Morality meters in games.

[Bluexstriker]

I don't like morality meters. Why? Because being an arsehole is fun. Blowing up the town and exploiting physics to throw the npc of the cliff is fun. In games like dragon age, you get the funny options that you want to use, but you can't, because you need to build up your relationships. Want to run and slaughter and loot your way through a town? Don't touch that fork, or, STOP! YOU VIOLATED THE LAW! I want the option to be evil, but I'm always going to save the day. Don't let the morally ambiguous options come back to bite me in the arse. Let me blow up that trailer, and stop punishing me for it.

 

[Diddy_Mao]

...has there been a game where they give you an option of 2 "evil" options (rather than 1 "good" and 1 "evil") and either of those choices will give you "negative points" (or however they scale it)?

Knights of the Old Republic does start offering additional morality options the further down whichever patch you choose to follow.

A perfect example is a mission wherein you're asked by a local peasant to locate and save her husband. She doesn't have much money to pay you but she does have an antique relic that she offers as a reward.
By the time I got to that mission I was pretty much 100% dark side so my options were

Accept the request with no need for personal reward. (Light Side)
Accept her offer and accept the relic. (Neutral)
Accept her offer and accept the relic but demand extra payment. (Dark Side)
Or
Take the relic from her by force and then ignore her request for help. (Dark Side)

 

[Wintermute_]

I guess Shadow of the colossus? sorta... I mean, your technically the bad guy in that, and thats about as much as I can say without giving away spoilers..

 

[MoNKeyYy]

I'm gonna be different and be one of the few to say that I like morality meters. I genuinely do. I think that they make the game entertaining. They add challenge to the game if you want to say, take the full way good/evil approach or try to stay firmly in the middle. And it is interesting how they force you to consider your decisions, especially in a KOTOR2 system where you have your teammates to consider.

I've also noticed how people are saying that it makes being an asshole less fun, but I find it quite the opposite. The thought that my dickish deeds are being recognized by the game system and will be clearly reflected on the game world makes it more entertaining for me.

 

[Deguasser]

God, my picture wouldn't work, but I just find it as though the creators just needed to make the game 2-3 times shorter because they put 2-3 different endings

 

[SageRuffin]

Dragon Age Origins has something akin to that. You're not good, but you're not evil instead. Your morality is only slightly reflected in your companions, but they won't immediately dislike you for, say, killing a person or giving someone a free lunch.

Well, it depends on the party member and the choice involved. There are some choices in the game where if you choose counter to what a party member agrees to they will either straight up leave the party or attack you.

Oh believe me, I know, Leliana was pissed when I did that one story branch involving the urn. But I had to learn the Reaver specialization so I could spec my future warrior character! The fuck else was I supposed to do?! D:

And then I made a throw away character, left Leliana in Lothering (poor girl), cut the game on Casual, did the quest, and I got the specialization that way. I dunno why I didn't think of that the first time. :/

Ahem.

Seriously though, even then it's not a matter of "good" or "evil". Instead, in the case of Dragon Age at least, it's the fact that you chose a specific direction and the party member in question didn't agree with it, sometimes to the point of physical violence. Not to mention that there's no "good" way to resolve the political issues of the dwarves, at least according to the Dragon Age wiki in regards to the epilogue.

I still say that Jade Empire had the best morality system, at least for a BioWare game. I just wish it stuck to its philosophies within the game itself. But alas. Maybe if BioWare makes a Jade Empire 2 they'll get it right.