Nonviolent Gameplay Options

[tippy2k2]

A balance between merciful and realistic sounds about right. Then again, situations in games like Walking Dead and Spec Op: The Line made me less than rational.

But that's the beauty of it...I played those like I was actually living it too...

...and I fucking snapped in The Walking Dead. One of the very few times a game made me look at myself and wonder "What the hell have you done?!?" (Spec Ops did that a bit but I made a conscious choice in TWD)...

I won't spoil it for anyone for I'm sure all I have to say is Episode 2 and you'll know exactly what I'm talking about...

 

[Blade1130]

It does have a bit to do with the game for me. If the character I'm playing has a distinct personality, I'll generally role play as them and do what I feel they would do. In a game like Mass Effect, Deus Ex, stuff like that where I can make the character whatever I want I'll generally just do whatever it is I feel is acceptable. If they're a bunch of mercenaries then I don't feel wrong killing them. I mean, yeah I was the attacker but they're still mercenaries, they signed up for this! (Or so I assume) If I end up in a fight in a bar and the guards come in to break it up, I would try not to hurt them, they are basically cops just doing their job. I can't condemn them to death for that.

That was generally what I would do, though after playing Spec Ops: The Line I've kinda started sparing as many people as possible. In Halo 4 there's a bit where shit's exploding at you're using a Ghost to GTFO. While you're racing out of there, you pass several groups of Grunts running for their lives. Naturally I tried to line up and run over as many as possible before thinking to myself "My God! I'm a monster!" These Grunts are running away, they're no threat to me, and they're probably going to die anyway when everything explodes. Since then I have tried to spare as many people as I can. Though if I really have to I'll gun down the cop with a day left before retirement.

 

[Mikejames]

But that's the beauty of it...I played those like I was actually living it too...
...and I fucking snapped in The Walking Dead. One of the very few times a game made me look at myself and wonder "What the hell have you done?!?" (Spec Ops did that a bit but I made a conscious choice in TWD)...

I won't spoil it for anyone for I'm sure all I have to say is Episode 2 and you'll know exactly what I'm talking about...

Spoiler

This one's for Mark!!
...
Dear Lord Why?!

 

[uzo]

Depends on my character.

I'm playing through Skyrim again (on PC and hence modded & DLC'd up the whatsit to be a brutal version - hypothermia, starvation/dehydration/exhaustion, combat upgraded to roughly Mount & Blade level lethality - if you don't block and take cover you die fast).

Character One: Malleus, Imperial, lvl 23, Dragonborn and Conqueror of Skyrim
A vicious hulking sadistic Imperial enforcer. Somewhere between Khal Drogo and Jaime Lannister in nature. Think of Sarevok with an 18+ rating rather than a comical bad guy vibe. He's the kind of guy who, upon butchering a Stormcloak camp, will shieldbash into submission the final shieldmaiden survivor because he likes his 'prizes' to be only subdued rather than comatose. So no, he usually doesn't take the peaceful option. Malleus is not someone you want to fight, slight, or even meet. An attack dog (bear?) wielded by the Empire as, essentially, a means of repression. A hammer by any other name.

Character Two: Faye, Breton, lvl 17
Faye is a delight to be around. Spends most of her time travelling to and from her home in Marthal on various magical excursions, an alchemist and summoner primarily. Handy with shock destruction magic, she relies upon her summoned creatures to protect her for the most part. In fact, she has never actually used so much as a dagger. Due to the harsh environments she travels in she must rely upon fur lined clothing rather than 'mage apparel' or armour. As she can't always summon protection in time she will try to avoid conflict as much as possible, and tries to help others as well however she can. In a realm of civil war and dragon attacks, she is a shining star of comparative goodliness. So, yes, she will always take the 'non-violent' option if she can (I actually wish there was more interaction possible with the Forsworn rather than just 'raaaar die!!!').

(as a side note, Malleus has something like 35,000 Septims just sitting about; and regularly tosses away items worth hundreds of gold; he regularly throws away more than Faye has ever held at once)

 

[TheRookie8]

Normally, I do not take the less aggressive path, as not many of the games I play allow that sort of option.

I managed to be moderately good in Dragon Age...until the first of hundreds of fools decided it would be a good idea to attack the heavily-armored warrior and his equally-deadly friends.

Skyrim was better, as I did not have to kill about 80% of the time (thank you, illusion!). However, I still stumbled across the occasional situation where killing my fellow man was unavoidable.

Dishonored is still the shining example of a game where you have the option to kill, but don't have to.

...now I kind of want to play Skyrim again...

 

[Mikejames]

Dishonored is still the shining example of a game where you have the option to kill, but don't have to.

Shame most of the best powers and tools revolved around killing...

 

[MidnightSt]

same here. Though it's been a long time I played RPGs (Planescape: Torment in around 2003 and KOTOR 1 when it came out were my last), I always did that too, for three reasons:
1. I played both because of the story, and PT for its great dialogs.
2. I consider(ed?) RPG battle systems pretty much boring (mainly the Infinity engine ones)
3. I tend to "roleplay" myself, and I'm a nonviolent, diplomatic kind of guy

Also, later I noticed that in PT, nonviolent options are rewarded significantly more, XP-wise.

(Edit: Oh, I forgot skyrim. In skyrim, I fought most of the time, because the battle system was kind of more engaging than dialogues (though it got still pretty boring relatively quickly), and dialogues were bland and flat.)

 

[MidnightSt]

Dishonored is still the shining example of a game where you have the option to kill, but don't have to.

But it's not an RPG. (if it's nitpicking, then I'm sorry.)
Also, in Dishonored, my first playthrough I roleplayed quite a lot, I was going for non-lethal and as stealthy as I could, but if it failed I didn't reload. (Still managed to get low chaos ending though).

On my second playthrough I was going for the killing machine psycho approach, which made me realize how extremely enjoyable the fencing system is, and since then I tried to do 100% stealthy playthrough (no choking, sleep darts, anything, just sneaking), but failed, as I can't keep myself from loosing patience and switching to "kill everyone" as it's so much fun.

(Seriously, though, why doesn't Dishonored have multiplayer deathmatch? That's the question I ask since I got Dunwall city trials and play the heck out of Backyard Alley brawl...)

 

[Jfswift]

I made a rather charismatic gentleman on my original playthrough of Fallout:NV. I found out early on that I could avoid alot of situations, get experience and enjoy the dialogue through a high speech skill. I was also deadly with energy with energy weapons, but that's besides the point. I actually enjoyed playing it from a less violent approach.