Can’t I Be Just a Little Bit Evil?

Tales of a Rampant Coyote has published an editorial on the rather ham-fisted approach to morality gaming has taken over the years.

The thing is – ethical decisions are among the most interesting types of decisions. I remember studying in high-school psychology about avoid – avoid decisions and attract – attract decisions being the most stressful and interesting. These are basically choosing the lesser of two evils or the greater of two goods. And they are the kinds of decisions that make for really interesting, powerful, and personal stories.

And yet videogames usually neglect them. Instead you just get to choose between being a nasty jerk and being a goody-two-shoes. Granted, videogames aren’t the ideal medium for subtlety, but we can do a lot better than that!

Actually, the character generation system from the middle Ultima games provided some of the best ethical decision-making found in games. A gypsy presented you with a moral quandary on tarot-like cards. Your answers determined which of the virtues you most favored, which then determined your character class. For example, one situation had you sworn to protect your lord at any cost, yet you’ve seen him commit a crime. You must choose between upholding your oath (honor), or reporting the crime to the authorities (justice). Another choice states that you see a soldier desert his post and attempt to flee, only to become attacked by multiple enemies. Do you risk your life to save him?

These are interesting, thought-provoking decisions. These are opportunities to explore game possibilities beyond how many inventive ways you can kill a zombie.

Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines offered a smattering of similar situations presented as actual in-game decisions, with some options limited by your skill levels. Even better, by casting you as a monster in a world with a moral palette made only of shades of (dark) gray, it also managed to take some actions that would be reprehensible in other games (let alone real life) and present them as reasonable options.

Galactic Civilizations II actually makes it a little tough sometimes. There are sometimes tough consequences for taking the moral high ground, and the benefits from being “good” aren’t clearly the fast-track to winning the game. But the consequences of the decisions do get abstracted out into little more than a few modifiers. There’s no “memory” of specific deeds to follow you around.