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Tough town, the DC Metro area. Was ready to head towards Rivet City. Sold books to the Scribe for lots of $$$. Went home to repair armor and guns for the slog to RC. Stocked up on aids, guns and ammo for the trip. Off I go...hoping to hit RC from the south end. Oops! Mirelurks (killed 'em), and no bridge, boat or other option for crossing the river except swimming, and the 'Lurks came after me anyway. Ok. Try another way. Oops! The Talon mercs found me. The 1st group that came after me had a flamethrower. I gave/used all I had and couldn't get 'em. Home to recharge/repair/stock up. Now head towards the river from a more northerly position. More Talons! Killed this bunch and found the contract to kill me on one of them. This gives me an idea which I attempt with the next bunch I encounter, but comes to nothing. Attempt river crossing again. Luckily, I found the underground steam tunnels with Feral Ghouls. This place was easy to clean out and netted me a bunch of good stuff. Then found Hubris Comics. Killed/looted as much as I could carry and decided to go back later when I can carry more. Spike had left the building only to find more Mercs. Another set of Mercs with tag-a-long SuperMutants. Dang. In each of the Merc encounters (4 in all) it took almost all my ammo and aids to kill them all - but not until the 3rd or 4th try. Which left me wounded, hungry, tired, and with degraded stuff. Tough bunch.
Back to my little house in Megaton to sleep/repair/replenish. End of play for the night.
Later, while reading, I thought of a few things I can try to end the terror of the Mercs. One is defensive, based on the Contract to Kill me. I have 2 offensive ideas that I will try tonight. I may not have the skills for one, and might be laughed at for the other. But I want some breathing space from these guys. I've got gobs and gobs of caps...maybe that can be of some help. [Image Can Not Be Found]
"…you just keep on trying 'til you run out of cake."
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Sometimes ....a stituation like what you are facing with impossible to beat enemies? Doesn't necessarily mean you suck at combat or haven't figured out an effective tactic (althought both those might also be true). Impossible foe are sometimes part of the game design to prevent you from playing in an area. Devs might: a) prefer that you play elsewhere gaining more levels first (via questing, combat, etc.) or b) you have not advanced the storyline sufficiently to enter.
Most likely other reasons (I'm not a game designer), but those above are the ones I consider when I find an area is too damned tough. By entering an area "too early" you may discover plot bits out of whack and/or discover stuff that is best known after you've accomplished previous tasks. Fallout 3 does a good job of accounting for players reaching areas early but going with the flow, both leveling and advancing the main storyline is the better way to go (imo).
Just suggestions. [Image Can Not Be Found]
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Tough crowd those Mercs. It doesn't matter what you do, there's always someone with a contract for your head. If you've bad karma (like I did after Megaton) someone wants your head because you're bad. If you're an angel (as I was later) someone wants your head because you're a do-gooder.It was fun to listen to the radio dude talk about my character after I blew the place up tho.
I found, and it may be different with different patch levels, that sometimes when respawning after a death the mercs/mutants waiting outside the tunnel aren't aware that you are there. This can be helpful in getting a few grenades off. Also, I made a save before exiting any tunnel in the event that I couldn't win the encounter so I could always go somewhere else without having to repeat stuff.
Just looked at a map on the wiki. I missed a lot of locations! But I was happy with the amount of exploring I did do, and was ready to be done.
My Dark Souls single player sensibilities are protected by a +10 GfWL Firewall of Ineptitude
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Impossible foe are sometimes part of the game design to prevent you from playing in an area. Devs might: a) prefer that you play elsewhere gaining more levels first (via questing, combat, etc.) or b) you have not advanced the storyline sufficiently to enter.
You're right, Yapette. While I try to find a way across the Potomac, and devise a plan to thwart the Talons/Contract to Kill, I can advance 2 quests and find booty in the meantime. I am about 250 points to leveling up. That should help as well.
But before setting out from home again, I think I will get a haircut. Maybe it's time for a new style, new length, maybe even new color. That might help. [Image Can Not Be Found]
In the meantime, here is my new personal anthem for F3:
"…you just keep on trying 'til you run out of cake."
