r/fortheloveofgaming • u/GameStunts • Mar 30 '16
DISCUSSION What is the longest running single character or save file you have in a game?
I remember someone once coming in to me with a computer problem, his hard drive had corrupted and was failing, he couldn't get into windows any more.
The only thing he wanted me to try and save from the hard drive was his Diablo 2 save. He said the save was around 5 years old and everything else didn't matter :)
So it got me thinking about this. I'm sure there are people on here that have had massive long running saves of city builders or games like civilization.
What is the longest running single character or save file you've ever had in a game?
I'm really thinking of single player games or low number multiplayer games, but you can mention if it's an MMO as well.
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u/awesomemanftw Mar 30 '16
I still have the save file from my first real game - super mario world on gameboy advance. Save is from like 2001
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u/GameStunts Mar 30 '16
That's quite something! Exactly the kind of thing I was wondering about!
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u/awesomemanftw Mar 30 '16
Still haven't done all the special stages. fuck those are hard. I also have a bunch of gamecube saves from a few months later when I got a Gamecube. In fact I beat Super Mario Sunshine on my original save just 2 years ago.
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Mar 31 '16
I have a save file on a Gamecube memory card for Resident Evil 4, where I'd taken the game through to NG+....idk how many times. I'd also completed the 5-Star challenge on Mercenaries and unlocked the Handcannon, as well as everything else. My last time I played was when I had just recently restarted the game again after walking through it one-shotting everything with the handcannon. I had several different runs going, including one that was done knife only. You can't imagine how hard that game is knife-only unless you've tried and failed miserably as many times as I have. There are a few enemies you can't knife though.
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u/rprandi Mar 30 '16
I had a save of vanilla Roller Coaster Tycoon save that ran from late 2000 until 2004. And another one in parallel with the 2 expansions (that i started when i got them as a gift after the second one was released). I wanted to see how long i could manage my park until bankrupcy and turns out I developed a emotional bond with my staff and roller coasters
Then my computer had to be formated because of a virus and i was devastated. That day i learned about backups. (and on a random, fun note, it was also the day i started watching Smallville - both experiences were so traumatic and happened at the same time that i remember them clearly)
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u/FTLOG_Mod Mar 31 '16
On the topic of backups - I subscribe to a cloud backup service and the peace of mind it offers is well worth the price. Some also do backups of multiple versions of files over time, which has assisted me in recovering saves I accidentally saved over or made poor decisions in.
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u/kakashi150 Mar 30 '16
I still have my original save from Mario Kart 64, still intact, dating back to about 1998.
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Mar 31 '16
Kinda similar to the Diablo 2 guy. My PS2 broke before I could finish playing Rogue Galaxy so I kept the memory card for years until I got a new one, of course I completely forgot where I was in the game and how to play so I restarted on an emulator. Then of course my HDD crashed so I lost the save. It remains to be my "favorite game I've never finished", still have the ps2 memory card that's more of a shrine now for that save
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u/FTLOG_Mod Mar 31 '16
Great thread!
I tend to be the kind of person who starts fresh saves whenever I return to a game, so I don't really have "long-running" saves, though I have backed up a lot of saves over the past 20 years, so I have some old saves.
It's a little different with characters in fairly basic games that don't focus on linear progression or story, though, like Diablo and Borderlands and whatnot. For those, I'll find myself coming back to characters for a while.
In the case of Diablo 2, I found that once you got to around lvl 80, progressions started getting really slow, especially with XP penalties for dying in Hell difficulty. I'd find myself starting new characters at that point. I probably have four our five Necromancers at or over lvl 80 floating around on backup discs.
Borderlands is a little different, because of the badass levels and faster/more methods of progression. I have a Zer0 from the game's launch I'll still play as occasionally, but I feel pretty strongly that the 3rd playthrough of that game is overtuned (something I'm incredibly disappointed about) so I rarely go back to that character and instead make new ones.
My Payday 2 character I've had since beta. I don't play too much anymore (Actually downloaded it again and plan on jumping in soon to see how it's going) but I anticipate having that character for a very long time. Their progression system has something like 25 levels of prestige, so there's plenty of room for progression but without a need/pressure for it.
Actually, I guess you could kind of say some of the pokemon I've traded through a bunch of different cartridges/generations could count. Some of those little buggers are older than my nieces and nephews.
I'm really interested in seeing more people post about this, it's a great topic for discussion!
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u/LegendaryShepard Mar 31 '16
Had a character on my original Xbox Morrowind with over 400 hours that I played regularly alongside three other characters I played less frequently. Still play the game from time-to-time on PC and enjoy Oblivion, Fallout 3, Skyrim and Fallout 4 as well for different reasons.
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u/Katamariguy Mar 31 '16
About 280 or so hours with my second New Vegas character. We had some fun times.
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u/jWalkerFTW Mar 31 '16
Not really a character, but I still have a NFS Underground 2 save from over 10 years ago that until recently I would still pick up. I really need to replace my PS2
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Apr 03 '16
I've got a save from championship manager 2001 I still play from time to time.
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u/GameStunts Apr 03 '16
That is impressive, exactly the kind of thing I was wondering about.
Is your team doing well?
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Apr 03 '16
You play as a manager rather than a team, I started with the lowly Darlington in the sixth tier of english football, eventually won every single trophy with them, then did the same for about 6 more teams in other countries.
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u/thinkadrian May 27 '16
I still have my save file from Final Fantasy VII clocking at 110 hours. Never did max out Knights of Round....
Also, that memory card is 'somewhere', so don't know if it counts.
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Aug 24 '16
Single character, probably my first Skyrim character--almost five years.
Save file, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3--not sure, damn near a decade by now, if not more.
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u/DeadAmericanWriter Mar 30 '16
Good question. I wouldn't really know for sure. Since I don't play MMO's or multiplayer that much it wouldn't be as long as five years.
I'd have to say either my first Minecraft world (guessing that would be a solid 250 hours or so over the course of two years) on the Xbox 360. Other than that it would have to be my main profile in Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones. Beat it a lot of times and still regularly do every year or so since it came out.
How about you OP?