I know that title sounds philosophical, but don't worry, I am still riding the Witcher train - in case the jargon didn't tip you off.
This week I did something that I rarely do in any games - I reloaded the game to an earlier save point because I didn't like what happened. For the uninitiated, this is called save scumming. That I rarely do this is not a judgment on those who partake, it is simply a matter of preference. My sense of curiosity likes to follow the thread of choices I make and how they affect the game. If the game is good, I will replay it to see where the other choices lead. Also, save scumming feels like cheating. to me. Intellectually speaking, I don't consider it cheating, but emotionally it feels like it is. So, why did I do it then?
Well, for the 2nd time in the game so far (the first was Coleman) I needed information from an NPC who wouldn't give it to me. This is not the way I see myself-as-Geralt, as needing anyone, but here we were, being told to "shove off" by a messenger in the Hairy Bear Inn.
In an ironic twist, I've been told in chat to save scum. This is called backseat gaming which is not considered cheating but is even more taboo than save scumming.
Is save scumming cheating?
That isn't the important question. What is cheating? And can you cheat in a one-player game?
I am going to do the thing here that I tell my students never to do ...but this is a blog and not a formal paper so I can do what I want. According to one dictionary, cheating is, to "act dishonestly or unfairly in order to gain an advantage, especially in a game or examination." Under this definition, save scumming could be considered cheating because it gives an unfair advantage by not forcing the player to live/play with the consequences of their decisions. Yet another dictionary says, cheating is "to defraud, swindle, deceive, or to violate the rules." According to this definition, one could argue that save scumming is not cheating because there is only one person present; therefore there is no one to swindle. Furthermore, it isn't against the rules to save and reload a game that allows that behavior by its very programming.
The problem here is that cheating is a question of morality and morality is not universal.
Is save scumming cheating? Yes. And No. And also - who cares? It is what it is for each individual player and in any given case that is the only opinion that matters. Save scumming is a legitimate choice made during gameplay. I do not often choose to do it because it feels like cheating to me and when I am playing that is what matters. Back to the intro twist, does it bother me then when people in chat suggest save scumming?
Nope. My channel is one of those rare places where people don't get banned for backseat gaming. Many streamers get upset when people tell them what to do in a game. They will talk bout wanting to figure out things for themselves or liken it to the idea of spoilers for movies and TV. Google backseat gaming and you will find multiple sites giving advice on how to deal with backseat gamers during a stream because obviously, this is something that is bad and must be dealt with. Although hatred of backseat gaming abounds across gender lines, some women will get especially upset and see it as a continuation of the patriarchal idea that women are less capable. I don't see this as generally true, though I know it is sometimes true. In fact I have experienced it myself, but that is a tale for another day.
No, in general I welcome - and sometimes ask for - backseat gaming. How this plays out varies with the game. What kind of advice I am open to in an RPG like Witcher for example is different from what I'd be ok with in a puzzle game for example. For now I will stick with RPGs because Witcher is the game du jour.
Here's the thing. I am both a solo gamer and a social gamer. Sometimes, I want to be alone and play a game all by myself. When I am in this mood though, I don't stream, because I am (hopefully) not alone while streaming. Sometimes, I want to be social. When I am in this mood I will either play an MMORPG (like WoW) or I will stream (or both). When I am feeling social though, I don't just want to chat while I happen to be playing a game - I want to play with people. In a game like WoW what that means is obvious. (I log into a server with thousands of other players and I can join parties, guilds, raids, etc, and cooperate with other players to achieve in-game objectives.) But what does this mean with a single-player game like Witcher? For me, it means talking through decisions with chat, taking gentle advice when I have died a frustrating amount of times, and sometimes asking chat bluntly what to do next when I am at a loss for where to go. In this way, we share the experience of this story in a way that I feel is deeper because we all - me and chat - have an effect on what happens.
There is a caveat to this though. I said, "gentle" advice and that word has a definitive meaning here. I try to cultivate a friendly and open space (albeit perhaps a little dirty) and have noticed that this then seems to cultivate gentle advice; suggestions and not commands; hints and not spoilers. If someone were to come into my chat and attempt to micromanage my moves or command me they would not last long in my (albeit nascent) community. Examples of these shared experiences are QamarQatol reminding me to save, by creating puns on slogans and sayings ("maybe it's Maybelline, maybe it's a saved game"); or in one early encounter, after I kept dying in the same place over and over again, CallChuckNorris reminded me that potions were an option but saying, "Let's cook a swallow together." In these examples, these people helped me through the game, but also made the experience of play feel more as if it was shared (interactive) rather than individual, like the difference between a lecture and a discussion.
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