I see where your coming from and would definitely agree that it's exploiting the mechanics of the game, but it's also a situation where people need to have some self control. I do realize that most people are lacking in that department though. ( not implying that you do as I wouldn't know)
I typically will play a 1 roll limit game and a min\max game as a replay if the game is enjoyable enough to replay.
I don't have much in the way of self-control when the game provides me with the option to re-roll freely. Even if I did, I still wouldn't like the system - because I think it's stupid that I can't play the character I want, effectively, with just a single roll or some arbitrary self-imposed limit.
Frankly, I think that's absurdly counter-productive
We differ here. I don't care about working within the intended design or experiencing a game the way the devs intended. For me, it's just about what's fun for me. If it happens to be playing the way they intended is the most fun then that's the way I play. If exploiting game mechanics, modding or whatever make it more fun , then I'll do that. Especially for a replay.
Yep, I generally don't enjoy exploiting mechanics or modding to make things easier. Unless we're talking about bugs or absurdly bad game design.
One example would be Deus Ex: HR - where I found parts of the Energy Cell system to be bad design, frankly. So, I prefer to play that with mods.
Fortunately, they figured this out and changed it for the better with Director's Cut - so I no longer need mods.
For example I didn't play any vanilla skyrim and have no idea really of the experience that the devs intended but had a blast with all 400 hrs that I played. That's really a bit off topic though, I just a got on a tangent.
I always start out with vanilla - and I played Skyrim like that as well. I don't change anything until I feel comfortable I understand the design, and when I do change it - it's to make it more challenging, never to make it easier.
Obviously, when it comes to visuals - that's another matter.
True, but a surprisingly an interesting discussion.
Hehe, well, I tend to find most "in-depth" game discussions interesting - but I've learned that most people around here don't exactly share my enthusiasm for going on about it