Molyneux Says Americans Find it Harder to Be Evil

John Funk

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Dec 20, 2005
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Molyneux Says Americans Find it Harder to Be Evil



Given the choice between good and evil in a game, says Fable mastermind Peter Molyneux, Americans tend towards good much more than Europeans or Japanese do - in fact, only 10% of American gamers choose to follow the evil path.

Peter Molyneux, to quote one caustic-tongued Brit-turned-Aussie, is all about giving the player "motherf***ing CHOICE!" in his games - and while said choices do usually boil down to the extremes of Mother Teresa vs Sauron, they're still choices. Molyneux spoke with GameSetWatch [http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2009/08/indepth_peter_molyneux_on_the.php] about the importance of choice in his games, and how players viewed the options of good and evil.

The implications of a clearly good side and a clearly defined side have a strong effect on human perception, said Molyneux, pointing to his 1989 god game Populous, where journalists who reviewed the game told him "that they thought the red (evil) game faction was more cunning or vindictive than the blue. In fact, the two sides had the same AI, showing both preconceptions and how choosing good or evil can make things feel very different."

Interestingly enough, Molyneux also claims that people find it hard to be evil in games, "especially Americans." In comparison, European and Japanese gamers are "more liberated," in the sense that they're more accustomed to using fantasy as a vehicle for escapism: "As many as 40% of [Japanese gamers] choose the evil side in the game. In contrast, only 10% of Americans playing the title ended up getting evil, in-game."

I don't know about you, but I kind of find that hard to believe. Sure, I tend towards making the "good" choices, but... 10% seems an awfully low number for this sort of thing. Can it really be that low, Peter?

According to Molyneux, the tendency toward good is so strong that many gamers will choose it even at a hefty cost - though they don't have to like it. In fact, a certain spoiler-y choice at the end of Fable II generated so much "hate mail from people" that Lionhead ended up giving an option to reverse the consequences of said choice in the game's DLC.

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teutonicman

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Mar 30, 2009
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Yeah it's fun to be the good guy but god damn it peter better make it possible to shoot kids in the face for fable 3.
 

black lincon

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Aug 21, 2008
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like I've always said, America is the worlds Gilligan. although I feel these numbers are skewed simply based off who said them.
 

Legion

Were it so easy
Oct 2, 2008
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Somewhat ironic considering the image of America of the world in general.

I have to wonder where these numbers came from, a poll? Those are never accurate, stupid people choose what they think they should put.
 

fix-the-spade

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Feb 25, 2008
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I think Molyneux should go and talk to the people of Bhopal. Then say Americans struggle with evil...

Although in a game he might have a point, although I'd say people who struggle with suspending disbelief in general have problems with being bad, maybe you can divide that by nationality as well.
 

Kinguendo

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Apr 10, 2009
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This cant be true... has he been engaged in conversation with a Republican American on CoD4? They say some pretty evil things, I mean come on! Who whispers "I am gonna rape you, oh I'm gonna rape you!" down the mic? Thats just disturbing.
 

Legion

Were it so easy
Oct 2, 2008
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MaxTheReaper said:
EDIT: Though I will admit, I find it easier to be a dick in real life than I do in game.
I'm not sure why.
As do I, I know the reason why though.

In real life people usually deserve it. In a game such as Fallout 3, you have to force yourself to be nasty because the good people never deserve it and killing evil people (even when they are pricks) gives you good karma.
 

Virtual_Dom

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Jul 3, 2009
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yes another useless fact to present to the world

besides thats probably true because the evil choices are so cartoonishly villanous
 

Robert632

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May 11, 2009
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huh. ou'd think people would do what i do( mass murdering sprees.) they are somewhat more satisfying then giving money to hobos.
 

Xaositect

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Mar 6, 2008
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Bullshit. Most of the American opinions Ive seen in regards to Mass Effects choices seem to be of the angry 13 year old mentality.
 

Lord_Panzer

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Feb 6, 2009
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MaxTheReaper said:
EDIT: Though I will admit, I find it easier to be a dick in real life than I do in game.
I'm not sure why.
Perhaps because you feel a greater level of emotional attachment to the computer generated characters of the video game than you do their flesh-and-blood counterparts that you can actually reach out and punch?

One of multiple possibilities.
 

Crimsane

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Apr 11, 2009
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Evil will always triumph because good is dumb! Muahahahaha-pant-wheeze. I tend to try both just because I'm a curious man, but I usually go for evil first. It's generally the more fun, less tedious route (i.e. shoot the guy in the face and just take the reward you'd have had to fight through a monster-filled cave and rescue someone to obtain if you went the good route.)

I'm thinking this is a case of "90% of Molyneux's figures are made up on the spot. Much like this figure."