Gothic 3 Does the concept of a "quick start" savegame even make sense for G3 ?

One of the old traditions of Gothic I & II was the idea of a "quick start" savegame.
In this savegame, all the quests that were necessary to join each particular faction were complete -- leaving out only the player's final consent to join the group. Furthermore, these inititiaion quests were completed while making few, if any, changes to the character or the game world: non essential monsters and items were left alone, characters not involved in the quests were not spoken to, locations not pertinent were ignored.

The result of all this careful, directed gameplay is a perfect "point of departure" savegame. One that players could always reload and quickly jump into the game with a different strategy or guild. Because LPs were left unused, characters
could quickly be configured with ample attiributes and skills that fit their particular choice of guild or playstyle. The mostly un-touched world meant monsters, NPCs, and locations were still fresh and ready to be discovered.

Gothic 3's faction and reputation system prevents this type of quick-start savegame, IMHO. There are no guilds to join -- only varying degrees of alliances and hostilities. The game is also chapterless. There is no clear line in the narrative to separate the "picking your group" phase of the game from the "getting on with the story" phase.

One could walk a sort of faction tightrope - zig-zaging between missions for the Hashishan, Rebels, and Orcs while never fully commiting to either side. All along the way you save up LPs and try to leave the world alone. The problem is-- this is nearly impossible because doing missions for these groups is the game. By preparing yourself for a side you are actually playing through a moderate portion of the quests and if you go that far, you may as well do it with the character you want.

Then again, if one has the patience to not spend LPs or do unecessary exploring during this build-up phase, then a sort of "mid-point" savegame could be possible.
In this, you can quickly define your character, pick a side you want, and then proceed with the MAIN plot.

I'd be interested in hearing people's ideas for a G3 "quick start" or any type of flexible G3 savegame that allowed efficient replays with different character builds.

Two quicksaves might be worth it. One that have as much AK and money as possible at as little level as possible. This would be useful for someone who want to start as a pure mage as quickly as possible without wasting points from "Fast Learning". The other would be as high level as possible with no LP spent, to be used to start quick as hunter or warrior.

But unlike Gothic 1/2 there's no need for any other "preparation" than quickstarting a new profession. There's no real "breaking point" in Gothic 3.

Maybe a couple of ge3.ini files for common system configurations might be a good idea.

I'm curious to know where the quickstarts for the other two games are, if anyone knows?

I have played very far with my Mage without picking sides, that is, I have not liberated/suppressed a city beyond Cape Dun and every city is played up to the point in which I can immedietly talk to the final NPC and defeat the opposition. I have solved all quests that does not put me in bad reputation with any opponent.

Once I am through Nordmar in the same pattern I may publish my save. It should be enough to pick orc/hashishin or human/ranger/nomad to finish the game the way you want to.

Reputation in Nordmar: 5
Reputation with Orcs: 25
Reputation with Rebels: 58
Reputation with Rangers: 80
Reputation with Hashishin: 29
Reputation with Nomads: 26

Liberating/Suppressing cities should rapidly increase your faction with whoever you want to finish the game with.

The idea of a mid-start game could work, where you spend some points in magic(for healing and such, easily something most characters could use) and some in fighting - enough strength to get flamesword and points in shield so you can slap on a shield for extra armor. As for progress: Prepare all cities in Myrtana by getting 75% in all cities - meaning that you can either support the rebels or the orcs without any trouble.

This would add at least 25-30 levels though, so and you start with a character with a huge amount of points.

You can also make a save simply at Montera or something, without liberating Cape Dun. At least this would save some hours, the first mindless stuff you do over and over in each game.

i've never understood this concept, the same with having to cheat or use a walkthrough. i loathe any time in a game that i get stuck in a hard part where i pour hours into many possible solutions. some of this is rewarding ie hard work pays off but where is the line. the problem is when all are brains work differently something obvious to the creator can just never seem logical to many others. these type of problem/solutions in games are understandble and if forced to use a hint that's life but when they are accompanied by actual flaws/bugs or unintended design that is a problem. hints/cheats are addictive and they get to the issue that if you have to rely so much on them are you even playing the game or are you beating/finishing the game. that's what i see with a quick start, missing out a section of game simply because of the cost/benefit ratio it has. i realize that sticking to a natural progression in something that's not even real may seem ironic but it still is a "whole" object. it has a start and end, what you do in between, especially in this game, is so varied and up to each one of us. by shifting the start don't you miss out on something, even if less important. so much of media these days is disjointed by i would argue that video games can be one of the best forms, to rival even the greatest books...and only once long ago did i skip to the end. regardless i value everyones views as i've been reading them for years, as the only place for like minded gamers, i've found who have true appreciation for well made games

I thought in G1, it was worthwhile for replay!! The first chapter was LONG and at times a trifle tedious!! By saving at the end before any major decisions were made, you could really enjoy the rest of the game with your character of choice!!

Yes, and in G1 the first 5-10 levels (the first 10 levels were slower in G1 than 3) are basically all the same, up to the point where you join a faction.