Players -- Please answer this poll

[Andarian]

Thanks for the kind words, Axe. I find these kinds of discussions very interesting as well.

What I really should have said is that I think reload == cheating and respawn == cheating too. It isn't an either-or deal to me. Frankly, I don't see much of a difference at all between those two buttons other than one assesses a penalty and the other doesn't. The way I see it they are both magical heal all buttons.

I defiinitely do think there's a difference between the two, though. When you reload, you're going back to a previous situation and trying again -- but you're doing it within the logic of the story and the gameworld. You're still bound by the gameworld's rules and limitations, and have to find a way to make your way through its events and challenges by those rules and limitations. For example: if you're fighting two powerful creatures, and you kill one but the other kills you, and then you respawn, you only have one more of them to defeat. If you reload, you go back and have to defeat both of them, fair and square, by the rules of the module as the author established them, and with the limited resources that he's provided. That's why I view respawning as cheating, and re-loading not only as not cheating, but rather the "honorable" way of playing a module by the rules that it has established.

I'm happy to grant that this is a matter of preference and perspective, and that some may not share mine. But I'm under the impression that most players do share my preference for reloading and not respawning, and so far at least, the Bioware forum thread seems to be bearing that out.

I am also not entirely conviced that reload and try again means you are really testing different tactics so much as you are testing the random number generator. Maybe you got unlucky with your rolls. Returning and using the exact same tactics or even worse tactics might get you by if you get lucky with those dice -- not probable perhaps but possible if your tactics are sound enough. It could very well be the case that is was neither the monsters nor the encounter design nor your tactics but rather the dice that handed you your ass fair and square the first time.

Well, that depends on how you're playing, and how well the author has designed the battles. For a smart player playing a well-designed combat encounter, random chance is generally a minimal consideration. Bad luck will occasionally make the difference between life and death, but not usually. I like to try to fight smart, and I try to build for players who like to do the same.

[Axe Murderer]

Thanks for the kind words, Axe. I find these kinds of discussions very interesting as well.

What I really should have said is that I think reload == cheating and respawn == cheating too. It isn't an either-or deal to me. Frankly, I don't see much of a difference at all between those two buttons other than one assesses a penalty and the other doesn't. The way I see it they are both magical heal all buttons.

I defiinitely do think there's a difference between the two, though. When you reload, you're going back to a previous situation and trying again -- but you're doing it within the logic of the story and the gameworld. You're still bound by the gameworld's rules and limitations, and have to find a way to make your way through its events and challenges by those rules and limitations. For example: if you're fighting two powerful creatures, and you kill one but the other kills you, and then you respawn, you only have one more of them to defeat. If you reload, you go back and have to defeat both of them, fair and square, by the rules of the module as the author established them, and with the limited resources that he's provided. That's why I view respawning as cheating, and re-loading not only as not cheating, but rather the "honorable" way of playing a module by the rules that it has established.

I'm happy to grant that this is a matter of preference and perspective, and that some may not share mine. But I'm under the impression that most players do share my preference for reloading and not respawning, and so far at least, the Bioware forum thread seems to be bearing that out.

Ahhh, the underlying assumption there is that I would set it up so that if you kill one of them then respawn and return, he would still be gone...and I would never do it like that. That would be a nuclear player situation that I referred to which I really hate. I would make certain that if you didn't win the battle you would get the same battle again even on a respawn. It's also why I don't like XP for killing things either. Yeah I fully agree that avoiding half a battle thru respawn would make respawning a major cheat by far.

With that understanding maybe it's more clear why I've been concerned about the henchies. If they are allowed to stay behind and continue fighting then you can either respawn and try to get back to them before the battle ends, or stay down and see if they can win without you and revive you. If they can be lost and you don't make it back in time, you could lose them either permanently or until the journey is over. Then respawning would be different than reloading in a more interesting way but not really cheating, just a risk assessment. And reload would always be there as an option. If they all go with you to the respawn location then it really would not be much different than reloading except maybe for the location you end up restarting from and loss of penalty. Either way, if you respawn and the battle is over before you get back there, you get the same battle again.

[Andarian]

Ahhh, the underlying assumption there is that I would set it up so that if you kill one of them then respawn and return, he would still be gone...and I would never do it like that. That would be a nuclear player situation that I referred to which I really hate. I would make certain that if you didn't win the battle you would get the same battle again even on a respawn. It's also why I don't like XP for killing things either. Yeah I fully agree that avoiding half a battle thru respawn would make respawning a major cheat by far.

I see where you're going with this now. Thanks -- that clarifies things considerably.