Self-Imposed Challenge: Difference between revisions
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{{examples}}
==
* In one episode of ''[[Pokémon]]'', a trainer named Miki specifically asks that Brock and Ash use Fire Type Pokémon to battle her Skarmory, despite the fact that Skarmory - a Steel Type - has disadvantage due to Type. She feels that such battles make her Pokémon tougher.▼
* In ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V|Yu-Gi-Oh ARC-V]]'' a "Steadfast" duelist (called a "Non-Action" duelist or "Heavystrong" duelist in the dub) is a duelist like Yuya's friend Noboru who purposely does not use Action Cards during a duel, making it more challenging for himself.▼
* Initially, [[Superman]] villain Mister Mxyzptlk had no weaknesses whatsoever, his potent [[Reality Warping]] powers giving him the potential to be a truly [[Invincible Villain]]. But hey, where's the fun in that? Because Mxy's only real goal is to have fun, he decided to give himself a handicap to make it challenging, making it so Superman is able to banish him back to his home dimension for 90 days, if he can be tricked into saying, writing, spelling, or otherwise revealing his name backwards.▼
* ''[[Super Size Me]]'' is pretty much one giant self-imposed challenge where a guy goes for an all-[[McDonald's]] diet for about a month. He even has his own rules and everything, such as walking 5,000 steps a day, supersizing his food when asked,<ref>Which after the movie was released was discontinued</ref> trying out every single item on the [[McDonald's]] menu, and finishing everything on the plate.▼
* In-universe example: [[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy|Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged]]'s quest to insult the entire universe, one person at a time, ''in alphabetical order''. Before you complain about newborn beings early in the alphabet messing up what he's already insulted, keep in mind that time travel is ''very'' available in this universe.▼
** The time travel part works both ways - he gets messed up due to time travel shenanigans involving Arthur Dent himself (also doubles as a [[Brick Joke]] of course...) And he knows it'd be logically impossible - He decided to do it just so he'd have a purpose in life.▼
* [[NaNoWriMo]]. Write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days.▼
* ''[[Gadsby]]'', by Ernest Vincent Wright, is a 50,000 word novel that doesn't use the letter "e" anywhere. It was originally written in French without any
** Similarly ''La Disparition'' by Georges Perec, translated from French into English as ''A Void'' by Gilbert Adair.▼
* Barney Stinson of ''[[How I Met Your Mother]]'' frequently challenges himself with increasingly bizarre trials, such as refusing to take off a ridiculous set of overalls ''until he gets laid.''▼
{{quote|'''Barney:''' No one, I mean no one, could get laid wearing these... ''challenge accepted!''}}▼
=== [[Action Adventure]] ===
* ''[[Cave Story]]'' has a number of these, mainly the 3 Life challenge which is done by not picking up any [[Heart Container]]s, and the Basic Weapons challenge, which forces you to only use the three weapons you can't avoid getting throughout the entire game. There is also a timer for Speedruns in the bonus level. By finishing the last level in under 3 minutes you unlock a bonus song heard nowhere else in the game. Completing the last level is in itself an achievement, but finishing it with Minimum Health, Basic Weapons and under the time limit is almost impossible and very much luck-oriented - there is a section where blocks start falling from the ceiling and their locations are completely random. Doing this challenge has been known to test the sanity of some people.
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* ''[[Diablo]]'' has its very own sub-community based on the premise of "variant characters": characters obeying special rules. The indisputable kings of these variant characters are the ''Naked Mage'' (no armor, no weapons, just pure magic), the ''Beyond Naked Mage'' (whatever armor and weapons you like—providing they're all ''cursed''), and the ''Barbarian'' (non-magical weapons and armor only—no magic, no spells, no potions, no fear).
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20130821094322/http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/index.php?showtopic=32067 One player] had a character called IreneTheInfirm: a hardcore sorceress who could not wear or wield anything, cast any spells or assign any stat points, and was thus limited to punching away for 1-2 damage a go, using the act 1 mercenary as the main source of damage (who also couldn't use any items). Somehow, Irene ended up killing Andariel.
** In ''Diablo 2'', a user on the inc.gamers forum demonstrated the story of [https://web.archive.org/web/20111209183615/http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=480035 Anna Goanna]. She was an Amazon-class hardcore, as in "if you die you die permanently," character who completed the game on all difficulty levels with only cracked/low-quality items, a summonable NPC support fighter and a hireling fighter. Some bosses took hours to finish. When she finally beat the last boss on the [[Harder Than Hard]] difficulty, her name-personalized cracked sash sold in-game for multiple high-value items.
