# Save Scumming Save Scumming is the gamer habit of saving right before a risky moment and reloading until the roll lands in your favor, a workaround that developers warned against as early as 1996[3]. The slang itself first appeared on a Wesnoth strategy forum in December 2003[1] and sparked long-running debates across RPG and grand strategy communities. By March 2020, Paradox fans were sorting attitudes toward the practice into alignment chart memes on r/paradoxplaza[9]. ## Origin Reloading a save predated the slang by at least a decade. Bethesda's manual for The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, released in 1996, directly asks players to skip the 'Replay the Save Game' strategy and live with consequences of failed actions[3]. First written use of 'save-scumming' appears on December 15th, 2003, in a post by user Integral on the Battle for Wesnoth forum[1]. Early adoption played out on strategy and RPG forums. On January 1st, 2006, user BeefontheBone used the term in a Civilization Fanatics Center thread about tribal village outcomes in Civilization IV[2]. - **Platform:** Battle for Wesnoth forum (first documented use) / Reddit (meme spread) - **Creator:** Unknown - **Date:** 2003 ## Overview Posts tagged Save Scumming typically fall into two camps: confession memes, where players admit to reloading a quest dozens of times to steer a result, and judgment memes, where purists mock the habit[4]. Alignment charts are a common format, mapping stances from 'lawful good: accept every bad roll' to 'chaotic evil: edit the save file'[9]. The debate flares up most in titles where one dice check can derail hours of play, including Baldur's Gate and XCOM. Urban Dictionary's 2013 entry still carries the loaded tone of the fight, calling the term one used 'by morons and pedants' who label an intentional mechanic as cheating[6]. Football Manager and Rimworld fandoms generate their own variations whenever an unlucky RNG event wipes a playthrough. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Save Scumming? Save scumming means saving a video game right before a risky action and reloading if the result goes badly, repeating until you get the outcome you want[1]. ### Where did Save Scumming come from? The written term dates to a December 15th, 2003 post by user Integral on the Battle for Wesnoth forum[1], though Bethesda's 1996 Daggerfall manual was already warning players against reloading to dodge consequences[3]. ### What does Save Scumming mean? Save scumming refers to abusing a game's save and load system to avoid negative random outcomes, a loaded label since many games ship the quick-save mechanic as an intended feature[6]. ### How do you use Save Scumming? Players typically save manually before a dice check, boss fight or loot drop, then reload if the roll fails, repeating until the preferred result lands[7]. XCOM and Baldur's Gate are among the most-cited examples[8]. ### Is Save Scumming still popular? Yes. Baldur's Gate 3's August 2023 release reignited debate around reloading for party scenes and dice rolls, and alignment chart memes about the practice gathered thousands of upvotes on r/paradoxplaza as late as 2020[9]. ## References 1. [https://forums.wesnoth.org/viewtopic.php?p=3321#p3321]() 2. [https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/tribal-village-outcomes.151334/#post-3519432]() 3. [https://oldgamesdownload.com/wp-content/uploads/The_Elder_Scrolls_II_Daggerfall_EN.pdf]() 4. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/save-scumming]() 5. [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SaveScumming]() 6. [https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=save%20scumming]() 7. [https://web.archive.org/web/20160226225451/http://www.dorkly.com/post/77376/the-scum-of-xcom]() 8. [https://www.reddit.com/r/footballmanagergames/comments/bezm8s/when_you_savescum_in_major_cup_finals/]() 9. [https://www.reddit.com/r/paradoxplaza/comments/fngs0k/attitudes_toward_save_scumming_alignment_chart/]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/save-scumming Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library