Your opinions on resets/rng abuse for good level ups

[Irysa]

I kinda made the poll a bit too big, but whatever. There are obviously some options I haven't listed, but that's a decent gist of most viewpoints I think.

For lack of a better word, by "undesirable", I mean, do you frown upon it? Do you consider it a bad attitude to approaching games of the series, should you always take what you get, etc.

Personally I reset for growths early on when chapters are really short to get some decent stats up and may abuse later on if someone is seriously lagging behind on critical stats. I prefer to use the characters I like over neccessarily statistically better or easier choices so sometimes it becomes almost neccessary if I stick to that mindset. If you're flexible and don't mind throwing new units or later prepromotes to fill out your roster, the games are definitely beatable regardless, but I enjoy it more this way.

Edited July 26, 2013 by Irysa

[Knight]

I sort of feel that the randomness is part of FE's charm, but I have no idea what it's like in LTC so I just voted the top anyway.

[JSND Alter Dragon Boner]

I don't really give a fuck for growth unless i want to do crazy shit, like say.... getting 32 MAG Nanna, or having FE6 Marcus with massive SPD leads to use him all the way through the game, or stuff like that

If the chapter is short and I can get early growth proc-ing, I reset for growth after I figure out the strats

[Airship Canon]

Never have, never will reset for Growths. Honestly it's kinda dumb that people do.

[eclipse]

The only time I will object is if it's a draft. Growth rigging is not good drafting strategy.

[Tables]

There's lots of possible ways to play Fire Emblem. Some of those I would condone RNG rigging in (such as LTC, speedruns, TASes), while in others I would dislike it, such as casual runs, or typical challenge runs.

[Espinosa]

tbqh it can be hard work to figure out such a clear that not only finishes in the lowest number of turns but also brings good level-ups to all involved. Extra points in str/spd also mean that bosskilling is more seldom left to chance (e.g. you naturally double and 2HKO and don't have to rig a crit; in other words more control over level-ups leads to needing considerably less rigging for particular low-turning strats), which in turns leads to more options for massaging even better level-ups because the requirements for ending the map in X turns are easier to meet. I personally avoid any "abuse" and just redo chapters dozens and dozens of time until I'm happy with the outcomes which is probably the opposite of "lazy". In this sort of play if you're not in control over the RNG, it's in control over you (which leads to unlikely whiffs at the worst times, deaths to criticals and unbelievable scenarios when risk of death is low).

In games where the RNG isn't fixed and resets upon restarting, or in casual play that doesn't try to achieve anything unusual strategically, I don't do any RNG abuse, reliability being the top concern over turn count.

[Refa]

The only time I will object is if it's a draft. Growth rigging is not good drafting strategy.

Yeah, basically this. I couldn't care less if people rig growths in other contexts, they're free to play the game however they want.

[Espinosa]

That has only to do with the competitive nature of drafts though, doesn't it?

True story though, somebody can get more unintentionally lucky with a character's growths than one who deliberately tries to massage level-ups.

Similarly, since drafts have a limited number of units at some point, how lucky one gets with growths may have a huge impact on turn counts. But really, growths shouldn't be singled out here. Hitting/missing or critting are just as luck-reliant, and getting better level-ups only makes one-rounding, connecting, dodging and surviving more reliably (though not necessarily so, as in some RN strings having less avo for example will result in survival when having more avo would get you dead).

There's probably just one way how two people can be "even" in drafts - either both are versed in ways to look into the RNG and use this information to maximum results, or they are in an environment similar to FE12's early game where attacks on both sides are expected to connect rather than not + there are either no growths or fixed growths. But outside of that, it's both a competition of skill and luck.

[Vorena]

Typically, beating an FE game does not require you to have full stats. Actually, watching 0% growth play-throughs proofs that to me. Anyway, over 20 levels I want my units to at least reach around their average stats in some key stats such as str or speed. Lots of the time the game gets stupid and doesn't grant me that and someone ends up severely underwhelming stat-wise. In a situation like that I am completely fine with resetting or forcing the RNG to give me stats to catch-up. Its far too time consuming to constantly keep doing this, so its only for a few levels and typically caught up.