** One player, going by the name Sirian, decided to create a whole [https://web.archive.org/web/20071012223800/http://sirian.warpcore.org/diablo2/diablo2.html host of restricted D2 characters], such as Ember, the firebolt-only Sorceress.
* Several challenges have popped up in the ''[[Monster Hunter]]'' series once they have their strongest set of armor and weaponry. The most common are the naked run (no armor at all), to use a really bad weapon against a certain monster (Greatsword vs. [[That One Boss|Plesioth]], no felynes), a marathon run (specialized quest that require you to kill 2 or more of a certain monster simultaneously) and the ''Arrowhead Cutoff'' (using only the Circle attack of a Bow, which swings one of your bolts like a makeshift sword, to cut off the tail of a monster, most often a Tigrex.)
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*** There's an additional 'Live Off The Land' challenge, begun by ''[[Morrowind]]'' players, that requires leaving ''all'' possessions and gold in town, traveling on foot, and surviving missions only with what the player comes across. A monk/alchemist build has the most success at making the use of any possible scavengings and loot. This challenge is also doable in Oblivion, but without unarmed skill the player needs to rely on acrobatics, athletics, and arcade reflexes. Also, it's permissible to use alchemy equipment only if left where it's found; looting it means that it has to be left in town, and inaccessible for future adventures.
*** Quite possible in ''[[Fallout 3]]'', when using the 'paralysing palm' perk and V.A.T.S ([[Fun with Acronyms|vault assisted targeting system]]).
** A blogger named Christopher Livingston decided to play ''[[Oblivion]]'' as a [[Non-Player Character]], and [http://livinginoblivion.wordpress.com wrote about it here.] ''PC Gamer'' magazine later hired him to give ''[[Skyrim]]'' the same treatment ([https://web.archive.org/web/20131018095701/http://www.pcgamer.com/author/clivingston/ look here]).
* ''[[Fable]]'' allows you to bet your money for one or more "boasts" before quests, which include a mix of standard challenges (such as wearing no armor or [[Pacifist Run|killing no enemies]]) and quest-specific ones (such as [[Escort Mission|perfectly defending all civilians]]). Following them earns you extra cash, while breaking them forfeits the bet.
* In ''[[The World Ends With You]]'', the player can adjust his/her level as preferred; the lower the level used, the better the drops and experience.
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** Some have actually succeeded in completing the challenge of slaying the Enderdragon in Hardcore Mode, a mode that deletes your save file should you die, so this becomes a no-death run. Getting ''to'' the dragon is a challenge in itself, requiring lots of materials, time, and patience, even by normal game playing.
** There's also the Skyblock challenge, in which you're spawned onto a small island in the sky with one tree, and must complete certain objectives (make a tree farm, make a stone generator, etc.) being compounded by even ''more'' self-imposed challenges.
* ''[[Grand Theft Auto]]'', Six-Star Wanted-Level Challenge. As every GTA fan knows, the higher your Wanted Level the more effort the authorities put into trying to take you down. The general idea is ''not'' to purposely get it too high, but for this challenge (you can use any game in the franchise), you have to purposely get it to max and survive as long as possible. It is ''not'' easy, because at Six Star Level the enemies will spawn ''infinitely'', and they include police cars, helicopters, and even ''tanks''.
=== Meta ===
* [[YouTube]]r [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzEy7pi3B7TIS9cn_sdKK9A GrayStillPlays] has made a name for himself with his self-imposed challenge to break ''any'' game of ''any type'' in as amusing and outrageous a way possible. He usually succeeds.
==
* [http://xkcd.com/724/ This] ''[[xkcd]]'' inspired an actual [https://web.archive.org/web/20130815143646/http://www.swfme.com/view/1046212 Flash implementation] of the game. It's pretty unplayable (that's kind of the point) with the usual Tetris goals, but [http://www.metafilter.com/90888/Theres-also-a-Katamari-level-where-everything-is-just-slightly-bigger-than-you-and-a-Mario-level-with-a-star-just-out-of-reach#3034952 a MeFite] pointed out the game is actually interesting and reasonably challenging if you try to end the game with as ''few'' pieces as you can.▼
▲* In one episode of ''[[Pokémon]]'', a trainer named Miki specifically asks that Brock and Ash use Fire Type Pokémon to battle her Skarmory, despite the fact that Skarmory - a Steel Type - has disadvantage due to Type. She feels that such battles make her Pokémon tougher.
