Poll: (Fallout: New Vegas) Do You Kill Too Many People?

[Durgiun]

In New Vegas I just killed those who tried to kill me, or those who posed a threat to a large number of innocent people. I felt no guilt over it. And I did try to diplomacy my way out of any trouble I could have or wanted to, but... Some people just deserve to die *cough*Caesar*cough*.

In Deus Ex Human Revolution, I more or less did a pacifist run. I killed every Black Ops fucker I could. Everyone else that was in my way I just knocked out or worked my way around them. Though I still carried a shitton of heavy weaponry just in case. And my oh my, was that ever a wise decision.

 

[Noswad]

I loved the mission variety in New Vegas, there was a lot more to do that gun down hordes of enemies, but because every action other than combat is determined by a skill check i often found myself bored. Punishing the player for killing people is fair enough but you've got to offer a game play alternative, boredom will always overcome any attachment for any collection of pixels. Its the old Black and White dilemma, i want to be the good guy but human sacrifices and using my own people as projectiles to assault the enemy towns is so much fun.

But if we're going by actual human standards, every game character ever must be an emotionally dead psychopath who is only ever considered the good guy by peoples fear of that he may one-day turn on them.

 

[Zantos]

Can we really apply modern psychology to Fallout? I mean, 200 years of living in hellish nuclear wasteland is going to have had a significant effect on the people in it.

Plus, unless you're actively out to play an evil character, a lot of those people you kill were already running at you with a gun/chainsaw/leadpipe/whatever the hell else. Self-preservation is an incredibly powerful motivation.

 

[Legion]

I kill people who attack me. If they attack me then wtf was I supposed to do give them a hug? Fallout doesn't exactly give you a tranq gun.

Yeah I'm not feeling very guilty at this point. Especially those asshats who sold a little girl to the fiends (I went and made a Shishkebab just for them)

Same here. I tend to take the "I am a good guy, but won't show any mercy to the bad guys" route. I think what is important to note is, that Fallout is not set in the same kind of world where we live.

How many of us have witnessed a murder? A slave? Let alone that in the Fallout universe these things are not uncommon. It breeds a different kind of person when survival is something you are acutely aware of.

It's why in some countries killing another human being "just happens", it's hard for us in the safer, more secure countries to see it as anything other than horrific, but when it's a daily occurrence, it's not going to affect you in the same way. We are remarkably adaptive creatures when we need to be.

 

[ginty2]

my playthrough of fallout 3 and new vegas, i typically only killed those that needed killing. My characters try hard not to harm the animals in the mojave, unless they come after me(deathclaws and cazadores). as a result, i always select the animal friend perk.

needless to say, my mojave wasteland is pretty much a gang free zone.

 

[BeeGeenie]

I've killed lots and lots of scorpions. I hate scorpions. Humans are pretty much limited to raiders that attack me... and feral ghouls. You're right though. Video games are not very good at portraying the psychological trauma associated with killing. Though, to be fair, Fallout's world is supposed to depict a harsh, lawless scenario where sometimes killing is necessary for survival.

 

[Hyperone]

Call me desensitized, but it isn't the killing I even care about. In MP games, it self-rewarding to prove I have out-smarted or out-aimed my opponent. He respawns and I get the joy of attempting it again. In SP games, it's for advancing the story or completing the plot. Very rarely have I played a game where killing is for it's own sake. Maybe that's a reflection on the type of games I play.

In short, it did not bother me I got rewarded (via loot) for killing people in FO:NV. Helps that they almost always attacked first and blindsided me.

 

[Mr F.]

I think it is an interesting idea but New Vegas is not the place for it.

Considering the mods I combined (And the overpowered weaponry I ended up with as a result) I am totally ok with the amount of killing I get done when I play New Vegas. I happen to be a Black Templar with Terminator Honours, wandering around with a gattling lazer that generates amunnition faster then it can be used (Yes, you heard that right. I combined two mods and ended up with a weapon that returns 90% of bullets fired AND recycles 25% of bullets fired. So every shot gave me 1.15 more bullets). This, combined with Warzones and Increased Wasteland Spawns, means that there is plenty to kill. Literally hundreds of mobs at a time.

I have taken part in battles as my own side, slaughtering Legion and Republic forces alike, killing, maiming, burning. It was fun. For the record, this is on my pure "Fuck around" character.

Although I have done interesting runs before. Play the game on Hardcore with the Realistic Headshots mod and you learn to fear just about anyone. Considering a single bullet to the brain will probably kill you instantly and bullets to the rest of you will cripple you, making it harder to stay alive. It forces you to be more passive because combat (At least, combat at any range closer than "Half-a-fucking-mile-away") will kill you.

Perhaps a game could be built around the idea.

You know what? If you want a game like that, find more people. I would play it, a fallout style game where slaughtering was punished and simply not the right way to go about it, there are probably others like yourself and like myself that would enjoy it. Go get a team together and make the game you want to see.

 

[Souplex]

I only really kill Raiders and the Legion, so I'm fine.
No good people die by my hand.

 

[aivalera]

This is a somewhat tricky subject, and really depends on the game.

Fallout: NV for example should give out greater rewards for killing people because of the Karma/Fame meter will cause punishment via death squads and shop keepers/ quest givers will refuse to talk to you(I assume). On the other hand, having more powerful weapons will make killing a reasonable thing to do since you can fight better and last longer.

What this does is put your play style, and your morals to some degree, in to the equation by nullifying the reason to kill or not. So it is no longer why would I kill, but do I want to kill.

The soultion above probably isn't perfect but you get the idea.

 

[Matt King]

speaking of punishing you for killing, go play spec ops the line jesus christ dude

 

[TeletubbiesGolfGun]

In Deus Ex: HR, there is a scene where you cap two drug dealers. Immediately after doing so, a number of nearby NPCs become your enemies, and as soon as you are seen they attack and hunt you. This is made even more glaring because the square that you are standing in when you execute the hits on the dealers is flood lit.

My immediate reaction to this situation was to get behind a wall right next to these NPCs, and wait for minutes until one of them made some kind of move that would have allowed me to extricate myself from the situation.

It would have been much easier to just gun my way through, but I chose to sneak my way through a crowded back alley, almost constantly at risk of being caught, and resolve the situation that way.

This speaks of my over-riding impulse in video gaming: I really don't want to kill too many people. Obviously it depends on the game - some games insist that you do, for instance, in order to complete a given objective - but in general I will do everything in my power to see myself as an omnicient agent of targeted objectives, rather than some wanton murderer. I am not very interested in online or offline games that glorify killing, and when I play TES I only ever sneak places, freeze enemies and dispatch them before they have a chance to hit me back.

i believe i know which part in Deus ex: HR you are talking about, and I was able to cap both of them without alerting everyone else.

I'm assuming your talking about the two drug dealers by the b-ball court? if so, make your way to the top of the apartment opposite of the courtside that they are on, and at the top, pull out whichever type of sniper you have at the time (i tried this multiple ways, worked each time) and if you are quick enough, you can cap both of them with headshots without alerting anyone else and their bodies can just lay there until the game decides they should be deleted. I climbed back down and everyone was perfectly cool with me.