Poll: Would you play as a truly appalling person in a game?

[axillarypuma]

the only characters similar to that are the main characters in manhunt 1 and 2, that game is fucking sick, but it was an enjoyable stealth game and the theme was pretty disturbing.

Still waiting for a manhunt 3.

 

[verdant monkai]

You'r actually right on the money. He's the Villain Protagonist of this eroge called Virgin Roster. He's an unrepentant rapist working as a High School teacher, hoping to gain some sex slaves in the form of some students & a few faculty members. He's essentially a complete scumbag of a character.

I see you live in America. Shame.

If you lived over here I'd ask you to come by my flat and play it with me. I guess it's just not to be :'(

 

[DarklordKyo]

I see you live in America. Shame.

If you lived over here I'd ask you to come by my flat and play it with me. I guess it's just not to be :'(

I don't even own a copy, so you'd be kinda screwed even if I did lived near you (unless you got yourself one). If you decide you want to get yourself a copy, it was given an english translation, and you can buy a physical copy from Amazon or eBay.

 

[ThisNickname]

It all comes down to developer, doesn't it? =) In the right hands, that could be really amazing (though probably not very enjoyable). Lazy minds could reduce it to cheap shock value. The Escapist's own Mr. Chipman likes to say that you can make a good movie out of anything, and I think the same holds true for games, and indeed media in general.

So yeah... it depends. (Sorry.) X)

 

[Timedraven 117]

I actually know entire race of people like that. They are called the Dark Eldar, and they will prolong your suffering for so long that you will wish you were dead in the first hour. Seriously those guys are demented as all hell.

Would i play as someone like the Dark Eldar or someone who you described? Probably. My parents would heavily reject it however (I'm not allowed to buy GTA)

 

[otakon17]

I'm not talking like GTA's Trevor Phillips level of evil, where they have no problem with torture and casually murder people. I'm talking about someone who is a literal piece of filth. Someone who:-

1.Is a sadist in every sense of the word
2.Will steal from the very poor
3.Rapes people
4.Kills children
5.Would prefer to leave an enemy to die broken and mutilated rather than finish them off.
6.Is manipulative and willing to exploit the earnest and unaware.

Basically would you be interested in playing as a person who is almost everything that is wrong with humanity? I'm sure some would like the "it depends" option, so lets say that the character does all six of those things. Would you still be able to play the game? I'm not saying you'd have to be comfortable whilst doing so.

Personally I'd be very interested to. Gaming is a good medium to explore such a dark theme. For example you wouldn't have to put any child actors through anything questionable to get footage. And actors wouldn't be reluctant to sign up to have their image used in an unpleasant way. But I can easily see why people would be offended by the idea.

What do you guys think?

Nope, I've tried to be an evil selfish bastard in games that let you have that option. I can't do it, it makes me queasy and uneasy. It's not like I don't know it's virtual characters with no real emotions or feelings, it just doesn't feel right. SOMETIMES I'll do the "renegade" or "evil" option but only in the most justifiable of cases(like how is taking down an enemy combatant with an explosion in a story scene "renegade" if I'm just going to have to kill them anyway?).

 

[kaizen2468]

Depends if it was my choice. Take SW:KoTR. I'm always a pretty sadistic darkside asshole, but I have control of it. If they just did w/e vile thing they wanted without my input I wouldn't play them probably, or wouldn't enjoy it.

 

[WouldYouKindly]

Wasn't that Postal in a nutshell?

I mean, I don't mind playing an omnicidal maniac. When sufficiently bored, I turn into this in any sandbox game. I don't mind playing a right bastard from time to time. However, I think this is going a bit far. Even evil has standards.

Then again, playing as a Viking in Crusader Kings III is kind of close to that. You can certainly maim opponents, abduct women for either ransom or concubines, kill children because they hold titles you want, and steal from other people's poor people. What lets them get away with it is distance and no graphical representation of such things taking place.

On a side note, I've been spending far too much time on TV Tropes.

 

[Dragonlayer]

It depends on how I personally view the character really.

