The only way tokens are effective for helping "casual gamers" (to categorize time constraints) is to allow people to carry enough of them to not cause an impact. However, that same system will allow "hardcore gamers" to effectively "quick-save, quick-load".

The only different between that system and save/load-anywhere and at any time is that there are limited quantities of tokens. In the case of too few - it''s useless to the casual gamer. In the case of too many, it''s abused by the others. In the case of a balance, it''s still not going to solve either of the problems, only make those abuses and shortcomings lesser.

Quick-loads lower the value of life. If you can try something, die, load up your character again, and try again in a matter of seconds (or even a couple minutes), there''s no reason for you to spend time worrying about tactics and increasing your skill level.

quote:Original post by sunandshadow
For a while now I had been of the opinion that save spots were an unnecessary relic of the time when games didn''t have the power or memory to let the player save anywhere. Certainly we all have felt the agony and break in immersion of dying far from the last save spot and having to replay that part of the game again. I also feel that a game is poorly designed if it allows you to become stuck in such away that you must revert to a previous save and do things differently to ontinue playing. Not to mention that in many games the worldbuilding explanation for what save spots are is hopelessly cheesy.

But, I was thinking about the idea of save spots today and I realized that in sme way they''re better than being able to save freely. I think that one of the major reasons people play games is to feel that they are making measurable progress, and I remember rejoicing when I got to a save spot because it was a milestone meaning that I had conquered a difficult area - kind of like getting to the peak of a mountain when hiking. Also, it''s kind of like having a periodic autosave feature in a word processing program - the very act of encountering a save spot reminds you that you should save, because otherwise you might be too engrossed in playing the game to remember to save, and you''d be a lot worse off if you dies in that situation.

So, what do you all think about save spots, or save times like the end of a game day for that matter? What purposes do they serve, and what''s the best way to implement saving?

The correct answers is :THE SAVE METHOD DEPEND OF THE GAME.

nuff said