In Praise of Evil

[spankythehippo]

I play games to get away from the real world. In Fallout 3, I also nuked Megaton. But before I did that, I murdered every single inhabitant and stole everything they had. Playing the good guy is way too boring. I always choose the path of evil. Maybe since there isn't enough of it in the real world. It's a welcome break from the monotony of day to day life. In Total War, I forge alliances, only to stab them in the back when they least expect it. It's the experience. I wouldn't stab a colleague in the back. Nor would I murder an entire town and then nuke it.

As wrong as it sounds (I need to prepare for the backlash I will receive), I was saddened to hear of Osama bin Laden's death. It was as if the little bit of evil in the world had been purged, only to leave a world of peace and security in it's wake (to an extent). I enjoy chaos. So, I felt a bit sad.

Sometimes, I will pick up my Call of Duty 4 and senselessly kill people in Multiplayer. That is a rare occurrence, since I no longer player shooter's like I used to. But the fact that I do, is enough to tell me that my life needs more action. I need that adrenaline rush, albeit, a cheap one. When I come home from a long day of looking at agar plates and microscopes, I game. I don't watch TV, and I don't watch movies. Only because the storyline is unchangeable. Whereas, in a game, I take the role of the protagonist (or antagonist). I make the choices. I decide where to go, what to do. Which is why I love Bethesda games so much. And I don't think I'll stop gaming any time soon.

[naut]

They never acknowledge having any needs or plans at all, and just stumble through life surviving on their heroic skills and their incredible dumb luck

Play the first DeathSpank. I feel you'll really appreciate the main character and all that the game satirises.

[Fragony]

I just can't play an evil character, it's always being evil just for the sake of being evil. It always makes more sense to play a good or neutral character.

[rvg]

I just can't play an evil character, it's always being evil just for the sake of being evil. It always makes more sense to play a good or neutral character.

I second that. Rarely do I see the games where evil choices are properly implemented. Most of the time playing evil means pointless and unnecessary violence for the sake of violence, i.e. the Chaotic Evil. It's dumb and boring. Good vs Evil is all about Selflessness vs Selfishness, not Normal vs Psychotic as is usually the case in videogames. Evil should be about betrayals for the sake of personal gain, willingness to use any means necessary to accomplish one's goal, sacrificing friends and allies to save your own skin. Instead, we usually get to choose the path of Ted Bundy or John Wayne Gacy. Evil imho needs to be more intelligent.

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

I think the end-game of Mass Effect (1) did a good job of good versus evil where evil is a plausible non-psycho choice. You can save the council and allied fleets by (essentially) sacrificing the Human fleet. It's not fully good vs evil, of course, as both get the job done. But as someone working for the Council, your employer is a stabilizing force within the galaxy. It's far from perfect, but it's better than Krogans nuking everyone. While the council didn't believe you about the Reapers (which was largely just written poorly) they'd have to believe you after a reaper just about impregnates their space station, right? So the optimistic boy scout choice is to the save the (hopefully reformable) institution.

I waxed those weird looking xenos. Remember Shanxi, mothers! Keeping the human fleet intact seems like a good idea since most of the aliens already hate our upstart guts, and a human council will work to protect our colonies.

It doesn't work out in ME2, but what can you do?

[Papewaio]

Eve Online. Giant sandbox, plenty of PvP. Go good, go bad.

Save the galaxy or be the pirate.

As for my normal gaming preferences. I like reasonable challenges. I don't like exploiting game mechanics that are obviously flawed.

As for good vs evil.
It depends on the game. Strategy games I err on the pragmatic. Games without rails the good. Games with Karma or the Darkside. Or Chaos I normally go Good first and replay as a Bad guy the second time off I can stomach it. Much prefer a complex antihero character to a simple one dimensional hero... I prefer iron man over CPT spangles

[Voigtkampf]

Eve Online. Giant sandbox, plenty of PvP. Go good, go bad.

Save the galaxy or be the pirate.

EVE actually brought out the worst in me at a certain point. But I still love the game, now mostly doing missions, mining and trading.

I recall that some people got on my bad side of the moon, and I was calling a RL friend with a lot of muscle in EVE (where as I had a lot of muscle in the "real world"). I basically told him to harass this particular group of players until I've had enough of fun from their blood, sweat and tears.

Picture this scene, I am out for a drink, a rather big guy, clean shaven head, black leather jacket, looking like a mean mobster, and I am talking on the phone with my friend. The convo went like this, and I spoke in a low, calm voice to him.

"I don't care how much it costs, how long it takes, I want you to find them and mess them up. Mess them up hard, no matter where they try to hide. Oh, and one more thing. The bodies. Bring me the bodies, all of them, I got a nice fridge waiting for them. I don't care how, just do it."

I hand up and face the waiter standing next to my table, waiting to take my order. Only his face is like and I order my drinks and think "what's with this guy?". Seconds later I got it.

Oh, I still got the bodies in a fridge. I open it up from time to time and chuckle. In praise of Evil indeed.

[Fragony]

I second that. Rarely do I see the games where evil choices are properly implemented. Most of the time playing evil means pointless and unnecessary violence for the sake of violence, i.e. the Chaotic Evil. It's dumb and boring. Good vs Evil is all about Selflessness vs Selfishness, not Normal vs Psychotic as is usually the case in videogames. Evil should be about betrayals for the sake of personal gain, willingness to use any means necessary to accomplish one's goal, sacrificing friends and allies to save your own skin. Instead, we usually get to choose the path of Ted Bundy or John Wayne Gacy. Evil imho needs to be more intelligent.

While not perfect KOTOR two was more morally ambigious than most games, the old women didn't care about good or evil, same thing to her. You would still be feeding on them by doing good deeds as it makes you stronger but weakens the people you help, so the good choice was still a selfish one.