Warning contains minor spoilers for Fallout 3
tl/dr I gained perspective about who I am based on the games karma rating of me.
I've been playing Fallout 3 for the past few days, and I've truly began to understand how good it is on so many levels. The writing is thoughtful, the setting feels genuine, and the best aspect of it that most people agree on is the ability to choose your own path. As a result, I learned something about myself, and it was enhanced by the games karma system. I am only done with the early portion of the game, for reference I haven't even made it to the GNR building yet.
When I play video games, I like to project myself into the character when deciding certain actions, "the what would I do if I had freakishly good regenerative capabilities and skill that could be enhanced by staring really hard at a bobble head." So I played Fallout 3 like doing the actions I would do in real life. I stole for my benefit, but I did the best I could to help people around me by making them feel better and ending conflict. In short I wanted to grow wings and shit rainbows like any self respecting benevolent person would.
Early on I came across a fortified settlement called Tenpenny Tower. It's inhabitants were the itemization of rich snobbery. The people there truly believed in their dominance over everyone else because they had more wealth. Essentially they were a golf club of conservatives with sticks shoved so far up their asses that, for the the first time in the game, I wasn't surprised that they had wooden expressions on their faces. Not to mention there wasn't a face darker than Conan O'Brian's, and not to subtle hint there Bethesda.
At the time, the guards at Tenpenny Tower weren't letting in these ghouls, who are essentially fully cognoscente zombies. The ghouls just wanted to live with the humans in peace, but their denial raised tensions between the groups and their fighting was immanent. The ghouls had enough with pleading to be treated with equality, they were just going to tip the balance in their favor. This to me raised the ideas of segregation, with the ghouls adopting a Malcolm X approach to equality (stop singing and start swinging) and the old-guard white domination that was prevalent in the 60's. My goal was to be the MLK of the conflict.
I talked with both groups and tried to figure out a way for the ghouls to be accepted into the community. Some of the Tenpenny residents weren't keen on the idea, so I ran the most hardcore of them out of town by stealing from them and even going to the point of revealing to a woman that her husband cheated on her, which led to her murdering the lovers and forcing her out of town. In the end I accomplished my goal. Ghouls moved in and everyone was happy.
I come back to the Tower the next day to talk to an old adventurer I met the day before, but I find the building barren. When I walked in the basement, there was a pile of dead bodies, they were all the residents that accepted the ghouls into their community. I was honestly shocked. When I found the ghouls in the suites, they told me that they decided to kill the residents anyways because they were assholes. This wasn't right, and I wasn't going to let their actions go unpunished, so I killed the leader ghouls best friend and girlfriend before finishing him off as punishment.
A little bit later on in the game I was ambushed by regulators. I was confused, but I managed to kill them off. One of the bodies had the bounty on my head, and it was for the unlawful murder of a societies people. The law was after me because I killed all those ghouls, because I didn't have the right to. I checked my Karma rating and it was goat demon raping Dick Cheney. Again I was confused. I did all I could to help people. I would give free water to beggars, I would help anyone in need, and I did what I thought was right, but when I broke down my actions, I realized how wicked of a person I have become. I stole whenever I had the chance, most if not all my actions were driven by what was in my best interest, and I had a sense of superiority over everyone else. I took it upon myself to decide what was right and wrong when it isn't my choice at all. I gave people the perception that I really was a good man when in reality I was just milking them until I found no more use of them. I truly was the worst kind of evil because I wasn't aware of it.
An ex-bandit joined my ranks as a result of my nefarious behavior. we roamed the wastelands stealing and killing to our hearts content, until I eventually came up on a woman who was living by herself in an abandoned town. I was stealing her food so I could sell it at a marked up price, but she caught me and took the food back. Out of anger I blew her brains out so I could get the stuff back. Looking at her dead body I learned that I was no different than the bandits that ran around the wasteland. I was evil scum, and I didn't like it. I decided to change myself then and there, and haven't stolen since.
I learned a lot about who I am just playing the first few hours of Fallout 3. It really did enrich my life because it's karma meter actually gave me a wake-up call to who I essentially was in the game. I know karma meters are very flawed, but instances like this really give me hope about their implementation.
