Moral choice systems

[Katana314]

The basic idea behind the moral choice system is sound: That the player get two different endings, or just two different sections of storyline, based on their feelings and decisions. However, most games fuck it up by expecting you to be either good or evil. The idea should be that it's a very grey area that expects you to weigh the sides, and make a choice you always weren't sure about. Kind of like "Should abortion be outlawed" rather than "Should babies be legal snacks at restaurants?"

Deus Ex did it perfectly. The ending to the game presents you with a choice, with a total of 3 possible endings. None of them are inherently "good" or "bad". In fact, your choices are essentially: Take over the world, or plunge the world into the dark ages again (no technology works, everyone has to start from scratch)

Phoenix Wright: Justice for All also has a very good cliffhanger decision, but I won't give spoilers.

 

[saintchristopher]

I've been hearing that Dragon Age Origins will have a tremendous moral choice system. We shall see, won't we.

 

[Amnestic]

Phoenix Wright: Justice for All also has a very good cliffhanger decision, but I won't give spoilers.

Wait, did I miss this somewhere? It's been a few months but I'm not really sure what you're talking about. I've played all the Ace Attorney games so far but it's not coming to mind. Would appreciate a PM to put my mind at ease

 

[LewsTherin]

Seriously, what do we discuss here?

Puppies. Go.

Kitties are better. But cats are jerks.

I vote ducks.

I also say a moral choice system is a god thing, when it is relevant to the game. Ergo, one almost always belongs in an RPG, less so in an RTS/Racing game.

 

[AceDiamond]

Personally I feel Mass Effect handled the moral choice system perfectly. While you were still doing things for the greater good it was how you went about it that made the difference in your alignment, and could also influence the way the ending panned out.

 

[TheNumber1Zero]

isn't this more of a statement than a discussion?

anyways...

it needs not go,but be altered it must
giving players choices is good,but make them have more effect on the world than the player,that way it's more about what you want your world to look like and how you want the people to think of you,rather than a way to get 35 satan points,because that is what it'll boil down to,not the effect of the choice,but merely doing the choice based off what level of morality bar you want.

make it focus more on changing the game,rather than the scale of Gandi and Hitler(meaning good or evil in statistics)

 

[the1ultimate]

I think that moral choice systems are incredibly immersion breaking, especially when you were not deliberately committing a crime. Okay, accidently shooting killing someone might earn you bad karma in the grand scheme of things, but picking up something accidently...

"I'm sorry I'll give it back, I didn't know it was yours! Here... What? I have to give some water to a homeless person to make up for this? Don't you want it back?"

... and makes me think: I didn't do that out of malice so why are you playing the sound that makes me feel like I'm growing horns.

By the way, all you bad karma people, are you used to the bad karma sound in Fallout 3?

 

[seryoga]

i like moral choice systems i just shouldnt be a core part of gameplay i like the system in gta 4 best

 

[The_Echo]

The Moral Choice System adds more replay value. And makes you replay the game if you want to see the other endings.

Or it makes you look it up on the Internet.

 

[HarmanSmith]

The moral choice system is great device in games when used properly. Take Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor; you can choose up to five endings based on who you talk to or save from baddies. I love the game for both the gameplay and the story, all because of the choices you make.

Now that I think about it, the problem with the moral choice system is the moral part. The game shouldn't be judging your actions as good or evil, just recognizing a pattern in your gameplay and rewarding you with more scenarios that involve your specific play type. If I like killing civilians, the computer shouldn't say, "you're evil, let's have all of your allies desert you and you take over the world and rule for a thousand years of darkness" it should just give me more missions with more innocent NPCs for me to slaughter. That, in my mind, is how you properly utilize a moral choice system