TIGSource Forums

What moments were there that you consider as OCD ones, which either are exclusive to certain games, or ones that you know are very common in many games.

For one thing, I know that constantly collecting items in RPGs or action-adventure games can be an OCD moment. The same can be said for keeping many saves for one game (especially with saves that can be done at any time in the game, like in Half-Life or Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory). That's all that I can think of.... for now.

Oooh, I love this thread already!

When playing a game I really, really love, I obsess about getting everything. I never do though.

I also, in some games, LOVE grinding. So I grind. And grind. I obsess about being prepared for a dungeon, like in PMD2:Explorers of Darkness, I make sure everyone's in tip top shape, organize the perfect collection of items, and get real nervous about dying, but it turns out I breeze through it.

I often have a problem with that. I set out to get everything before I beat a game, but once the doors are open to play the final parts, I can't keep myself away and once I've beaten the game I don't come back to collect everything, usually.  :(

Inanimate: It sounds like you need some old-school RPGs.  You can't breeze through those ones even when you ARE prepared.

My OCD kicks in when I read threads on TIGS.  I click "view all unread posts" and then sift through on a pretty regular basis.  Even if I don't say much, I still feel I have to read and stalk each and every one of you.

Oh wait.  OCD for games?  Nope.

I'm glad to say I have never used the 'all unread posts' feature. It probably cuts down my Tigging time by quite a bit.

Yeah, I just manually check out interesting stuffs.

Aquin: Yes, those games require lots of preparation. But that doesn't mean it's fun.

World of Goo - satisfying the minimal conditions for victory on each level. It even acknowledges itself as an OCD target.

Professor Layton.

OH LOOK A PIECE OF TRASH. I'D BETTER GO BACK THROUGH AND TALK TO EVERY SINGLE PERSON IN TOWN AGAIN BEFORE I TRY TO PICK IT UP.

I always make sure the taps are turned off in adventure games. Sometimes lights too.

I must check every drawer, look in every pot,
search every recess where treasure is or is not.

I talk to all the people, and read all the signs,
and claim every coin as mine, mine, mine, mine!

I'll beat every enemy on the most crowded of maps,
hoping that their defeat will disable the traps.

The spike pit that holds me from unopened doors,
and halls which lead onward to un-stepped-on floors!

I'll backtrack twice and again to collect all those thingamajigs,
and buy every part in the store for my super-awesome rig.

And if I falter just once with anything less than a gold,
I'll do it again and again and again 'til I'm old!

And finally when I screw myself with a reflexive, bad save,
I'll say "fuck it, someone get me something else to play."

Definitely inventory management in WoW and Diablo.  Figuring out what to sell, auction, keep, bank, and then grouping everything accordingly.

I forgot about that one!

(I do that too.)

All of Pokémon.

Specifically, I can spend ages poring over movelists for Pokémon, trying to figure out what TMs I need to use, or what Pokémon to breed it with in order to get the moveset that I want.

Although, I don't really play Pokémon any more. I would go back if I had a reason, I guess.

What's that? A remake of Gold/Silver? Noooooooo!

In Scribblenauts I try to spawn a panda, and use it, on every level...it's kidna hard actually.

In Morrowind I steal anything that isn't nailed or too heavy to carry, which quickly made me the richest man in the universe!

In Oddworld I tried to rescue all of the...whatever they're called, man that was hard!

There are 3 three I can't stop doing in Stalker: collecting ammunition, unloading weapons dropped by enemies and detaching addons like scopes, grenade launchers, etc... No, wait - I also LOVE reloading weapons in video games *tshacka-click* :-*

I also like to collect and eat food in Stalker, Fallout, Oblivion... all these games with not-so-important food.

Oh, and beeing a cool poser in games where you fight with swords. I can't resist doing some cool sword moves!

I have enemy killing OCD in most games. I just can't stand when there's generic terrorists/demons/zombies/goblins/etc still alive before I finish a level. This REALLY became a problem when playing Resident Evil though. I ended up wasting so much ammo, I had to start a new game and suppress the OCD.

