Have you ever wished you were blind again?

[Parrhesia]

I dunno. I kinda had the inclination to ... not know things like growth rates. For everything.

I dunno. I like that idea. And I've decided that if there's any chance of my playing a future FE, I'm going to try and minimise what I know.

[MacLovin]

I'm legally Blind, soo

N/A for me.

Also, not really.

Because I want to know how to get Geitz and to know how to select units.

[Darros]

No. Being blind wasn't fun because I used to be one of those "Jagen sucks" type of guys.

Besides, if I were blind I'd know none of you.

Edited January 23, 2012 by Knuckles

[Jubby]

Happens to me all the time... I occasionally wish I could play like I used to when I first tried FE7, where I just tried to kill everyone, often recruitable characters, essentially only used Marcus, and had no idea what information windows were XP

[Zkirsche]

Yeah being blind is a lot more fun that actually knowing how to play even semi-efficiently. I loved having a promoted Oscar/Boyd by chapter 13.

Edit: In FE9 that is.

Edited January 23, 2012 by kirsche

[Lord Raven]

I tend to look at growth rates while the game's in Japan and I kinda forget about them and play "blind" when I actually get ahold of the game. Then after a second playthrough I look at the growths and I play however I want from there.

[Chocolate Kitty]

It wouldn't really make a difference to me, I'd still play the same way I always do. I didn't change my style after learning what people's actual growths were.

[Ein]

I'd still just use the characters I like. >_>

[Rehab]

Man, I wish they told us the growth rates straight-up from the beginning, just like they do with almost everything else about the game. That's one of my favorite things about Fire Emblem, as a video game- you know every detail about every action in battle without metagaming or picking the game apart, and if you mess up, you know exactly where and how (not counting how the way you move your units in FE7 affects your real battle rates and stuff like that etc). Except with the characters you use. That right there leads to a lot of misconceptions.

[Loki Laufeyson]

It wouldn't really make a difference to me, I'd still play the same way I always do. I didn't change my style after learning what people's actual growths were.

I'd still just use the characters I like. >_>

Yes and yes. I play the way i want. Use who i want and when. That sort of thing.

[IGdood]

Yes and yes. I play the way i want. Use who i want and when. That sort of thing.

This.

[Anouleth]

Man, I wish they told us the growth rates straight-up from the beginning, just like they do with almost everything else about the game. That's one of my favorite things about Fire Emblem, as a video game- you know every detail about every action in battle without metagaming or picking the game apart, and if you mess up, you know exactly where and how (not counting how the way you move your units in FE7 affects your real battle rates and stuff like that etc). Except with the characters you use. That right there leads to a lot of misconceptions.

Yeah, it's kind of annoying using a character only to find out you were wasting your time. I remember using Sothe when I first played FE9 only to discover he couldn't promote... and it just felt like a complete waste. I felt really stupid, and it made me want to start the whole game over.

[Celice]

The games are so predictable, I don't see how people couldn't guess a character's likely-stats so long as they had some experience with the games.

I never look at info like growths when I play the game. I don't think I've ever looked at them at all, actually, other than passing curiosity once or twice, from time to time. I do however miss the first time I played Fire Emblem 7, but that's mostly a nostalgic yearning for that first experience of the game. Mostly it was really finding Canas to be awesome, and using him all over the place.

I much prefer to experience things as newly as possible, so I tend to use all new characters whenever I replay a Fire Emblem. The first time I just pick up whatever feels fine, then I purposely choose units I want to use that I didn't. If I run out of choices, I lob the numbers into a random number generator and let the universe decide for me. Unless I disagree. Then I roll again :p

[Refa]

Yeah, it's kind of annoying using a character only to find out you were wasting your time. I remember using Sothe when I first played FE9 only to discover he couldn't promote... and it just felt like a complete waste. I felt really stupid, and it made me want to start the whole game over.

So? There were lot of the earlier FE games where thieves couldn't promote (and certain other units for that matter), and being able to see growth rates wouldn't actually have ANY impact on what you're talking about here.

[Elieson]

So? There were lot of the earlier FE games where thieves couldn't promote (and certain other units for that matter), and being able to see growth rates wouldn't actually have ANY impact on what you're talking about here.

And FE7 & FE8, where thieves did promote, so you would expect the trend to continue...no, that is just me being silly.

[Thor Odinson]

I don't like to do the gameplay part blind, being a perfectionist and wanting to get everything right the first time around, but I don't want growths to influence who I want to use.

Even though I usually use the bases characters more anyway.

[Lord Raven]

And FE7 & FE8, where thieves did promote, so you would expect the trend to continue...no, that is just me being silly.

