Poll: Morality in games.

[fezzthemonk]

I notice that a lot of games these days, give us, the gamer, the choice. The choice to save a village or destroy it, or hell lets just ignore the village and go play with a rabbit over here. Personally, i like the choice. I think it makes games better because it doesn't force us to act a certain way. I like to feel like what i do has some weight without it being obviously scripted out. I wanna know how my other escapist's fell on the topic.

I know about the extra credit about this, that's what gave me the idea.

 

[viranimus]

Well, I would like to see more moral choices that actually have relevance.

Problem is that Moral choices have been kinda pushed on people over the years and its getting to a point where people are getting tired of either being a saint, or being a prick and then having your progress represent in a meter or an appearance mod.

New Vegas is promising to have more varied moral implications as well as have it affect plot elements. However ive yet to see this actually be delivered as promised so we will have to wait and see.

 

[Judgement101]

There are like 10 threads about this.

OT:It's just a gimmick like motion controls.

 

[JokerCrowe]

I think Extra Credits did a show on this once. Go check it out. But basically; yeah sure, if the developers know what to do woth it, and make it a core part of gameplay, a lot more games should/could have moral choice systems. The problem is that they haave to work woth the game.
Plants vs. Zombies doesn't need one, for example.

 

[vanthebaron]

yes I think that'll be better...more broad powers

 

[Ironic Pirate]

Depends on the implementation.

In fable three, your sword will change in appearance depending on how evil or good you are. This, is bad. Why? For one thing, I want my damn sword to look a certain fucking why, regardless of whether I'm lopping off peasant or dragon heads with it. For another, it's gimmicky and entirely one dimensional.

A system where good and evil aren't made clear, where you can do bad things but still be a good person over all, that is what they should try for. Where intentions and results are measured separately, and different characters have different interpretations of morality.

 

[NeedAUserName]

I don't mind if a game doesn't include it, but if they do then it has to be implemented. Thats the problem, its rare because its just an additional non-necessary feature in most games, which means it doesn't get a whole lot of attention, but it still needs to be done well, or its utterly crap and gimmicky.

 

[YouBecame]

I liked the Mass Effect system. Where there wasn't just a moral scale, but just quantities of good and bad represented by actions. Stuff like that, used in conjunction with some real in game decisions would be a very good implementation of a moral choice system.

 

[Serenegoose]

I think the idea of moral/immoral actions in games is a good start, but it's one we shouldn't try to linger in. More complexity than 'be a really ineffectual bad guy because the plot will ultimately require at least some heroism from you' or 'be a saintly saint' is definitely preferable.

 

[theComposer]

A system where good and evil aren't made clear, where you can do bad things but still be a good person over all, that is what they should try for. Where intentions and results are measured separately, and different characters have different interpretations of morality.

Dragon Age: Origins had something like this, which I am a big fan of. The whole Good-Bad slider was cool for about 2 games, but it's a one-dimensional system that usually forces you towards either one end of the spectrum or the other in order to reap the most rewards (I'm looking at you, Mass Effect).

In addition to your decisions being morally ambiguous, they also need to have impact beyond just adjusting your morality gauge. I think Bethesda and Bioware do a great job with this, but there is a lot of room to improve. The more plentiful, deep, and impactful the choices in a game, the more immersive, because it feels as if you're interacting with a real world with real consequences to your actions.

Also, see the Extra Credits on this. (You might have to go to Youtube; the video may have been from before it was called Extra Credits.)