Ask Not …

In response to “Is Rape Wrong on Azeroth?” from The Escapist Forum: I think that, yeah, simply imposing a moral system on a game is a terrible idea. Games in which a pre-defined set of ‘bad’ actions always have a negative effect, and vice versa for ‘good’ actions, are often preachy, patronizing, and boring.

That said, I do worry equally about games like GTA, in which bad actions rarely ever have negative consequences, and good ones rarely have positive consequences – and the cases in which they do are mainly in cinematic parts where the player is not making a choice.

– Hegar

In response to “Is Rape Wrong on Azeroth?” from The Escapist Forum: The idea of a designer being able to create a morality is interesting, and one that I haven’t found to have been explored very well yet. … Of course, we would have to be careful that such a designer doesn’t confuse his true morality with his created one. That could be bad for his home life!

– Boucaner

In response to “Is Rape Wrong on Azeroth?” from The Escapist Forum: Again, I want to ask: Has anyone, anywhere, found a game that depicts morality in anything other than faction basis? And on a related note, can you define morality, even in the real world, in anything other than a faction basis: I’m realizing in this conversation that much of out real life morality is based off of what group (religion usually) we ascribe to.

– ZacQuickSilver

In response to “Sympathy for the Devil” from The Escapist Forum: Although a game engine may not be able to really take advantage of revealing the motivations of the antagonist, it may be used to create a motivational state for the player. If the antagonist is a jerk, then the player will have no issues putting him down. When the antagonist is someone who is trying to achieve a reasonable goal using morally questionable methods, the player can’t necessarily view their actions as good or evil.

– Scopique

In response to “Asteroids Do Not Concern Me” from The Escapist Forum: It’s fun to be bad now and then, but it’s also fun to play along as the tragic evil figure who’s convinced their on the right side. It keeps one’s own moral assumptions in perspective.

– Bongo Bill