Poll: Am I the only Morally motivated gamer out there?

[Flight]

I actually like taking the more "moral" options. I went pure Paragon during my play of the Mass Effect series. Even in a video game, being good feels good to me.

 

[Doneeee]

I like to be an unpredictable loose cannon. I'll help out a group of people and then turn on them if it benefits me. Usually when I start an rpg I'm a straight shooter though. In New Vegas I helped out the ncr and massacred the legion seeming like I was on their side the whole time. Then towards the final battle I murdered all factions without prejudice.

 

[UltraDeth]

I'm a morally good person in real life and as such morally good in games. In fact in for example "Saints Row", I actually feel guilty killing cops and civilains, because in real life I am a law-abiding citizen. Recently I've been playing Sniper Elite V2 and in the words of Yathzee "About as morally complex as duck hunt" I feel guilt for gunning oblivious German/Russian troops, because a lot of them are soldiers, who didn't want to fight any much as the Allies do.

 

[Spitfire]

In most RPGs, I usually like to play characters of questionable morality, or characters that contrast with their alignment, assuming there is one. For example, in Star Wars: The Old Republic, I played two characters, a Jedi who was becoming increasingly seduced by the Dark Side, and a Sith who might've been a Jedi infiltrator, sabotaging the Empire at every turn.
I don't care for heroics, or unjustified villainy. I like to mix it up, and try to carve as interesting a character as I can, and I don't see the point in just playing an avatar of myself.

 

[subtlefuge]

"Am I the only...?"

No. Nobody is special.

I do like playing a morally driven character, but I don't care for being nice to everybody. I don't suffer betrayal or malice kindly and I don't give second chances if I don't believe that they are possible.

 

[SuperNova221]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgCHpN-IWaA

This video sums up all the problems with moral choice systems really, it also has some interesting statistics on the ratio of players who make good moral decisions to those who make bad ones.

 

[Ledan]

Usually, I play a semi-bad guy/girl because I hate how goody-two shoes the good guy usually is. In most games you play the good guy, and I often get aggravated at how stupid they can sometimes be. That said though, often when I'm playing a villain I won't go all the way because they are equally stupid. + Being evil allows me to get back at the game world in a much more visceral way. Fall down a ledge due to bad controls? Murder a few pedestrians.

 

[MiriaJiyuu]

Like most people here I'm usually going to be the 'good' guy on my first playthrough, those are just the options I feel inclined to take. If the game has a morality system, like Mass Effect or Infamous, then I'll have a second playthrough as an evil character. The nice playthough will become my personal characters canon though since, usually, the world is better off.

That said I don't have a real problem playing as an evil character... until you ask me to be cruel to some character that I really liked on my first playthrough, usually I end up being randomly nice to certain characters because I just don't want to be mean to them. The opposite is also true though, if I'm playing the good path and I really don't like whatever NPC I'm dealing with, I'll be rude and potentially kill him if given the option...

I'll always kick that guy in Mass Effect 2 in the Dantius Towers out the window though... always. It is just too fun.

Edit: It'd be nice if games more often had a third middle ground option... one that leaves you neutral, but actually gives some kind of reward.

 

[Flailing Escapist]

Am I only ever just a good character player? No. Being evil is an art form, though I do play good and bad.

 

[Gitty101]

I do generally play the good guy in games the first time round. There's just something about virtual gratitude that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

 

[flamingjimmy]

99.9% of the time when someone starts a thread with 'am I the only one who...' the answer is no, this is no exception.

 

[Kursura]

I always play the good guy; I can't be nasty to anyone who doesn?t deserve it.

 

[The Last Nomad]

It really depends on the game and the characters motivations.

For example, in infamous 1, I played the good guy because the city was genuinely interesting and I didn't want to see it get any more fucked up than it already was.
The Same with Red Dead Redemption, I played a very honourable character.

But in Fallout 3 I played as a fucking badass whose only care was himself. Morallity didn't really get in the way there

 

[FreezingFlames]

I normally make the good decisions but when playing games completely based on moral choice systems like inFamous I will do both just to see all the effects.

 

[BrotherSurplice]

I always veer to good in my first play through of games, as doing good deeds, even in a virtual world, gives me a warm fuzzy feeling.

I then play evil on my next play through because its really, really fun!

 

[SirPlindington]

I tend to play through games the way I would live the first time, then I go in the opposite direction if I feel like doing a second playthrough. Welcome to the Escapist, by the way.

 

[Rad Party God]

I generally play as the one dimensional, impossibly good guy, but sometimes, when something irritates me, I tend to kill it, sometimes with fire... then I reload a past save prior to that moment, then a few hours later, I'm constantly reminded why I wanted it/him/her dead in the first place.

But yeah, sometimes is great to be neutral, you can be as good or bad as you want, if you screw up, just tip the balance a bit and you're done!.

 

[F'Angus]

I usually play the good guy...it's only in Skyrim that I've really been evil. I used to avoid getting in trouble but now I just stab anyone.