My name is Melmoth and I am a Save Scummer
It all started with Might and Magic 3 Isles of Terra, it wasn’t my first CRPG (that would be Hero’s Quest later to be renamed Quest for Glory) but while playing M&M3 I came to realize that while the world was predetermined (not a Rogue like randomly generated game like Daggerfall) things like chests, hidden catches and even enemy drops where not... so you could get a nice iron sword, some boots and a box of first aid or a wooden sword a few useless rings
Mmm let’s reload to see what we can get
and thus the madness began
Saving before opening any chest or destroying an enemy nest became second nature to me and with such a big party there where always compromises; should I try for some protective gear especially for my Wizard or maximize my damage by keeping that gold bow to make sure my archer could damage enemies before melee?
The possibilities where just so delicious
Now now don’t you judge me like that, and look at it from my perpective; would you waste that valuable Odin Rune (from The Summoning) turning into a battleaxe or try to get a stat boosting item instead?
Oh and the devs knew of such devilry since the also made sure some special items would only randomly spawn on certain chests (like the Holy Basher in the Wizardry games) or there where random drops from enemies too including the toughest bosses!
So I started save scumming for almost everything, and my mind kept running “Maybe I can get a better drop here and how come that axe has appeared already on other chests, does that mean I could try for some of the items I had already seen on those chests?”
Madness I tell you... madness
Then I realized some games didn’t go for this, some wonderful games like Gothic and Morrowind had a static world so I could just focus on the game and simply forget about saving and just... enjoy the experience
But then the madness took another turn; since the items where mostly the same maybe I could make things a bit easier by going straight for the best items on my replays as to make the game easier. That fabulous Mentor Ring is literally just a stone throw away from town and that White Blade of Woe is sitting just enticingly on that shelf...
So stuck between those two devilish design philosophies I was
Then I kind of forgot about it; most modern games were far too lazy to hand place items but the chests and rewards were mostly generated the first time I entered a dungeon or maze and with even fantastic games like New Vegas had a healthy mix of hand placed special items and random rewards so I mostly just enjoyed my game time without trying to maximize my rewards
I would sometimes find a game that would cater to my save scumming proclivities like Wasteland 2 trying to get the sniper ammo or that sweet Mariachi outfit and those fixes proved to be enjoyable throwbacks to my earlier life as a save scumming junkie
as well as the odd replay of my favorite Might and Magic games or Grimoire
So there it is now if you don’t mind I just restarted a new party for Might and Magic 3 Isles of Terra and just got the Mountaineering skill so I can loot those sweet sweet hidden catches in the Valley of the Gargoyles... oh so many wonders to indulge in
It all started with Might and Magic 3 Isles of Terra, it wasn’t my first CRPG (that would be Hero’s Quest later to be renamed Quest for Glory) but while playing M&M3 I came to realize that while the world was predetermined (not a Rogue like randomly generated game like Daggerfall) things like chests, hidden catches and even enemy drops where not... so you could get a nice iron sword, some boots and a box of first aid or a wooden sword a few useless rings
Mmm let’s reload to see what we can get
and thus the madness began
Saving before opening any chest or destroying an enemy nest became second nature to me and with such a big party there where always compromises; should I try for some protective gear especially for my Wizard or maximize my damage by keeping that gold bow to make sure my archer could damage enemies before melee?
The possibilities where just so delicious
Now now don’t you judge me like that, and look at it from my perpective; would you waste that valuable Odin Rune (from The Summoning) turning into a battleaxe or try to get a stat boosting item instead?
Oh and the devs knew of such devilry since the also made sure some special items would only randomly spawn on certain chests (like the Holy Basher in the Wizardry games) or there where random drops from enemies too including the toughest bosses!
So I started save scumming for almost everything, and my mind kept running “Maybe I can get a better drop here and how come that axe has appeared already on other chests, does that mean I could try for some of the items I had already seen on those chests?”
Madness I tell you... madness
Then I realized some games didn’t go for this, some wonderful games like Gothic and Morrowind had a static world so I could just focus on the game and simply forget about saving and just... enjoy the experience
But then the madness took another turn; since the items where mostly the same maybe I could make things a bit easier by going straight for the best items on my replays as to make the game easier. That fabulous Mentor Ring is literally just a stone throw away from town and that White Blade of Woe is sitting just enticingly on that shelf...
So stuck between those two devilish design philosophies I was
Then I kind of forgot about it; most modern games were far too lazy to hand place items but the chests and rewards were mostly generated the first time I entered a dungeon or maze and with even fantastic games like New Vegas had a healthy mix of hand placed special items and random rewards so I mostly just enjoyed my game time without trying to maximize my rewards
I would sometimes find a game that would cater to my save scumming proclivities like Wasteland 2 trying to get the sniper ammo or that sweet Mariachi outfit and those fixes proved to be enjoyable throwbacks to my earlier life as a save scumming junkie
as well as the odd replay of my favorite Might and Magic games or Grimoire
So there it is now if you don’t mind I just restarted a new party for Might and Magic 3 Isles of Terra and just got the Mountaineering skill so I can loot those sweet sweet hidden catches in the Valley of the Gargoyles... oh so many wonders to indulge in