Do you take notes while gaming?

I stopped taking notes some time ago, but it occurs to me that many gamers still keep a pad and paper handy depending on the game.

How about you?

Boz

I made maps in Outcast in order to keep track of the open quests and NPC locations. I also wrote down door and login codes and other info in Deus Ex. Thinking about these instances I think most gamers today expect that a game includes features that this is not necessary.

I took notes in Final Fantasy X-2 because one of the dungeons had multiple doors that you had to open, and to open them you had to do all these crazy calculations. Like for one door, you had to input the amount of money you had at the time + the amount of steps you'd taken getting to that door from the previous one, or something like that. I don't see how anyone who explored that dungeon in the game could get through it without taking notes! I used to take notes in a lot of other games, but then I discovered these handy little things called guide books and online walkthroughs :P

No

I dont think I have taken notes before.

I only do that to help with certain puzzles like with that invisible bridge in A Link to the Past

The only time I've done that is in DA: O where you have to activate a series of switches to get different sections of a bridge to appear to get a member of your party across (and thus activate the whole bridge). Without working out which switch activated which section, I would have been dropping a character down the hole for a very long time...

Way back when my dad used to play puzzle games, he would take notes, especially when he was playing Riven. Great game... Anyway, the only time I ever took notes was, again, when I was playing Riven, otherwise not at all.

I just usually rely on mental notes. I did jot down the occasional note way back in the day.Archangel3371

This guy.

I have, I kept notes of puzzles in SH especially so on the 3rd game on the hard puzzle difficulty. I haven't had to since this gen started however.

I've never kept notes or heard of anyone keeping notes. What kind of games would you keep notes on?mrmaple24

For old games I used to. You kind of had to in a lot of them. Especially in adventure games and RPGs.

Like in Ultima Underworld, there's this whole bit where you have to work out the language of the Lizardmen by talking to a prisoner and asking him what each word means. There's no way you could do that without taking notes.

Sometimes when I have a really complex character in an RPG. I will use a piece of paper to keep track of where I'm going in terms of skill advancement and such. I also use a piece of paper when hacking in Fallout, and also if I feel like I will be lost when I jump back into a game I will make a quick sticky note to remind myself of what I was doing.

Only certain games like Final Fantasy or Fire Emblem etc...

In metal gear for the msx I would write down the radio codes and in resident evil 1 I wrote down what each chemical was and those symbols so I could find out what the code was from the adam and eve picture.

I always keep a notebook handy when I play games.

The only timeI take notes is if there's infoI'll need later and the game doesn't save the info for me.

I think used to do it for older games like SH and stuff like that, games this gen are so easy and streamlined there's no need to even remember what a button does, as you're constantly reminded that you need to press A to pick up an object.

But sometimes I doodle and draw in between rounds when playing online, does that count?

Nah. My memory is usually good enough. I do make sure to jolt down something like a long number code if I really need it, though.

I've never taken notes exactly, but I did use the notes section in the back of game booklets to write down cheats.

I remember taking notes in Jade Empire and KOTOR to get past certain parts of those games. Other than that, no.

I haven't in a long time...

Way back when my dad used to play puzzle games, he would take notes, especially when he was playing Riven. Great game... Anyway, the only time I ever took notes was, again, when I was playing Riven, otherwise not at all.

Arnox

I was going to mention Riven too. It's pretty much the only way of collating all of the clues that you find across the various islands.

Anyway, I tend to play a heap of adventure games, so notes are a necessary part of many of my gaming experiences.

Maybe I will write down a cheat code for GTA or something akin to that nature but I don't think I would ever note down something a character says, study it and then test myself on what they said only to fail because I forgot to study.

I think it's an eternal running joke in the gaming world that the Notes section in the Instruction Booklet is useless.:)

Notes? like what? :/

I think it's an eternal running joke in the gaming world that the Notes section in the Instruction Booklet is useless.:)

Notes? like what? :/

GreekGameManiac

Very rarely. Back in WoW TBC I took notes for that daily quest minigame where you must remember each colour that pops up. And over a decade ago I took down notes for the Monkey Island guitar dual.

I rarely make notes, maybe some check lists or something like that. But if I do, I make them on the Notebook I have always running while gaming

I keep lists for games that have collectibles. The books in fallout etc, I would write down which ones I'd picked up so it'd be easier to go back and find the ones I missed later with a guide.

Doors in games that I can't open I'll make a note of so I can return later.

Actually, I take a lot of notes now that I think about it. I'm very thorough with games.

I only remember doing it once, and it wasn't even for me to use :P

The only notes I use these days is in a notepad file, in which I minimise the game, copy the GameFAQ's address and paste it into Safari. Got every note I need right there :P

[QUOTE="GreekGameManiac"]

I think it's an eternal running joke in the gaming world that the Notes section in the Instruction Booklet is useless.:)

Notes? like what? :/

Dracula68

Ah, that's what that is for!

Anyway I sometimes make notes for trophies if they require you to collect many things, like with Ghostbusters.
I didn't even get the trophy :( (Damn you YLOD!)

Not really, just if the game doesn't have any tracking of it's own if it's a huge collection quest then I write down what I've gotten so far and what I still need. And to some RPG's I draw crude maps so as to find my way back to whatever I feel like.. going back to I guess.