I had that in the Point & Click Adventure "Edna & Harvey: The Breakout" ("Edna bricht aus" in German, it's not out in English, yet). It's a very good, very funny game, and what stands out compared to most other adventure games is that you can try out countless object combinations, but don't get a generic "I can't do that" or "That's not possible" when it doesn't work, and rather there's a funny comment about nearly every combination. An example would be trying to use a piece of paper on a blender, about which Edna says "That's how the Star Wars scripts were made" ;D
So, anyway, because those comments are so well done and make for a great part of the game's appeal, I tried to really hear all of them. Unfortunately, if you carry around between 15 and 25 items in your inventory and enter a new room with about 10 unique objects, all of which can be combined with each other for a new comment every time, that can get terribly frustrating. Thus, I found it too tedious and stopped playing it. Luckily though, several months later I got back it a little more intelligently and got to finish it by not obsessively trying to find everything.

This OCD stuff can be bad.


Apart from this I generally try to get the most of games, but not obsessively. For example when there are branching paths in an otherwise linear action game, and I know that one path leads to the next level wheras the other just let's you find something more, I will always want to take that other way, even if it means reloading a savegame because I "accidently" got into the next level beforehand. Usually, if I find that my "completionism" might make the experience less enjoyable, I will just not care about it and go on normally.

In Zelda I have to cleave every blade of grass in the game, usually twice to be sure.  And then I have to collect every heart and rupee, even when I'm on max for both.  Why!?

Also, it really bothered me I had to put my rupes back into chests in Z:TP.

Stench Mechanics :crazy:

I need to completely explore the entire dungeon, I cannot miss something.

Rhythm Heaven is one of my new favorite games, but it's so hard to get a Superb on the games. I just have to keep trying, especially when it eggs me on with phrases like, "Sometimes being OK is good enough."

It does occur to me that there are certain games that have me... going a bit crazy.

In Ninja Gaiden, I will *hunt* down enemies.  In most games I get tired or bored of killing, because it's just not satisfying somehow.  In Ninja Gaiden, I could kill all day and *never* get bored.  The same is true for Spartan: Total Warrior + Athena Blades.

But probably the *craziest* thing I have ever done is...maybe something I should keep to myself.

Nah, screw it.  Remember Smash Bros. Melee?  Well, I would go into Training just so I could knock Jigglypuff off the map.  Every single time that little guy screamed his name out, I would be in stitches.  Seriously, I laugh now just thinking about it.  I would drop the controller and be on the ground laughing until I was out of breath.

Then I would kill him again.  I once did this for 6 hours straight.  I still probably would.  It is the single funniest thing I have ever witnessed.  I might be crazy.  :crazy:

In Oblivion I have to explore ruins or caves fully to get a clean, non-foggy map without using a cheat to do it for me. That way I know I've already explored it if I ever come back to it.

I'm not obsessed or anything with it. When I had the eye candy mind mod I used to be obsessed with REMOVEALLITEMS on the ladies (heheh.)

Or alternately, you can fight battles that your characters are way too low a level to beat without some serious shenanigans. For example, fighting either of the dragons in Baldur's Gate II basically fresh out of the first dungeon.

Anyway. My compulsion in games, often, is to destroy everything in the environment that can be destroyed - computers, glass (especially glass), etc. Other than that... in the Thief games, I obsessed about getting 100% of the goodies and never killing anyone. Good times.

I have a lot of compulsions that apply mainly to Bioware RPGs, because I've played a lot of them. One involves saving every good stackable item and ending up with half a million at the end of the game, because every time I think to use them I say to myself, "no... some other time I might need them *more*." Which usually ends with me losing the battle and restarting. I've been curbing this practice lately. Those items can make your characters hella great. However, sometimes if I feel I've been particularly wasteful in a battle, I simply reload. I don't know why I do this. I guess I imagine that God must be watching me play and he likes it when I do everything just right. I also reload when I do something mean by accident, or let an innocent character die, because I'm a goody gumdrop like that.

In general I guess I am compulsive about playing as pacifistically as possible. Depends on the game, though.

I try to get every story bit and ending that I can. Like Disgaea...yes, I DID steal all of Prinny Baal's stuff and then defeat him! But it wasn't so much about the items, it was about seeing every part of a game. I totally conquered Disgaea.

...and Soul Nomad. :screamy:

I think the worst case scenario when comes to OCD is in FPSes due the quick save/quick load function.

