The 'best' morle choice system.

[Vinculi]

I've finished Deus Ex recently (about time too I might add, such an awesome game...), and it featured one of the best systems I've seen so far. You make choices, but they don't have any impact on your "karma" or your abilities, rather, you have in-game consequences, and some characters will like you more (and give you more/better stuff). There are few right choices, however. Even the ending was one of those things:
Do you enslave humanity but lead it to a better world, do you hit the "reset button" and watch a new civilization grow out of the ashes that is free of the problems of the past, or do you restore the status quo that will save the lives of billions, but also lead to poverty and further division in society?

One of the things that made Deus Ex great was that no matter how you played it, it continued on as though there was never another option. Risking your life to stay behind and save paul meant he was around later, and changed JC's motivation to go to Hong Kong, for example, or choosing whether to kill Lebedev, capture him, or even kill Navarre.

Deus Ex's system was superior because it was completely invisible, the game never explained how great the consequences of your choices would be. The story continues on the path you set it on without ever suggesting that you could have gone in another direction, leaving you to decide if what you did was the best decision, or whether there had ever been another option in the first place.

So i'll go with Deus Ex...Now i've gone and got myself excited for number three, dammit.

 

[GloatingSwine]

The best moral choice system is not to have one.

Just have a player choice system where the choices have consequences, and most of them are morally entirely neutral, like in Alpha Protocol.

 

[u4527646]

I actually didn't find Bioshock to really HAVE a moral choice system. The little sisters didn't really seem "human" to me, and what was the consequence for killing them, MORE ADAM? WOOHOO! Bring on the Little Girl slaughter! *Rips open child and bathes in her sweet sweet Adam*... That probably... came out a bit more pervy than I thought...

 

[Girl With One Eye]

I actually didn't find Bioshock to really HAVE a moral choice system. The little sisters didn't really seem "human" to me, and what was the consequence for killing them, MORE ADAM? WOOHOO! Bring on the Little Girl slaughter! *Rips open child and bathes in her sweet sweet Adam*... That probably... came out a bit more pervy than I thought...

I couldn't do it, I didn't have the heart to kill them!

OT: The only game with a moral system I've played was dragon age so don't have anything to compare it to but I thought it was pretty good, even though it didn't always make sense.

 

[gigastrike]

Moral choice systems are flawed on principle. In order to calculate your alignment, they restrict you to only a "good" or "evil" choice as defined by the developer. The moral choice system was created to allow the player to choose what kind of character they wanted to play as, but it actually limits the player just as much. Sure you can make an evil choice after you make a good one, but entering this gray area is usually punished since it doesn't allow you to access any of the best abilities.

I say we drop the good/evil thing entirely and focus on giving the player more choices to make, and have the characters react according to the outcomes, not a 2-dimentional bar. Oblivion does this well (though I wish the effect of your choices actually lingered).

 

[Gralian]

My hat goes off to Deus Ex, Alpha Protocol and Dragon Age Origins.

Why? Because they did not quantify choice. They did not give you a morality bar. They did not make clear that choosing to kill this particular mook will grant you +2 to evil, or that giving money to that particular NPC will grant +2 to good. You were free to do what you percieved as right or most profitable without the game instantly reminding you that OH OH LOOKIT! HE'S GOING EVIL EVERYONE! +10 TO EVIL!

In essence, it placed more value on personal moral choice as opposed to an arbitrary morality system. This makes the decision to side with one faction over another more ambiguous, and ambiguity is what makes moral choices fun to begin with. Very rare in life do we come across a clear cut right or wrong path and games should try to emulate this.

Despite being a proud Briton, i do have a soviet fur hat. And it is awesome.

 

[Kagim]

Infamous.

I felt the game rewarded you justly. By protecting the people Cole manifested his powers in such a way that spared innocent lives and unleashed pinpoint attacks.

Where as not giving a damn about the people Cole would manifest his powers in a more violent uncontrollable way showing how he only truly cared about his own goals.

Both paths were justly rewarded with powers that not only helped you beat the game, but were tailored to the game play style. As well since all abilities changed so drastically depending on the side you choose the tactics for defeating enemies. The good side required more tact and surgical attacks but screwing up was less of a set back while anti-hero(Because you weren't evil, just self serving) involved going bat shit crazy however use of your abilities left you exposed to enemies.

On top of that it honestly felt like an accurate depiction of how he would master his abilities.

A Cole who was trying to help the people would want the utmost control over his powers so as not to hurt them, thus you get focus oriented attacks and non lethal grenades.

Where as a Cole only concerned with his own safety has no reason to hold back, and has no problem leveling a city block if it means he is a step closer to his and his friends freedom.

It felt natural to me, seeing as how none of the choices were that extreme to me.

I rarely play games more then once and i have not only played Infamous around 5 times but have found every last T.A.C.O the game has to offer. Normally i couldn't care less.

 

[The DSM]

I like Dragon Ages.

You arnt just good or evil, the only thing it affects is how characters react, your still saving the world, just using more ruthless methods, like in Mass Effect.

 

[FlaviusM]

Either The Witcher, Dragon Age, or Alpha Protocol. Every other RPG with "morality system" I've played, is simply with choices about either slaughtering the entire family, or being a fucking saint.

 

[AMMO Kid]

Fable 2 had the best moral choice system that I've personally seen. You could be either completely good or completely evil and it wouldn't affect anything in the game other than your moral level.

That is real freedom in a video game, when you can pick any choice you want and not be badly punished for it. You are just allowed to continue on your merry way making any choices you want without having to be afraid of making the wrong choice that screws everything up for you in the future. There is no "I want to be evil but if I am I won't get this certain ending I want," just freedom.