Why no Save game Feature

[PvK]

Graeme Dice said:
After all, every single argument that people make about why a lack of a proper save feature is a good thing eventually boils down to the person whinging that "I lack the willpower to not endlessly save, so it's a good thing that developers take saving away from everyone else as well."

That's not true at all. If you give people a handy ability to undo unlucky results and replay avoiding all their mistakes using knowledge they gained from watching what actually happened the first time, many players will use it, and gameplay and balance will get more and more based on "backsies", people will talk about how easy the game is, etc. Habitual backsies erodes gameplay and sucks the meaningfulness of playing. Look at adventure games that include this, and end up getting balanced so that it's almost impossible to win the game without using backsies, and the converse is that it just becomes a pointless endurance test to beat the game.

PvK

[Velusion]

I do think its amusing how the hardcore people are saying that people who want to have the option to save games "lack the will power".

Um... what are you afraid of? If saving games is made an option you don't have to use it. That is... unless YOU yourself lack the willpower.

[Maltrease]

I myself lack will power to not save and reload or use "unbalanced" options if the game gives them to me. While I can see uses of a save game feature (mostly for research and replaying battles) I am absolutely certain that I would use it to avoid unpleasant events, or reload a few turns earlier to prepare for an unexpected attack.

As it stand now it is possible to "Save" the game by copying the files in the directory structure, but this is inconvenient enough that I wouldn't use it in a SP game.

So I like how it is... because I would abuse a save if it was available to me.

[Velusion]

It seems kind of sad to me that the designers and the fanboys here would limit the ability of many, many players to enjoy the game because some people can't muster enough will power to simply not reload the game.

[Gandalf Parker]

Velusion said:
I do think its amusing how the hardcore people are saying that people who want to have the option to save games "lack the will power".

Um... what are you afraid of? If saving games is made an option you don't have to use it. That is... unless YOU yourself lack the willpower.

But thats like setting candy out at a diabetics meeting, or having an open bar at alcholics anonymous.

Besides I dont think its as simple as use or not use. If the no-save people can be insulted as weak-willed then the save-mongers can be insulted as greedy destructors (not by me of course). The people who want saves might not be considering the big picture. They think that their game will be improved but in the long run it makes the game less fun. Even for them. The replayability, the challenge, the long-lasting of the game.

It can be argued that adding instant and unlimited save/restores would not improve the game, but would actually damage it in the long run. Even in marketability since I think the game has more to sell it to hard-core strategists than to short-attention-span video gamers. Adding things like saves and cheat codes might sell more Dom3 but would probably hurt the market of Dom4.

[HoneyBadger]

I agree, and it doesn't bother me a bit if people call me a fan-boy for saying so.

The same people can then go out and buy Warcraft3 or Age of Mythology or Heroes V and tell themselves that they're rebelling against our evil conformist ways, and I will wash myself clean in the river of irony.