BioWare: Games Without Violence Possible

[murphy7801]

It was possible to beat fallout 1 without killing anything. You can talk the last boss into blowing himself up with a nuke.

try that theory in SS2

 

[Shepard's Shadow]

I like the idea. They would be like interactive movies.

 

[Flying-Emu]

*Cough* Ace attorney *Cough*

There was violence implied in that though. Does that count?

 

[Standby]

What about Guitar Hero/Rock Band franchises? They've collectively made enough money to hire and fire God the Devil and Bob.

 

[Bulletinmybrain]

I posit Black Isle's (RIP) Planescape Torment, where maybe two battles are mandatory. The first RPG that allowed you to think or charm your way out of a fight. I'm fairly sure Bioware know something about it, since they and Black Isle collaborated on so many RPGs.

To be fair, they should really shut up at this point, fallout and fallout 2 actually support a non-violence approach, none of the battles are forced, you can run through conflict and such so you don't have to fight.

 

[Rigs83]

I think that the PS3 has a game where all you do is blow wind on a petal or something like that. Can't remember the game's name.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

They could always start by emphasizing more on the story and less on the violence.

 

[NeutralDrow]

Planescape Torment came pretty close. I think there's only two instances in the game that can't be solved without violence.

And is there much violence in Harvest Moon?

 

[Woe Is You]

Yeah, this statement is one of the most redundant ones I've come across in a while.

A good story has memorable characters and situations, but it always centers around a conflict of some kind. Without violence, what conflict can there be and still be interesting? 'Shucks, I'm out of milk, now I must go get milk!'?

Postal 2 comes to mind... though you could just shoot the shopkeeper and everyone in the store if you didn't want to wait that long for your milk.

Also, yeah, there are plenty of games out there without violence and with an audience. Tetris, anyone? Or any abstract puzzle games, come to think of it. There are plenty of point and click adventure games like this, too, and that's a gametype where the game is the writing. Sports games. Music games. Some of these kinds of games have ended up topping the sale charts. Of course it's possible to have a game without violence.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

SO we will wind up with something like beast machines with a contrived and convoluted plot, where the heroes are not allowed to fight directly but have to use simplistic traps and crap?


The whole anti violence thing is anti climatic and boring not to mention silly, we already have 3 or 4 genres of non violent games from sports to puzzle to more abstract action titles.....

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

They could always start by emphasizing more on the story and less on the violence.

They would have to start witting better..... and that's to costly.

 

[13lackfriday]

I don't mind games that have the option to reason your way out of a violent confrontation, but I don't like the idea where you can't shoot someone who's simply getting on your nerves.

I get the idea they're going to come up with some kind of horrid child's game that involves collecting butterflies and organizing flower bouquets...like most casual games today.

*Cough* Ace attorney *Cough*

*Cough* Verbal violence *Cough*

 

[Credge]

This is painfully obvious to anyone who has kept their eyes open at any point in gaming history ever. Many, many, many games have no violence, or the violence isn't the focal point of the game.

I wonder if BioWare has actually payed attention to anything other than the stuff they make. Surely the reason they got in the business was because of games they played when they were young and surely they played a game when they were young that didn't revolve around violence.

Right?

 

[Pendragon9]

What, are they trying the Jack Thompson approach?

I apologize if they think Murder simulators are apparently dying out. They're here to stay.

 

[L.B. Jeffries]

If someone were to make a cheesey romance novel for the Wii like a Bioware RPG, you would potentially explode with money from your ample, bare chest as the manly hero rides in and saves the player from the cruel world by dragging her to his love temple.

I'm just saying.

 

[kawligia]

When oh when will they create a non-violent version of Guitar Hero?

 

[Gotham Soul]

HERESY, I say! A good game is one that connects to the people who play it, and what better way to connect with humanity than with blood, tits and large weapons?

 

[mattttherman3]

Idea for a game without violence: make a replica new york with puzzle pieces, but on the computer.

 

[Macar]

There's potential for conflict in storys without violence. I dont think they're talking about games with no conflict or games without story. They're talking about different conflicts.

For example, a game could focus around being a cortier, life is full of conflict and social jockeying. Your every move, every friendship, every step in a court dance could cost you your career. That's just an example, there are lots of possibilities, look at the non-violent conflict in novels and movies.

Now to most gamers, I think it dosent make a difference- a good game is a good game, we're used to buying into the world the game sets up- violent or otherwise. But there are non-gamers who have a problem with violence, and such games could be important to them.