# Logic that is obvious to gamers **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [November 10, 2012, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logic-that-is-obvious-to-gamers/640568 "2012-11-10T11:25:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Danger\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6de8d8/32.png) [@Danger\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danger_Man)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logic-that-is-obvious-to-gamers/640568/1 "2012-11-10T11:25:37Z")
No, I don’t mean things that don’t make sense or are different from real life. I’m talking what is implicit to us, but that new gamers would have to learn. - If there is an objective that involves buying something or having a certain number of something, you can usually just buy it and immediately resell it. - When you are told something is urgent, unless you can see a timer, it’s usually not. - Many events trigger when you cross a line. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logic-that-is-obvious-to-gamers/640568/2 "2012-11-10T11:55:32Z")
There’s this old principle: \*Don’t Pick Up a Duck in a Dungeon \* > [@](#): > > ``` > It's very simple. To any old school D&D player, finding a duck in a dungeon should provoke an immediate fight-or-flight response. After all... can you think of any good reason for a duck to be in a dungeon? Therefore, the likely reason is perfidious dungeonmastering. > > So don't look at the duck. Don't talk to the duck. Don't pick up the duck. And for God's sake, don't attack the duck. Just leave, slowly, without alarming it. And if you cast detect anything on it, you'll be sorry. > > ``` ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logic-that-is-obvious-to-gamers/640568/3 "2012-11-10T11:58:58Z")
Open. Everything. Doesn’t matter if it’s a public toilet or a wardrobe in some random stranger’s house, open it. (Corollary: Break everything that isn’t openable. If it won’t open and isn’t breakable, come back later.) ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logic-that-is-obvious-to-gamers/640568/4 "2012-11-10T12:38:54Z")
No-one ever runs from a fight, even if you’ve just slaughtered their father, mother, siblings, grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, second cousins, great aunt Hilda, the family pet, the exchange student from Stuttgart, the Au-Pair, the neighbour who nipped over to borrow the sander, the milkman, the Grahams across the street, the TV repair man, the double glazing salesman and a brace of Jehovah’s Witnesses. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logic-that-is-obvious-to-gamers/640568/5 "2012-11-10T12:40:40Z")
Melee weapons typically do more damage than ranged weapons. When you are seeking an object or trying to reach an exit, there’s probably going to be a much more powerful boss enemy waiting for you. You might want to make a point of doing everything that can be done in a town or city before fighting the “big boss” of a region or taking any transport you don’t control; the odds are good you either can’t return, or that the city will be destroyed or totally changed if you do. Creatures, attacks and defenses can often be grouped according to “elements”, and their effectiveness will often defend on which element is being used against which. Such elements are also often arranged as paired opposites. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logic-that-is-obvious-to-gamers/640568/6 "2012-11-10T12:41:37Z")
(Specific to video gamers) Never hide behind a red barrel. Conversely, when someone else hides behind a red barrel, shoot it. The path of most resistance yields the greatest rewards. Make you’re you’re ready for trouble when you near your destination. As soon as you get there, all hell will break loose. ---
**Author:** ![Uber\_the\_Goober](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/58956e/32.png) [@Uber\_the\_Goober](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uber_the_Goober)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logic-that-is-obvious-to-gamers/640568/7 "2012-11-10T13:33:05Z")
If there are two paths to choose, and one obviously leads to your destination, go the OTHER way. There’s goodies down there. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logic-that-is-obvious-to-gamers/640568/8 "2012-11-10T13:55:15Z")
Chess and Go: [ul][li]Always finish the combination.[/li]What you think is happening isn’t always what really is happening.[/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Rubixcube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Rubixcube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubixcube)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logic-that-is-obvious-to-gamers/640568/9 "2012-11-10T14:48:10Z")
The more difficult and awkward a weapon is to use the greater its power will be. All bathroom stalls and storage spaces have a better-than-good chance of containing something that wants to kill you. If you are unable to climb a hill try running up it at an angle. Whenever things calm down and you feel safe beware, hell is about to break loose. There are sewers everywhere, and they’re twice as large and twice as infested as anywhere you’ve been yet. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logic-that-is-obvious-to-gamers/640568/10 "2012-11-10T14:55:24Z")