I quick save everywhere and unless I make through a section without losing ANY health I reload and do it again... that's probably why I end up with so much ammo and not picking any health packs by the end of the game :D... also it work wonders for the lifespan of single player campaigns   :handanykey::epileptic::handjoystick:

Every Rare platformer post-DKC. :handmoneyL::addicted::handmoneyR:

I can relate. This applies, for me, to any game with quick-save and quick-load... unless it's a super hard part, It feels pretty sloppy to move right on through after losing half of my health. If I'm going to sit in a comfy chair staring into a screen, I should do it right.

ahhh same here!  it's like whenever I had to put it back i'd be like "oh great, now I have to find something to spend rupees on and then remember where this hole in the ground was"... though of course i never did

Here is a list of the top 9 video game OCD moments that most of you are guilty of (I got this off a couple of web sites):

#9: Picking Up Every Single Item In Fallout 3

If you walked around your house with a sack and filled it with cups, forks, wrenches, bottle caps, and irradiated soda cans, people would assume you were bat-***** crazy. Bethesda Software preyed on our inner obsession to pick up everything and then made us question if any of it was ever worth it. Max out your item slots and you become a sluggish, over-encumbered traveler - like a fat comic book nerd with too much Jedi flare pinned to his trench coat.


#8: Organizing Your Animal Crossing Furniture

Don’t lie: Your bedroom in real life is a ***** disaster compared to your Animal Crossing house. The more time you spend color coordinating furniture sets, reorganizing your dresser, and making sure the carpet matches the curtains, the less attention your actual personal hygiene and gas and electric bill are getting. Throw in the notion of Feng Shui arrangement and you can pretty much kiss goodbye to life as you know it, and that’s when you’re not shaking down every tree in town for bells. Make sure to lose sleep all night at the thought that there might be a roach in your house or a weed in your town just waiting to be wiped clean. It’s probably there now. No, it definitely is. Maybe lots of them. Go. Now.

Now.


#7: Meticulously Juggling Dozens Of Save Files For One Game

Imagine if you could wake up with the possibility of living out your day as one of 8 different versions of you. There’s the one that had a healthy dinner and got a good night’s sleep last night, sure, but most likely you’re going to be forced into spending Monday as the guy who wasted all his money at the bar last night, furiously unprepared for whatever the day will throw at you. Gamers know this regret will eat away at their minds and could even force them to abandon their quest entirely, so we assign a save slot for every single thing we do, kill, or collect because we have to.


#6: Shooting A Few Bullets From Your Clip Before You Pick Up A New Clip In A FPS

You murdered a room full of idiotic soldiers, stocked up on ammo, reloaded and..what’s that? More ammo? You’re not just going to leave it there on the floor, are you? What if a kid finds it and ends up on the news blaming video games again? It’s probably best to fire off a single round so you have some capacity to pick up a new clip, and then repeat until the floors are completely clean and spotless of discarded armory. Make sure to backtrack through every area and grab all the body armor, despite already sporting a chest full of it.


#5: Repeatedly Shooting The Door In A Metroid Prime Game Even Though You Know It Will Load Eventually Anyway

It’s a well known fact that the door animations in the Metroid Prime series are cleverly masked loading screens that help to ease the transition from area to area without breaking stride. That doesn’t stop gamers from incessantly hammering them with arm cannon blasts, missiles, and anything else to ease the wait. Does it make the door open faster? Go try that same ***** on the elevator button at your job and find out for yourself.


#4: Timing Your Jump After A Super Mario Bros. 3 Boss To Catch The Wand Perfectly Mid-Air

Scientists have determined that the number one motive behind the SMB3 wand jump is simply because it looks awesome as *****. You have to catch the wand. You just kicked the scurvy out of a Koopa Kid in an airship galley and you’re just going to let that wand drop from the sky, hit the floor, and bounce for 5 seconds as you stare at it in idiotic awe? No, you dolt! You’re going to leap into the air and grab some ***** style points before they get tainted by the ground beneath you. Don’t miss it. Don’t even think about missing it. It barely even counts as beating the boss if you miss it.


#3: Audibly Singing “SEGAAAA” When A Genesis Sonic the Hedgehog Game Booted Up And The Sega Logo Flashed

Maybe it’s inherently connected to that same shred of membrane that made us sing along to awful sitcom theme songs growing up (Full House’s theme song oddly pondered the whereabouts of “predictability” while simultaneously delivering the most predictable plot scenarios imaginable) but many of us can’t look at the Sega logo without singing it’s name. Even through the Genesis’ warbled sound drive or worse - through the Game Gear’s tinny little muffled speakers we knew we were just moments away from incredible, yet to be tainted Sonic the Hedgehog goodness. It’s like watching a girl unbutton her bra right in front of you. You know within a matter of minutes you’ll have some ***** in your face.


