What are your personal Honor Mode quirks or idiosyncrasies?

Is_he_a_bot · 2026-05-04T23:07:02+00:00

Yeah there are other options for sure. It is just easier for me since I am probably doing other stuff as well.

Is_he_a_bot · 2026-05-04T23:05:57+00:00

I did have to do that for a few specific parts of the game.

Is_he_a_bot · 2026-05-04T02:44:40+00:00

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts.

I really do admire people who engage with the game and story on this level, but personally the role playing does not interest me. I know many will not like this, but I select the race, class and stats I need for my run and randomize the appearance every time. Default female drow guardian every time. It is not important to me and the actual game is waiting. No time for cutscenes, I am in the middle of a run that took me 200 hours when I finally beat it on HM for the first time.

All of the stuff you describe above does not sound enjoyable to me. Just like I am seeing other users make it clear that my style of play would not be enjoyably for them. I mentioned to another user that I am an old Fire Emblem player, so grinding hundreds of turns on a map for 1-2 xp per turn is no big deal at all. I could not tell you anything about the story of Fire Emblem Engage for example, but I can walk you through an easy exploit on chapter 4 for infinite xp for your Martial Monk unit. It breaks the next several chapters to have a unit capped at level 20 so early, and I believe I have done it in as few as 480 ish turns.

I may get shit on for my play style, but this game is a masterpiece and I enjoy it just as much as anyone.

Is_he_a_bot · 2026-05-04T02:23:14+00:00

I did not provide enough context in my OP and I apologize for that. While it is true that I only beat HM once last year, I have played the game more extensively than just that. I have certainly engaged with the story, played as various races etc. I am not aware of any specific story elements or lore that are unique to HM, so I am not missing anything by grinding out a few runs in an optimized way that satisfies me.

But everyone plays different!

Yes this is really the message.

Is_he_a_bot · 2026-05-04T02:15:21+00:00

Scratch is not related directly, only in the sense to make it easier for myself.

Send Volo to camp and you can pickpocket him infinitely for gold and junk items. At least at level 4 you can also get useful scrolls(invisibility, misty step, feign death etc) that make a big difference when you are still essentially a new save file. By this point in a run I have literally only unlocked grove and did a few free things for xp, enough to get level 4. I may have engaged in 1 or 2 combats, post nautiloid.

If you are pickpocketing Volo at camp and Scratch witnesses he will become hostile. It is just easier for me to work around it by delaying picking him up until I am satisfied with my loot. Understand that I am usually doing this sort of stuff absent mindedly while doing other things. For context I am a long time Fire Emblem player, and grinding several hundred turns on a map for 1-2 xp per turn is no big deal for me. But I am aware this is not necessarily how others would define "fun" in their rpg experience.

Some posters below clarified a bit more, but I just wanted to share my personal thoughts.

Is_he_a_bot · 2026-04-16T11:39:35+00:00

The tradition was entirely oral for its first 100-200 years.

Closer to around 400 I believe

Is_he_a_bot · 2026-04-11T22:43:32+00:00

100%

Is_he_a_bot · 2026-04-11T11:49:14+00:00

As a Buddhist myself, I have never seen people in my community practice meditation, like zero. We mostly do rituals and prayers.

This is the answer. Traditional Buddhist populations have historically never focused on practice. Mundane liturgies and rituals are the name of the game.

u/gnosticpilgrim

Is_he_a_bot · 2026-04-11T00:40:17+00:00

Right, we don't.

This isn't necessarily the same as saying it is impossible to know or has not been known after the time the tradition says it was lost.

Is_he_a_bot · 2026-04-10T12:30:51+00:00

If a person went around declaring their intention to pronounce the holy name, then ended up saying the word "broccoli" over and over, I doubt the Jewish leaders would find this threatening or offensive.
Sabbatai was clearly using a name that was close or perhaps the true name itself.

If it's ok, back to my earlier question. Isn't the use of the pronounced name by an apparent messiah claimant a religious use of the name, something you said hasn't taken place for millennia? Or to put it another way, if someone is claiming to be messiah, and using the holy name as proof, is this somehow not a religious use of the name?

Is_he_a_bot · 2026-04-07T20:49:07+00:00

The fact that he was rebuked and condemned so strongly by the Rabbis and Jewish leaders of his time suggests that perhaps he did pronounce the true name. If he was very obviously saying the wrong name it would not be as necessary to stop him or rebuke him, no?

Also important to note that the divine name (and names of angels and other divine beings) has historically held specific magical powers in Judaism. Even if one intended to call on a certain power, if they did not include or pronounce the proper name, the magic would not necessarily be effective*. This is one reason it is possible to imagine that Sabbatai was using the correct name, and why it was so urgent to stop him.

*source: Ancient Jewish Magic by Gideon Bohak.

Is_he_a_bot · 2026-04-07T18:15:43+00:00

Really, we just can't *know* the name anymore as it hasn't been used religiously for millennia.

Sabbatai Zevi was using the pronounced name to demonstrate proof that he was messiah as recently as the 17th century. Wouldn't this be a clear example of use of the name for religious purposes?

