The 'best' morle choice system.

[Fallen-Angel Risen-Demon]

What do you belive has the best morle choice system? Not your faverite, but the best.
I have to say undoubtedly Dragon Age: Origins.
Reason being the choices arn't as 'good' or 'evil' as say Bioshock (mostly).
Take for example the main choice in awakening.

Spoiler: Awakening spoilers

You decide wether to let 'The Architect' to continue his work on giving free will to the darkspawn or to kill him.
At first glance this looks like a simple Good vs Evil dilemma, when infact it is not.
It is hinted that 'The Architect' caused the Blight, the problem faced in the main game, through these experiments, not intentianaly but it was still caused by him.
Consider the risk that this may happen again, causing another blight maybe not straight away but still eventually causing one, possibly prematurly.
The choice you are faced with is wether to let the darkspawn gain free will and potentialy causing a blight making countless people die or kill 'The Architect' so the darkspawn have no chance of gaining free will but a blight is less likely to happen sooner saving the lives of ,potentialy, all of the Dragon age world.
There is no right answer.

Also without a 'morle bar' from the likes of KOTOR, ME and Fallout 3 (all great games still) you arn't told wether what you just did was good or evil you only see what others think of you.

So what do you think escapist comunity? What do you think is the best?

 

[silver wolf009]

I like Kotors because it actually affects your characters combat abilities. its not as superficial as others.

 

[Sacman]

Deus Ex has the best it wasn't based on a meter or specific moral choices but the choices your given affect other characters attitude toward you... without any of that faction bull crap...

 

[jeejvebe]

Not sure if it's "moral choice" but the choices in Alpha Protocol seem the most interesting to me.

 

[Reqviemus]

Witcher.
Basically, you get to choose between bad and worse, and every choice has its own good and bad sides.
Even, not so good, First Act with the classic theme of the witch. It's not clearly stated who is good or bad.
Dragon Age took much from Witchers moral choice system.

 

[tlozoot]

Have Dragon Age from Lovefilm waiting to play. This topic may convince me to start it (was thinking of sending it back and buying the actual game seeing as it's a GIANT FANTASY RPG and will probably take longer than I want to take with a rented game.)

On a slightly unrelated note, games need to stop giving you achievements for getting 100% good/bad. If there's a moral choice meter, I'll probably be meandering around the middle of it if given the choice - it's how I play. But if there's an achievement for getting one or the other then I've really got bugger all choice, haven't I.

Yeah....moral 'choices' in video games need a good hard looking at.

 

[Fallen-Angel Risen-Demon]

Not sure if it's "moral choice" but the choices in Alpha Protocol seem the most interesting to me.

I agree that it had major potential, the choices effected the world in subtle ways aswell as big ways.
If that system was somehow mixed with Dragon Age's it would be amazing.
Unfortunatly as said many time before the rest of AP was greatly flawed in other areas.
It's kinda got my hopes down a little bit for F:NV but if they have as good choice system it will be amazing so it simoltaniasly got my hopes up a bit.

 

[octafish]

The best morel choice system is pick ones that are free from bugs, fresh morels should have a healthy look--they should be plump, not limp, and they are better dry than moist. The aroma of morels is much more subtle than that of porcini or truffles, and you should be wary of any odors suggesting rot. There should be no weakness between the stem and the cap, and the cap should be unbroken.

OT: I like ME because it was focused, you were always going to acheive the same result it it just the journey that is different. Fallout is the silliest because being an evil character just doesn't fit into the main plot.

 

[infinity_turtles]

In theory, Jade Empire. In practice... Not so much. There were very few instances where the Closed Fist choices actually had anything to do with following the Path of the Closed Fist. Most of them were just you an asshole.

Otherwise, I'd probably go with something like Deus Ex or Alpha Protocol.

 

[Fallen-Angel Risen-Demon]

Yeah....moral 'choices' in video games need a good hard looking at.

I agree completly but it is a very hard thing to work with, you can't have them spanning of in entirely differn't directions otherwise the designers would have to create even more content which they don't have the time and money to make.
On your other stuff you said I belive the guy doing extra credit has got it nailed if we have to have a bar. Through a colour wheel type thing so you have 4 maybe more things to go with other then Good or Evil, he mentioned it one of his YouTube videos that they could me 'The needs of the many' vs 'The rights of the few' and 'Dicepline' vs 'Leincy' or so I belive. If a game had somthing like that it would be defintly one of the best maybe even the best.

 

[wolf92]

I think KOTOR had the best one

 

[Irridium]

I liked the Witcher's system.

There is no good/evil system. Just choices and consequences. You determine whether the choices are good or evil, not the game. Which I think is the best, since everyone has differing opinions on whats good/evil.

 

[Thedayrecker]

KotOR. Your choices seem to actually matter, and you could only use some force powers, based on your alignment (opposed to Fallout where your alignment only affected who was sent to kill you)

 

[TiefBlau]

The best "moral choice" system is none at all. Morality is subjective. Ethics are complex. Games like Deus Ex offer difficult ethical decisions you make, not some reputation system or an even shallower karma meter. In Deus Ex, there are direct consequences for each action. Consequences more complex than other people liking you more.

 

[Pearwood]

About the spoiler - it's not so much 'hinted at' as it is told right to your face

I agree with the theoretical moral choice system in Jade Empire, if the game actually played like the closed fist/open palm definitions said it'd easily have the best. But since it has a villain who's open palm I'm gonna have to say that anyway.

 

[tlozoot]

Yeah....moral 'choices' in video games need a good hard looking at.

I agree completly but it is a very hard thing to work with, you can't have them spanning of in entirely differn't directions otherwise the designers would have to create even more content which they don't have the time and money to make.
On your other stuff you said I belive the guy doing extra credit has got it nailed if we have to have a bar. Through a colour wheel type thing so you have 4 maybe more things to go with other then Good or Evil, he mentioned it one of his YouTube videos that they could me 'The needs of the many' vs 'The rights of the few' and 'Dicepline' vs 'Leincy' or so I belive. If a game had somthing like that it would be defintly one of the best maybe even the best.

I'd certainly agree that we can't expect developers to give us a world where every action has a hundred consequences (as we so often hear through PR) but a less shallow mode of morality would be fine for now. In Bioshock and many other games it's all about either being a saint or a demon. How many people in real life are like that? Let's go one step further - how often in real life can you really say, with absoloute certainty, that your actions were morally good, or evil.

A bit of ambiguity would be cool, is what I'm saying. You make this choice but it's not clear what's the good option and what's the bad. Do I sacrifice these people to ensure the safety of many more? Surely it's for the greater good to do so, but is it morally permisible to send people to their death, even if your intentions are good? Different people will pick different options and say that's 'right'. If we can get moral choice systems - even ones that only yield a handful of outcomes - that actually make you question what's good and what's evil, then that would be nice.

 

[infinity_turtles]

I agree with the theoretical moral choice system in Jade Empire, if the game actually played like the closed fist/open palm definitions said it'd easily have the best. But since it has a villain who's open palm I'm gonna have to say that anyway.

... Who was that?