Being a Dick

[Desaari]

In my opinion, the main problem with "being a dick" in RPGs is the game itself. It's like they added in the more evil options as an afterthought, not expecting anyone to actually choose them. It's especially true in BioWare games, another problem being that they tend to have only 3 dialogue options which are obviously "good" "neutral" or "evil".

In contrast, Obsidian games tend to be very well polished in the moral dilemma department, although often other parts of the game suffer, eg: the gameplay in KotOR2.
If you want a game with some well designed moral choices I highly recommend Neverwinter Nights 2, although this suffers from awful camera control unless you have the expansion pack "Mask of the Betrayer" and the game is fully updated.

 

[ferrishthefish]

I'll run around being the biggest dick I can without actually killing anyone (unless they deserve it 8P). I therefore had tons of fun in Assassin's Creed 2: somehow, it was less satisfying to assassinate a guard than to knock a guy's waterbarrel out of his hands, then pick his and everyone else's pockets before casually walking off (they never notice in time ... ); or else to bare-handed tackle a woman, circle around her, and tackle her again the second she gets up over and over again; or else throw money on the ground for beggars, but beat them when they get near; or punch hookers; or hijack boats; or any number of other things. With a game system that kicks you off if you kill too many innocents, ya gotta be a bit more creative with your fun.

 

[ffxfriek]

I play evil but always finish playin good

 

[Gh0st1y_H]

I'm really surprised how many people don't like being evil. Seriously, how can you care about how these pixels think about you that much?

Personally, I tried going neutral in Fallout 3, but in order to finish the game completely and stay neutral, you need to practically butcher the entire populace of everything in order to fix your karma.

More effort than it's worth, in my opinion.

 

[crimson5pheonix]

I used to be an mean spirited brat, offing people left and right. But I've developed what you mortals call a "conscience" and now play at least kinda nice. I blame my continued interaction with you people, but it does offer a warm, fuzzy feeling every once in a while.

 

[deadmandante]

Not really. I am an asshole, every group needs at least one. My group of friends is primarily assholes though, so we have great fun at each others expense.

 

[Angerwing]

In Fable 2, evil is boring. There's no structure, and yes, you're ultimately powerful, but there's no purpose to mindless slaughter. It's just unappealing. That's what the problem is with most morality game systems in my opinion. Lack of structure on the bad side.

 

[Admiral Stukov]

I'm always either as good as possible or completly cold and indifferent, just thinking of the goal and making it as easy for me as possible.

 

[Seldon2639]

So ive sort of come to realize while playing through multiple RPGs that i usually always play as the nice guy out to help people (well mostly cept for a baby here or there). My first playthrough on Mass Effect I was full paragon, trying to be as good as possible. I am now playing through it again as a renegade and i find it hard to play as a complete and total dick. I mean the girl just lost her whole squad and Im supposed to tell her that she sucked and let em all die? I mean I just feel as though when Im done playing through the game, sure I will have saved everyone but they will all also hate me at the same time. It sort of defeats the purpose of playing the good guy. Anyone else have weird issues with certain moral dilemmas in games?

The quintessential issue of most Bioware games is that it's pretty hard to be a "bad guy" without going with puppy-kicking pretty much constantly. Since it doesn't (and can't) include motivation as a factor, it can only look at your results. You saved a truckload of babies from careening off a cliff, but you only did it because you knew the hot blue chick would approve. The game just sees "saved babies" not "saved babies so he could hook up with the blue chick".

 

[Lord Krunk]

So ive sort of come to realize while playing through multiple RPGs that i usually always play as the nice guy out to help people (well mostly cept for a baby here or there). My first playthrough on Mass Effect I was full paragon, trying to be as good as possible. I am now playing through it again as a renegade and i find it hard to play as a complete and total dick. I mean the girl just lost her whole squad and Im supposed to tell her that she sucked and let em all die? I mean I just feel as though when Im done playing through the game, sure I will have saved everyone but they will all also hate me at the same time. It sort of defeats the purpose of playing the good guy. Anyone else have weird issues with certain moral dilemmas in games?

That's the awesome thing about Mass Effect though. You're always the good guy, but whether you're an uptight everyone's-dispensible dickwad hero, Messiah, or somewhere in between is up to you.

That said, I usually go for Paragon/Good because it's more of a challenge (and by extension, more fun) that way.

Didn't stop me from abandoning the Council's sorry asses at the end of the game though. They totally had it coming, and I smirked at their looks of hopeless despair when I did it.

 

[Sandwich Man]

You know what would be cool? Pragmatic good. Which is basically what Renegade Shepard and Ammon Jerro (Neverwinter Nights 2) were. I'd like to see it expanded though, it could present much more interesting moral dilemma's than the usual good versus evil contrast.