#2: Picking Up Every Item In A Legend of Zelda Game Even Though You Already Maxed Out What You Can Carry

Almost every game is littered with instances of over-feeding your inner collection whore, but Zelda games take it to the next stage by rarely even giving you much to spend your coin on (or rupees, in this case). The result is a maxed out wallet and a dungeon packed with treasure chests that don’t amount to dick. But are you really going to leave that room without opening every single chest, smashing every pot, hacking away at every blade of grass, and slaughtering every skeleton? Of course not! That would just eat away at you for the rest of the temple.


#1: Jumping As You Enter A Boss Door In A Mega Man Game

Every single Mega Man gamer is inexplicably guilty of this wildly rewarding but ultimately pointless display of action. Some of us probably did it all over again without even thinking twice when Mega Man 9 hit consoles last year. But why do we do it? Nobody knows for sure, but I’d like to think that nothing screams “I’m going to ***** you up, robot master!” like leaping through a doorway and levitating over to the next screen to surprise him. Plus, it’s one of the few times you can jump with certainty in a Mega Man game without the possibility of projectiles, disappearing platforms, or random explosions killing you.

...get out of my head! :screamy:

If a game provides me the choice of two corridors, I finish one corridor, go back, and go check the other one, even though both of them connect to the same place at the end.

Given the choice, I will always go left. I think this is the same for most people?

I usually go right, unless given good reason to go left, like being unable to go right.

I usually pick arbitrarily unless I've been given a lot of decisions, then I will always choose right, then backtrack and try all the lefts.  If it's up and down, I will always do up first, then down later.  Because I have to know.  Kirby is killer about this because they usually prevent you from backtracking, so I have to play the whole level again to figure out what was behind that door!

And I will, trust me.

Also, constantly rolling as Link in The Ocarina of Time, because it was slightly faster than walking. 

If there's no threats in a given section of a platformer, I will constantly jump as I walk along. 

Keeping at least 1 of every item I've encountered in an RPG.  If there's no inventory limit, you can bet I will have 1 "rusty sword" and "crusty bread" just for posterity.  This is especially true of starting equipment. (ever noticed that the stuff you start with is often times entirely unique, never to be found on an enemy or in a store?  Crazy.)

I loved the list, BTW, I've been guilty of every one of those at least once.  I got over my quicksave addiction after I finished Half-life, though. 

If you tracked "distance covered" via running opposed to jumping in WoW, you'd quickly discover I'm a kangaroo.  My constant hopping pissed off more than a few guildmates.

My wife and I used to play Legend of Zelda games together, until I discovered that she, too, would destroy everything that could be destroyed. Now I have to have a book to read or something while she plays.

also, this is soooo true

Yeah, even my mom's guilty of the rolling one.  Mine got so bad that it actually slowed me down, since I'd do it in dungeons and end up rolling into walls, which triggered that little "I just dove headfirst into a wall wtf" animation that he has.

Game developers really have no respect at all for their audience. If they did respect us, then we would not see so many unnecessary features, which constantly force us to be filled with OCD. I challenge any game developer to work on a game that is meaningful and which involves no OCD at all.

:-[

Come on.  OCD is by name a disorder, which means it's not really rational.  You can't design a game that involves no irrational reactions to it.  I know we're not talking literal OCD, but still, a lot of what people have said here is irrational.  Like jumping to catch the orb in Castlevania, or compulsively killing every single enemy in Resident Evil 5/Dead Rising to move on even though the game was designed AGAINST that.  Maybe this is just a matter of semantics, but I don't think there's inherently anything wrong with many of these tendencies.  Some have surmised that Tetris in its entirety is tied deeply to OCD thought processes.  Tell me, what unnecessary features should be taken out of the original Tetris?

However, yes, sometimes unquestionably unfun features are put in specifically to prey on these tendencies (RPG leveling/reward systems are WIDELY abused), and I definitely see this as a form of disrespect.  I just don't think it's possible to completely eradicate OCD, as you can't really control every player's reaction to anything you create.  You can only try to judge how most might react, and are sometimes proven completely wrong.

So far, the entirety of mount and blade has been pretty much an OCD thing for me. I find myself doing merchant things even when I don't need to.

Kotaku just put up a story about OC behavior in gaming:

http://kotaku.com/5378724/achievements-100-percent-and-games-fun-or-compulsive-behavior (http://kotaku.com/5378724/achievements-100-percent-and-games-fun-or-compulsive-behavior)

I still want go left, there's never the choice to go right.

Which is why I'm terrible at most 2D platformers.

Fallout 1 and 2. Kill _everybody_.

THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE!!!  >:D