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Forums - Gaming Discussion - In games with a karma system, which role do you usually play? Good or bad guy?

Tagged games:

 

Good or bad?

Good 55 83.33%
 
Bad 11 16.67%
 
Total:66
Alkibiádēs on 10 July 2015

What is bad and what is good? My sig is something I consider to be good. So did the writer (read the Melian Dialogue if you want to understand it better).

Or watch this video. Go Athens!



"The strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must" - Thoukydides

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Veknoid_Outcast on 10 July 2015

Always good. I can't help myself. And not only do I play the good guy, but I'm as selfless and altruistic as I can possibly be.

I just can't bring myself to play a bad guy - unless that's the only choice



hatmoza on 10 July 2015

I like a challenge in my games. It's too easy being the bad guy... we have enough assholes.



I am the black sheep     "of course I'm crazy, but that doesn't mean I'm wrong."-Robert Anton Wilson

Risthel on 10 July 2015
Aeolus451 said:

I generally just try to choose whatever route that seems natural to me versus trying to be pure good or evil. In most games, I'll end up being the good character but in some games, I'll be the bad character. I think that the morality system in a lot of games is often poorly designed. Some games try to treat morality as if it's based purely reputation instead which isn't logical because because your reputation wouldn't be affected if no one witnesses the good or bad acts. Someone being a good person or not isn't a matter of public opinion. 

A good person is generally selfless and the act of helping someone is the reward itself. They shouldn't be doing quests or favors for others purely for rewards. They usually have good reputations by default. Sometimes, their actions can hurt others just as much as it helps.

A bad or evil person is ultimately a selfish person and do what benefits them the most versus helping others for no reason. It's usually the easier and most rewarding path. They can have good or bad reputation depending on how their actions affects others and how open they are with their bad acts. Sometimes, their actions can have positive effects on others.


That's actually a good analysis, thanks for sharing! 

Yes, karma systems in most games are too black and white, so it's easy to choose. If being good means not receiving a reward at all, then it could be interesting and challenging to see if someone would play as a good guy. I think one of the best system is the one used in Dungeons & Dragons games like Baldur's Gate or Planescape Torment that has multiple outcomes and can prevent you from speaking with certain people of opposite behaviour (so to increase the replay value). I always end up as a chaotic good character which means I'm generally good but trying to look for a personal benefit too.



mornelithe on 10 July 2015

I usually play the good guy first, because it tends to require the most effort. The evil path is for the 2nd playthrough on the harder difficulty, since it's usually take no prisoners.



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AlfredoTurkey on 10 July 2015

Good guy, then bad guy. But I usually dislike playing as the bad guy unless it's GTA. A good example of this is Second Son. That ending? It just felt wrong and unsatisfying. I think it was the first and only time where a game actually made me cringe.



Risthel on 10 July 2015
Alkibiádēs said:

What is bad and what is good? My sig is something I consider to be good. So did the writer (read the Melian Dialogue if you want to understand it better).

Or watch this video. Go Athens!

I watched the video, really interesting, I always loved ancient history. The two Persians Wars against Athens are one of my favourite subject!

Anyway, debating what is good or bad, right or wrong is really difficult since there's no solution to this problem in my opinion, so I don't expect to find such deep philosophycal arguments in a mainstream videogame ;)



FIT_Gamer on 10 July 2015

I play both, but bad first. I ruin everything, thing then play good to feel like i'm redeeming myself.



PixelPerfect on 10 July 2015

I usually stick with the good guy route on my first playthrough and if I'm compelled to play it again, I'll try the bad guy route.



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Risthel on 10 July 2015

Thank you all for sharing your experience! It's very interesting to read you all!
Maybe I should have made a poll too, but I don't know how to do it :(

Edit: ok, forget it, I made it.