I mean, what's more compelling? Blowing up a planet because you're EVIIIIIIIIIIIIL, or blowing up a planet to kill a single group that could potentially cause even more harm? It's better because it presents you with a choice that's actually difficult, after all, you can't conclusively say that said will actually gain any power, but at the same time, it's not the kind of thing you would want to risk.

My usual problem with Evil choices is that they're rarely on a personal scale. Ok, slaughtering an entire village is evil, but the virtual people are just cardboard cannon fodder. It's not as satisfying as saaaaaaaaay, continually bumping into someone and ruining his life a tiny bit more each time. Or killing a party members son and then laughing in their face about it.

Edit: Also it just occurred that a truly pragmatic character wouldn't distinguish between good/evil or paragon/renegade. If being nice would work out better in the long run, then that would be the path they'd take. I don't think it would actually be possible to work pragmatism into a moral choice system since it'd be almost impossible to track.

 

[Kazturkey]

You know what would be cool? Pragmatic good. Which is basically what Renegade Shepard and Ammon Jerro (Neverwinter Nights 2) were. I'd like to see it expanded though, it could present much more interesting moral dilemma's than the usual good versus evil contrast.

I mean, what's more compelling? Blowing up a planet because you're EVIIIIIIIIIIIIL, or blowing up a planet to kill a single group that could potentially cause even more harm? It's better because it presents you with a choice that's actually difficult, after all, you can't conclusively say that said will actually gain any power, but at the same time, it's not the kind of thing you would want to risk.

My usual problem with Evil choices is that they're rarely on a personal scale. Ok, slaughtering an entire village is evil, but the virtual people are just cardboard cannon fodder. It's not as satisfying as saaaaaaaaay, continually bumping into someone and ruining his life a tiny bit more each time. Or killing a party members son and then laughing in their face about it.

Theres also 'Blow up the planet and I will pay you' ala Megaton.

That was a good day.

 

[Vern]

It's rather odd, in games like Postal 2, I'll run around cutting civilians heads off with a machete and laughing. Pouring kerosene on the ground, finding a group of people and piss on them, make them run screaming into the fuel and light a match and then after they're done running around on fire I'll piss on their corpses to put them out. Maybe fire a nuclear warhead into a large crowd after using a cat's ass as a silencer on my SPAS-12. Then in RPG's such as Fallout, Elder Scrolls, or Witcher, I'll always choose the good path. It has more to do with the context and the story. Games like Postal, or GTA, you have no reason to care about "innocent civilians", they're just cannon fodder. It's like a cartoon, it's so over the top that you can't really take it seriously. RPG's, you can actually talk to them, you feel like you have a presence in the game beyond "I can just let out aggression", and once you talk to a settler who's just trying to live their life, or save their family, it's harder to be evil. Or at least that's how I see it, not being an evil self centered dick. I've tried many times to play an RPG as an evil character, but I end up not being able to tell someone that their family is going to die in a fire and they suck, when I know quite well I can do something about it. I'm the same way in real life though, so it makes sense. Although these threads are always nice, you get to see who's a misanthropic sociopath that would kill you for fun, the contents of your wallet are a bonus.

 

[FalloutForever]

If you'd watch Zero Punctuation Yahtzee would've explained, When the game tells you, Go on be a dick! You dont like it because it doesn't give you a sense of breaking the rules.

 

[Mr.Governor]

I play both good and bad side depends on which one is more fun to play as.No,i dont mind killing bunch of innocent children,babies or animals because its just a goddamn game.

 

[Sandwich Man]

Theres also 'Blow up the planet and I will pay you' ala Megaton.

That was a good day.

Noooooooope, completely missed my point. This is just as bad as the Fable 2 village slaughter. Interestingly it would actually work kind of well if you did slaughter them personally, because they have personalities you could possibly sympathise with.

Also money is generally used as a lazy and ineffectual way to alleviate 'for the evulz'.

 

[Lullabye]

Mwuahahahahahahahahahahhhaha! I am the villain, the the evil one, the dark lord, the bad guy...Not really by choice mind you, I just can't help killing the things that annoy me. I mean really, who of you haven't killed "The Adoring Fan" from oblivion at least once.

 

[nick_knack]

When I play a game with good moral choice, I don't say "This is my bad guy" or "This is my good guy". I decide upon a persona to play, and base all my decisions off of that. For instance: In my latest ME character, I have decided to play Shepard like a real military officer. Often this leads to the middle response, but in this way, I face not the squeamish problem of: "I don't want to be a dick" but instead the problem of: "What would Jesus My Shepard Do?"

I think playing this way is more fun than having good/bad playthroughs.