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Does morality matter to you when playing games?

LogicAirForce

Neo Member
I sometimes find it really difficult to harm innocent people in games. I understand its fake and they don't exist, but it still makes me uncomfortable. Its worse in games where you make your own character for some reason, In Skyrim I don't even like to steal from innocent NPCs but I have no trouble running over crowds of pedestrians in the GTA games.
 

Madame M

Banned
This site is a goldmine

https://www.christcenteredgamer.com/index.php/reviews/consoles/dreamcast/4573-jet-grind-radio-dc

"Appropriateness:
Now for the reasons not to buy the game: First off, every time you escape from the police captain or S.W.A.T team, they say the D word. So one of the characters when he runs out of time or loses a race. They also say **** a lot. There is some bad music, like Rob Zombie for instance. You can turn the music off but its still there. Finally, this game is all about vandalism. You are destroying public property for fun. This can not be avoided."

Even Christians know Rob Zombie was a blight on Jet Grind Radio.

Although I wonder what **** is... could it be LGBT?

WOW, Im surprise it got a good score. I really thought
religious cult section
would bring the score down.

Nah, Christians don't see themselves as a cult so they can't be offended by that. Well, I guess there's Christian infighting about which ones are the real Christians but whatever.
 

mas8705

Member
Only on really rare occasions does morality tend to pop up, and only in situations where it feels like they aren't trying in the slightest to hide the facts. Usually when I play, I don't really care much about "Being Evil" or "Being the bad guy" if that is what the story is saying. Even in cases where the premise is as dumb as "murder everyone you see," it is more just getting annoyed rather than calling my morality into check.
 
Doesn't really matter to me because being "evil" in most games like Fallout ultimately amount to being a mindlessly (self) destructive asshole that ends up closing off most of the game in addition to creating an endless list of problems for themselves (see: Doing a Legion playthrough in New Vegas).

Closest I have is maybe Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest which, despite the devs' claims and attempts, ends up amounting to being the "evil" route but even then my issue with it was how mindnumbingly stupid the writing was.
 
Funny how some people only concentrate on bashing their stand on gays... They are makind content for their audience, so one can presume that gays, sucking Satan's little helper and stuff is met with some disdain. Some of you are fine with that, they aren't. Try to respect people even if they have different views than you.



Morality is very important to me. I play only good guys, I just can't play baddies. I am a real boyscout, in the word's truest sense. In games I want to help people, that's the reason for doing all the side quests. Usually I am some kind of ranger, well, because of being a boyscout. I want to protect nature and stand in the way of evil. If I can do it without killing people, great. My favourite content in games is all the not-killing.

My rpg characters are always good, at most chaotic good or neutral. I'll never understand why people want to be bad in games and do disgusting things. Saying that "I do it only because I really am not that kind of person" sounds strange, if you want to do that stuff even just in games, doesn't it mean that you actually, really want to do that stuff?

Han Solo -lie lovable rogue is my favourite type, or Robin Hood in more traditional sense. Also Drizzt is one my my faves. I like good guys.



It is very interesting subject, I think. This topic hopefully goes in the right direction, instead of just bashing other people's views or belief.



I have no problem to say that I am a Christian, and games that deal with Satanic themes (I can fight against demons, no problem, but I don't want to be buddy buddy with the old Liar) make me lose interest really fast. Fantasy games are different, but then again, you usually fight against the soul eating, world destroying twits.

Also sexification of women is somethign i don't like. Bayonetta for example is one game I don't want to play. I understand why she's like that and how she's strong and all that but still, too much sexuality irks me. I am not a horny teenager anymore, looking for sideboob in sitcoms.

Didn't want to play Dragon Age for that reason too, the witch lady was dressed so badly that I lost my interest right away. It had so many other problems too, one of them being so damn edgelord, when Witcher already showed how you do racism and stuff in fantasy games.

The older I get, the less I want to play (or watch) any ultra-violent titty fests. Some people like that, but I am so tired of it. I want to play more funny games, too bad comedy is a dead genre in gaming.
 
