What's the most exciting thing about gaming for you?

[Famous Mortimer]

The recent Deus Ex games were a pain in the arse if you wanted to do a no kills/no alarms run because there was no stats screen. You could easily go through the entire game thinking you were getting those achievements, without realising that you'd voided them in the first hour by triggering an alarm, or a sleeping body had fallen into the water.

It's been a few years, but (I think) there was a thing at the end of most levels indicating whether you'd got the ghost achievement, which was a good indicator you were on your way to Foxiest Of The Hounds. I had a similar experience to you on my first try, but the second one was fine (I also got Pacifist on that second run, no using your augments to punch through walls as you might grab a guy and snap his neck).

There's a DLC where you get an achievement for doing it without using any augs, which was a lot of fun too.

I just really enjoyed playing the games, which made me want to get the achievements. Pacifist is almost always the best way to play through a game (that offers it as an option).

[NoSleep]

I'm down for Urban Terror, NoSleep. But chances are our times of availability won't match.

I'm usually around from 0500-0600(GMT) in the morning through to 2200 to midnight, and I can fit in a few rounds anywhere in that time, as I'm at home generally; dunno if there's any crossover with your own availability. The other issue is ping difference for European and US servers, although that's far less of a problem for me nowadays and I'm quite happy to play on some US servers.

[Dewt]

Nethack was my favourite for self-imposed restrictions. A difficult game to begin with, people were managing to do runs where you didn't eat, or full pacifist runs. Impressive. The game ended up building them in as "conducts".

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

I've only played the opening level of Do Sex: Mankind Divided, so maybe there's more to it, but It struck me that there wasn't much difference between pacifist and murderous playstyles. You sneak up behind a baddie and press a button to trigger a takedown animation. Functionally, there's no difference between knocking them out or stabbing them up. It feels like there should be more to it, like maybe knockouts take longer, but have some advantage to offset the risk.

[NoSleep]

Is there ever any effect on the game by sparing their lives?

[Bazooka]

Nope.

[Dewt]

I've only played the opening level of Do Sex: Mankind Divided, so maybe there's more to it, but It struck me that there wasn't much difference between pacifist and murderous playstyles. You sneak up behind a baddie and press a button to trigger a takedown animation. Functionally, there's no difference between knocking them out or stabbing them up. It feels like there should be more to it, like maybe knockouts take longer, but have some advantage to offset the risk.

That honestly sounds really depressing, like the implications of one choice over the other is just what animation is triggered.

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

There's a few games that offer the non-lethal/lethal option for seemingly no reason. Mafia 3 had it tucked away in the gameplay options. I think the non lethal ones were quieter in that instance, but in Mafia 3 stealth doesn't really count for shit. Lethal ones were noisier, but far cooler looking.
Watchdogs 2 also. If you went non-lethal, generic guard #246 would wake up after a short period, lethal he would not, and it had no effect on the story. I went lethal. I sort of liked the incongruity of these shiny hipster hacker dickheads being mass murderers, and the game making no attempt to recognise that.

[Brundle-Fly]

When you eventually succeed finishing a seemingly impossible level; destroying some evil ugly super boss and as they go through their death throes, the controller vibrates wildly in your mitts, like a Sybian plugged into the mains.

[Jerzy Bondov]

The gore in Soldier of Fortune II. The first time I shotgunned someone in the gut in that and their intestines came out and they stared down in disbelief as their shredded insides spilled from a jagged hole I just thought, yes, this is gaming. This is good fun.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Is there ever any effect on the game by sparing their lives?

The Dishonored series has the rat/mosquito plagues get worse if you keep leaving corpses around. Also Hitman: Blood Money (and possibly the other games in the series) would have people recognise you from the news if you caused too much chaos in earlier levels.

[New folder]

Getting a server-first with your raid in world of warcraft whilst havin' a cheeky drink and a wank, not a single DKP lost -- the purest of victories. Trying to get a space lizard to engage in the act of physical lovemaking -- oh, the wonders of technology! The twitchiest of mouse flicks rewarding you with an impressive and game-winning air-headshot -- your fellow gamer's faces all turned toward you, eyes twinkling in awe. The uproarious guffaws of your team mates at the sound of a child's angry screeching. A single tear of happiness running down a cunning gamer's cheek as he passionately describes a person of non-Caucasian origin. Cheesing oneself through a difficult battle, temporarily mesmerised by the soon-to-be-dead death claw's glitchy pirouettes. The last flicker of your screen, as the sweet release of death is nigh -- it's time to depart now. Peter Molyneaux's soft hands grab your shaky, exhausted body, gently lifting you up into the Promised Land. You notice your favourite game characters gather: the blue hedgehog, the kindly-faced plumber, a sarcastic bird, pair of cone-shape breasts, Garrus -- your first lover... they are all here, welcoming, ready to serve as a trusty guide on one last quest -- your journey though nirvana. This is where you belong. And so, with a fond smile on your face, you know that your game is not yet over, it's only just begun.

[Kryton]

In fact probably the most satisfaction I've ever got from one game was probably EVE Online. Just because pretty much the whole economy is supported and created (and monopolised) by player input. Nothing quite like the feeling of your ten man corporation (guild) taking on bigger, nastier corps and using shrewd planning , bluffs and such to get the upper hand. We used gate ambushes, scouts and spies and blackmail and all sorts of stuff.

I had one character that was essentially a scammer (fully legal within the game framework) and would quite often sell blueprints or minerals for ten times the price using underhanded techniques. Great days.