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That bunch outside Hubris Comics was about the toughest I encountered when I first crossed the bridge. I got out of there as quick as I could. Seems like the easiest route was to go south toward Rivet City as soon as you can after crossing the bridge. The merc assassins gave up a lot of valuable armor, so I didn't mind meeting up with them.
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Helmut, I wanted to repeat-until-dead (the Mercs). I needed what they carried to sell/trade/repair/rearm. Not to mention the XPs.
"…you just keep on trying 'til you run out of cake."
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To further illustrate, let me talk about the online game I'm currently playing.
My playstyle in rpgs, online or off, is exploration & wandering. Clicking on a mob shows me its experience level. If I @ lvl 20 wander into an area with mostly lvl 22-24, won't be a cakewalk but I can probably survive combat. Should I enter an area with lvl 32-34s, I quickly u-turn outa there without feeling the need to test my skillz.
Some games don't identify mobs with experience levels but instead let players try & die. [Image Can Not Be Found]
Good games sprinkle breadcrumbs via quests & tasks to move players across the board to new areas, quest hubs, points of interest. Some games do a better job at this than others. Most often, following the main storyline (with frequent detours for side quests...or not, some players ignore non-essential quests, like maybe Helmut whose map still had major fog-of-war[Image Can Not Be Found] ) will (in general) lead players across most of the map. *
* I double-dare any English major to diagram this sentence structure. [Image Can Not Be Found]
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And that map has so much to see, Yapette. I've come this far, so I intend to see all that I can see (and be all that I can be [Image Can Not Be Found] ?) The wanderin' is lots of fun. Plus I get goodies. And experience.
"…you just keep on trying 'til you run out of cake."
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Helmut has major fog of war, not just the map. Somehow my untrustful real life self intrudes (except when I nuked Megaton, that was a let's see what happens moment) and I have a hard time reaching out to NPC's. I did a number of non-main quest quests, but I'll never be confused with someone who hunts down everything there is to see. Yapette is more someone who modifies said breadcrumbs until they are aligned to her satisfaction, then does what she wants anyways, then mods her way clear of any trouble.
My Dark Souls single player sensibilities are protected by a +10 GfWL Firewall of Ineptitude
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"Yapette is more someone who modifies said breadcrumbs until they are aligned to her satisfaction, then does what she wants anyways, then mods her way clear of any trouble."
He knows me even better than my own mother ever did. [Image Can Not Be Found]
If someone offers me the power, I prefer to play (live) according to my rules of engagement. [Image Can Not Be Found]
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I got me 2 Flamers (had 3, used one for repair). I've got 100+ rounds of Flamer fuel, fire resistance, better armor. I'm heading back to Grayditch to kill some ants. Maybe I can get this quest completed soon. It's been several days since I've been there, so I hope that those 20 or so ants I've already killed haven't respawned.
"…you just keep on trying 'til you run out of cake."
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I don't think they do, Spike, so you should be okay. Best of luck!
Life is the misery we endure between disappointments.
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Duh! My idea to fight fire with fire went for nought. I should have known that the ants would be fire resistant. Flamer didn't slow them down. So back to submachine gun and assault rifle. Cleared a few more in the tunnels. And goodie...no respawning. All corpses were still laying about. Back to Grayditch.
"…you just keep on trying 'til you run out of cake."
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Four weeks yesterday. Great progress. Loads of fun. Too much, maybe. My approach to this game has largely been the same as my approach to life: never start a fight, but never run away from one either. Never be a victim. Help others when possible: give purified water to those who need it; never take the meager belongings of the slaves I've freed. But Karma isn't my first concern.
Two experiences in-game:
In the first 7-10 days of play I came across a particular location in my wanderings. The guard at the entrance wouldn't let me in. I wanted in because I thought I might be able to acquire some necessities. Working through the conversation threads, I ended up accepting a quest (got a bit of interesting hardware up front for accepting) that I knew I wouldn't complete because it went against my ethics. I did walk the perimeter to look for another way in. No luck. I even used a high-damage mine on a weak-looking bit of fencing. No go. I figured that I would simply forgo entry to that place. No problem.
