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[.Pennywise]

Or a non-save scumming Chad?

In video games: Manually saving your game over and over again (usually before important decisions/boss battles, etc.) to make sure that if you screw up later on, you can always just return to your most recent saved game.

Used in games that allow players to save whenever they want, thus making the game substantially easier because there's no real penalty for messing up, and it lets the player know what to expect ahead.

In the game Severance: Blade of Darkness or (also called) Blade: The Edge of Darkness, a game from 2001, predecessor of the Dark Souls games, there was a system that would give you a ranking according to how long you take from save to save. Hence, if you save a lot (save scumming) to prevent on missing progress or avoid bad choices, you'll get a 'Normal' rank. But if you don't save much, and face the consequences of doing so, you'd get an 'Awesome' rank.

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In every game with a manual save system, the save option it's up to the player, and he decides where and when to save. Even the Resident Evil series with its ink ribbons gives you the option to choose where to spend those saves. This way, a big part of the difficulty relies entirely on player choice. If he decides to save just before a any important part of the game, or takes more of an 'all-in' aproach.

Where do you belong?

 

[Mozzarella]

Depends on the game, but generally i do use saving quite a lot in the games that allow it (e.g some crpgs and tactical stealth games). I also like to use multiple slots in case one of them gets corrupted. So on average i use saving more than i dont so you could say i lean more towards it yeah.

 

[existensmaximum]

Well of course I do? Especially when playing lengthy rpgs of different kinds. Why would I want to "face the consequences" of making a bad choice I didn't know about for the remainder of like 100 hours of gameplay?

Sounds like an excellent way of killing a fun gaming experience to me.

For example, has any person ever played Baldur's Gate with one save slot?

 

[tusharngf]

Yes.. and i did a lot with commandos series

 

[bargeparty]

I'll save scum if I want and refuse to be judged by some stupid clown.

Spoiler

just adding a "no disrespect" disclaimer in case the "stupid clown" comment isn't obvious enough joking around

 

[Kev Kev]

i have to assume the devs designed the game with the idea in mind that i can and should save a lot (even if its every 5 minutes), if they have indeed left the option available

"save scumming" sounds like a sweaty, try hard, neck beard term. its just "saving", lol

 

[Nitty_Grimes]

In Skyrim / Fallout type of games I have auto save turned off and only ever had one manual save that I frequently delete and make a new save to stop it getting bloated and taking ages to load.

 

[RPSleon]

Depends on the game. Some rpgs have terrible dialogue options that dont go the way you intended.

"Thankyou for this cool new sword"
"Your thanks offends us and now your village will burn"

 

[Aguero9320]

I don’t but not because I have some masochistic desire to be punished, just because I go with the flow of whatever happens.

If a game is too hard I won’t play it. I hate this current trend of overhyping games just because they’re hard - I play games to relax and enjoy some escapism. Hence if I hear the word ‘soulslike’ I’m already heading for the exit, so doing this is rarely necessary for me.

 

[xrnzaaas]

Yes...
F5
I definitely...
F5
am.
ESCAPE, SAVE POST

 

[ParaSeoul]

You're gonna get people saying they're not because they're married and have children

 

[Y0ssarian]

Save scummed my way through Battletoads on Rare Replay. I have no regrets

 

[Kadve]

I so am.

What are you going to do about big boy? I also use save states to finish retro games btw.

 

[Orta]

Save a lot as I absolutely loathe having to repeat the same sections of a game over and over. Always save after cut-scenes too.

"Git gud" virgins can go fuck themselves.

 

[raptorak]

The absolute cope of save scummers ITT.

 

[Deerock71]

I save all the time. It's not cheating, it's just making sure I don't have to backtrack. Lessons learned from 40 years of gaming.

EDIT- So I guess I'm a save-scum SLUT.

 

[Bo_Hazem]

Depends on how hard the game is, also how buggy.

