, but leastly power gamer, i just dont want to be one because all they do (stereotyping of course) is get their big ass mother f&(* +6/7 weapon with grand mastery and beserk/kensai and go in there click on jon irenicus and then brag they are soooo good just because they beat the game (this is basically describing my friend who goes a sorcerer and gets sarevok/korgan and gets all damage spells and i mean all and gives both the fighters big f&* off +6 weapons and thinks he is soo good because he beat the game in NOVICE i mean a newb can do that) but thats not much of a good power gamer, i personally more of a hardcore/strategist/role-player i always go insane difficulty and download TONNES of mods not just the ones that increase battle difficulties, but i dont complain they are too easy, i enjoy every moment of the game and try to not go the 'cheesy' way out and just use such simply boring tactics, i use a lot of fun,interesting and sometimes strange tactics, but other times i wish they had put more dialogue and romance (reason i download a lot of mods) and also endless possibilities, which sorta puts me under the role-player.

Overall i dont go hardcore and simply think the hole game is too easy(because the game aint easy), i dunno if this is considered 'hardcore' but i drag out most battles, which make the game just more longer and fun, and wish for more funny, entertaining characters just like minsc. ohhhh minsc is soo kool, the moment i played the game he just made it soo much better with his witty, funny phrases and his giant space hamster, Boo.
cant wait till either BG3 or another AD+D game like it.

 

I´m alittle bit of everything I suppose, mostly a powergamer though.
I´d never go Insane with the Tactics mod for example. But I DO like a challenge.
When I actually have to use reload a time or two is when things are interesting. Was a long time ago though. Is there a way to forget all you know about BG I wonder, would be nice to discover this game again
And since I´ve played it almost to much, there aint nothing left in the dialogues either that I haven´t read already. Darn you memory! So I always go solo nowadays.

 

Oh, yeah i'd like that too. Format brain/BG2section:

Anyways, people can combine powerplaying aspects with roleplaying one's. Roleplaying doesnt mean you have to make a turnip loving gnome. It only means you play your character accordingly to your concept of him. And if you create a power-hungry wizard/sorcerer then naturaly you'll venture out and seek more power. Chasing one such as Irenicus is an absolutely perfect plot too.
But also roleplaying means you most surely wont place Mask of Death on your head if you're playing a cleric of Lathander.

Well, anyway roleplaying is way more fun after a few go-throughs the game. You are experienced enough to beat it without making the strongest char possible, while it's more interesting to play a different sort of a guy.

 

I wouldn't say I was a powergamer but some of the things I do could be considered powergaming: maxing out my Strength, Constitution and Dexterity particularly at the expense of Charisma because I know that very, very early in the game I'll get a ring that brings my Charisma to 18.

 

thanks guy for all your helpful feedback muchly appreciated

 

Kensai/Mage lvl 13/XX dual weilding Celestial Fury and Crom Faeyr solo with Robe of Vecna kicking Irenicus' ass with 25 in everything ..... BORING!

 

personally im a strategist all the way, i really know this because i love to read all about the spells and practical applications of them.

 

I fall into the third category, but I have played P&P dungeons and dragons for twelve years and I have played all the AD&D PC games I have found, from "The Eye of the Beholder" to the last NWN expansion, I know the rules by the book, I have mastered games as well as played them...And I still choose NPCs because I like them. I think Minsc is uncanny, although not the best fighter, but I use to take him along, anyway. I never take Edwin for long because I dislike him . I take Aerie because I think the romance is better than Viconia's or Jaheira's. But I tend to get the best out of them, anyway. So, I am a mix of types, though.
By the way, there will be no BG3, Bioware shot down Black Isle studios,inexpectedly and surprisingly, because NWN was a blockbuster. So, the geniuses that created BG,ROMD, Planescape, NWN and the great Fallout saga are now unemployed

 

I am pretty much role-player, but I really like to give my fighters the most powerful weapons and also summon the most powerful monsters, so I guess I am both. But ultimately banter is the what makes a game attractive to me.