[Jiac]

I think RNG Abuse is fine,in my runs in FE6 I try to make Roy as strong as possible by making sure he gets great levels up since basically 7/8 of the whole game,he is unpromoted.Though I'd understand how it would break the game,but I only do it for people who promote late,or come late and need to promote quickly.

[Peppy]

I tend to be okay with it when a unit is severely RNG screwed with a stat.

[CT075]

who needs to rng abuse when you have full control over the rng?

[Quintessence]

I'll reset for lv ups just in the case a character needs certain stats (that doesn't have at base) in order to make a strat work. Otherwise, I'm not rigging for Heather getting str on every lv up specially if bexp does the work for me ^^'

[Revan97]

Never have, it seems like the worst kind of grinding conceivable in a fire emblem game. I just don't really see the point except maybe on something like a lunatic plus style run otherwise stats normally are decent enough and when they are not that's what items are used for.

[Ciarre]

I care more if people rig 2% crits. Level ups I don't care that much unless you're doing it for every single level up, which is ;/

[X-Naut]

I only do it when it's convenient and the game necessitates it, and usually it doesn't go beyond the first few turns. However, if a character starts close to leveling up I'll usually make sure their level is at least decent.

[dondon151]

people think i like to do 0% runs because of the challenge

but really it's to curb my temptation for rigging growths

[Klokinator]

I voted yes. And no. On all of the options.

[Florete]

Never have, never will reset for Growths. Honestly it's kinda dumb that people do.

Hey man, some people just enjoy doing it and seeing the results. What's dumb about that?

As for me, I really switch around, so I guess whether or not I like it simply depends on my mood. Sometimes I want to just "play the game" and so I don't do any of it, sometimes I feel like having fun with superpowered units and do it a lot.

I must admit, though, when on a game that is emulated or has battle saves and I see a +1 level, it is very tempting to reset it no matter what my current stance may be.

[Irysa]

That's a very interesting point. When on an emulator in particular, it just feels so much more tempting to attempt to rig growths. Now maybe I should go around asking for everyone who tends to play on the actual systems if they lean more towards disapproval and compare it to the emu players, haha.

people think i like to do 0% runs because of the challenge

but really it's to curb my temptation for rigging growths

Considering how much you seem to get out of fighting the odds with hit/miss/crit in your 0% runs I've followed this actually makes a lot of sense :V

Edited July 26, 2013 by Irysa

[Icon of Sin]

Even then, you can get features such as bonus experience and the base arena which can be used to rig growths. If you want to transfer as much caps as you can from FE9 to FE10, you'll likely need a healthy dose of this and boss abuse, the latter which can hardly be rigged (on console at least).

As for me I don't really mind using it, but I tend to do it more at the beginning of a run.

[Shauni]

I find the fact that the RNG is so easily abused (In the gba games at least) is a large flaw that can replace the strategy element when done correctly. It's a flaw that should not have been overlooked and it's a shame that it's even possible to do. That being said, I don't really give a fuck if anyone else abuses it since developers overlooking these problems isn't their fault, I just refrain from doing it myself.

As for resetting to get better growths, I see no real problem with it. I used to do it myself so that Lyn would have decent strength before entering Eliwood's story.

[Darros]

Well, as I always say, to each their own, so I'll speak for myself. I think RNG abuse is totally fine and dandy and great, but I don't really do it because I like to play the game with the natural RNG. Unless a character I like is getting insanely screwed or I'm getting frustrated and need a dodge and don't want to start a chapter over again. For LTC RNG abuse is awesome and totally acceptable and can really help one out.

[Loki Laufeyson]

Wheres the "Im not giving a fuck about what other people do in their games. Fuck the police!" option?

To be honest, ive only reset due to shit levels once in my entire time of playing FE. Sure ive restarted runs that had crap stat procs or empty levels for more than they should, but i just reset the entire run and start over. (usually i wouldnt get too far before i notice something rotten in Denmark.) But one time, i was pretty far into PoR and Marcia got the shittiest level up ever so i reset. That was probably the ONLY time ive ever done that. Har.

If people rig their level ups and shit, go ahead. I aint doing it, but im not gonna care if someone else does. Just as long as they dont use the RNG jiggery they did as an argument for or against a unit. (cuz thats when it gets dumb)