EDIT Man I didn't realize how much I wrote, sorry about that, I added a tl/dr at the top
tl/dr I gained perspective about who I am based on the games karma rating of me.
I've been playing Fallout 3 for the past few days, and I've truly began to understand how good it is on so many levels. The writing is thoughtful, the setting feels genuine, and the best aspect of it that most people agree on is the ability to choose your own path. As a result, I learned something about myself, and it was enhanced by the games karma system. I am only done with the early portion of the game, for reference I haven't even made it to the GNR building yet.
When I play video games, I like to project myself into the character when deciding certain actions, "the what would I do if I had freakishly good regenerative capabilities and skill that could be enhanced by staring really hard at a bobble head." So I played Fallout 3 like doing the actions I would do in real life. I stole for my benefit, but I did the best I could to help people around me by making them feel better and ending conflict. In short I wanted to grow wings and shit rainbows like any self respecting benevolent person would.
Early on I came across a fortified settlement called Tenpenny Tower. It's inhabitants were the itemization of rich snobbery. The people there truly believed in their dominance over everyone else because they had more wealth. Essentially they were a golf club of conservatives with sticks shoved so far up their asses that, for the the first time in the game, I wasn't surprised that they had wooden expressions on their faces. Not to mention there wasn't a face darker than Conan O'Brian's, and not to subtle hint there Bethesda.
At the time, the guards at Tenpenny Tower weren't letting in these ghouls, who are essentially fully cognoscente zombies. The ghouls just wanted to live with the humans in peace, but their denial raised tensions between the groups and their fighting was immanent. The ghouls had enough with pleading to be treated with equality, they were just going to tip the balance in their favor. This to me raised the ideas of segregation, with the ghouls adopting a Malcolm X approach to equality (stop singing and start swinging) and the old-guard white domination that was prevalent in the 60's. My goal was to be the MLK of the conflict.
I talked with both groups and tried to figure out a way for the ghouls to be accepted into the community. Some of the Tenpenny residents weren't keen on the idea, so I ran the most hardcore of them out of town by stealing from them and even going to the point of revealing to a woman that her husband cheated on her, which led to her murdering the lovers and forcing her out of town. In the end I accomplished my goal. Ghouls moved in and everyone was happy.
I come back to the Tower the next day to talk to an old adventurer I met the day before, but I find the building barren. When I walked in the basement, there was a pile of dead bodies, they were all the residents that accepted the ghouls into their community. I was honestly shocked. When I found the ghouls in the suites, they told me that they decided to kill the residents anyways because they were assholes. This wasn't right, and I wasn't going to let their actions go unpunished, so I killed the leader ghouls best friend and girlfriend before finishing him off as punishment.
A little bit later on in the game I was ambushed by regulators. I was confused, but I managed to kill them off. One of the bodies had the bounty on my head, and it was for the unlawful murder of a societies people. The law was after me because I killed all those ghouls, because I didn't have the right to. I checked my Karma rating and it was goat demon raping Dick Cheney. Again I was confused. I did all I could to help people. I would give free water to beggars, I would help anyone in need, and I did what I thought was right, but when I broke down my actions, I realized how wicked of a person I have become. I stole whenever I had the chance, most if not all my actions were driven by what was in my best interest, and I had a sense of superiority over everyone else. I took it upon myself to decide what was right and wrong when it isn't my choice at all. I gave people the perception that I really was a good man when in reality I was just milking them until I found no more use of them. I truly was the worst kind of evil because I wasn't aware of it.
An ex-bandit joined my ranks as a result of my nefarious behavior. we roamed the wastelands stealing and killing to our hearts content, until I eventually came up on a woman who was living by herself in an abandoned town. I was stealing her food so I could sell it at a marked up price, but she caught me and took the food back. Out of anger I blew her brains out so I could get the stuff back. Looking at her dead body I learned that I was no different than the bandits that ran around the wasteland. I was evil scum, and I didn't like it. I decided to change myself then and there, and haven't stolen since.
I learned a lot about who I am just playing the first few hours of Fallout 3. It really did enrich my life because it's karma meter actually gave me a wake-up call to who I essentially was in the game. I know karma meters are very flawed, but instances like this really give me hope about their implementation.
EDIT Man I didn't realize how much I wrote, sorry about that, I added a tl/dr at the top
