To be or not to be (evil, that is)

[Juno]

Many games feature a morality system in which you can choose to become 'good' or 'evil' - sometimes this choice has an impact on the story and can lead to different consequences and rewards. Other times, siding with a certain alignment can affect the types of abilities you can learn along the way, influence the way NPCs treat you, change your character's appearance, etc. and sometimes it's just fun to kill everyone for no reason other than because I can

Which side do you tend to fall on? Do you enjoy playing the villain more, or a celebrated hero?

Additional discussion:

Spoiler:

There have been lots of critics for morality systems in games in general, that they are usually somewhat absurd since you can only be on polar ends of 'good' or 'evil' in order for it to have an impact on gameplay (as in, most games will only reward you for being absolutely/increasingly evil or heroic, which isn't representative of actual morality since people are rarely just good or just bad). and that oftentimes, the choices that lead you down the path of one or the other are too black and white. Do you think that's true, or are you generally quite pleased with how morality is done in most games you've played that incorporate it?

Which game(s) do you think have the best and/or most sensible morality system? Which has the worst?

 

[GreenFlame]

Well, they have to give you a reason to be good, otherwise most will just pick evil and justify it with "it's a video game", which makes sense.



In the Walking Dead it's a bit less of a morality system and more just about decisions and how you treat people in speech, as most of the game you are just on the "good" rail. But that game is meant to be played like it isn't a game, so that's why I chose in that to be "good" to people.

 

[JesteR]

The only game I've played recently with this system is Fallout 3. I of course killed everyone and everything. I guess being bad allows for more freedom in my opinion. The hero always has to do this or that, save the world. The villain does whatever they want.

 

[Necrum]

despite my obsession with villains, I always feel bad when I play one by choice in a video game. its different when the main character is automatically evil, but choice games always make me feel bad when I play bad.

 

[Hiatus]

If games offer it, I do tend to play on the villain side, but oftentimes, it's in a separate save file. Choosing between good and evil could always affect how plot is thrown at you, and due to this, you'll be gaining different experiences throughout game-plays. Personally, however, I'm more fond of bad side, because in most cases, it doesn't have much limitations as to what you could do and whatnot.

 

[pkmin3033]

I always go down the evil route. It's just more fun, especially in Bioware games, which let you kill merchants to resolve disputes, push random soldiers out of windows, punch reporters, and exterminate entire species...amongst other things. The responses you get from being evil are much more entertaining, you get a wider variety of options, and it's just more fun.

I've always found antagonists more interesting; they're a lot easier to relate to, and they have a more believable set of goals and motivations, generally speaking. Plus, antagonists usually drive the plot. Without them, what would the game be? Great heroes are made by greater villains, at least to me. So, the chance to be my own antagonist and screw everyone over is a welcome opportunity.

As for the morality system itself...well, thinking about it with any degree of seriousness annoys me, because I loathe the black and white approach to morality. If you do this it automatically makes you evil, if you don't then your lack of action automatically makes you good. The lack of a grey area, or any sort of justification for "evil" acts, really bothers me. It's never really much of a choice at all - you're either good, or you're evil. If you're good people celebrate you, if you're evil then they either shrink away in fear or pelt you with stones.

 

[Nolafus]

I'm always on the good side. Even if it's virtual, I still can't be really mean to people. Heck, in the Mass Effect series, I'm almost 100% paragon. I guess I'm boring like that, but it's the style I prefer to play. The characters are nice to you, and open up to you more as well, and if you know me, then you know that my favorite part of any movie/video game is the part with the most character development. And if you're playing good, then you get to see that.

 

[Satoshi Ookami]

Actually... I'm bit of both so I end up being neutral =D
But eventually, I play on both sides because of completion syndrome =D

 

[Kyrul]

I always end up walking the good path. I feel guilty if I don't, lol.

 

[Necrum]

this is probably a weird mix of on and off topic, but in bioshock 2 when you deal with the mutant guy living in the water, I thought that the moral thing was to kill him because it was his last sane wish, and yet somehow the right choice is letting him free if you wan the achievement for being good. it really bothered me that they missed such a chance to be morally ambiguous rather than assuming that letting people live is always the moral choice.

 

[Nah]

Usually I try to play both the good and evil ends of the spectrum in games (not at the same time). Sometimes I take a somewhat more neutral approach (sure, I could peacefully resolve things with that guy who owes the casino debt, but shooting him is far easier, especially when the client doesn't care if he's dead or not). You get more outta the games playing more than one side.

