I’m not talking about what is right and what is wrong and what we should keep away from kids and all that. I’m talking about how moral choice is handled in games and how it affects outcome. The nature of games is binary, 1 or 0, yes or no, and nuance is formed by creating combinations of yes and no.
Right now the vast majority of Moral/Karma systems are literally one dimensional, in the sense that you have a line with a devil on one end and an angel on the other. You do something good, you move towards the light. You do something evil, you move towards darkness. Usually to be Neutral you need to do BOTH good and evil acts, because games are rarely passive.
The idea I’ve been thinking about is to at least move this thing to 2d, having something in the shape of a +. One line represents ends (is what you accomplished good or evil) and the other represents means (did you do something good or evil to get there). These lines intersect but don’t affect each other, therefore you are given at least 4 options right off the bat. You play by the book to accomplish good, you break the law to do good, you keep your hands clean while accomplishing an evil agenda or you are a downright bastard. Most RPG people will think of D&D and therms like Lawful Good and Chaotic Neutral.
Still let’s imagine a fictional game where angels battle demons on earth and you are caught in the middle with some fancy video game powers. Helping the angels or hindering the demons is positive while hurting the angels or helping the demons is negative. Separate from that you have the means, killing is bad while sparing a life is good. You could kill every evil bastard on your crusade and that should taint you, making you a ruthless vigilante a la Punisher. You are admired by good people at a distance, but they can’t look you in the face without feeling disgust. Cops want to arrest you but you are not necessarily shoot on sight to them.
Now I think a 3d morality system is possible by making it means, end and circumstances. Think of it this way:
End: Are you out to help or harm innocent people?
Means: Do you lie, steal and kill in the process?
Circumstances: What did it take to make you choose an action (money or morals) and how much will it take before you start bending your own rules.
Think of a game with lots of stealth and I hate going into numbers but let’s use some.
Stealth killing somebody adds detracts 10 points from your “means”, in that you do something pretty bad in order to accomplish your good mission. Now killing somebody while in combat (i.e. they are shooting at you) only detracts 5 points because it is still bad (you have the choice to run away or disarm them) but it is not nearly as cold blooded and easily avoided as a stealth kill. Gamers will almost always think in terms of numbers because they want to win more than tell a story. But this system will make the gamer wonder: “Do I stealth kill the one guard next to the alarm and suffer 10 points or do I risk him sounding it and losing 20 points for killing 4 guards?”. Other things could affect your choices too, such as stealing food if you are starving vs. full (you probably just want to sell it). Is it worse to steal drugs when you are addicted than if you just want to re-sell them? Is it less bad to shoot somebody who is trying to kill a good person? How much money does it take to make you side with good or evil? Every game is designed by a different person and they will have their own definition of right and wrong, but I would like to see each designer detail their view. One character I like to play who breaks every game is a “private investigator”. This character picks locks and lies to get to the truth. He wants to arrest the bad guys but will shoot in self defense. He works for anyone who will pay but turns down very evil requests and often works for free for innocent people. This character is a cliché, but he is almost impossible to implement in most RPG’s without the game telling you “you are a saint” or “you are evil”.
Lastly it is best when all numbers are invisible, but I like having a “moral compass” that tells you where you stand. Like you go to your character sheet and it says more or less what archetype you are currently in depending on where you draw your lines. So what do you think? And what do you think about it affecting the way the game responds to the player?
Right now the vast majority of Moral/Karma systems are literally one dimensional, in the sense that you have a line with a devil on one end and an angel on the other. You do something good, you move towards the light. You do something evil, you move towards darkness. Usually to be Neutral you need to do BOTH good and evil acts, because games are rarely passive.
The idea I’ve been thinking about is to at least move this thing to 2d, having something in the shape of a +. One line represents ends (is what you accomplished good or evil) and the other represents means (did you do something good or evil to get there). These lines intersect but don’t affect each other, therefore you are given at least 4 options right off the bat. You play by the book to accomplish good, you break the law to do good, you keep your hands clean while accomplishing an evil agenda or you are a downright bastard. Most RPG people will think of D&D and therms like Lawful Good and Chaotic Neutral.
Still let’s imagine a fictional game where angels battle demons on earth and you are caught in the middle with some fancy video game powers. Helping the angels or hindering the demons is positive while hurting the angels or helping the demons is negative. Separate from that you have the means, killing is bad while sparing a life is good. You could kill every evil bastard on your crusade and that should taint you, making you a ruthless vigilante a la Punisher. You are admired by good people at a distance, but they can’t look you in the face without feeling disgust. Cops want to arrest you but you are not necessarily shoot on sight to them.
Now I think a 3d morality system is possible by making it means, end and circumstances. Think of it this way:
End: Are you out to help or harm innocent people?
Means: Do you lie, steal and kill in the process?
Circumstances: What did it take to make you choose an action (money or morals) and how much will it take before you start bending your own rules.
Think of a game with lots of stealth and I hate going into numbers but let’s use some.
Stealth killing somebody adds detracts 10 points from your “means”, in that you do something pretty bad in order to accomplish your good mission. Now killing somebody while in combat (i.e. they are shooting at you) only detracts 5 points because it is still bad (you have the choice to run away or disarm them) but it is not nearly as cold blooded and easily avoided as a stealth kill. Gamers will almost always think in terms of numbers because they want to win more than tell a story. But this system will make the gamer wonder: “Do I stealth kill the one guard next to the alarm and suffer 10 points or do I risk him sounding it and losing 20 points for killing 4 guards?”. Other things could affect your choices too, such as stealing food if you are starving vs. full (you probably just want to sell it). Is it worse to steal drugs when you are addicted than if you just want to re-sell them? Is it less bad to shoot somebody who is trying to kill a good person? How much money does it take to make you side with good or evil? Every game is designed by a different person and they will have their own definition of right and wrong, but I would like to see each designer detail their view. One character I like to play who breaks every game is a “private investigator”. This character picks locks and lies to get to the truth. He wants to arrest the bad guys but will shoot in self defense. He works for anyone who will pay but turns down very evil requests and often works for free for innocent people. This character is a cliché, but he is almost impossible to implement in most RPG’s without the game telling you “you are a saint” or “you are evil”.
Lastly it is best when all numbers are invisible, but I like having a “moral compass” that tells you where you stand. Like you go to your character sheet and it says more or less what archetype you are currently in depending on where you draw your lines. So what do you think? And what do you think about it affecting the way the game responds to the player?