 

[ReBurn]

No I love losing my progress for no reason

 

[Alexios]

That Urban Dictionary description is simply wrong and basically just saving as intended, otherwise you'd only have a quit to save/resume would delete it. Scumming would be stuff like saving before every action in a turn based RPG to repeat it until you get the best outcome for it, like landing a critical on a specific enemy to one shot it so that it doesn't retaliate in the next turn or repeating a turn until the AI somehow decides to not use the spell that totally wrecked your party and doomed your chances of victory instead of retry this battle with better strategies on your part considering the possibilities, similarly saving before opening every single chest to get the maximum possible loot, after figuring out the system is randomized in that way, and so on. Developers can fight it with doing things like seeding every single chest when you first start the game rather than just before opening each but it's not possible to counter for every kind of game. Basically, if it feels like cheating, then it's save scumming, regardless of how you may internally rationalize it/excuse yourself for doing it. When you do it you know and thus get super defensive over it, like some here. If it's just saving your progress before a boss or whatever then it's just saving, unless failing and repeating is part of the gameplay as in the Souls games and similar. Games would likely have checkpoints for that or before/after cut scenes if they didn't offer only manual saving/weren't too massive/open ended for the devs to put a checkpoint wherever applicable instead (like Elder Scrolls trying to save often by itself). Save states in games that didn't have them are save scumming too but it's excusable for outdated nostalgia trips and nobody thinks it isn't cheating anyway, it is, admitedly so

 

[22:22:22]

No I love losing my progress for no reason

Lockups don't count =P

Personally, sometimes I guess? When a particular segment is unfair/hard due to a previous unfortunate context specific save state I suppose. To be fair though; I do bonfire scum shamelessly =P

 

[ReBurn]

That UD description is wrong and basically just saving as intended. Actual save scumming would be doing stuff like saving before every single action in a turn based RPG to repeat it over and over again with the maximum beneficial RNG for that action, similarly saving before opening every single chest to get the maximum possible loot after figuring out the system is randomized in that way and so on. Developers can fight it with doing things like seeding every single chest when you first start the game rather than before opening each but it's not possible to counter for every kind of game. Basically, if it feels like cheating, then it's save scumming regardless of how you may internally rationalize it/excuse yourself for doing it. When you do it you know and thus get super defensive over it like some here. if it's just saving your progress before a boss or whatever then it's just saving.

Lord Gaben help us, who actually has time to do that?

 

[22:22:22]

That UD description is wrong and basically just saving as intended. Actual save scumming would be doing stuff like saving before every single action in a turn based RPG to repeat it over and over again with the maximum beneficial RNG for that action, similarly saving before opening every single chest to get the maximum possible loot after figuring out the system is randomized in that way and so on. Developers can fight it with doing things like seeding every single chest when you first start the game rather than before opening each but it's not possible to counter for every kind of game.

That's one definition sure but one can scum to get past certain situations so as to not having to replay a certain hard/annoying/unfair/etc segment. Does that not apply to the meaning of scumming as well?

 

[Spaceman292]

No I'm a regular virgin

 

[Deerock71]

Developers can fight it with doing things like seeding every single chest when you first start the game rather than before opening each but it's not possible to counter for every kind of game.

 

[Life]

Yes, I value my time, whatever I have left of it anyway.

 

[ClanOfNone]

I was taught to save scum decades ago by Sierra adventure games.

Remember kids, Al Lowe says save early, and save often!

 

[nightmare-slain]

only had more than 1 save for a game if it's a buggy mess, if i'm trying to cheat (offline), or it makes it easier to see multiple endings. off the top of my head Skyrim cause that fucker on PS3 was a mess and would crash at any second and there was a bug that if the save got too big in size it'd corrupt so it was good to have a spare save.

otherwise there's really no need. if you are getting kicked to the title screen screen or losing progress it's because you fucked up. stop making mistakes and you won't need to have multiple saves.

 

[GHG]

Always in RPG's.

I'd do so less if the options matched up with the resulting dialogue/action more.

 

[22:22:22]

Nothing more game breaking than dying after spending 30 minutes watching cutscenes and a long tiresome forced tutorial segment because you fell into a cliff due to bad controls and you find yourself having to repeat it... Btw the 10min cutscene is unskippable. Save often

 

[Miles708]

I really hope the devs made their game with save scumming in mind because sure as heck I'm not gonna do that part a second time of my own will.

 

[Fbh]

If the devs allow me to save anywhere I'll probably take advantage of it.

