My Personal Save-Scumming Problem

[Void Eternal]

Disclaimer: If you never had a painfully strong savescumming problem, you probably can't help me as for you will probably think it would be easier to just not do it, when I just can't.


I am going to start off with that I am not really posting this as in regards to this specific game, and I haven't even played any game in the Fallout franchise any time recently. However, I felt like it is where my problem is the strongest, and this game causes me the most mental pain from save-scumming. In other games like Civilization, any stealth game (And only counting games where it is made specifically for stealth, and its stealth is very refined, like Dishonored and Hitman. RPGs not built around steath, like Fallout and TES, do not count), XCOM2, and Kerbal Space Program, save scumming is just a part of the game, so it doesn't hurt as much there (However Civ and Dishonored can still hurt, Civ for it's insane load times, and Dishonored if I am just doing something wrong too often).

You see, my save-scumming tendancies are very strong, and irrational. If I waste one arrow or bullet, I reload. If I loose any health at all in a game with no innate health regeneration, I reload. If I contract radiation, I reload and move around the radiation. If I must gain rads in order to get to some loot, I try and spend as little time as possible to get in and out, and will reload until I feel like I optimized it.

I also have other habits of similiar effect, in that I never use consumables unless necessary, or unless it is obvious it is the most optimized situation possible for it, thus I only really use health based consumables. This also applies to not 'free' Dishonored powers. I also almost always play on the lowest difficulty possible for absolutely no reason at all.

I am going to elaborate on all of this in that yes, I am saying I don't enjoy save-scumming, and it mentally pains me to repeatedly do it, but no, I can't just not do it. My perfectionism will not let me continue until I have tried so many times I just give up (which could take as many as 20 tries), or I do the situation perfectly.

There are other things I feel like I forgot, which I might comment down below as additions, but basically the purpose of this is, and btw you Tl;dr people look here, is that I wanted to know if anyone else is/was in a similar situation, and has any solutions for me other than just playing other games with constant automatic saves (like Warframe or Borderlands), because that is less of a fix and more of just avoiding my problem.

[AbsynthMinded]

Its not save scuming you have a problem with. Its OCD. That I can relate to.

[Void Eternal]

I looked up OCD and it looked more harsh than my situation. For example, I don't get anxiety if it doesn't go my perfectly and I give up. I CAN give up, it just takes enough tries that my laziness and bordom get stronger.

[Void Eternal]

I also don't have to do it 10 times even though I already know it is done, I stop when it is perfect (like how someone with OCD might need to scrub for hours when they can see it is clean, or someone might need to double check they closed the garage door 15 times.)

[AbsynthMinded]

OCD has a very wide and deep spectrum of behavior definitions. What the internet says may not match perfectly, but through analysis of individual behavior the underlying definition could be applied.

When you suggested reloading for missing a single shot or never using consumables. Those are OCD like traits, if not full blown OCD.

FO4 is designed to irritate and set players up for falling into OCD like behavior even if OCD is not an condition they suffer from.

[Void Eternal]

I also have horrible hygene and not all As in school, if that would say anything, however if I remember correctly OCD usually applies to specific situations, and mine, if it is OCD, would specifically apply to something that wouldn't even be possible 40 years ago >.< and for that reason I bet depending on someone's age I still wouldn't be diagnosed because it's associated with videogames (yay me)

[2much]

Single child?

[Void Eternal]

no, why? I have two siblings I have almost always lived in the same household as. (always lived with atleast one)

[JobeGardener]

Know who likes to save scum?
Videogame devs.

[DouglasGrave]

Originally posted by Boruba gro-Ramak:

You see, my save-scumming tendancies are very strong, and irrational. If I waste one arrow or bullet, I reload. If I loose any health at all in a game with no innate health regeneration, I reload. If I contract radiation, I reload and move around the radiation. If I must gain rads in order to get to some loot, I try and spend as little time as possible to get in and out, and will reload until I feel like I optimized it.

I'm pretty much exactly the same in regard to all of these examples. I've certainly found it hard to avoid continually reload to get perfection, especially with the quicksave/quickload function just a button press away. Two of the three different building glitches I've found and exploited on my own were due to this.

