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Poll: How do you decide what to do in a moral choice situation?


How do you decide between your options?
Whichever will give me the most power/benefits
28.6% (22)
28.6% (22)
Whichever is/looks coolest
11.7% (9)
11.7% (9)
Whichever option I would take in real life
26% (20)
26% (20)
Whichever I know to be the right thing to do
26% (20)
26% (20)
I just pick randomly
7.8% (6)
7.8% (6)
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BANNED
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I've noticed lately, that Moral choices in games are becoming more and more common. So far on the scene, we have Bioshock (I've made my opinions on how insulting I think those choices are in other threads, but they are choices nonetheless) and GTA IV, (which actually has some choices you can agonize over). Upcoming, there is Fable II, Fallout 3, Postal 3 (weird, but the guy says that the way you play - violent or nonviolent - will affect the game), and of course inFAMOUS. What separates inFAMOUS from the others, is that in inFAMOUS, the "good" thing to do isn't always just as easy as the "bad" thing to do. In GTA IV, the choice between the McReary brothers is just a push on the joystick. In Bioshock, one button will kill and another will harvest. In Fable II (I assume) the evil missions will be just as difficult as the good missions.

In inFAMOUS, however, in order to do the right thing, you may have to cripple yourself. The example of a choice they have given is that while racing against the clock to reach a bomb and disarm it, you come across a woman in urgent need of medical attention. Now, you can either (a) take the woman to get medical attention, risking that you won't make it to the bomb in time, possibly condemning people to die, or (b) press onwards to the bomb, leaving her to bleed in the alleyway. You have saved the people, but she is certainly dead. And the longer you make on this choice, the less time you have for the bomb, and the closer she gets to death. For the purposes of this exercise, there is no way you can get to the bomb and back in time.

In this situation, the right thing to do - rescue her - is a lot harder than just pressing onwards. So do you think this will influence more people into choosing the darker option?

What motivates you to do what you do?

Press Junketeer
Posts: 480
Joined: 11 Aug 2008

I go with "Whichever option I would take in real life" which invariably tends to be the option that benefits me the most, with a casual disregard for those around me.

On the Record
Posts: 6209
Joined: 10 Mar 2008

Usually it's kindof a toss up.

Like in GTA4 I would sometimes kill them and sometimes not. And usually I didn't even know I had the option because I would kill the person before it would get to the part where they were hanging on a ledge or cornered in the building. And example would be when one person was running away from me I was shooting him with mah SMG and he died, I didn't know I could save him...

So sometimes I would kill them, sometimes I wouldn't, whichever one is morally right is good to but usually I mix it up.

Pulitzer Laureate
Posts: 964
Joined: 8 May 2008

Because it's a game I have the uncanny ability to play it more than once, whodathunk?!!
I'd normally go with the "good" choices first time through then do the "bad" stuff on my next playthrough, then if a game keeps my interest for a third time through(Bioshock)then I'll mix it up just to see the grey area:D

Copy Clerk
Posts: 114
Joined: 27 Jun 2008

I would choose the IRL option. Also, in Fable 2, it's going to be a lot harder to be good than evil.

Gone Gonzo
Posts: 1374
Joined: 16 Jul 2008

Yea I'd go with what I'd do IRL. Usually help as many people as possible with no regard to my own safety.

Paperboy
Posts: 16
Joined: 20 Jul 2008

I try to imagine the mindset of the character that I'm playing in game, and base my decisions upon that. I embrace whatever personality they seem to have, good or evil. As long as I find it meaningful to the story being told by the game.

Infamous Scribbler
Posts: 520
Joined: 21 May 2008

Indigo_Dingo:
In this situation, the right thing to do - rescue her - is a lot harder than just pressing onwards. So do you think this will influence more people into choosing the darker option?

How is saving one life the right thing to do when there's a bomb putting the lives of tens or even hundreds at stake? Or did I read the scenario wrong?

Muckraker
Posts: 286
Joined: 25 Jan 2008

LordCraigus:
How is saving one life the right thing to do when there's a bomb putting the lives of tens or even hundreds at stake? Or did I read the scenario wrong?

I think, if you're quick enough, you can save her, then disarm the bomb.

I tend to whatever the right thing is, just because I can't bear to do bad things to NPCs.

Gone Gonzo
Posts: 1783
Joined: 29 Dec 2007

LordCraigus:

Indigo_Dingo:
In this situation, the right thing to do - rescue her - is a lot harder than just pressing onwards. So do you think this will influence more people into choosing the darker option?

How is saving one life the right thing to do when there's a bomb putting the lives of tens or even hundreds at stake? Or did I read the scenario wrong?

I think the idea behind it is that if you choose to save her, you could still reach the bomb in time, which would mean you could save everyone. If not, then the "good" choice would be to leave her, unless the bomb would only hurt one person, then it would become who is more worth saving.

Edit: Curse you Nugoo!

On the Record
Posts: 6209
Joined: 10 Mar 2008

LordCraigus:

Indigo_Dingo:
In this situation, the right thing to do - rescue her - is a lot harder than just pressing onwards. So do you think this will influence more people into choosing the darker option?