Last weekend it turned out that I HAD to enter that location to retrieve something needed to complete another quest. But I still had no intention of completing the quest of a few weeks ago. A dilemma. Hmmm...
By this time of course I've amassed a great deal of loot - some useful for repair, fighting or sustenance, some tradeable. So I went-a-shopping. Bought lots of ammo, aid and better armor. Repaired what I could. Armed myself to the teeth and entered the "particular location" with guns ablazin'. Killed all the residents (no bad karma; they're evil, although it appears I did get some bad karma from taking some of their loot. Too bad). Retrieved what I needed to for the other quest. Then greedy me looted the place naked. Gathered all the useful stuff in a pile and made 3 trips home and back to get it all.
So, first quest nicely avoided, and half of the other quest completed. But the next part of that quest meant that I had to go into a very, very, very dangerous place. Now I've got even more loot. Shopping again. Among other things, I had 50 Stimpaks going in to this next location. Good guns. Good armor. Shot my way through it all [Image Can Not Be Found][Image Can Not Be Found], but my armor took so much damage that I was left wearing a Vault jumpsuit. And I used more than 20 Stimpaks. Whew! I hope I can figure out how to get all the good weapons out of this place. I might not be able to get back because...I think I get to meet the President. And me with nothing but a jumpsuit to wear! Much too late, so quit for the night. Next playing session should be interesting.
Did I say I was havin' fun!!??
(Specific details left out of this story because others will play after me, and they can find this all out for their own selves.)
"…you just keep on trying 'til you run out of cake."
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P.S. Spike Jr. is having fun too. I thought he would catch up to me quickly, but he has much less time to play than I do, so I don't think that will happen. His game has taken a different tack than mine. He defused the Megaton bomb for free, but then had no qualms about pickpocketing, and has taken all he could from Moriarity because he doesn't like him. I haven't told him the specifics of my refused quest/ethical dilemma, but he just might make a different choice than I did. What the heck. It's a game. It's been a long time since we played the same game, and it's been fun to compare notes. The family that plays together....
"…you just keep on trying 'til you run out of cake."
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Now, try going back to play something like Return to Mysterious Island with Mina & her monkey. Right or Left, Forward or Back. You can pick up stuff! Carry it around in your inventory!! Even combine it!!! [Image Can Not Be Found]
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Wow! What a concept. Unlimited inventory (the weight limits in RPG's are a bitch - but realistic). That said, I know that many loved RTMI, but I got about half way through and quit. I wasn't enjoying it much - and this from a dedicated adventurer. To each his own taste.
I am playing F3 much like an adventure game. Wandering, picking stuff up, reading, talking, searching, etc. With a good bit of shootin' and dyin' thrown in, of course. And my wardrobe is bigger!
"…you just keep on trying 'til you run out of cake."
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Oh goodie! Some enemies DO respawn. 7-10 days ago I cleared all the Raiders from Bethesda Ruins and Friendship Heights Metro. Went back yesterday as a jumping-off point for some more NE exploration. The Raiders were back in both locations. The upside is that I got more armor, ammo and weapons from them. The downside is that the items inside their compound didn't respawn.
I really like those Raider camps. Easy to clear, and they've usually got some good stuff. The one Fort I've been to was a much larger loot-fest, but I also took many, many more hits. Little risk, little reward. Big risk....
"…you just keep on trying 'til you run out of cake."
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I keep forgetting to say that I've been playing this game from the beginning without the ability to run. I think this is because I'm using Windows on Mac. Sometimes some small thing won't work quite right – maybe miscommunication between Windows and the Mac hardware. Don't know. I've tried reprogramming various keys for "run", but nothing works. Even made adjustments in my control panel. No run. After an internet search I tried a couple of suggestions I found. No go. So I just ordered a wireless Microsoft keyboard. I'm hoping this takes care of the problem. I so love my Mac keyboard, but for gaming, full functionality would be great. What the heck. I've been using a Microsoft wireless notebook mouse for years because its small size fits my hand perfectly. So maybe the keyboard will be as useful.
"…you just keep on trying 'til you run out of cake."
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