Depends. I think the more tools and details parents have for deciding if they want to expose their children to certain games the better.

I tend to play "good" characters and don't enjoy mindless mayhem. That was cool when I was 21 playing GTA 3. Just boring now.
 

Madame M

Banned
Cuningas de Häme;245699486 said:
Funny how some people only concentrate on bashing their stand on gays... They are makind content for their audience, so one can presume that gays, sucking Satan's little helper and stuff is met with some disdain. Some of you are fine with that, they aren't. Try to respect people even if they have different views than you.

What is sucking Satan's little helper and stuff?

It's easier to respect someone's view if their view is clear.
 

Poppy

Member
Cuningas de Häme;245699486 said:
Funny how some people only concentrate on bashing their stand on gays... They are makind content for their audience, so one can presume that gays, sucking Satan's little helper and stuff is met with some disdain. Some of you are fine with that, they aren't. Try to respect people even if they have different views than you.

well here's the thing: no fuck that
 

petran79

Banned
Cuningas de Häme;245699486 said:
I have no problem to say that I am a Christian, and games that deal with Satanic themes (I can fight against demons, no problem, but I don't want to be buddy buddy with the old Liar) make me lose interest really fast. Fantasy games are different, but then again, you usually fight against the soul eating, world destroying twits.

I cant say I am Christian but even if I were, with the official anti-LBGT stance of the Church (Catholic, Orthodox, Copts doesnt matter) I prefer to be godless.
 
I usually try to do the righteous thing in games. My first playthrough with most games I try to "do the right thing." Now whether that's because of my lingering, repressed Christian morality, or whether it's because I've been conditioned into what's right and wrong from some social influence, or because we all have the capacity for right and wrong without morality, or what have you, who knows.

But, yeah, I usually try to do the right thing whatever that means for me. If the game gives me the choice, I take the stealthy, less violent, 'sleep dart' approach (Dishonored).

I felt deeply uncomfortable in the GTAV water-boarding mission, for instance. And it's phooey if someone says, "But you don't mind running down 1,000 civlians while cruising around!" No, I don't, because the 1,000 civilians are treated no differently than street lamps in the game. You hit them, you drive away, they disappear, you drive back 5minutes later and they're back up (street lamps or people). The water boarding mission was way too personal, and what I hate was that you -- the player -- know that what your character is doing is the wrong thing, but to progress in the game, you have to do it. I thought it sucked, and Rockstar's snarky reasoning behind the mission is bull shit. Waterboarding the poor sap who you know is not guilty and who you know is not giving you any real information, while the game forces you to torture him as he pleads for you to stop, is not the same as magically-spawning maniacal cookie-cutter cop NPCs who spawn on the top of mountains and drive off of cliffs trying to kill you.

While playing that mission I sat there and said, "I don't want to do this and I'm not enjoying it." But, I think part of Rockstar makes games for their players to enjoy and then the other part of Rockstar makes games for themselves to enjoy making their players uncomfortable.

On second playthrough of a game I might go through and "be the bad guy," but kinda rarely. I did that in Dishonored 2 mostly just to experience how the game changes, but still felt myself putting hapless guards to sleep instead of kill them. I actually felt bad at one point, I killed a guard who was asleep in one of those missions, and then found a note to his family about how he'd be home for the holidays and he couldn't wait to see them or something. I, honestly, felt bad about it...

-- edit

About this site, I don't have a problem with it analyzing, critiquing, and giving guidance to players who enjoy games but may have different moral or religious sensibilities than I do. Not all religious people are gay-hating, intolerant hypocrites. Some may feel very strongly about swearing or cussing, but not have a problem with using a digital-Uzi on hordes of unsuspecting digital humanoids. Without clicking much around the site, I don't have a problem with a site that guides people on what they may want to avoid.
 
For some reason, when I saw the thread title and the metrics for Persona 5, I was expecting it to at least mention the notion of pursuing a god complex even and removing free will.

