Morality Systems Need to be Less Black and White

Referring to The Witcher 2, Fallout 3, BioShock, Fable, and Mass Effect as prime examples, Gamer Euphoria editorializes about the need for video game morality systems – those found in role-playing games in particular – to be further fleshed out and to provide unexpected consequences to both “good” and “bad” deeds.

There are a few cases in which morality systems have been fleshed out, but these are in short supply. It’s time for more developers to flesh out their morality and decision-making systems in their games, because not all good outcomes are a result of typically .ood’ deeds (see Games of Thrones; Jaime Lannister particularly, for a popular reference point). The same applies to bad outcomes. Good intentions have a tendency to lead to bad results at times, and this is rarely reflected in video games.

Morality systems aren’t exactly new, yet they seem to be progressing at an extremely slow rate. Improving the choices and the impact they have upon the game world is something that needs to be addressed. Forcing players into a tough choice in order to achieve a .ood’ outcome adds a large amount of drama to a game’s story and overall experience. The current trend of morality effecting a character’s look and dialogue options is outdated, and it’s simply time to move on.

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