Poll: In games with morality systems, which extreme would you choose?

[DarklordKyo]

Where's the option in the poll for 90% Hero of Niceness and 10% Total Asshole?

Because that's typically how I play. I'm generally a nice guy, but if I'm up against an obvious bad guy and I have an opportunity to shank the obvious bad guy when he has his back turned, I'm shanking the guy when his back is turned.

Also if I have a choice between "save person I care about" or "Save X random people", I will always save the person I'm close to first, and THEN worry about the random people.

Because, as mentioned, a number of games emphasize being either Goody McGooderson or Tyrannosatan (like how, in Infamous, you can only get the best abilities by being fully Hero or fully Infamous).

It's cool the way you're playing, makes things more gray, but that's usually not what the developers intend when they put those moral choices (CD Projeckt Red and, to a lesser extent, Bioware notwithstanding).

That said, added it to the poll

 

[Frostbyte666]

Usually goody goody because the evil decisions are just plain dumb most of the time. Makes me think of Jade Empire with the open palm and closed fist. I really was intrigued by closed fist but apart from 1 or 2 decisions it was the same douchebaggery evil past the point of stupidity.

 

[American Tanker]

I guess, with the addition of "10% Total Asshole" to the poll, I might as well state that I'd be "10% Total Badass" instead.

You know, nicest person you could ever meet, never goes looking for a fight. But if someone picks a fight with me, I'll make sure everyone knows the result.

 

[JohnnyDelRay]

If I'm doing 2 playthroughs, usually the 1st will be total asshole. I find it funny, in games where you are the protagonist, how you even set about the main goal of the game in the first place, when it usually involves bringing peace, or saving some people. The writing is usually more interesting an unpredictable in ways that you can needlessly fuck people over, rather than just save them and not accept any money for it.

True, the good route usually pays it's way somehow. Also true, that many of the evil choices are predictable as well. But when you are given the option to *really* go out of your way to screw people who are already down, is where it gets interesting. When it comes to companions though this is tough, because you want them to have your back at the same time, unless you genuinely are trying to get them all killed in the process.

 

[pookie101]

In Fallout New Vegas you either were neutral-good, or if you went Legion all the companions hate you, and you don't get access to the main city.

At-least in Fallout 4 you could become a raider over-boss, but then Preston hates you.

well you can always ignore preston. become raider boss and THEN go get him. which is what im doing with this play through

as for the OP 90% good 10% kicking a mouthy merc through a skyscraper window in ME2

 

[Souplex]

It's not hard to do the right thing in life or in games.
LG fo' life!
The one exception is in cases where there's no counterquest to an evil plotline, such as the Dark brotherhood in Oblivion or Nuka World in Fallout 4. (Just killing everyone isn't a counterquest, it's the game giving you the middle finger for having scruples)

 

[TheFinish]

It seriously depends on how much gameplay stuff is tied to the choice. As an example, Infamous 1/2 only rewarded you for going whole hog one side or the other. In those cases, I'll play as the good guy first, and if I like the game I do the full-on murdermachine on a second playthrough.

If there's less stuff tied to it I'll generally be good unless I think the Evil option is more fitting for the character/seems more fun.

 

[Xan Krieger]

I'm extreme.....ly neutral. I make decisions based on logic and not feelings which always ends up with me solidly in the middle. Sometimes you need to be hard, other times soft, you gotta be willing to bend a bit to bring about the best outcomes.

 

[Elfgore]

I tried to be evil once, one fucking time in Fallout: New Vegas. I have no idea if it was a glitch or what, but I killed some feral ghouls on a cliff and every time I did, I got mass amounts of good karma. So much that it reversed hours of cannibalism, theft, and murder turning me from pure evil to almost pure good. After that I figured the universe just always intends for me to be a goody goody toe shoes in games.

 

[TilMorrow]

Well consider this, in Fable if you were a real dick to everyone you grew horns and if you were a saint you got a halo. I got both.

 

[Zykon TheLich_v1legacy]

i'm very strange with this in gaming.

In resource or tactical games where I'm in charge of armies or civilizations, I tend to go full on despotic/genocidal. In Spore, I GLEEFULLY wiped out everything in my path, and in Command and Conquers, I always gravitate towards the Nod/Soviets/Chinese first over the others.

In games where I'm playing an individual, however, I'm quite the hero. I always go the Good route in things like Fallout, Skyrim, ect...

I don't think that's particularly strange. You're going from dealing with individual "people" that you talk and interact with to a bunch of icons or numbers.

Fallout, Skyrim etc I always go for what I perceive to be the good option. Civilisation? I'm coming for you, it's only a matter of time. If they showed members of the general populous of that city I just nuked dying of radiation sickness I would be a bit less free with the nukes, shall we say.
Ever played DEFCON? The way they subtly introduce gentle sobbing to the background music is a nice grounding touch.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

I hate being the bad guy.

But at the same time, I'm not the kind of guy who would give 3000 credits to some dumb asshole who wagered way his girlfriend in gambling.

 

[iwinatlife]

Being that I use games as an escape from reality and in reality I generally strive to be a good person, Most games I will start with the most evil of evil routes. Even my good fable characters I would usually at the end of a session, stop, save, slaughter a village then quit.

 

[maninahat]

In a lot of RPGs and TellTale games, I have a self-imposed "What Would Sterling Archer do?" challenge. Basically, I pick whatever option Archer would do, which usually leads the character (me) make selfish, dickish moves. In The Wolf Among Us, I had a habit of stealing money from crime scenes and then avoiding to pay for things where possible - "I wish I could offer some money to help" I tell a struggling pole dancer, right after I looted her club's safe.

 

[Souplex]

In a lot of RPGs and TellTale games, I have a self-imposed "What Would Sterling Archer do?" challenge. Basically, I pick whatever option Archer would do, which usually leads the character (me) make selfish, dickish moves. In The Wolf Among Us, I had a habit of stealing money from crime scenes and then avoiding to pay for things where possible - "I wish I could offer some money to help" I tell a struggling pole dancer, right after I looted her club's safe.

To be fair, Archer is probably best defined as "Chaotic-Neutral with evil tendencies".

 

[DarklordKyo]

All in all, the results surprised me. Seemed like a lot of people generally preferred going full Satan before this, just for funsies. Maybe they're just the vocal minority.

 

[DarthCoercis]

I think my profile pic speaks far more eloquently than I could about my own moral system, and how it relates to my ways when gaming.

 

[CaitSeith]

I have the habit of playing as the good guy the first time, and replay as the bad guy later (and if I still want to go a third time, I throw a dice to determine the morals of the character and try to role-play it accordingly).

 

[hermes]

Good guy.

Mostly because most games with morality systems are so badly written that the options swing between "decent guy" and "irredeemable monster". Good options are not always that nice, but bad options are the most sardonic thing the writers could muster. When "saying hi" and "kicking his dog" are both equally valid options when meeting someone, it is hard to justify being an asshole.

Also, I have the idea that if I act as an asshole to every NPC, no one will give me sidequests.

 

[Zen Bard]

Amorality is the name of my game. I'll end up doing the right thing...but there might be a trail of bodies along the way.

My template is this guy: