What is the best morality system in a game

[theAlfaBlade]

I been thinking for a long time on the best morality system in a game,and here are some examples on some games that had a good idea but sort of failed. (except one)

Nice idea. Fallout NV:It had a good idea with the morality and reputation system but it fell short because NCR is in numbers of ways better then Cesar's legion.Even though the NCR has a lot of corruption, they never EVER make you commit a good or bad deed on the opposite side Cesar's legion their just a bunch of raping,killing dogs with the only exception is that Cesar's legion has good intentions.

Best moral system. The Witcher 2: the game has the best because the simple fact that good choices don't lead to good consequences and the same for evil.


Worst moral system. Oblivion: just because even though I stole something or kill someone why does it add to my infamy if no one saw the action committed. I know this wasn't a real moral choice game though I hated that my nice thief gets insults to people even when there isn't a criminal record or news of my deeds

Soooo whats yours.

 

[ElectroJosh]

I always thought NV's choices were:

House = Good (est)

Yes Man = Good (ish)
NCR = Neutral

Caesar = Evil

whether that was the intention is another question.

 

[octafish]

Alpha Protocol, choices have consequences, there is no morality except what you bring into the game yourself. Espionage is a murky business.

 

[ChupathingyX]

The one that doesn't exist in Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction because as a mercenary you're doing it for the money and not the warm, fuzzy feeling inside you when you rescue a cat from a tree. Instead you choose the factions you'll be working for with whatever pros and cons come from that.

Fallout: New Vegas also came extremely close but for some reason Obsidian didn't completely get rid of the karma meter. The reputation system was a massive step in the right direction.

[sub][sub][sub][sub]I really need to get around to playing Alpha Protocol.[/sun][/sub][/sub][/sub]

 

[Popeman]

None at all if you ask me. Half the time "evil" protagonists come across as unlikable.

 

[StriderShinryu]

I personally like what Bioware does in both Mass Effect and Dragon Age, though I'm really not a fan of the meter gaming in ME.

I like that in ME, the choices are usually not good/evil so much as choosing between a faster more selfish route and a slower more others oriented route. It works very well in that you aren't necessarily playing an entirely user created character but more of what your version of the already existing Shepherd character.

I like that in DA you are given a large variety of choices, of both large and small import, but that the results of your choices play out perhaps more often amonsgt your companions than in any earth shaking world changing ways. It makes the whole thing feel more personal when your decisions aren't always based on saving the world but are often based on how those you travel with would actually feel about what you are doing (and if you're even worth being with at all).

 

[Soviet Heavy]

The Witcher 2 and Alpha Protocol. Not having your choices attached to a morality gauge allows for them to be actual choices, instead of grinding points.

 

[ElectroJosh]

I realise I forgot to say my favourite "morality system" was in the Witcher 2. The choices you make aren't good vs evil. They are choices that you could imagine Geralt struggling to make (especially because all the facts aren't available). On quite a few occasions the game gave me choices that I didn't want to have to choose between (sort of the point of the story - Geralt being someone who is thrust into a conflict he would have prefered to avoid).

 

[StBishop]

Alpha Protocol, choices have consequences, there is no morality except what you bring into the game yourself. Espionage is a murky business.

This.

I was thinking this but could think of no examples.

A game which allows you to make a decision, has that decision matter in the context of the game, but doesn't attribute a plus minus score to it arbitrarily is better than the current model.

I also like the "Co-op choices" in Army of TWO the 40th Day. The outcome wasn't always what you expected and often the situation wasn't quite what it seemed.

 

[Cyrus Hanley]

I love the system in place with Fallout: New Vegas and the varying degrees of "acceptance" (or lack thereof) with factions and towns, ranging from saviour to sinner and all the alternatives in between (baby-eating Mother Theresa).

 

[Shoggoth2588]

I don't remember if it was Origins or, 2 but I loved how you could be an asshole in...Dragon Age something or other. It didn't tally your choices into good, evil or, neutral boxes, it just let you role play. It was probably Origins because...

Spoiler

...any other game that would let me carve up a possessed child in front of his crying mother would label me evil in a fucking heartbeat.

 

[LordRoyal]

The best morality system is no morality system at all.

Seriously, I found it amazing that Dragon Age Origins did away with it and replaced it with an influence system.

Morality systems just simplify roleplaying experiences. Characters aren't good or evil naturally and I much prefer it when games have more cerebral characteristics

 

[lacktheknack]

I trust Spiderweb Software to make the good ones.

Geneforge 2 took on a single moral question (are sentient creations equal to humans?) and ran with it. And when I say "ran with it", I mean "created a ridiculously epic and dark story that was impossible to truly 'win'".

The only 'happy' ending came when you KILLED ALL THE THINGS and even that feels inherently like losing in the game's context.

 

[endtherapture]

Baldur's Gate 2.

The reputation meter.

If you had a high reputation, good characters were happy, evil characters were unhappy and may leave the party (and vice versa). You got reputation for completing quests and doing good deeds. You lost it for doing deeds the people wouldnt like.

You were attacked on site if your reputation was low enough but evil characters were happy. Some characters won't join you unless you have a high reputation (eg. Keldorn).

I thought it worked perfectly.

 

[ecoho]

so far id say TOR because you not only have the light/dark(btw waaay more fun being a dark jedi then a sith)but you have your companions affection as well which reins you in more.

 

[The Youth Counselor]

Deus Ex.

There was no good and evil meter.

You didn't make choices because you wanted to try the good or the evil powers or to experience different story branches.

The game didn't pause and tell you to click on the cartoonish extremes of KILL CHILD or GIVE CHILD CANDY BAR and yet both were available options.

With all this in mind, I can understand if someone rebuts my example "but there was no moral choice system in Deus Ex."

But on the contrary the game had the purest form of moral choices. Deus Ex made the player choose what felt best or right to them without the promise of reward or punishment. Good and Evil are invented concepts that are more abstract in nature, and morality is all about distinguishing these concepts in a world where neither are set in stone.

 

[varulfic]

Dragon Age had it down. No stupid sliding good/evil bar, taking every decision you make and distilling it down to a boolean. No, you just did what you needed to do, and depending on what the guys in your party believed, they reacted and changed their view of you accordingly.

Morality shouldn't be a global thing, where one morally questionable action changes you and the entire worlds view of you. It should be personal, with everyone having their own beliefs which sometimes conflict with your own.