So…like those of you who’ve weighed in so far… After the initial inspiration I usually do a quick and dirty (train of thought) write-up of the build, before I start playing the character. Yup, I too write my builds first and then I play them…sort of. This initial rough draft is just that, a rough (very rough) draft. But it gives me a picture of what I want to do with the character, the gear they need, and the quests they will complete. Once this is done I try to play the character, just like I would if I wanted to play a published build here on the site. Doing it this way will quickly reveal if there are any fundamental problems with the build. I finalize the write up while I’m playing this first run of the character, the idea is to have the write up pretty much done by the time I’m finished with this first play thru.
I prefer to do three play-thrus for each of my character builds. The first is what I just outlined above; the second is my exploit run. The exploit run is just that, it’s a play-thru in which I cut every corner and make use of every power leveling technique I know of to “complete” the build as quickly as possible. This means getting the gear as soon as I can, power leveling to get the specific perks I need, and in general breaking the game with the express purpose of “completing” the build. There are a few reasons why I do this. First, some builds are just better if you start them “complete” instead of playing for hours to get to that point, and I want to know if this build would benefit from such a tactic. For example my Blood Magus build uses the “back door” and “bucketmancy” exploits to get the Equilibrium spell at level one instead of racing through the college questline to get it. Second, this exploit run is also designed to simulate a “power-gamer” who will use these exploits during their play of the character. This will show me if the character is still fun to play even if you exploit the crap out of him. Finally, this run will let me test a lot of different things, from high level spell combo’s to perk interactions, and how different quests play out when you have all the tools. This helps me craft a progression system (if one applies) for the character, and gives me a good idea as to what tools/skills are needed when.
I call my third play-thru the “organic run” and it is in this play-thru that I try to play the build as I think a reader would play it. The write up is usually finished at this point and I’ve learned all the ins, outs, tips, and tricks of the build with my previous two play-thrus. This run is meant to be fun and will illustrate if the write-up itself has any flaws, or if the way one plays this character feels natural, i.e. the skills progress with a reasonable consistency. The build rarely changes at this point but this final play-thru is important as a quality control, and makes sure that someone can pick up the build and play it.
So…like those of you who’ve weighed in so far… After the initial inspiration I usually do a quick and dirty (train of thought) write-up of the build, before I start playing the character. Yup, I too write my builds first and then I play them…sort of. This initial rough draft is just that, a rough (very rough) draft. But it gives me a picture of what I want to do with the character, the gear they need, and the quests they will complete. Once this is done I try to play the character, just like I would if I wanted to play a published build here on the site. Doing it this way will quickly reveal if there are any fundamental problems with the build. I finalize the write up while I’m playing this first run of the character, the idea is to have the write up pretty much done by the time I’m finished with this first play thru.
I prefer to do three play-thrus for each of my character builds. The first is what I just outlined above; the second is my exploit run. The exploit run is just that, it’s a play-thru in which I cut every corner and make use of every power leveling technique I know of to “complete” the build as quickly as possible. This means getting the gear as soon as I can, power leveling to get the specific perks I need, and in general breaking the game with the express purpose of “completing” the build. There are a few reasons why I do this. First, some builds are just better if you start them “complete” instead of playing for hours to get to that point, and I want to know if this build would benefit from such a tactic. For example my Blood Magus build uses the “back door” and “bucketmancy” exploits to get the Equilibrium spell at level one instead of racing through the college questline to get it. Second, this exploit run is also designed to simulate a “power-gamer” who will use these exploits during their play of the character. This will show me if the character is still fun to play even if you exploit the crap out of him. Finally, this run will let me test a lot of different things, from high level spell combo’s to perk interactions, and how different quests play out when you have all the tools. This helps me craft a progression system (if one applies) for the character, and gives me a good idea as to what tools/skills are needed when.
I call my third play-thru the “organic run” and it is in this play-thru that I try to play the build as I think a reader would play it. The write up is usually finished at this point and I’ve learned all the ins, outs, tips, and tricks of the build with my previous two play-thrus. This run is meant to be fun and will illustrate if the write-up itself has any flaws, or if the way one plays this character feels natural, i.e. the skills progress with a reasonable consistency. The build rarely changes at this point but this final play-thru is important as a quality control, and makes sure that someone can pick up the build and play it.