Don't forget FE4&5 if you really want to go the "there was a time when thieves didn't promote" route. There have been a mix of both and I don't see any reason for him to think that sothe couldn't promote.

[Junkhead]

Not at all, knowing growths is great so you know who to avoid using, etc.

[deranger]

Not so much growths, but the game's obviously more fun when you don't know the story line by heart, and the unknown of what comes next and how the game's gonna end is more exciting than the reality.

[Anouleth]

So? There were lot of the earlier FE games where thieves couldn't promote (and certain other units for that matter),

You mean those FE games that were never released in Europe and I thus never had a chance to play? In both of the FEs before FE9, thieves could promote. It seems pretty rational to expect that trend to continue, especially when the other thief in FE9 does promote. I think that thieves should promote. It just feels awful when you realise you've wasted your time.

Moreover, when Sothe has an ability like Blossom, you expect him to pay off. Like, he sucks initially but ends up really good. FE has lots of characters like that. Instead, he's just a trap, a red herring.

The games are so predictable, I don't see how people couldn't guess a character's likely-stats so long as they had some experience with the games.

While that's sometimes true, there are characters who seem really out of line in between bases and growths. Like, you wouldn't expect Roshea to have a 10% speed growth. Or Bord. Or Sigrun. And at the same time, you wouldn't expect Wolf or Sedgar to have amazing growths, or for Mareeta to have a really high strength growth, or whatever. A lot of characters in FE do have growths that conform to the norm for their class, but a lot of characters also have growths that would be impossible to guess based on their base stats. Not everything is as easy as looking at Lance and Alan and saying "well Alan has more strength at base so he's the strong one".

Edited January 24, 2012 by Anouleth

[Celice]

Don't forget FE4&5 if you really want to go the "there was a time when thieves didn't promote" route. There have been a mix of both and I don't see any reason for him to think that sothe couldn't promote.

I didn't think he would, considering it didn't match his age. I was more surprised that Volke did, though his was more intertwined with story as well.

I honestly didn't expect any thieves to promote. I don't remember any enemy assassins to indicate it, though there is a black-garbed generic one in the files on the disk.

EDIT:

It just feels awful when you realise you've wasted your time.

I didn't have any let down the first time I used him. And I used him to capped level 20.

Edited January 24, 2012 by Celice

[Rehab]

But even if it isn't nonsensical, it's not intuitive by design. There may be long-standing rules, and the exceptions may make sense by the story's logic, but somebody coming into the series is just going to

when something happens to their characters that they aren't actually warned about, or that isn't explained until later. And all we're be able to tell them is "That's Fire Emblem, baby," because the games simply don't always tell you what you're dealing with, and they mess with their own archetypes frequently. If I were guaranteed certain statups every level or every other level, or if I was somehow told "___ can't change classes, plan accordingly," I would be able to accept it without complaint as it being all part of the game's plan, but without that warning or explanation I could feel cheated later on, like Anouleth's example.

That is, if I wasn't already used to going outside the games themselves for help. I'd prefer to be able to play a Fire Emblem game and know exactly what actions of mine lead to what consequences. Or to at least mention the chances of those consequences realistically happening. I can still play the games through to completion, to be fair, and even some of my favorite games in the series are guilty of avoiding telling you things about the characters that will affect gameplay later. (Did they ever mention anything about pairing characters in FE4? I'm glad I spoiled that one for myself.) Those games would be that much better and more accessible if we knew how our characters would grow and interact, though- which, again, is one of my favorite things about the actual gameplay. Everything's laid out for you, and you're given all the factors so you can add up the numbers yourself, if you choose.

To be sure, if Sothe did promote, it wouldn't have been the first time a youth character had a promotion- you don't even have to look outside FE9 for examples, though FE4, 6 and 8 all had characters roughly as young as Sothe, or moreso, who were capable of being promoted. Anybody who gets all their guesses about Fire Emblem character development right the first try is fucking blessed.

Edited January 25, 2012 by Rehab

[Celice]

To be sure, if Sothe did promote, it wouldn't have been the first time a youth character had a promotion- you don't even have to look outside FE9 for examples, though FE4, 6 and 8 all had characters roughly as young as Sothe, or moreso, who were capable of being promoted. Anybody who gets all their guesses about Fire Emblem character development right the first try is fucking blessed.

Yubello and his sister Yumina can promote and are insanely young. Some of the characters in FE2 also seem pretty young, but that may just be the art style.

[Zanarkin]

No, i find no difference except i know where some items are and i get mad when a character doesn't get a lvl point if they have a chance of said stat or something....

Edited January 25, 2012 by SlayerX

[Book of Ereshkigal]

Doesn't make a difference for me. I just use characters I like.