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61 Frames Per Second

RPGs Make Me OCD

Posted by Bob Mackey

Playing Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen has unleashed my inner demons--but luckily for me, these demons are neat, orderly, and keep everything in nice little piles. Now, I'm normally just a neat freak, and I try to keep my OCD tendencies to a minimum; but there's just something about RPGs that turns me into a hand-washing, tile-counting, light-switch-flicking freak, and I'm not sure if I can help it.

On the brighter side of things, this behavior of mine makes certain games last, much, much longer than they should. For the darker side of things, please see my last point. When playing console RPGs, there are certain things I just have to do no matter what--and whether or not I need to be on prescription medication should be decided by you, dear reader.

What follows is a list of my RPG compulsions:

  • - Talking to everyone in town, then talking to everyone again once an event changes their dialogue.
  • - Checking every desk/drawer/lamp/treasure nook in every possible location.
  • - Not being able to leave or move on from an area until I have the best possible weapons/armor available from said area.
  • - Making sure my status-ailment curing items are always in totals divisible by 5 (this worries me)
  • - Never, ever using my uber-powerful items, even when I need them. You want elixirs? I've got 'em.


I've managed to break out of these trends with games like Final Fantasy XII, and Persona 3: FES, but there's just something about the simplicity of DQIV that facilitates my wackiness. I can't possibly be alone in this; what games bring out the worst qualities in you?

Sorry for putting you on the spot like that. I'm feeling a little insecure.

Related Links:

The 61FPS Review: Dragon Quest IV – Chapters of the Chosen
Games You Keep Coming Back To
Oops, I Don't Like Super Mario RPG As Much As I Thought I Did
+ DIGG + DEL.ICIO.US + REDDIT

Comments

Josh said:

<em>Never, ever using my uber-powerful items, even when I need them.</em>

EXACTLY.  Why, why can't I bring myself to actually USE the items and spells I have labored to obtain?  RPGs make me a compulsive hoarder.  Putting off gratification forever makes no sense...wouldn't it maximize fun to take advantage of the powerful spells and items I have?  Of course it would.  But then I would use them up.  AND I MIGHT NEED THEM LATER!

Any sort of sports/competition games bring out my inner conspiracy theorist.  I try to accept that the opposing sprites are just doing what they are programmed, but I can't help but think they're all out to get me...

September 30, 2008 1:18 PM

Demaar said:

I don't mind that I do those things in games, it's when those habits affect my real life I'm concerned. RPGs have made me a hoarder in real life, among other things.

October 4, 2008 12:10 PM

About Bob Mackey

For a brief period of time I was Bull from TV's Night Court, but some of you may know me from the humor column I wrote for Youngstown State University's The Jambar, Kent State University's The Stater, and Youngstown's alternative newspaper, The Walruss. I'm perhaps most well-known for my bi-weekly pieces on Something Awful. I've also blogged for Valley24.com and have written articles for EGM, 1UP, GameSpite and Cracked. For all of my writing over the years, I have made a total of twenty American dollars. It's also said that I draw cartoons, which people have described with words such as "legible." I kidnapped the Lindbergh Baby and am looking to do so again in the future.

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John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

Derrick Sanskrit is a self-professed geek in a variety of fields including typography, graphic design, comic books, music and cartoons. As a professional hipster graphic designer, his recent clients have included Hooksexup, Pitchfork and MoCCA, among others.

Amber Ahlborn - artist, writer, gamer and DigiPen survivor, she maintains a day job as a graphic artist. By night Amber moonlights as a professional Metroid Fanatic and keeps a metal suit in the closet just in case. Has lived in the state of Washington and insists that it really doesn't rain as much as everyone says it does.

Nadia Oxford is a housekeeping robot who was refurbished into a warrior when the world's need for justice was great. Now that the galaxy is at peace (give or take a conflict here or there), she works as a freelance writer for various sites and magazines. Based in Toronto, Nadia's prized possession is a certificate from the Ministry of Health declaring her tick and rabies-free.

Bob Mackey is a grad student, writer, and cyborg, who uses the powerful girl-repelling nanomachines mad science grafted onto his body to allocate time towards interests of the nerd persuasion. He believes that complaining about things on the Internet is akin to the fine art of wine tasting, but with more spitting into buckets.

Joe Keiser has a programming degree from Johns Hopkins University, a tiny apartment in Brooklyn, and a fake toy guitar built in the hollowed-out shell of a real guitar. He writes about games and technology for a variety of outlets. One day he will stop doing this. The day after that, police will find his body under a collapsed pile of (formerly neatly alphabetized) collector's edition tchotchkes.

Cole Stryker is an American freelance writer living in York, England, where he resides with his archeologist wife. He writes for a travel company by day and argues about pop culture on the internet by night. Find him writing regularly here and here.

Peter Smith is like the lead character of Irwin Shaw's The 80-Yard Run, except less athletic. He considers himself very lucky to have this job. But it's a little premature to take "jack-off of all trades" off his resume. Besides writing, travelling, and painting houses, Pete plays guitar in a rock trio called The Aye-Ayes. He calls them a 'power pop' band, but they generally sound more like Motorhead on a drinking binge.


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