But during the times I've played games with morality systems, being evil has generally been more fun. It's probably because most other games force you to play the hero (and usually one that either just goes with the flow too much or has some obnoxiously idealistic views), so it's a little boring to be the hero AGAIN. Besides, I was the good guy on my previous playthrough. And why should I have qualms about being a dick to charactres that aren't even real? And like Zeria said, the anti-heroes/villains/antagonists of the stories tend to be more interesting characters than the heroes/protagonists of the stories, at least to me (Usually. Validar you are not an interesting character).

Also, I'm not exactly fond of the super black and white approach that games with morality systems tend to have.

 

[El Héroe Oscuro]

The only game I've played recently with this system is Fallout 3. I of course killed everyone and everything. I guess being bad allows for more freedom in my opinion. The hero always has to do this or that, save the world. The villain does whatever they want.

The bigger question here is did you end up blowing up Megaton or did you save it?

 

[Dustmop]

Chaotic Neutral. :P

I haven't really played a lot of games that use a morality system.. but I'm not gonna lie -- most of the time I just choose the dialogue options that give me the better stuff in the end.
I don't really care where I end up on the morality scale, so long as I have the best armor, or if I get one of the better endings (well, one of the ones I'd prefer to see, it may not necessarily be a "good" outcome), so on and so forth.

For example, in Fallout 3 I was purely Evil, stole everything, killed everyone that wasn't necessary to my story line, etc. On the other hand, in NV I was primarily Good, occasionally dipping into Neutral, because the faction system made it a bit harder to get a lot of out of it if you killed everyone. I still stole all the food I could carry.

If there's not much difference between rewards, or if they're not worth the effort, I'll just take the quickest route to finish the quest at hand. I've got other quests to do, dude. I don't have all day. Turning to Fallout 3 again, in all my playthroughs I've never bothered to find Harold's heart. That **** took too long, the Flamer works faster.

 

[JesteR]

The bigger question here is did you end up blowing up Megaton or did you save it?

I blew it up. It was kind of an accident, though, 'cause my friend told me that there was a glitch to get the suite in the tower and save Megaton, but I messed up. :|

 

[El Héroe Oscuro]

I blew it up. It was kind of an accident, though, 'cause my friend told me that there was a glitch to get the suite in the tower and save Megaton, but I messed up. :|

Ah, but that's what all we dastardly villains say to cover it up wink wink >;)

 

[Leviathan]

If a game featuring a morality system yields polarising endings depending on which side of the morality scale you tend to lean more towards, I usually lalways lean towards being bad. Playing a game as a despised, hated character is so rare a opportunity that I always wish to seize upon it. I love bad guys more than good guys, so I guess that's just my thing. I have made some exceptions though for games whose mortality system doesn't really affect the plot much (Take Infamous 1 for example) or that being the good guy simply nets you more bonuses in the long run (Bioshock). I have yet to fully work through the Mass Effect games, so I'm eager to see how their morality scale works.

 

[Tinkalila]

I always choose good, I'd be guilty if I didn't. But the 2nd time around I'll choose evil. Being the completionist I am, I have to play both sides!

 

[Judge Mandolore Shepard]

For some games I have played that have a morality system, I have my reasons for why I play a certain alignment. In the KotOR games, I love going Dark Side since I love using Dark Side powers like Force Lightning and Force Choke. As for the Mass Effect series, I tend to play Paragon since in Mass Effect 3 I can get more allies and resources than I can get if I was to play Renegade.

 

[Kameken]

For me, it depends on the severity of the evil option and the reward you get from either. I'll gladly stab the backs of retreating Stormcloak soldiers in Skyrim, for example, and I've been known to kill people in RPGs despite there being a peaceful way out of the situation. However, there is a limit to how much bad I can do before I feel guilty. In Overlord, you are offered the option to either save a huge pile of gold or the last female elves in existence. As annoying as elves often are, even I can't commit genocide like that just for money. I also tend to balance out my evil actions by helping and saving those who I think deserve it.

 

[Klippy]

I have tried to be bad, but I always stay good. I don't know if it's just my morality interfering, but I can honestly say that I tend to do good in games. Even in Mass Effect on renegade runs, I always do a few good things that I feel like I just can't handle doing bad over. I never could do Mass Effect 3 renegade because of this, as there are too many life-altering consequences in that game as compared to the first two. :P