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Print Screen: The Ethics of Computer GamesTroy Goodfellow's new column asks what makes an ethical game. The answer may surprise you.
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Troy, are you suggesting we shouldn't get new powers with our moral choices?!?!? Shocked. Dismayed. B-b-b-but I always get a new power when I help an elderly person cross the street.  Interesting article.
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Sicart has an interesting angle on the idea of ethics in games here, but I'm not sure it is best demonstrated by games that practically force the player to do things, thereby making the player reflect on have performed them. I haven't read the book, so I may have the particular point wrong.
It would seem better to me to cause the player to reflect on the ethics of a situation by presenting an ambiguous choice. Even better is if neither choice makes any real difference in the outcome. For example, the simulation in Fallout 3 (the part in black-&-white) give two ways to give the desired outcome, but neither way is a completely acceptable course of action. The only way to decide is to determine which is less objectionable. Or also in Fallout 3, someone in a fantastically poor situation asks you to kill him. You don't have to do so to get what you need, but it does cause reflection on whether and at what point a life can become so bad that you could kill someone to relieve him.
I admit, I am one of those gamers who won't play evil; the only Dark points I got in KOTOR were for the match against Starkiller. But I do enjoy games that give me occasion to pause and consider the situation. I would hate to only be considering the situation from deciding whether to continue playing or not.
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Very fascinating article, Troy. The choices we make in gaming can reflect our moral leanings. For instance, when I try to be evil in a game I just can't seem to do it. I WANT to, but it doesn't work out for me. I can't pull the trigger most of the time.
how weird.
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When being good or evil in a game does more than just unlock pathways and powers, then it will matter.
I haven't read the book in question so i'll ask you Troy: what do you think of the moral system in Ultima IV and why wouldn't the author talk about that - if he didn't?
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@CG-Prophet:
Re Ultima, he doesn't mention it at all, which is weird. Most of his examples are drawn from recent computer gaming with the occasional reference to a class game like SimCity or Civilization.
Since the Seven Virtues are so necessary to progress, I'm not sure if he would approve (since the message is clear) or disapprove (since they are more plot devices than real choices in some cases.)
@Shimarenda:
It is a very interesting book, though I should warn you that the first half is very heavy with theory.
I only focused on the choice stuff, but he has many other interesting case studies. Fable 2, for example, is unethical design because you can "buy" your way out of a bad alignment, resetting your ethical compass. This, he argues, makes every ethical decision pointless.
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Don't forget gta4... a game that really showed you the consequences of your actions... whether to kill dwayne or the rapper guy... Dwayne for the money promised to you or the rapper for the morality side of it... it really was a tough choice... of course there were more decisions... but that one is the least spoilerish...
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Interesting. I'm usually disappointed in these "morality" systems in games, mostly because no matter if I choose to be a paragon of virtue or an evil monster, I'm still killing a massive number of enemies. It seems somewhat beside the point.
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The Witcher presents interesting moral choices, often ambiguous (do you help the Witch or not?), that resulted in changes to the story/narrative and avoided the "ethics meter" approach used in KOTOR or Mass Effect. Granted, the results were are still just window-dressing on the plot (which woman will want to marry Geralt?) rather than allowing/creating major re-engineering of the character's situation and goals...
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