But the egg is on my face, the answer involves penis monster and anime boobs.
 

Madame M

Banned
I would like to see a video game review site that analyzes games through the lens of sharia law.

Cubivore: Halal or haram?
 

Bluecondor

Member
For me, morality (defined as "my personal beliefs about right and wrong, acceptable and unacceptable behavior, etc.") really comes into play when you get into online play.

For example - I played The Division online, which involves going into "The Dark Zone" - a PvP environment in which you are technically competing over valuable items. On one hand, I completely appreciate the enjoyment of playing in a competitive PvP environment, and found it acceptable to attack and be attacked by other players. In short - my morality made me comfortable with the idea that attacking and being attacked by other players was acceptable, since we were in a competitive environment.

The powerful thing about The Division though is that The Dark Zone constantly places you in situations in which you can completely take advantage of weaker players - as you constantly encounter solo players, even when you are running with a strong group of four. Naturally, when you go in as a solo player, you constantly find yourself around people who enjoy taking advantage of being in a strong team. I have a strong moral belief in fairness, and this type of situation tested it constantly.

I honestly found the most difficult moral choices I faced were when playing with a team of people I didn't know all that well, and one or more of my teammates would start griefing solo or weaker players. Do I just go along with it and say nothing, or do I speak up and/or refuse to participate? It's one thing to say that you value fairness, but what do you do when you actually have to step up and do something about it?

Bottom line - I quickly found myself gravitating toward teammates who had similar moral beliefs about fairness. I enjoyed PvP against other strong teams, and enjoyed taking it to griefers who were clearly there to take advantage of new or weaker players.
 

PSqueak

Banned
Despite all of this, there are some positive references to Christianity, as well as references to Shintoism. There is a Shinto temple and a church, and at the church you even learn about Jesus' Passion and it describes the Crucifixion. A priest explains the anguish, forgiveness, and resurrection of Jesus, and how he bore the sins of mankind. There are other references to the Bible, like the Parable of the Talents. Phrases like 'thank God' and 'oh my God' are also used.


I mean, they're not wrong, but, it's a persona game.

How dare a Japanese video game references Shintoism!!

Im pretty sure they mentioned shintoism inclusion as a positive.
 
I guess it kinda does but I don't think I've ever had any moral issues with a game I've played.
I mean I wouldn't choose to play a game that glorified any kind of bigotry or stuff like child abuse, rape, torture etc & if that came up unexpectedly in a game I was playing I think I'd drop it. Of course tone is very important - I certainly don't think any theme should be 'off limits' for games

Stuff like overly sexualised characters & anime fanservice just get a big eye-roll from me. If the game heavily features them then I probably wont be playing it but that's not really me taking a moral stance - it just doesn't appeal to me at all.

I love games which allow you to roleplay different characters & having some kind of morality system is great especially if it feels like there are real consequences. I usually default to playing a fairly good person (who's a huge thief but hey nobody's perfect) but playing darker characters can also be really interesting.

Judging games by their morality is an interesting concept actually. Not sure giving the games an actual score based on it makes much sense though
 
Morality? Eh. Constant, abusively terrible and stupid crap like DmC's infamous "FUCK YOU!" scene? Stupid and pointless. I can only take so much edgelord.
 

ghibli99

Member
Although my first thought was to say no, there are games I outright won't play due to some of the content cited in the OP and follow-ups, so yeah.

Edit: And that website is really good. I enjoyed reading the P5 review; it's better and more informative than most out there, actually.
 

NahaNago

Member
If were talking about the choices you make in games then I tend to choose the less evil and more good side. When consuming entertainment like books, movies , and games I've alway just done whatever I wanted while having that little voice telling me its sinful , but I also grew up in a church that saw the devil or his demons in just about everything.
 
Not... really? At least not enough that I'd have a scoring system for morality or being socially conscious. So while I found the delivery of some things in P5 were off, I still enjoyed it overall. Basically the whole "I can enjoy media that isn't completely free of problematic stuff" thing.