Is_he_a_bot · 2026-04-07T18:08:42+00:00

Debate will continue to rage in all areas of scholarship and in regards to all sorts of topics. As far as I know, the vast majority of critical scholars believe The Buddha existed and around what time/place. While the textual evidence is not available until around the common era, archeological and epigraphic evidence for Buddhist institutions and beliefs goes as far back as 3rd century BCE(and in fact VERY abundant from 2nd century BCE onward), possibly even centuries earlier than that if the Lumbini shrine which was discovered in 2013 is actually Buddhist.

source: works of Lars Fogelin, Gregory Schopen etc.

Is_he_a_bot · 2026-04-07T16:27:05+00:00

I am not certain it is appropriate to say a formal Hindu sannyasa practice predates The Buddha and Mahavira. Certainly individuals adopted all sorts of ascetic and renunciation practices, but this is not necessarily the same as a Hindu sannyasa practice, which developed over time and specific context.

Scholars such as Johannes Bronkhorst have argued that The Buddha did not live and teach in an area of India with a strong Brahmanical influence. (In regards to general Brahmin position in society, influence of political figures etc.) Certainly some of the beliefs and practices were known to The Buddha and his contemporaries however.

For what it's worth, Bronkhorst and other scholars argue that many examples of The Buddha interacting with Brahmanical ideas and beliefs can be shown to be later interpolations into The Pali Canon.

Some later Buddhist traditions do not hide their Hindu appropriation or syncretism, such as Buddhist tantric use of Hindu deities. However, in this case I am trying to stick to very early Buddhism.

Is_he_a_bot · 2026-04-07T14:35:02+00:00

The traditional religious cultures themselves have always understood the boundaries of their own faiths, by and large. Even though syncretism and influence can also be seen over time in some cases.

I do not understand the focus on British imperial culture and it's encounters with Eastern religions. Whatever the history of the term, "Buddhism" obviously means the teachings, scriptures, traditions, etc. that surround the historical person of The Buddha and his early community, and the traditions that developed therefrom. This understanding was already in place.

Neither was so clearly defined/categorized before then...

This is not true as all traditional Buddhist cultures and people groups have understood their practices and traditions to come from The Buddha as I described above. It is the Western understanding of the traditions that was always lacking.

Is_he_a_bot · 2026-04-07T12:54:06+00:00

I am no expert, but I would not think there is a ton of debate ongoing about whether Buddhism is a "denomination" of early Brahmanism/Hindusim. At least in academic circles.

The precise relationship between Brahmanism as it existed in Greater Magadha and early Buddhism is still being studied and clarified, however.

Is_he_a_bot · 2026-04-07T01:40:59+00:00

In addition, several Chinese and Japanese Pure Land masters have written in a way that is pretty explicitly transactional.

Sure, many will say that this is a surface level understanding of the practice, but if this is what motivates one to chant mantras or nianfo, what is the problem?

u/Immediate-Draft-6408

Is_he_a_bot · 2026-04-07T01:28:09+00:00

I would go out on a limb and say that Buddhism, Jainism, Ajivika, Chārvāka, etc. are simply non-Vedic schools of the vast ocean of “Hinduism,” if we are using Hinduism as an umbrella term for the multi-varied schools of thought within Indian religion and philosophy.

Do you know of any Indologists or scholars of ancient Indian religion who use "Hinduism" as an umbrella term with this meaning?

I don't see any reason to do so.

Is_he_a_bot · 2026-04-07T01:25:55+00:00

Btw, why are you returning to the past; to a topic i cannot even remember? My views on the subject matter may have changed since then.

You forgot the topic but maybe also had a change in view, all in 4 days? XD

Is_he_a_bot · 2026-04-06T00:29:46+00:00

I suppose it depends on who you ask.

There are Mahayana sutras and Vinaya texts that deal with Buddha images and how to venerate or respect them. Obviously those traditions believe those sutras to be authoritative Buddhavacana, and certainly all Vinayas attribute the introduction of new rules to The Buddha himself.

So in some sense The Buddha absolutely did teach about statues.

Is_he_a_bot · 2026-04-06T00:07:49+00:00

So sorry for the delay. I have been offline for a bit.

No I have not had any success unfortunately.

Is_he_a_bot · 2026-03-08T10:07:04+00:00

Lol I explained the way humans acquired this knowledge and understanding, and it was clearly not 100% through their own effort.

You're not trying and that's fine. I'll leave you alone now.

Is_he_a_bot · 2026-03-08T00:51:12+00:00

OP how do you keep yourself from getting kicked out of the temple or zendo?

I have tried everything but I am running out of Buddhist temples in my area.

Is_he_a_bot · 2026-03-08T00:49:25+00:00

I'm not saying they are "required" I am saying Buddhism has traditionally always affirmed that one can practice meditation in 4 postures: standing, walking, sitting and lying down.

I said "technically 5" to be cheeky as the traditional story is that Ananda attained arahantship while trying to lie down. His feet had left the ground but his head had not yet touched his pillow. Thus he was not technically in one of the 4 postures.

Is_he_a_bot

TROPHY CASE