> [@Rubixcube](#): > > If you are unable to climb a hill try running up it at an angle. Also true in real life. Ever see a trail with [switchbacks](http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/c0.0.389.389/p403x403/430547_493766570644387_1131057610_n.jpg)? ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logic-that-is-obvious-to-gamers/640568/11 "2012-11-10T15:34:10Z")
> [@Alka\_Seltzer](#): > > No-one ever runs from a fight, even if you’ve just slaughtered their father, mother, siblings, grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, second cousins, great aunt Hilda, the family pet, the exchange student from Stuttgart, the Au-Pair, the neighbour who nipped over to borrow the sander, the milkman, the Grahams across the street, the TV repair man, the double glazing salesman and a brace of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The corollary to this is, even if he’s armed with a toothpick and you have a rocket launcher, he’s still going to attack you. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logic-that-is-obvious-to-gamers/640568/12 "2012-11-10T15:46:50Z")
The princess is \*always \*in the other castle. If you refrain from killing another player because they’re weakened or distracted, you’ll shortly find a knife in your own back. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logic-that-is-obvious-to-gamers/640568/13 "2012-11-10T16:21:15Z")
Take everything, no matter how useless it seems at first. That plastic gnome statue will unlock a puzzle on the third level. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logic-that-is-obvious-to-gamers/640568/14 "2012-11-10T20:44:28Z")
It’s a great time-saver to simply run everywhere, non-stop. Very few games penalize you for running or reward you for walking. Regardless of how earth-shatteringly powerful your character becomes, it is rarely a good idea to attack city guards. Even if you can kill every single person in the town without breaking a sweat, it’s usually worth reloading from a saved game if you find yourself committing genocide \>inside\< the city limits. Outside, no problem. ---
**Author:** ![MostlyClueless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@MostlyClueless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MostlyClueless)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logic-that-is-obvious-to-gamers/640568/15 "2012-11-10T20:58:57Z")
If somebody tells you to do something, do it. If somebody tells you _not_ to do something, do it. ---
**Author:** ![Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrogance_ex_machina/32/192_2.png) [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrogance_Ex_Machina)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logic-that-is-obvious-to-gamers/640568/16 "2012-11-10T21:18:20Z")
> [@FinnAgain](#): > > Take everything, no matter how useless it seems at first. That plastic gnome statue will unlock a puzzle on the third level. [There are a few games where that doesn’t quite work.](http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2011/11/14) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logic-that-is-obvious-to-gamers/640568/17 "2012-11-10T21:51:33Z")
That room? Yeah, it’s there for a reason. It means something. If it has no purpose now, you’re probably going to have enemies, a boss fight, a puzzle, SOMETHING there later. (Exceptions may be made for the room you start the game in, in which case its purpose was to give you a safe place to practice the controls). Except in my Pathfinder game last night. That room with a mural and a bench had no purpose other than housing a **really** nice bench :p. ---
**Author:** ![Brainiac4](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brainiac4/32/3534_2.png) [@Brainiac4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brainiac4)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logic-that-is-obvious-to-gamers/640568/18 "2012-11-10T22:01:14Z")
Save points (or waypoints) don’t mean your’re done with something. They mean you’re about to start something. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logic-that-is-obvious-to-gamers/640568/19 "2012-11-10T22:17:59Z")
Touching an apple that belongs to someone else will earn you an instant death sentence, whereas killing a city guard in broad daylight is only a 40 gold fine. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logic-that-is-obvious-to-gamers/640568/20 "2012-11-10T22:31:50Z")
You’re stuck, don’t start searching from the home town you left weeks ago, the answer is near where you are now. The rocket launcher is guaranteed to be less effective than it should be in real life. Felonies and homicide committed in cities will go unpunished if the perpetrator goes unseen for a few minutes consecutively. The Inn is safe, ugly shit happens everywhere else in the world. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/logic-that-is-obvious-to-gamers/640568.md?page=2)