I mean, I thought I'd be fine with being an appalling excuse for a human being until I played GTA V which is chock-full of unlikable twats. But on the other hand, I typically go for the "Evil" options in RPGs and didn't even blame Captain Walker that much for his actions in Spec Ops: The Line. I think I'm going to go ahead and agree with the posers talking about "Doing 'evil' things for more intelligent and believable reasons then for the lolz". For example, I sided with Caeser's Legion not because I get off on slavery and genocide but because I felt their ruthless actions were the best solution to the anarchy of New Vegas and the Nevada wastes.

 

[Ice Car]

Thaaaaat really depends. I'm the kind of person that detests playing as a villain if it means siding with somebody that inherently goes against what I believe in. I can't side with the Legion in New Vegas for instance, because of, well, everything that they do. I've never so much as explored their side of the story, because I detested the idea of killing people that didn't deserve it for those that I found morally reprehensible in a video game no less. Not sure if that's a sign of me being too soft or just getting too immersed in the game universe whenever I play.

Let's see. From a gameplay standpoint, is this method of play a lot more fun? Are the people we're killing just nameless NPCs that I couldn't care about? Is that all the game allows you to do? I dunno. I don't like playing as absolute evil and there'd actually have to be a lot for me to play as one. Ambiguous evil, or anti-heroes I can get behind, but I can't role play as a person that's mean to good people in any capacity.

 

[Sofus]

That depends on the situation, the outcome and how much the game decides to punish me.

I'm not sure how anyone could manage to incorporate something like being sadistic into a game.. isn't it relatd to getting gratification from causing pain? oh right... we all love to play games that have combat in them.

I rather doubt that I would ever want to play a game that had a rape mechanic. I also doubt that any sane developer would want to work on such a mechanic in the first place.

I'm okay with killing children in games.. especially the ones in Skyrim.

I left Mr. House to rot away in the Lucky 38.. and it felt right.

Would I steal from the poor? well... if they are so poor then they won't miss those five gold coins anyway. Oh and manipulating people isn't always a bad thing. I often play a goodie two shoe character... that just happens to steal, lie, murder, betray and exploit everyone so long as there aren't any real negative consequences.

 

[KefkaCultist]

Well, I don't meet all of that criteria, but my Oblivion/Skyrim character (or in pretty much any game like that) is usually a bit of a dick.

I steal from churches, the poor, women, children, or even the fence that I sell to, usually sell his own stuff that I'd just stolen.

I have killed children in those games after modding in the ability to do so. Namely Jarl Balgruff's bratty semen-spawns in Whiterun.

Also, I usually have magic with my sneakiness that charms people into fighting with me or fighting each other, so that kinda covers the manipulative thing.

I've also killed NPCs just because I felt like it. Then I usually steal all of their belongings of value.

No rape or leaving people broken instead of mercy killing (although, that'd be something I'd do if that was an option). So, all in all, maybe not evil, but a massive dick nonetheless.

 

[Olas]

WOW! When I first clicked on this thread it said there were 143 pages of comments and I lost my shit thinking this thread had turned into some sort of unimaginably epic warzone. Then I refreshed the page and it turns out it was only 3 pages. Damn glitchy Escapist.

OT; No, I don't think I could, not unless the game was comedic and none of it was in any way meant to be taken seriously. I identify with my player as if we're the same person and if the player (aka me) is doing something I can't emotionally or ethically understand or connect with it feels wrong and I find myself resenting the game for forcing me to make decisions I don't agree with.

I'm fine and even enjoy morally gray characters, or making tough moral decisions. But playing someone who willfully rapes and murders without guilt? No way. That's just not relatable.

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

We all know the answer: A massive "Maybe" with a hefty dose of "it depends".

There's just so many variables it's impossible to pin it down. Do we see the acts committed? Are they gameplay or cutscene or merely text? Do we have a choice to refrain from doing them? Do we know what kind of person this character is from the start? Is the game trying to be serious? How detailed are the graphics? How central are these acts to the game's narrative if there is one?

