Should Skyrim have a Karma system?

[Azure-Supernova]

No. There is only one game in which black/white or good/evil karma has a place and that is inFamous; a game which is built around the experience of each. Skyrim doesn't need it, just keep the fame/infamy system they have going on. Instead give NPCs a moral compass so that they react to you depending on your fame/infamy.

 

[Blue_vision]

Oh yeah and no black vs white crap, grey is always better (except in Star Wars), then again this is a Tolkienesque fantasy game so it'll probably have good vs evil anyway.

Not that Tolkien didn't have a pretty large amount of grey when he was writing, or anything.

I think that people's disposition towards you should be much more organic in Skyrim. Annoy or insult someone, and they'll like you less. Beat someone up in the middle of town, and most of the town will like you less. Kill someone randomly with others to see, and most other people in the area won't even talk to you, and instead run away or fight. Certain people who are more inclined to the whole killing business may still talk to you. The same kind of idea should go for good actions. Your reputation should also let you coerce information out of people differently. i.e. if you're known as being a bit of a psycho, you can intimidate people for information or goods, while being more heroic makes most people more likely to tell you stuff (though shadier folks may instead be less inclined to help you.)

Skyrim's game world does need to be more responsive to the player, but no. None of that Karma bullshit. The good/evil system really needs to stop in games.

 

[Jakub324]

Like in Fallout 3? Yeah. Oblivion's equivalent system was good, but it was hard to get the full picture and it didn't really affect the game in the way that Fallout's did.

 

[ChupathingyX]

Not that Tolkien didn't have a pretty large amount of grey when he was writing, or anything.

I didn't mean Tolkien himself, just Tolkienesque fantasies you know like orcs, elves and humans, those fantasies. They all almost always have good vs evil, the TES series an obvious example, in fact all Bethesda games are always black vs white.

 

[spikeyjoey]

yeah karma did annoy me at times.. in fallout 3 for example, im taking food from a dead enemy- how is that evil??

HOWEVER- as much stick as the mention of skyrim having fable like features received, i would like it if your alignment affected how you looked..

 

[LuckyClover95]

Nooo! Like in Fallout I tend to do good things but steal a fuckload, I don't like having karma systems.

 

[F4LL3N]

Karma systems are never done right, and I don't personally remember the fame system in Oblivion so it mustn't have been to in-your-face.

 

[Zhukov]

No.

Nothing should have a Karma system.

 

[LittleJP]

Karma systems are never done right, and I don't personally remember the fame system in Oblivion so it mustn't have been to in-your-face.

The most you would get with a high infamy score were guards that would remark, "I'm watching you very carefully", or "We don't like your sort" or the like. It's been a while.

 

[General BrEeZy]

oh gosh no. please no. the concept of karma does exist; you get what you give, but i dont think it should label you a sinner or a saint, since they're all the same anyways when it boils down to it. oblivion did the fame/infamy well, but i dont want it being like fallout, telling you you "did something bad". its too much of a black and white thing, they need to have shades of grey.
does fame/infamy do that? maybe not, just dont frigging tell me that maybe "i shouldnt have done that", i made my decision and im living with it. xD

 

[Joby Baumann]

well, it should have a system where your actions effect what the villagers etc. think of you, but only the actions someone saw you doing, and it shouldnt be a good/evil, or even a fame/imfamy (which is really just the same thing with a different name)since ive always wanted peolpe to think i'm a relative nobody or criminal scum, when I'm really the badass savior

 

[LookingGlass]

I don't like them. I like consequences for actions but not everything has to be "good" or "evil". Most choices should be good for some group of people and bad for others.

If whatever system they have can have certain factions and/or towns liking me and others hating me, I'd be ok with that. I definitely wouldn't want a global system though.

 

[Lazy Kitty]

Yes, previous TES games already had it.
Of course, I'm talking about fame and infamy.
Well, Oblivion had it, but it wasn't really important.

 

[Argonian alchemist]

I believe it should yes... In oblivion I never felt like my evil character's were actually evil.

If my character is a serial killer/psychopathic orc berserker and I'm asked for some money by some pathetic begger on the street...

Why are my options only:

"Have some coin begger"

"I have none to spare"

or

"go away"

Where is my "Ask me again... I dare you" or "Fine, you can have a coin... in exchange for both your kidneys" options? hmm?

It really takes you out of the immersion when you've just slaughtered a whole town full of innocent people and then played ragdoll pile up with their bodies and then end up being approached by a person handing out flyers and having the worst thing you can say to him be something like... "No thank you"...

 

[Woodsey]

Meh.

Pretty sure they have a reputation system anyway for individual cities and stuff.

 

[DeadlyYellow]

The fame/infamy system didn't make sense to me, if you have maximum fame and infamy how should people react to you? Should they admire or dislike you? Plus it had such little impact on the game that it didn't even feel like it was there.

+ 3 Disposition for every 10 points of fame. The Infamy exchange is at a much higher rate, determined by the NPCs responsibility (up to 20 points.) And since disposition is useless on the general population, it's even less incentive to bother with.

You can't use chapel shrines if you're infamy is higher than your fame, unless you have Knights of the Nine as the Pilgrimage quest will reset your infamy.

So it's a system with very little (or no noticeable) effect on gameplay or actions. That is arguably the best a karma system can hope for.

 

[Blue_vision]

Not that Tolkien didn't have a pretty large amount of grey when he was writing, or anything.

I didn't mean Tolkien himself, just Tolkienesque fantasies you know like orcs, elves and humans, those fantasies. They all almost always have good vs evil, the TES series an obvious example, in fact all Bethesda games are always black vs white.

Of course, just pointing out the silliness of the standardization. (It's quite silly.)

 

[Gustavo S. Buschle]

I think that labelling certain actions "Good" or "Evil" is akin to racism.

 

[Zydrate]

I think that labelling certain actions "Good" or "Evil" is akin to racism.

Because, you know, slavery must be a good thing, then.

 

[Disturbed-Hell]

I?d prefer it to be the same as it was in Oblivion as the fame/infamy system worked quite well, although I would prefer a Dragon Age: Origins approach to karma in wich "evil" actions improve your standing with some people and "good" actions with others. Maybe they will combine the two?