RPG activities

[rusty_shackleford]

The importance of breaking up activities in RPGs is understated. I like to do various things with my guy. Even stuff like trading or going over my equipped loadout or just organizing my inventory counts. I find joy in moving items between storage containers like you wouldn't believe. Gotta organize everything so I know exactly where to put that letter I picked up 45 minutes into the game in case I want to read it for reasons.

What are your favorite activities that aren't combat?

[Bhaalspawn Jr]

Romancing the ladies of course.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

(Trails series) talking to all of the NPCs and catching up on their storylines. Trails has spoiled me and I am always disappointed when I progress the plot or time of day and go habitually check on the NPCs, only to see them say the same stuff that they said before.

The character building/shopping segments of the Trails games on nightmare/abyss difficulty before I head out to the next dungeon or to tackle a quest boss. When I am spending 30 minutes to an hour flipping through each party member's equipment menu and orbment grid, trying to math out which EX shards I can attain and how many sepith points I need and thus which quartz I need to slot into which slots. Running to the shop NPC and having him synthesize the quartz I need, and then slotting them in. Rinse repeat for the characters I am using.

(Trails) I also find it fun to run around trying to find the NPCs that are selling seemingly irrelevant accessories and then buying 4x, as much as I can afford at the time, knowing that in the final chapter I will be able to turn in these sets to get the ultimate accessory equipment, and since I bought 4x of each item in a set, I will have 4x sets and get 4x uber equipments and have a full party wearing them.

In an MMO, running to the AH and stocking up on elixirs/buff food/augment runes/sneak oils before heading out to the camp spot or the M+ dungeon. Being the one to plant down a fest and the other party members thanking me.

In FF11, reaching a dungeon and then having to apply invisibility items before heading in, and then trying to dodge all of these mobs as I reach the quest destination or the exp camp site.

Trying out all of the different armor and dye combos and perfecting my transmog.

Minigames, especially when they have polished presentation.

[Acrux]

Fighting 500 xaurips.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Building my ideal house or castle in Spore/Minecraft/FF14/Amazing Cultivation Simulator/WoW/Elin/etc.

[The_Mask]

When I was a kid I used to play a lot of RTSs. That's where I migrated from to playing RPGs. So I like the lategame base build/that moment when you get your own keep/mage tower/ranger treehouse/whatever. And maintaining it well.

I also like the simple things that used to label me as "autistic" on some *cough* other RPG forums, like organizing NPC jobs or managing advisors (like in Kingmaker), to where I would want to optimize things to either achieve a thematic goal, or just to see numbers go up real high. Although, in the past few years I'm less inclined to see numbers go up, and I'm more interested in things just running smooth.

I also enjoy customizing animal companions, if any. Even to the point where it's a Tamagotchi. Especially if there a mechanical benefit.

That's about it, I think.

[Bhaalspawn Jr]

Killing NPCs I don't like.

Usually because of the colour of their skin or their race.

[Acrux]

Inventory management
Picking out and comparing spells and weapons
Fiddling with config files

[Valter]

Funny, a lot of these non-combat activities are in preparation for combat

Fairly unrelated to combat, personally like to find ways to break the economy or explore for secrets, both in and outside towns. Had a great time doing the former in Kingdom Come Deliverance and the latter in Oblivion and Skyrim. A well hidden item or even whole side quest can feel so rewarding to find.

[rusty_shackleford]

I like when rpgs have hubs I can go back to and check up on everyone and walk around looking for any changes.

[GhostCow]

In single player RPGs I just wanna kill things and experience the story. I don't really stop and smell the roses. MMOs are 100% about combat so in those I do like to take a break from grinding to gather mats or do crafting

[Tweed]

The importance of breaking up activities in RPGs is understated. I like to do various things with my guy. Even stuff like trading or going over my equipped loadout or just organizing my inventory counts. I find joy in moving items between storage containers like you wouldn't believe. Gotta organize everything so I know exactly where to put that letter I picked up 45 minutes into the game in case I want to read it for reasons.

What are your favorite activities that aren't combat?

[rusty_shackleford]

The importance of breaking up activities in RPGs is understated. I like to do various things with my guy. Even stuff like trading or going over my equipped loadout or just organizing my inventory counts. I find joy in moving items between storage containers like you wouldn't believe. Gotta organize everything so I know exactly where to put that letter I picked up 45 minutes into the game in case I want to read it for reasons.

What are your favorite activities that aren't combat?

I don't like when one activity overpowers the others. It's like eating raw garlic.

[Valter]

Trying out all of the different armor and dye combos and perfecting my transmog.

Need more of this in western RPGs

[enisey]

In Skyrim, I like installing and testing mods, some of which are far too complicated to be worth it, get everything running smoothly, every config file tweaked to perfection, and then finally after dozens of hours I don't feel like playing.

[Acrux]

Dozens? Last time I went through that process I played for 15 minutes and was done.

[Irenaeus]

Dialogue, diplomacy, dealing with factions

[Irenaeus]

Exploring nature and or ruins

[rusty_shackleford]

I was playing Demons Souls recently and after clearing areas I went back thru more slowly just to look at them. You miss a lot of details if you don't stop to take the time to actually look.

[maidenhaver]

Closing taverns.

[Manny V]

Reading lore/flavour text on items and such, as well as bestiary/journal entries of enemies and npcs etc
Comparing stats of characters, gear and spells

[J1M]

I abhor inventories overflowing with ******** crafting materials, but I usually spend a good amount of time with in-world card games like Pazzak.

[Oyster Sauce]

rp walking in throne rooms/entrances to cities/other symmetrical and important looking hallways

[logincrash]

I'm surprised by how much I actually enjoy inventory management.
Playing Dragon Age 2 right now and I miss having to micromanage my companions' gear like I did in Origins.

[A Chinese opium den]

Organizing my consumables and finding cool combinations of potions/scrolls to use together.

[rusty_shackleford]

What's everyone's opinion on cooking & resource harvesting in RPGs?

[Stack of Turtles]

What's everyone's opinion on cooking & resource harvesting in RPGs?

It's one of my favorite parts.

[MrTwinkls]

Tomb raiding.
I love abandoned places in RPGs with fleshed out lore. They always have some interesting stories and pieces of information about game's world hidden on broken tablets or dim screens under ancient rubble.
Caed Nua from PoE as an example. Or the whole Underrail's Expedition DLC as an even better example.

[mynameismortis]

Base building if its possible, i have always liked rpgs where you could do build castles/mage towers/hamlets. Also if it has some kind of weapon crafting i will just go get resources and forge weapons

[TKVNC]

I like minigames. Horse racing is one of my favourites. Foot racing too, but very few games have it - I can actually only think of Dragon's Dogma off the top of my head.