Viewing Single Post From: Bioshock and God

Viewing Single Post From: Bioshock and God
Afalstein	3 Jul 2009, 01:06 PM
Mountain Gnome Posts: 46 Group: Members Member #112 Joined: 3 October 2008	So recently got a version of Fable. I know it's as old as the hills, but I've always wanted to get it and I finally got a computer and money for it. Fable, back in the day, was famous for the multitude of choices you could make, especially moral choices. Most of the game is dominated by choices you can make between being "good" and being "evil." You can kill villagers or rescue them. You can get married, go to brothels, you can even kill your wife. The end is like this final decision you have between ultimate power or goodness. It's a pretty cool game. So far I've only played the good side, because even in the virtual world I have problems with being evil. I'm kinda curious as to what the evil side is like though. I want to see how your wife reacts if you beat her, what happens if you play as an assassin, wierd stuff like that. And that side of me kinda disturbs me. I mean, okay, it's not real, but I really shouldn't want to try that stuff out. So that got me thinking about other video games. I remember one of the big problems some people had with "The Sims" when it came out was the potential to abuse your characters. Like you could put them in a house without a bathroom and watch them writhe in agony. Or you could make parents so bad they would beat their kids. Stuff like that. I've been looking at this famous "Bioshock" game recently. If you don't know what it's about, it's like this dystopian underwater city, where everyone is dying of this drug that gives you superpowers. There are these little girls running around, called "Little Sisters" that gather the drugs, and one of the best ways to get the drug is by killing these little girls. The game makers apparently had the moral dilemna very much in mind when they made the game, and wanted to test players to see how far they would go to be powerful. I think that's one of the themes of the game, actually, how the powerful often dominate the weak and helpless. You get two different endings, depending on whether you killed any of these girls or not. So I was wondering: What do we think of this? On the one hand, I suppose it's good to recognize that there are such moral issues and force people to confront them. And it's also useful to show the benefits of being a "good character," especially when you are given a choice about it. That way, the happy ending isn't just generic, it's something that proceeds from your actions. But on the other hand, these things beg for abuse. Like I said, on Fable, I'm already curious to see what it would be like to kill my wife or something. People on Bioshock talk about how they almost like the evil ending better. Or at least are curious to see what it's like. The moral decisions are a little trivialized (after all, its just a video game) and made somewhat light of. And just as the character can become an active participant in the morality of his character, he also becomes active in the cruelty of his character. It's maybe a little strange for me to worry about these things--none of these gamers going to run around killing little girls anytime soon--but I just wonder about how they affect people's worldviews. And I know gaming and game design is a big thing on here, so I thought I should ask. Anyway. Any thoughts?
	"Evil Triumphs when Good men do nothing." -Edmund Burke

Bioshock and God · Off Topic Discussion