But if it's not a feature of the game it's not like install mods or some other workaround to save anywhere (except maybe in some retro games)

 

[Zannegan]

I have, and I'm not against it, especially in games that feel cheap or don't respect my time.

That said, by removing the tension, savescumming takes away a lot of the fun. Overall, I'd rather have a less than perfect playthrough than save every thirty seconds or use a guide.

 

[kingfey]

That is me with save files

 

[Superkewl]

I wouldn't say I am a full on scum, but I have done it on occasion. Like others have said, mostly to avoid losing hours of progress.

 

[WitchHunter]

Yes.. and i did a lot with commandos series

The pirated version had no save. And ppl completed it without a save...

 

[UnNamed]

I don't want to repeat a part over and over because I forget to save, it has to be my decision, not the game's decision.

 

[Patrick S.]

I think I had like 150 savegames after my first Mass Effect playtrough.

 

[.Pennywise]

What are you going to do about big boy? I also use save states to finish retro games btw.

Wait! That's illegal!

I guess I'm a save-scum SLUT.

Give me that save daddy

No I love losing my progress for no reason

The reason was you failing

Lockups don't count =P

Personally, sometimes I guess? When a particular segment is unfair/hard due to a previous unfortunate context specific save state I suppose. To be fair though; I do bonfire scum shamelessly =P

I have, and I'm not against it, especially in games that feel cheap or don't respect my time.

That said, by removing the tension, savescumming takes away a lot of the fun. Overall, I'd rather have a less than perfect playthrough than save every thirty seconds or use a guide.

That's the balance right there. It's not about saving or not. It's about how much do you save, where and how.

 

[Braag]

Mainly in stealth games like Dishonored. My F5 and F9 are in hard use.

 

[ZywyPL]

In an era where there's an auto-save literally every 5min. I barely do manual saves anymore. The last time I actually did a ton of saving was with Frostpunk, but other than that I usually just go with the flow, if there are other meaningful choices I try them out on the 2nd walkthrough.

 

[22:22:22]

That's the balance right there. It's not about saving or not. It's about how much do you save, where and how.

Indeed. But if scumming has to be Implemented due to /intentional programming<actual general user experience; it leaves the overall intended experience in the hands of players. This would be the same as having movie goers having the ability to pause during a essential moment for example (which we all can do nowadays) ie: it's a possible disruptive freedom in experiencing a intentional (well) crafted experience

Ignoring the freedom to or if you mess with said art's initial supposed intention induces a layer of suspending disbelief which wouldn't be there when designed proper, ideally..

#brainfartmumblepost

 

[Ceadeus]

I do in case there are missable items

Also! I remember when Skyrim used to slow down the more you saved on PS3. This game and Fallout new Vegas iirc.

 

[nkarafo]

Yeah, i don't have patience anymore.

I did my fair share of 8 and 16bit games back in the day. Now i just want to chill.

There are still the Souls games if i want to challenge myself though. Even though you can still save scum in the PC versions.

 

[Revolutionary]

If a game has quick save and quick load options, then yes I will utilize them as intended.

 

[DrCheese]

I would be lying if I said I've never loaded a save a few turns back in CIV games when I want to redo something, eg the AI has just declared war and captured a bunch of my settlers. Reload, move them out of harms way & crush the AI.

Bit lame really as it does lower the challenge

 

[K' Dash]

Fuck yeah I'll save scum if given the option

 

[LavitzSlambert]

Absolutely. I value my time.

 

[.Pennywise]

In an era where there's an auto-save literally every 5min. I barely do manual saves anymore. The last time I actually did a ton of saving was with Frostpunk, but other than that I usually just go with the flow, if there are other meaningful choices I try them out on the 2nd walkthrough.

That's a good example of save scumming. As Frostpunk it's literally all about the choices you make and bear with them in the long term.

 

[Xdrive05]

But we already have a Witcher 3 thread, right?

It only takes one...

• game crash
• progress breaking glitch
• unfair death

... to realize that "save scumming" only means "I like this game enough to care about not getting too pissed to continue playing if something goes wrong".

 

[Bo_Hazem]

Always in RPG's.

I'd do so less if the options matched up with the resulting dialogue/action more.

With buggy games I make 3 save files just in case a mission gets broken.