I want to be Evil! ...But my companions are using the guilt trip.

[Free Thinker]

I suffer a one-sided karmic path. I just can't seem to deviate from good or righteousness.
Star Wars KotoR 1 & 2: Despite all the awesome Sith powers, went Jedi.
Fable 3: Went Good even though slaughtering innocent villagers was a tempting thought. Couldn't bear hurting people to save them. (Yay money exploit!)
Mass Effect: Paragon all the way. Even though Renegade is badass incarnate, I just couldn't do it.
Dragon Age: Origins: Tried to be evil, or at least a dick. Couldn't get beyond killing the scout in the swamp.
inFamous: So many explosions and red lightning! Nope. Good guy. Enjoy blue lightning and trying not to hit civilians.

It may be my personal feelings keeping me from enjoying a game's content, but it's getting pretty old when I give into a character's reasoning as to why I shouldn't beat up a rich old man, take his money, and use it to pay for amazing weapons and armor.

 

[Ace of Spades]

The problems I have with being evil are that I almost always have to look like an ugly ************, have my companions yell at me all the time, and I need to do evil things that just don't make sense in order to get the best dickhead points so I can unlock new toys. It's like in KotOR, when Kreia was yelling at me: "Are psychotic urges all the drive you?!", and I very much wanted to respond, "Yes, because the stupid dichotomy of the Force dictates that I need to be entirely good or evil to get the best stuff, so I can't role-play actual motivation for my character." I want a game in which I can make a stylish, sophisticated, and devious sort of villain, like Dimentio from Super Paper Mario.

 

[dstreet121]

The problem is that in most games the "evil" option is something crazy or irrational. For example killing that scout in Dragon Age: Origins has no benefit, so there's no reason to do it. A better way to have that situation would be to use him as bait to lure the darkspawn into a trap or something. Many games that have "evil" choices seem to only have them be the most extreme, psychotic kind of evil. There's such a thing as being evil and rational, and I think games rarely, if ever, give players a reason to be evil other than just being an immature dickhead.

Another thing I hate are karma meters, because then the game forces you to be all the way good or all the way evil. Any game with a good/evil choice system needs to make both choices valid solutions to a problem and shouldn't penalize you for solving a situation efficiently, just because it involved someone getting run over by a bus. Maybe that guy deserved to get run over, why are you so judgmental game?

 

[Sajuuk-khar]

Renegade isn't necesarily the evil choice though. In fact in quite a lot of cases the renegade option would be the logical thing to do (the paragon route sometimes being hopelessly naive/unrealistic).

Personally I don't have the problem. I do have an obsession with making 'perfect' runs though, by which I mean I pick what I think are the best choices (which would be Paragade, about 66%-34% paragon-renegade, in ME for example) and never ever deviate from that. I almost always play the good guy, except for against people who don't deserve it.
Although I have managed to complete full evil runs of some RPGs.

 

[MorsePacific]

This just reminds me of why being a renegade in Mass Effect isn't an option. You're either a by-the-book lawman full of honor and bravado or you're punching women in the face. No middle ground.

I'd be a happy camper if we did away with karma systems.

 

[evilneko]

I don't remember my companions harassing me much about my renegade choices in Mass Effect, but then I didn't much care for 2 and it's been a long time since I played the first. Also in the end I ended up saving the council anyway.

Overall I intended my femshep to be an otherwise cold ***** with her own sense of justice and who only really cares about her own "people" (biotics).

In other games there are usually like-minded companions available for an evil player character.

 

[k7avenger]

I don't know about you guys, but I'm REALLY tired of the whole "its either black or white, no gray" crap. Why doesn't the game just give us choices, and we can derive our own morality from that, instead of the game telling us what we do is bad or good? Why are the evil choices always like, "I'm killing you....because I can" when instead it should be like "I'm killing you because your organs are going to be used to save my wife" or something more reasonable.

 

[Chibz]

It may be my personal feelings keeping me from enjoying a game's content, but it's getting pretty old when I give into a character's reasoning as to why I shouldn't beat up a rich old man, take his money, and use it to pay for amazing weapons and armor.

Dude, you should just travel with evil companions. You know, ones that aren't total narcs.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

Try Fallout 3 that is a game that lets you be an utter asshole without someone wandering around you all the time going OH TSK TSK WHAT HAVE YOU DONE NOW.

Pretty much the same with oblivion.

Dragon Age 2 annoys the crap out of me with it's no evil companionsness. Isabela and Merill are chaotic good at best. Ugh.

Don't even get me started on Fable 3 which makes you be good for the first half of the game whether you choose to be or not. -.- with Walter standing there going 'Oh tsk tsk you didn't really mean that now did you.' It makes me wants to stab him in the face with his own mustache clipper.

Mass Effects 'evil' Is mainly just being a complete jerk to people... sigh.

I want them to get rid of that requirement where you can make your own mind up and are dictated by getting the most karma points for loyalty or abilities...it's just annoying and removes any point of a desicion making system.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

Try Fallout 3 that is a game that list you be an utter asshole without someone wandering around you all the time going OH TSK TSK WHAT HAVE YOU DONE NOW.

Murder threedog.

I hate morality in games., I never have a reason to be evil other than. I just can.

Fable 3 was close, but then people bitched and I had horns and evil stuff.

Yes becuase you really care about what 'Margeret the technician' thinks -.-

/careface.

I sneak mostly so I don't listen to the radio much anyways.