How is saving one life the right thing to do when there's a bomb putting the lives of tens or even hundreds at stake? Or did I read the scenario wrong?

Yeah, I have to admit, what do you really think you're going to do? You're going to disarm the freakin bomb! Plus, what are the chances that you are running and jumping everywhere and you just happen to notice a poor old lady?

Perhaps a better example would be, well, better? You do a bit to much predicting Indigo.

Copy Clerk
Posts: 75
Joined: 8 May 2008

Regga_Overallt:
I try to imagine the mindset of the character that I'm playing in game, and base my decisions upon that. I embrace whatever personality they seem to have, good or evil. As long as I find it meaningful to the story being told by the game.

Same here, I try to think of a personality my character will have (considering we`re talking about RPGs) and stick with it. I usually can`t force myself to pick the really evil, satanic-baby-eating-like choices though, even when I remind myself that it`s just a game. And they say us gamers are all immoral psychopaths.

Beat Writer
Posts: 135
Joined: 30 Jul 2008

Sometimes I pick what I would do in real life...sometimes I just pick the evil choice for the fun of it. But more often then not its a question of what will benefit me most.

Gone Gonzo
Posts: 4577
Joined: 22 Jun 2008

LordCraigus:

Indigo_Dingo:
In this situation, the right thing to do - rescue her - is a lot harder than just pressing onwards. So do you think this will influence more people into choosing the darker option?

How is saving one life the right thing to do when there's a bomb putting the lives of tens or even hundreds at stake? Or did I read the scenario wrong?

Your putting the needs of the many in front of the few. That is in no way the right decision bucko. Cause half the people you save are probably wooting dickholes and clusterfucks.:P

EDIT: Also my take on the subject is that you have to defuse the bomb or the game calls you a failure and makes you restart so. The good is saving everybody, The not so good is saving many but not all.

Gone Gonzo
Posts: 4852
Joined: 12 Apr 2008

I usually just do things at random, I find that when i plan ahead games can get boring, random killing/not killing poeple can cause/solve problems and then when i play through again different things occur.

Gone Gonzo
Posts: 4636
Joined: 15 Jun 2008

tregon75:
I would choose the IRL option. Also, in Fable 2, it's going to be a lot harder to be good than evil.

Yep, exactly why im gonna be evil

Gone Gonzo
Posts: 4577
Joined: 22 Jun 2008

D_987:

tregon75:
I would choose the IRL option. Also, in Fable 2, it's going to be a lot harder to be good than evil.

Yep, exactly why im gonna be evil

Well i'm going to find you ingame, Find your family and slaughter them if you don't mind.

BANNED
Posts: 12958
Joined: 30 Jan 2008

Jumplion:

LordCraigus:

Indigo_Dingo:
In this situation, the right thing to do - rescue her - is a lot harder than just pressing onwards. So do you think this will influence more people into choosing the darker option?

How is saving one life the right thing to do when there's a bomb putting the lives of tens or even hundreds at stake? Or did I read the scenario wrong?

Yeah, I have to admit, what do you really think you're going to do? You're going to disarm the freakin bomb! Plus, what are the chances that you are running and jumping everywhere and you just happen to notice a poor old lady?

Perhaps a better example would be, well, better? You do a bit to much predicting Indigo.

This is the example they gave, not me.

And its the fact that rescuing her will make it harder for you, it'll reduce the time you have to get to the bomb - its not that it directly entails failure, just that it means its going to be harder to disarm the bomb.

Gone Gonzo
Posts: 2787
Joined: 5 Aug 2008

I always pay mr.Goody-goody

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Bulletinmybrain:

LordCraigus:

Indigo_Dingo:
In this situation, the right thing to do - rescue her - is a lot harder than just pressing onwards. So do you think this will influence more people into choosing the darker option?

How is saving one life the right thing to do when there's a bomb putting the lives of tens or even hundreds at stake? Or did I read the scenario wrong?

Your putting the needs of the many in front of the few. That is in no way the right decision bucko. Cause half the people you save are probably wooting dickholes and clusterfucks.:P

EDIT: Also my take on the subject is that you have to defuse the bomb or the game calls you a failure and makes you restart so. The good is saving everybody, The not so good is saving many but not all.

see, thats the sort of thing you shouldn't take as written. It may be that failure without retries is a possibility.

Gone Gonzo
Posts: 4577
Joined: 22 Jun 2008

Indigo_Dingo:

Bulletinmybrain:

LordCraigus:

Indigo_Dingo:
In this situation, the right thing to do - rescue her - is a lot harder than just pressing onwards. So do you think this will influence more people into choosing the darker option?

How is saving one life the right thing to do when there's a bomb putting the lives of tens or even hundreds at stake? Or did I read the scenario wrong?

Your putting the needs of the many in front of the few. That is in no way the right decision bucko. Cause half the people you save are probably wooting dickholes and clusterfucks.:P

EDIT: Also my take on the subject is that you have to defuse the bomb or the game calls you a failure and makes you restart so. The good is saving everybody, The not so good is saving many but not all.

see, thats the sort of thing you shouldn't take as written. It may be that failure without retries is a possibility.

