NationStates Jolt Archive

I'm currently playing Jade Empire, and one of my favorite things about it is the implemented "Open hand/Closed fist" system, which is much like the light/dark system in KOTOR (made by the same people), which is similar to the good/evil system in Fable, which is similar to the Hero/Villain system in Fallout/Fallout2.

Personally I've always loved these systems, because I enjoy being able to play out a truly good role, if just vicariously, or to play it out how I would normally do it in real life, if just to see if the game considers me to be good or evil.

Anyone else enjoy games that implement these systems? And also, which side do you prefer to be on?

I'm currently playing Jade Empire, and one of my favorite things about it is the implemented "Open hand/Closed fist" system, which is much like the light/dark system in KOTOR (made by the same people), which is similar to the good/evil system in Fable, which is similar to the Hero/Villain system in Fallout/Fallout2.

Personally I've always loved these systems, because I enjoy being able to play out a truly good role, if just vicariously, or to play it out how I would normally do it in real life, if just to see if the game considers me to be good or evil.

Anyone else enjoy games that implement these systems? And also, which side do you prefer to be on?

I've always enjoyed such games. It hearkens back to one of the old Ultima games you could get for the NES, where opening a chest that didn't belong to you reflected on your alignment and such.

I, like probably the majority of people, tend to play 'good' the first time through, and then try out the dark stuff afterwards. I find that a lot of times the evil choices come across as stupid choices, and only the craziest megalomaniac would make them. (Which is part of the fun of playing evil I suppose.)

Notice the "lawful evil" sorts usually get judged good? If you're not over the topic comic book villain evil you're good by default.


It's noxious.

Oblivion irked me to no end with that. Sure you can run around murdering, but you can't commit genocide on a planetary scale. The guards just keep respawning! Plus a lot of people you can't kill because they're quest NPCs. Breaking out of jail gains you nothing but a bigger price on your head, and you can't join the guild that wants to end the world.


Boring!

My first real experience with this was with the game "Black and White" where the landscape and entire interface changed according to your alignment. I always tried to have a really good alignment, but I could never seem to keep my people happy enough. (and I also felt the need to tear trees out of the ground too often.)

A great game, even if I ended up playing it as "forest management."

God, I love KOTOR and Fable.

Notice the "lawful evil" sorts usually get judged good? If you're not over the topic comic book villain evil you're good by default.


It's noxious.

Oblivion irked me to no end with that. Sure you can run around murdering, but you can't commit genocide on a planetary scale. The guards just keep respawning! Plus a lot of people you can't kill because they're quest NPCs. Breaking out of jail gains you nothing but a bigger price on your head, and you can't join the guild that wants to end the world.


Boring!
That's what mods are for!

I'm always evil first play through.

I liked Jade Empire and fable but I hated KOTOR...It just wasn't fun...

Chaotic Neutral never gets enough airtime. You're always pushed towards either evil or good, but it becomes very difficult to fight for the side of Balance in almost every Karma/etc. system out there.

I think it suits some games but not others... It's ok for simplistic stories like Jade Empire or KotoR, but I don't get why people like Peter Molyneux pretend that this shallow dualistic storybook system somehow makes a game deeper and more involving. Morally ambiguous characters, as both protagonists or antogonists, are much more interesting. I want a game where there are no preset metaphysical ideas of what constitutes a good or evil act, yet certain actions still have real noticable consequences in the world. Maybe in a few years the artform will have matured enough for that sort of thing.

Chaotic Neutral never gets enough airtime. You're always pushed towards either evil or good, but it becomes very difficult to fight for the side of Balance in almost every Karma/etc. system out there.

In both KOTOR and Jade Empire, there are NPC's that represent that balance, and I'm fairly certain there are a few perks to such a balance. Problem is, if you decide to do too many things good or evil one after another, you tip the scales.

I tried being darkside in KOTOR, but I would always be compelled to just help the guy instead of killing him.

I did, however, like the part of KOTOR 2 where you could jedi-mind-trick the thugs into happily jumping off the cliff.

I hate games like that, even though I enjoyed KOTOR, and I generally hate games that carry with them the concept of a good-evil dynamic. Life just doesn't work that way. Give me a system with an ambiguous morality and NPC interaction based on a less arbitrarily good-evil scale and we'll talk.

I hate games like that, even though I enjoyed KOTOR, and I generally hate games that carry with them the concept of a good-evil dynamic. Life just doesn't work that way. Give me a system with an ambiguous morality and NPC interaction based on a less arbitrarily good-evil scale and we'll talk.

*shrugs* If you've played KOTOR, you know it's not as cut-and-dry as all that. Intent is everything. If you mean well and attempt to help someone, 9/10 times it'll come out as a good mark on you. If you mean to harm and attempt to destroy someone, then it gets trickier. It then takes into account the HOW. How are you doing it? Are you relentlessly attacking and hoping to kill this person with no hope of reprieval or compassion? If so, it's most likely going to be evil, even if the guy you're killing is the end boss. If you're a dick to the end boss, you're still being a dick.

It's really a rather complex system. I can honestly say I didn't follow about 90% of the jedi code, and at times I even did things against the will of whatever superior I was working under at the time, in the name of my own personal morals.

I've never -ever- gotten an evil mark without me trying really really hard to do so.