It made it somewhat liberating to play one character, who had the Robes of Atom's Devoted (special immunity to radiation) with ballistic weave and went around knifing everything in melee.

Solutions are difficult. It does help to have so much ammunition that the variation isn't noticable, but I end up continually buying from vendors even though I've got literally thousands of rounds to spare. I did also try playing a different character, where I decided that they were rubbish at guns, and would just point and fire as many rounds as it took, and would switch weapons to whatever was available. With this in place as a different rule to follow, I had different behaviour with that character.

So I suggest playing with some alternative approaches that require you to follow a different rule, at least to practice. It may even help to focus on automatic weapons, where it's nearly impossible to avoid some wasted shots. I'm still pretty bad with it, though.

[Twinkletoes]

OCD like autism can't be fully boxed in for how it shows itself. Its a WIDE spectrum.

Like AbsynthMinded said, this seems more like OCD then save scumming.

[Beautiful Ham Sandwich]

This might seem like it's involved solely with videos, but this is actually more involved with your personality. Whether I'd go as far as to call it OCD or not, I don't really know, but I am not sure if this is where you're going to get the answer.

Who knows, play games where you can't save scum and be a perfectionist? It could get you used to the mindset of not needing to do so.

[Skyshark]

I thought OCD as soon as I read it too? OCD has many "flavours" as to its "intensity" but mild autism has a very similiar, yet varied way of showing itself too. I have a stepson who is a gamer and is diagnosed with "mild" Autism and he is more obsessed with framerates, latency, and even has a kind of a stand to keep his mouse wire from dragging on the desk! ( why not use a Wireless Mouse??) and swears if it slows him down by a millisecond he could lose (plays online PVP stuff mostly) he will constantly check these things IF he loses, and yet I tell him all the time to defrag and reg checks! and yet he just doesnt do it! never! its like an obsession with the things HE believes is causing it? maybe like that I dont know its difficult when you are not actually experiencing it yourself?

[Void Eternal]

if it is or isn't OCD doesn't mean that reloading a save to try again isn't save scumming :P

[Void Eternal]

Originally posted by DouglasGrave:

Originally posted by Boruba gro-Ramak:

You see, my save-scumming tendancies are very strong, and irrational. If I waste one arrow or bullet, I reload. If I loose any health at all in a game with no innate health regeneration, I reload. If I contract radiation, I reload and move around the radiation. If I must gain rads in order to get to some loot, I try and spend as little time as possible to get in and out, and will reload until I feel like I optimized it.

I'm pretty much exactly the same in regard to all of these examples. I've certainly found it hard to avoid continually reload to get perfection, especially with the quicksave/quickload function just a button press away. Two of the three different building glitches I've found and exploited on my own were due to this.

It made it somewhat liberating to play one character, who had the Robes of Atom's Devoted (special immunity to radiation) with ballistic weave and went around knifing everything in melee.

Solutions are difficult. It does help to have so much ammunition that the variation isn't noticable, but I end up continually buying from vendors even though I've got literally thousands of rounds to spare. I did also try playing a different character, where I decided that they were rubbish at guns, and would just point and fire as many rounds as it took, and would switch weapons to whatever was available. With this in place as a different rule to follow, I had different behaviour with that character.

So I suggest playing with some alternative approaches that require you to follow a different rule, at least to practice. It may even help to focus on automatic weapons, where it's nearly impossible to avoid some wasted shots. I'm still pretty bad with it, though.

The problem is long as that number of ammo left goes down when it didn't kill something I reload, even if I have a thousand bullets. I only buy bullets that I am low on at a shop though. Same with health. If I know it went down, even if I have a million endurance, level, and armor, I need to reload. The bullet problem does go away when I play an automatic or non-stealthy character that is bound to miss a LOT, but that isn't as innately fun for me in general because I'm that guy that prefers a stealth option if available, which yes I know is ironic becuase stealth is what causes most of these situations to enable save scumming, but it is what it is.

[Grendalcat]

As far as Fallout 4, play Survival Mode. That will help you avoid save scumming.