Yeah that very well could happen. but it would be stupid cause you could be right at the end and get killed and it blows up. Or it blows up in your face.

Red Guard
Posts: 2662
Joined: 16 Dec 2007

Generally, I just choose the most logical course of action. That usually turns out to be the "good" answer from my experience, though my way of thinking did cause me to kill a couple NPCs in Mass Effect.

An example of how I view multiple choice dialogue trees.
The scenario: an NPC wants to join your party.

NPC: "Hey can I tag along?"

Answer 1: Sure, happy to have you along.
Answer 2: I am not so sure. Can you convince me with a few extra lines of text and then repeat this dialogue screen again?
Answer 3: I want to rip out your intestines and use them to make sausages for my tribe of flesh eating pigmys.

Infamous Scribbler
Posts: 520
Joined: 21 May 2008

Ahh I see, so you can both save the injured woman and disarm the bomb, but it's harder if you try to do both. Makes sense.

Gone Gonzo
Posts: 2158
Joined: 4 Jun 2008

I useually go with whichever choice would be more comical or entertaining, so in your example I would probably run by, drop some change and say 'sorry, in a bit of a hurry!'.

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LordCraigus:
Ahh I see, so you can both save the injured woman and disarm the bomb, but it's harder if you try to do both. Makes sense.

What'd you think? I agree, that would be retarded.

Gone Gonzo
Posts: 3758
Joined: 29 Dec 2007

My gut felling would decide.

Press Junketeer
Posts: 356
Joined: 18 May 2008

Gut feeling first time, than play through a second time and go extrme of the thing i wasn't the first time.

Gone Gonzo
Posts: 1282
Joined: 1 Jun 2008

Typically, the choice between good and evil in games is so incredably two dimensional that I'll ussually aim for a neutral position just because it adds another layer of strategy to the game practically. The story almost never changes depending on your actions (Except that you can randomly kill people who will never be important when you're evil).

If games really are becoming more interactive though then most likely I will make my moral decisions on whatever seems more interesting at the time. I voted is/looks cool because I am very suceptable to what I like to call "LOOK, shiny object!" syndrome.

In the situation you described for example, it would depend on the lady in question. If I approach her and she says in a very calm old lady-esque way "Oh, dear sir. I've broken my leg. Won't you please escort me to the hospital." I'd probably ignore her. If however I spotted her in a dark back alley seconds from being crushed by a piano dropped from the roof of the adjacent building on fire, chance are I'm going for the good route.

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Khedive Rex:
Typically, the choice between good and evil in games is so incredably two dimensional that I'll ussually aim for a neutral position just because it adds another layer of strategy to the game practically. The story almost never changes depending on your actions (Except that you can randomly kill people who will never be important when you're evil).

If games really are becoming more interactive though then most likely I will make my moral decisions on whatever seems more interesting at the time. I voted is/looks cool because I am very suceptable to what I like to call "LOOK, shiny object!" syndrome.

In the situation you described for example, it would depend on the lady in question. If I approach her and she says in a very calm old lady-esque way "Oh, dear sir. I've broken my leg. Won't you please escort me to the hospital." I'd probably ignore her. If however I spotted her in a dark back alley seconds from being crushed by a piano dropped from the roof of the adjacent building on fire, chance are I'm going for the good route.

Ok, now picture it as heavy breathing and sobbing, cause this game is not going to be a damn cartoon.

Muckraker
Posts: 237
Joined: 7 Aug 2008

Go with the gut

and if that isnt available for some reason, I can always call upon the Two-Face tactic...

Beat Writer
Posts: 143
Joined: 21 Nov 2007

Flip a coin and even then go for the bomb.

Sadly going for the bomb would get me noticed, the police would comend me and my boss would say good work and I'd be in his good books for a while.

That's the way the human mind is.

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Liam Wolfy:
Flip a coin and even then go for the bomb.

Sadly going for the bomb would get me noticed, the police would comend me and my boss would say good work and I'd be in his good books for a while.

That's the way the human mind is.

Thats not how the cities mind worked. Although you stopped the bomb, you ignored a woman in need. You allowed her to die so you could make it easier for yourself, and they recognise that. The city wants to hate Dylan, and they will take any oppurtunity to.

Red Guard
Posts: 3579
Joined: 27 Mar 2008

"Coolest" in the sense of "makes a good story."

-- Alex

Gone Gonzo
Posts: 4296
Joined: 20 Dec 2007

My first playthrough, I try hard to get the best outcome, everything else, I see what I missed. Example would be the Witcher where if I play again, even though I know the choice is the "bad choice" - it adds so much more on a replay because you wanna see what would happen later.

Press Junketeer
Posts: 453
Joined: 18 Jun 2008

That depends on what file I'm playing. If I'm playing the "Make the choice you would make IRL" file, I would do that. If I'm playing the "good" file, I'll do that. I'f I'm playing the "evil" file, I'll do that, and so on.

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