 

[Mr.Squishy]

Huh? What? I've already played God of War, mate.
Going from just the thread title alone for shits and giggles, here

 

[Dunwich]

games with characters like those exist tho mostly in horror games, silent hill has some pretty detestable protagonists and so did amnesia and i think the chinese room one did as well.

 

[Chemical Alia]

No, I don't think I would ever do that. When I play games, I like having the option to be the nicest and honest person possible, anything else just feels wrong to me because I am lame like that.

 

[Therumancer]

I'm not talking like GTA's Trevor Phillips level of evil, where they have no problem with torture and casually murder people. I'm talking about someone who is a literal piece of filth. Someone who:-

1.Is a sadist in every sense of the word
2.Will steal from the very poor
3.Rapes people
4.Kills children
5.Would prefer to leave an enemy to die broken and mutilated rather than finish them off.
6.Is manipulative and willing to exploit the earnest and unaware.

Basically would you be interested in playing as a person who is almost everything that is wrong with humanity? I'm sure some would like the "it depends" option, so lets say that the character does all six of those things. Would you still be able to play the game? I'm not saying you'd have to be comfortable whilst doing so.

Personally I'd be very interested to. Gaming is a good medium to explore such a dark theme. For example you wouldn't have to put any child actors through anything questionable to get footage. And actors wouldn't be reluctant to sign up to have their image used in an unpleasant way. But I can easily see why people would be offended by the idea.

What do you guys think?

Well, strictly speaking other than the rape your pretty much looking at typical PC behavior in a lot of games. In say "Fallout" your typical player will do almost all of the above, especially Fallout 2 where you can still target children. Indeed in most RPGs in general your pretty much encouraged to go through everyone's houses, and use pick pocketing (regardless of social status) to literally suck every coin out of a town. When it comes to sadism, well a
lot of games encourage things like "nut shots" and the like.

The thing is though that most people really just don't think about it when they are doing this stuff, or if they do they find it mildly amusing to be over the top malevolent.

Indeed that kind of detachment among gamers kind of what this video is about (which makes me laugh even years later):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcbazH6aE2g

I mean seriously, stop and think about some of the stuff you've done in video games in the past, whether it's suspending some poor schmuck in the air and punting them with lift and throw to see how far the enemy can fly in Mass Effect, to aiming for the nuts for respect in Saints Row (for that matter.... Saint's Row probably has the most gleefully sociopathic protagonist ever), or running over pedestrians with a tank for achievements in Prototype as you travel from place to place... well... I think it's a better question to ask how many people don't occasionally act malevolent in these games. For example look at people's "Red, Dead, Redemption" achievements, you'll find nearly everyone has one for tying up a woman, and throwing her on the train tracks to be run over by a train. Oh sure in my case I did it to one of the girls who helped with a stick up trap for me, but it's still pretty sadistic (and the whole thing is basically a joke about Dudley Do Right and it's villain Snively Whiplash's favorite trick).

 

[Mersadeon]

I will and I have. it really depends though. I can't STAND GTA5 at all, I could never play it. Why? Because not only are those people assholes, they are dicks without logic behind it and they aren't funny at all.

Let's take Kratos. He's a monumental douchenozzle. But at least he gets to do some awesome stuff and sometimes he even gets to say some dry, witty stuff.

Oh, I also played Spec Ops: The Line. So yeah, I do play as horrible people. I felt dirty afterwards. I still kinda do.

Oftentimes, it's about the gameplay. If it's good, I don't need a story. But if it is about the story... you better give that dick a reason to be one. Some principle to go on. You know, if you have to have an evil protagonist, make him Lawful Evil or something.

 

[agent9]

I have, though it honestly depends. My favorite by far is Hazama from Blazblue. Just listen to endless despair with the la vocals and it pretty much sums the guy up. he's killed countless people had jin cut ragnas arm off and he stole their sister to have her become the vessel of the imperator. he's an overall sadist and a worthy villain to hate. he spends the entire game trolling you only for you to realize that he's using your hate for him to fuel his existence. he exists because of your hate, that pisses you off even more.

I guess the point is that it has to be done really well. he's a crazy psychotic sadist but he's also a bad ass. his voice actor also happens to be the voice of accelerator (jpn).