I don’t like the elitism around SASO but I think some people build it up just because they like to challenge themselves after playing the level dozens of times.
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SASO is Ultra Violence of Hitman games (UV is considereded “gentleman’s way” of playing DOOM and sometimes people who play on lower get shit for it).
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I remember as a kid I would play levels a lot and then I challenged myself by getting silent assassin. It was amazing when I got that.
Now I’m so detached and used to it I have to do extreme stuff to get that same thrill. I’m worried about where I’ll be in like 20 years. Probably playing the games but only allowed to move 1 step every time an NPC talks.
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On the forum at least, SASO started as a curiosity that drove further exploration of the mechanics and pioneering new strategies in Silent Assassin.
While there is still a bunch of people who are weirdly elitist about it - a lot of them got broken by trying to prove themselves by attempting to do SASO runs on Professional difficulty of Absolution.
I still remember some of them demanding the game be “fixed” so they could SASO on Professional without “having to relearn the game like a child”
That delicious irony.
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I’ll give Travis one thing, I absolutely adore his tie. I’d love to own a tie with this pattern.
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His tie gives me Dues Ex Human Revolution vibes.
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I like playing SASO and I like the fact that they new games are so open that it is possible on every map.
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I always liked his hair! The tie not so much though.
About SASO, all I can say is that for me it’s the hardest thing to pull off, especially coupling it with no knockouts. So when I see people managing it I can’t help but show admiration I don’t show to others, and when I can do it myself I feel a bigger sense of accomplishment than when I complete a mission story. IO also actively rewards it and calls it a “mastery” challenge. Is it elitist to point that out? There are many ways to be good at this game (speed, sniping, creativity, SONKO, roleplaying, Silent Assassin) so it’s not a matter of which way of being good at it is better, but just sharing one’s joy in having achieved it. I haven’t seen any elitism of the kind described above. Maybe the moderators beat me to it?
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I saw someone play through Sapienza and Bangkok SASO with no hud/map/instinct AND without touching the right stick. No camera control at all.
Give it 10 years and people will be like “you’re not playing properly if you move your camera.”
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We do generally try to mitigate it, unfortunately there are plenty of other communities that are not as caring. YouTube comments are particularly renown for their odd mix of elitism and terrible standards.
Well, it can’t be worse than the people who used to announce Blood Money was the only “real” Hitman game because of the many options, then claim they always play each level the exact same way every time.
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I deleted the post @TheContractor, didn’t want to be dismissive to their fun.
Only when they’re jerks about it.
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Touché, that’s a good attitude to have 
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I’m glad I started a conversation!
I generally get dismissive of any player who insists that their way to play is the only “real” way to play. Those players who look down their noses at others because they don’t play the same way annoy me. If you want to play with the screen turned off because you’re such a hard-core gamer and need the “challenge”, please be my guest but don’t brag about it, don’t insist that I’m not playing the game correctly, don’t belittle me for not playing that way, and don’t suggest that you are somehow better for playing the game like that.
I think suit-only is the most obvious example but I could probably say that about HUD off, map off, players who insist that SA is the Only way to play the level, etc. I really like the Hitman games. I think that the newest trilogy has made the game accessible to a lot of people who might not have played the originals. The graphics are better, the controls are better, the options are better and the story (gasp!) is better. It’s wonderful, I think, that so many people can play with so many different approaches and everyone has fun doing it.
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Honestly you’re kind of missing out on a lot of the game if you don’t listen to funny NPC dialogue for when you did something wrong.
I’m not going to dictate how others play but I’ve seen plenty of people say they enjoyed it more when they stopped worrying about perfect scores and reloading saves.
There’s just more to it than perfect runs.
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You can say that again. When not doing perfect runs, I play it like it’s a scene from a movie. Witnesses and guards might be collateral damage and things might get messy but if it was something from a movie, it would be more entertaining. If not, just mess with the AI or ragdolls, loved doing this since I first played H2SA 
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There should be more “total chaos and hilarity” videos of hitman runs and “SONKO” and Speedrun versions really. The community glorifies the perfect, ideal runs that are 9 seconds long and suit only, but the chaotic ones where everything just goes to hell are the more fun ones…
It’s generally true that watching someone do something you couldn’t do is quiet impressive and entertaining. That’s why speedruns are often appreciated by the community. The level of skill on display almost demands respect. Other equally creative runs can be as impressive (my go to example would be Urben’s ET kills). But runs that are “chaotic” or try to be funny often don’t spark that same level of awe in people, because they could probably do that themselves in-game. So that’s why they tend to be less appreciated (unless you’re a giant like BigMooney or someone). All my opinion of course 
Personally I’m not too bothered about speedruns, but obviously there are some truly phenomenal ones from people like HITMANIST. I tend to more like themed runs or ones with specific interesting new restrictions
One that’s been stuck in my head for ages is Freezer’s snowball run, it’s just such a fun concept
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I suppose I should clarify that the speedruns and the perfect runs (not necessarily the same thing either!) are usually very fun to watch, but the chaotic ones can be very fun too.
OutsideXbox does their 3 ways to play videos. While watching Andy’s 5-star SA runs is great and he does a pretty good job of talking his way through it, Mike’s explosion-filled runs where he has more non-target kills than anything else is a hilariously good time.
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I’m not a fan of playing by taking advantage of the AI’s limitations or weird issues. By that, I mean the whole thing where you shoot guards in a knee to knock them down so you can run past unspotted, being able to remove enforcer status so you can run right by, or general things that can be construed as bug abuse. If I play SO, I’d rather not use any of those tactics. Just feels a bit cheesy for me to do it, especially as I’m not into speedrunning
I’m not saying it’s wrong or anything; the best thing about Hitman is that people can play how they want. My personal opinion just hates playing like that. I happily watch videos of others doing it though
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If there was a TV based of Hitman, I personally wouldn’t want David Bateson to play Agent 47. Don’t get me wrong, I have a fuckton of respect for this guy and he is one of my fav voice actors. But I feel like he is… well, old for never-aging 47.
But I would want Bateson to do voice-over. I don’t think anyone can match original voice.
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