 

[Mathak]

The only games in which I've ever managed to play evil were Overlord 1 & 2. Coincidentally, Overlord 2 is also the only game I've found where you can play Lawful Evil instead of Chaotic Evil.

 

[mkg]

The problems I have with being evil are that I almost always have to look like an ugly ************, have my companions yell at me all the time, and I need to do evil things that just don't make sense in order to get the best dickhead points so I can unlock new toys. It's like in KotOR, when Kreia was yelling at me: "Are psychotic urges all the drive you?!", and I very much wanted to respond, "Yes, because the stupid dichotomy of the Force dictates that I need to be entirely good or evil to get the best stuff, so I can't role-play actual motivation for my character." I want a game in which I can make a stylish, sophisticated, and devious sort of villain, like Dimentio from Super Paper Mario.

Bingo. Life isn't full of black and white choices and neither should our games be. It would be nice to have to make tough decisions that align you along a certain storyline or with a certain faction rather than just be "good" or "evil".

 

[mkg]

Try Fallout 3 that is a game that list you be an utter asshole without someone wandering around you all the time going OH TSK TSK WHAT HAVE YOU DONE NOW.

Murder threedog.

I hate morality in games., I never have a reason to be evil other than. I just can.

Fable 3 was close, but then people bitched and I had horns and evil stuff.

Yes becuase you really care about what 'Margeret the technician' thinks -.-

/careface.

I sneak mostly so I don't listen to the radio much anyways.

Less anoying than "He murdered some innocent ghouls in a tunnel for english hitler, Alistair tenpenny."
He talks about fighng the good fight, but he does fuck all, then slags me off after I have done more goothan he ever will.

Hmmm wonder if I can enslave him.

Yea but even Fallout makes most choices noble or ignoble. Why can;t there be two choices which both result in being good, but force you to sacrifice something either way? Kind of like near the end of mass effect 1.

 

[Fishyash]

It may be my personal feelings keeping me from enjoying a game's content, but it's getting pretty old when I give into a character's reasoning as to why I shouldn't beat up a rich old man, take his money, and use it to pay for amazing weapons and armor.

Use this anger (assumption that you don't like feeling this way), conquer it and master it to become an unstoppable hate machine and you will be riding the evil train to awesome bad guy powers in no time!

Honestly though, in my opinion, good/evil choices should be;

1. Less Black and White
2. Have more options (subtle ones)
3. No snowballing. Honestly it's kind of silly that you can't really benefit from taking balance, it should be either all good or all evil to get the best rewards in game.

Bleh, I will resist using Planescape: Torment as an example and just not bother giving any.

Except planescape might have done a little bit of snowballing (must be evil to use X item), but it's not exactly like mass effect where you lose dialog options if you don't have enough paragon/renegade points.

 

[mkg]

Try Fallout 3 that is a game that list you be an utter asshole without someone wandering around you all the time going OH TSK TSK WHAT HAVE YOU DONE NOW.

Murder threedog.

I hate morality in games., I never have a reason to be evil other than. I just can.

Fable 3 was close, but then people bitched and I had horns and evil stuff.

Yes becuase you really care about what 'Margeret the technician' thinks -.-

/careface.

I sneak mostly so I don't listen to the radio much anyways.

Less anoying than "He murdered some innocent ghouls in a tunnel for english hitler, Alistair tenpenny."
He talks about fighng the good fight, but he does fuck all, then slags me off after I have done more goothan he ever will.

Hmmm wonder if I can enslave him.

Yea but even Fallout makes most choices noble or ignoble. Why can;t there be two choices which both result in being good, but force you to sacrifice something either way? Kind of like near the end of mass effect 1.

Mass ffect is terrible for moral choices.

Either way soverign dies. So sacrafice is pointless.
To make it easier the top option is always good te bottom is always evil, and they so far always reward the good, stuck up, holier than thou paragons.

I meant the point where you choose to sacrifice a team mate. That was a good addition, sure it boiled down to who you used more or had more dialogue developed with, but it wasn't about good or evil, you had to make a judgement call with no right answer. I think more examples of that would make player created characters a little more complex as you are always a little hesitant of your choices because there is no archetype you are shooting for, it's just your own decision and you have to live with the consequences.

 

[Richardplex]

I think Yatzee sums it up best, Being evil loses its charm when you get rewarded for it. I always go for, RP a character and do the choices that character makes. I never go full evil or full good. generally, more good though.

The ME1 choice is a bit rubbish. good, evil, whatever path I took, I sacrificed the council. There was no logic good or evil for saving them at the cost of human lives and possibly sovereign getting out alive.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

You are not alone. I too cannot play evil in any game. I was able to do it in Dragon Age: Origins, and Dragon Age II because the way I looked at it, it wasn't being evil so much as practical. I saved everyone I could in both games--Did you know you could side with the Templars and not slaughter the mages or kill Wynne in Origins?--but I will never do it again. I did it simply for the trophies, and it nearly killed me. My conscience scream at me and makes me feel sick whenever I do something even slightly evil. It's rather annoying.

In Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2, I don't see it as evil, but rather as being a Paragon or a really big jerk--but a jerk who is practical. However, some of the things in the renegade option I just can't do, so I steer clear of it.
All that said, what REALLY bothers me is when games have trophies and achievements attached to good/evil. Platinum for InFamous? Never going to get it. Acquire 75% renegade points in Mass Effect? Never going to get it. Mass Effect 2 and the BioShock games did it right. They didn't have the trophies attached to any evil actions (and aside from that one in BioShock), they weren't attached to good actions either. You simply made a choice. And because of that, I have platinum trophies for all three of those games.