I think this is just people stating what kind of intuitive habits they have and things they like to be mindful of when playing a new game for the first time. For example, having little rules like 'no walkthroughs', optimising the HUD, not going back to previous saves etc. are things that most people already do intuitively when they boot up the game. So I'd imagine anyone who posted in this thread some set of rules and then when they played the game found that they weren't having fun, they'd abandon those rules instantly. Everyone's so excited they're imagining what they'd do when they play the game, this thread is evidence of that. So I imagine they are entertained and are having fun
Personally, I will be posting a beard pun every day of the week leading up to the release of the game and then undergoing a vow of pun-silence until I've completed my first playthrough. I also plan an out-of-character slutty Geralt playthrough with a friend who can't use her hands making all the decisions (we did it for the Witcher 2). Each to their own
I can understand the charm of it for sure. And I can understand that the waiting is unbearable and threads like this gives people a breather to kill some time before release day. Am I against it? Of course not. Am I over analyzing it? Most likely.
An analogy; the parties you remember for the rest of your life or the best holidays you ever had are most often the "spur of the moments" events that you hadn't planned out in details in advance. It's like you are more open to the things that unfolds around you if you haven't got a predefined plan but just go along with it.
And that's really my point and the reason I posted it because I think people shouldn't forget the fun of the moment and keep a open mind - it's a game. One of life's hard lessons is that things never or very rarely turns out the way they were planned. Yet it seems that we are more and more living our lives in little boxes where we plan out anything to somehow capitalize maximum pleasure/profit/excitement out of something and in doing so we are not really there in the moment because the events don't "follow" the mindset of rules we had or unfold as we had imagine it. And instead of enjoying what is happening we annoy ourselves over that it didn't turn out as we imagined it our heads.
And that's what happens when people create these rules sets for themselves - they are already making themselves a picture of how they want the game to pan out and it just very rarely doesn't. Sure people then can adjust the game to again accommodate the maximization of the fun but how much will you bet they have spent hours before annoying themselves that it didn't turn out as they wanted it before they admit defeat and finally decide to change the "rule set".
I can't count how many Youtube let's plays or even walkthroughs I have seen where the player or players had to admit half ways through the game that they have decided to adjust their play style or approach because they just didn't have fun. And they tried so hard to enjoy the game but just couldn't because of the predefined rule set they had made before starting. And then when they take a more relaxed approached without rules they are suddenly enjoying themselves to the max. And isn't that what a game is about? Enjoyment?
And I think that's how a game should be approached. It is not serious business but a product of entertainment where you can relax and have fun. How about treating it as such? Lean back, throw up your legs and just immerse yourself. And then when you have a feel for the game you can set out making the guidelines you want to follow - maybe in a second play through when you know what to expect you can make a rule set you want to abide by?
Anyway that's why I never set up some predefined guides I need to follow for a game. And that was the point I tried to con-way and people can take it or leave it. Make up the rules as you go in the game and enjoy it without a redefined rule set. Is the game to easy, bump up the difficulty. Is the environment great and are the world full of random events don't use fast travel and start exploring and find the random events. And so on. Don't start out like saying I must play on hard , I must not use fast travel. I must/must not this or that and then spent hours like that before admitting defeat wasting hours you could have used enjoying yourself.