I thought this thread was going to be about good/evil choices in games, in which case I'm almost never evil or even mean if I can help it.

Do you mean, if a game's story had themes which I considered morally repulsive (not the content, but the message) then would I care? Sure, absolutely.

Also this.
 

elhav

Member
As others have said, this isn't a good example of the subject matter. It's just some weird christian "experts" with their set of biblical rules and laws applied to videogames of all things.

The so-called moral choices in games are usually 'be a dick', 'Be a saint' or 'be neutral'. The reason I usually go with the good choices is that I don't like being a dick, unless I hate whoever the moral choice ultimately affects.

I prefer the gray choices. Witcher 3 has some great ones, like in the Hearts of stone DLC where you can either
leave the rose with Iris or take it.
. Loved that whole part.
 

fireflame

Member
Well in games where i can choose between evil and good i always go for good. Being evil in games like dungeon keeper is not a problem. In tropico, you play a dictator, but i make my own roleplay and i try to imagine that even if people are executed it is for common good, if there was an option "give them graves with marble to honour the death of your enemies" i would activate it.
 
Cuningas de Häme;245699486 said:
Funny how some people only concentrate on bashing their stand on gays... They are makind content for their audience, so one can presume that gays, sucking Satan's little helper and stuff is met with some disdain. Some of you are fine with that, they aren't. Try to respect people even if they have different views than you.
Religious views fine, you do you and I respect that. But if it includes viewing LGBT relations as wrong or "immoral" like they put it and disguising their shitty views behind religion, then NO, they don't deserve any respect. That goes beyond "having different views than me".

On topic: I usually can't play as a bad guy. I tried to play as a dick in Dragon Age Inquisition, but my character ended up becoming a boyscout :D Character development!
 

MikeyB

Member
Yes. It matters in that I judge the game and its writers and those who praise it. It is a judgement that affects how much I like a game outside of the gameplay.

Some examples:

Ni No Kuni had a strong moral view, but a simplistic one. Noble but childish.

GTA: Vice City was distinctly immoral. High production value trash.

Spec Ops the line, had a strong and complex moral view that is subversive in its delivery.

Olli Olli 2 is amoral. Mental fluff.

Destiny had better gameplay than Killzone: SF, but its world was such a highdef technicolour vomit of gibberish, so I enjoyed it less.
 
I think the OP is trying to distinguish from the morality of the specific site to your personal morality. I would wager that matters a lot more than people let on when we talk about endorsement (or even representation). Already have posts in this thread indicating moral outrage.
 

Madame M

Banned
Religious views fine, you do you and I respect that. But if it includes viewing LGBT relations as wrong or "immoral" like they put it and disguising their shitty views behind religion, then NO, they don't deserve any respect. That goes beyond "having different views than me".

It's amusing because for pretty much all the games they complain about LGBT references it's not like the game is portraying it in a positive light, it's usually a joke.

But I guess the media should never mention that gay people exist, ever. Oh, except the Bible, that gets a free pass.
 
There's definitely certain types of content that violate my conscience and feels unedifying. An example would be pretty much everything in GTA games. I can't bring myself to play them despite my respect for the quality and variety present in them.

As a christian myself (woefully flawed at that) I have stumbled across some of their reviews to see a more detailed breakdown of the content in a game. For example, I often play games with my wife, so I try to avoid games with a lot of overly sexual content and/or graphic nudity. So, yes, in a matter of speaking morality can certainly matter.
 
Nope, zero affect on me. The only two things that matter to me are how immersed I get into the game if its a story game, or how fun the game is if its a multiplayer game. I don't care about the authors beliefs, the morality in game, etc. I actually enjoy seeing new points of view and stuff, as long as its a subject/style/genre I find interesting.

Mafia 3 for example I approached with some trepidation, as I usually don't watch sad movies/shows and I know the game deals heavily with racism, but I platinum'd the game and enjoyed it a lot.
 
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