Has a game ever left you questioning its principles?

Morality and video games just doesn't fit together, sure maybe I shouldn't have stolen his steal gloves of (whogivesA), maybe I'm contributing to ... deviant behavior in the first place playing a single player game of inane proportions. I made sure to kill everyone I can possibly get away with until I realized some characters I couldn't kill, shame.. As you can tell I got bored pretty quick in that game.

Someday when the internet connection is down... I'll throw it to HARD and kill a whole town after town after <snore>

And yet the game gives you the option of not doing it. Not that it matters as you are obviously weird anyway.

If I understand it, you have the option to not carry out the assassination and still progress in the game.

If so, then this is excellent programming - they are giving YOU the option of deciding what is and isn't ok for your character. If you don't feel ok with it, then don't do it. Hats off to the programmers if they'd made the game immersive enough that you care.

Umm... if you don't want to kill virtual people for your own gain then don't join the Dark Brotherhood. You had to kill murder just to get in there, much less take missions from them.
BTW, I think these decisions are the point of a good RPG. They let you do things and consider situations that you otherwise (hopefully  ) won't find yourself faced with, such as killing a drug addict for money. It's just a sign of a good game. It's your chance to make those decisions without actually causing anyone any harm...

agree w/ the others. If you are questioning it then the game was done well.

Deus Ex gave me a few moments like that. The first mission where the guy at the statue of liberty that you were supposed to take out was unarmed and "innocent" yet they demanded that you kill him.

I hesitated, trying to figure out what to do and the other cyborg cop chick shot him instead and then asked me who's side I was on... great moment in ANY game when you are questioning like that. Good stuff.

I hated the few list of people in the voice overs. All the women seemed to be done by the same lady.

lol, ya... but the game/story was still great.

many great games had sucky voice-overs (farCry anyone?)

I can't say that a game has ever made me feel morally divided. Games should not be making you feel this way. Gaming is about having fun, if you want to sort out moral and immoral actions, there is more than enough of this in the real world. If you're being affected this way by a game, I think you need to step back and reevaluate why you play and make sure you can separate reality from fiction.

geez do people have anything better to do then to ask other people if they feel insecure about some games man its people like this is why grand theft auto gets hit on so hard about being banned. hate to know how you deal with real life problems. oh wait if your asking this you probly don't

People like this. And exactly who are "people like this"?

It's incredible that you can even insinuate to know someone just by a post that they made. If you actually managed to read my original post, which, judging by your English skills, is seriously doubtful, you might have read that I was actually crediting Bethesda.

I work with people who are combatting drug addictions so the mission which I mentioned holds relevance for me because I know that not everyone who is on drugs is a no-hope. That is the main reason why I questioned that mission.

Some people have said "You don't have to do the mission". However, the problem with that is is that I am analytical and a completist by nature due to my having a mental illness (Tourette's Syndrome, though I only become profane when I am angered or annoyed). When I was growing up I had to try harder than everyone else, which was the catalyst for my major personality traits (as is the case with everyone).

P.S. Should I expect a barrage of bullying from insecure neanderthals just because I do have a mental illness? Trust me, if you ever met me in real life you wouldn't know any different.

hey, I have a mental illness as well but it is easily detected... My wife says it is complete lunacy but I think it has to do w/ this obsession w/ my hardware.

...no, not that hardware, my computer... plus, along w/ that obsession there are times when I think I also suffer from a form of tourette's (undocumented for sure, but I am sure it is a form, lol), usually when my comp locks up or I get fraged unexpectedly in bf2...

come to think of it, I think many of us here are mentally ill, lol.

needless to say... no worries man, you are in good company.  

I don't see an illness in it, maybe my sarcasim meter was aiming lower or something. It's a hobby, maybe not in the average on looker's idea of interest, but! It all is what it is. What you get out of it! I like the competative side of online gaming, single player games are a lot of the times inane.

ya, methinks your meter is a touch off. Perhaps a recalibration? lol

I understand the point he was making, and I think it is a good one. Now that technology has become able to make more realistic and immersive games, it is exciting to see a company add moral and society values and delimas into a video game. I am sure many gamer just want better graphics and bigger explosions, and do not care about AI or behavor of characters, these are the same types who are much happier playing Battlefield or Counter Strike.

For others, those who enjoy emersive stories, well written characters and stories, this is the next step toward putting the player deeper into the game world. Imagine, if you were playing an Oblivion-type game, that gave you complete freedom and let you pick your own path through the game. In that game you decide to help a group of people who are being imprisioned and become a champion for them. Now, let's say, that in order to finally free them from their imprisonment, you have to kill a guard. While sneaking in the shadows you hear the guard talking about how he hated the fact that he was forced to be drafted into the army, and that all he wanted is to be home with his family. Playing true to your character, would you still want to kill him?

By committing and evil deed, would it be justifed because of the greater purpose behind it?

Ethical challenges can be a very important part of a game, and accually make you think about how to face that decision. In both the eyes of your character, as well as yourself.

The deeper you can get absorbed into a game, the more I accually enjoy them. I'll take a well written RPG with sub-par graphics over a shiny new brainless twitch shoot-em-up that requires a $1000 video card, anyday.

That's probably why I still play Neverwinter Nights online alot more then I play Battlefield 2. I really enjoy both games, but Battlefield is fun if I have an hour to kill. NWN is more immersive durring a six hour gaming session.

i like video games... wait, i have to read the post... :-D

rOxOr, I completely understand! Its funny that someone else made a reference to Deus Ex.

DE was one of my first situations where I actually cared about what I did to someone else in a game (that had enough impact that I remembered it)

I think that bringing out that emotion in a player is a sign of good story-telling.

...And yes, Silent Hill freaks me out, also. 8O

I think I like Silent Hill for the same reasons I like nightmares :twisted: ...it's not really real but it feels that way at the time.

F.E.A.R. creeped me out in a lot of ways but most of my friends (well, all) actually didn't find it that "scary"

I guess I like a game that will bring more than just light hearted entertainment. I try to put myself into the charactor.

I know a lot of gamers didn't like Doom 3 but, I found, the best way to play it was late at night with the window open on a chilly night with a breeze blowing... it gave an extra feel to the game.

shit hold on, got to post my opinion...