▲* In ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V|Yu-Gi-Oh ARC-V]]'' a "Steadfast" duelist (called a "Non-Action" duelist or "Heavystrong" duelist in the dub) is a duelist like Yuya's friend Noboru who purposely does not use Action Cards during a duel, making it more challenging for himself.
▲=== Comic Books ===
▲* Initially, [[Superman]] villain Mister Mxyzptlk had no weaknesses whatsoever, his potent [[Reality Warping]] powers giving him the potential to be a truly [[Invincible Villain]]. But hey, where's the fun in that? Because Mxy's only real goal is to have fun, he decided to give himself a handicap to make it challenging, making it so Superman is able to banish him back to his home dimension for 90 days, if he can be tricked into saying, writing, spelling, or otherwise revealing his name backwards.
▲=== Film ===
▲* ''[[Super Size Me]]'' is pretty much one giant self-imposed challenge where a guy goes for an all-[[McDonald's]] diet for about a month. He even has his own rules and everything, such as walking 5,000 steps a day, supersizing his food when asked,<ref>Which after the movie was released was discontinued</ref> trying out every single item on the [[McDonald's]] menu, and finishing everything on the plate.
▲=== [[Literature]] ===
▲* In-universe example: [[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy|Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged]]'s quest to insult the entire universe, one person at a time, ''in alphabetical order''. Before you complain about newborn beings early in the alphabet messing up what he's already insulted, keep in mind that time travel is ''very'' available in this universe.
▲** The time travel part works both ways - he gets messed up due to time travel shenanigans involving Arthur Dent himself (also doubles as a [[Brick Joke]] of course...) And he knows it'd be logically impossible - He decided to do it just so he'd have a purpose in life.
▲* [[NaNoWriMo]]. Write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days.
▲* ''Gadsby'', by Ernest Vincent Wright, is a 50,000 word novel that doesn't use the letter "e" anywhere. It was originally written in French without any occurances of "e", and the person who translated it into English maintained this challenge.
▲** Similarly ''La Disparition'' by Georges Perec, translated from French into English as ''A Void'' by Gilbert Adair.
▲=== Live-Action Television ===
▲* Barney Stinson of ''[[How I Met Your Mother]]'' frequently challenges himself with increasingly bizarre trials, such as refusing to take off a ridiculous set of overalls ''until he gets laid.''
▲{{quote|'''Barney:''' No one, I mean no one, could get laid wearing these... ''challenge accepted!''}}
=== Sports ===
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* Cyclists consider completing a century ride their equivalent of running a marathon. It involves biking at least 100 miles in one ride. Even though this has gotten easier with modern low weight, quite comfortable carbon fiber bikes, it's still a daunting enough challenge that most large bike manufacturers release models specially designed for these kinds of rides.
* Firearms historian Ian McCollum of [[Forgotten Weapons]] has competed in shooting matches using a variety of antique firearms (a typical competitor in these matches has a modern firearm, often with accessories that cost more than the gun itself). He warns this will not be fun to attempt if you aren't a skilled shooter already.
▲=== [[Web Comics]] ===
▲* [http://xkcd.com/724/ This] ''[[xkcd]]'' inspired an actual [https://web.archive.org/web/20130815143646/http://www.swfme.com/view/1046212 Flash implementation] of the game. It's pretty unplayable (that's kind of the point) with the usual Tetris goals, but [http://www.metafilter.com/90888/Theres-also-a-Katamari-level-where-everything-is-just-slightly-bigger-than-you-and-a-Mario-level-with-a-star-just-out-of-reach#3034952 a MeFite] pointed out the game is actually interesting and reasonably challenging if you try to end the game with as ''few'' pieces as you can.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]▼
[[Category:Index]]▼
[[Category:Not the Way It Is Meant to Be Played]]▼
[[Category:Rule of Fun]]
[[Category:Videogame Culture]]
▲[[Category:Index]]
▲[[Category:Not the Way It Is Meant to Be Played]]
▲[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
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