whoa whoa whoa, are you saying the individual fingers that make up the kitkat are themselves called "kitkats"??? excuse me, but that's chaotic in and of itself
The pugmire part reminds me of this quote from Clash of Kings, "Jaime reached for the flagon to refill his cup. 'So many vows...they make you swear and swear. Defend the king. Obey the king. Keep his secrets. Do his bidding. Your life for his. But obey your father. Love your sister. Protect the innocent. Defend the weak. Respect the gods. Obey the laws. It's too much. No matter what you do, you're forsaking one vow or the other.'”
The Pillars of Eternity games have the best morality system in any game I've ever played. There isn't one. Almost every quest has multiple outcomes, the characters and factions react realistically to your decisions, and the "good" decisions are often literally determined by the actual morals of the person playing the game. There is no "karma" stat encoding your "goodness level", only understandable and realistic reputations among different factions and characters. Absolutely masterful. I can't imagine how much effort went into crafting these stories.
Tyranny (by the same developer) has a similar approach. Each companion has Fear and Loyalty, both of which are affected by the player character's actions--and it's possible to cultivate both. Other characters and factions have Favor and Wrath, which are likewise affected by the player character's actions and able to be cultivated simultaneously.
The later Dragon Ages do as well, where instead of the Para/Rene system of its brother Mass Effect, other characters opinions of you shift based on the decisions you make.
Yep. This video is like a manual for a problem that fails to address the most important aspect of every solution. All extrinsic morality systems will be imperfect, so the most important aspect will always be deciding which problems will you take with your simplification.
@@Gyrono Dragon Age was what came to my mind too. But not just the later games. Remember for example the Succubus mission in Origins? In my opinion a perfect moral dilemma because both sides had convincing arguments and your choice didn't really effect your playthrough at all.
ME3 has some rather interesting moral dilemmas that to the Galaxy Readiness Score, or whatever it's actually called. For example, some refugees are asking for entry into the citadel, which is already crowded. You can side with the clerk, telling the refugeesmto leave, or you can side with the refugees, opening the citadel up to kore as a safe haven. If you do the obvious good latter decision, however, your combat readiness goes down as now military vehicles have fewer lanes to deploy out of. ME3's emphasis on war efficiency really brings home the little decisions you make.
2:56 I'm somewhat reminded of Asimov's laws of robotics, and the way that poking holes and finding loopholes in them (arguably) creates more interesting stories/scenarios than the laws themselves
The law is often quoted as a techno-ethical foundation, but the rules contradict each other in the very story they're introduced in. He was intentionally showing how morality isn't as binary as machine logic, and how creating a race whose purpose is subservience is an ethical quagmire in itself. I guess dogs share some of the qualities of robots (in their relationship with humans).
Most morality systems in games have the same problem: they focus only on the extremes. They make them based on good/evil, light/dark, paragon/renegade, etc. The further to the extreme you go, the more rewarded you are. I always hate this because they are unrealistic. I have never done paragon or renegade playthroughs for the Mass Effect games, I have always just played them the way I would in reality. I always feel punished by these games because they are so far from reality and the games are further designed around choosing between extreme choices.
The two original KOTOR games are even worse about this because some of the best Force powers are locked away at either end of the moral spectrum. There's *zero* benefit to being a grey Jedi - you just end up a master of none who sucks at everything. You pretty much have to fully commit to a light side or dark side playthrough, preferably early on.
This is why I like more cause-and-effect morality in games, where there's no explicit system of "right" and "wrong", but at the same time there's a very clear distinction between what's "good" and what's "evil" to everyone around you. Do whatever you want! Just don't be surprised if your choices have consequences. For all their issues, that is one thing that Elder Scrolls games do surprisingly well.
@@jasonblalock4429 Which really sucks because of how powerful Grey Jedi are in the lore. A lot of seriously powerful Force-users were Grey Jedi rather than Sith Lords or Jedi Masters, and that concept of a powerful force of cosmic neutrality is lost in KOTORs 1 and 2. You hear about them, but never get to be one of them, or even really see any of them, and that's needlessly restricting, in my opinion.
@@TheSkyRender it's like playing a very well-written novel, but Disco Elysium is just the cause-and-effect kind of morality you want. Options on spectrums from political, social and emotional, play as eccentric as you want or as normal as you want, the game will judge you for being a weirdo or being..Reasonably straight-laced as a detective. Only really enjoyable morality system I've found in years.
_"Tak wrote the world, according to the dwarfs, but unlike most gods he does not require that the dwarfs think of him, merely that they do think."_ - Terry Pratchett.
The dwarfs of Discworld managed to build the most technologically advanced civilization on the disc because they worship (or rather, actively DON'T worship) the disc's only atheist deity.
One thing that constantly breaks my immersion regarding social choices in games is that their consequences are virtually invariably transparent. "Character X will remember that" and they make sure to tell you EXACTLY what they thought about what you did. In the real world, humans will smile and flatter you while you are in a strong position, all the while simmering inside and waiting for the perfect opportunity to stick their dagger in your back. They lie for all sorts of reasons: because what they REALLY feel isn't socially acceptable, because they haven't had time to "digest" something major that just happened, because their current hand is weak, because their current hand is strong and they want you to overextend, etc, etc, etc. I miss having games where judging character and figuring out where you REALLY stand with others is part of the experience. I reckon the only game where you had that was Vampire Bloodlines, but even that was mostly in a linear fashion, following the narrative without taking your actions into consideration.
I like some of the decisions you have to make in Stellaris. I've had games where I've been trying to play as a good people, and sometimes run up against places where there aren't clear right or wrong answers. For example, I found out that there's an underground civilisation on one of my planets, so I try and befriend them - all good so far. Then I have some refugees turn up from them - taking on refugees might seem like the right thing, but doing so would anger their civilisation. Or, should I give them some of our advanced weapons? Doing so makes them happier towards me, but risks them turning against me. One of the few games where I've felt genuinely conflicted about moral choices.
I have had similar experiences going into the Grey Tempest mid-game crisis event. I could protect my own borders comfortably, or I could risk getting struck at home in order to help protect my neighbours and allies from this marauding faction going around the galaxy melting planets and killing billions that I could potentially help to stop at the source.
I feel like such games are good at setting up things like this organically. When you have to think both inward and outward in your choices and nothing is strictly about the moral of the choice alone.
The new Avatar: The last Airbender TTRPG does some interesting stuff with contradictory morality systems, needing to maintain balance between two strongly held personal ideals, which is a really interesting way of centreing internal conflict and roleplaying.
faction opinions (the "X will remember that" scenario) are my favorite. and apart from Telltale games, see also the Influence sub-alignment in kotor2, faction rank in certain Elite-alike flight sims, and the syndicate affiliations in warframe
It's way cooler when they don't tell you that the character will remember your actions. Imagine that you have the option to go back and rescue someone but you choose not to and then near the end of the game, your friend betrays you because you didn't rescue that person.
KOTOR 2 has, without a doubt, the most interesting binary alignment system in any game. Simply the idea that you, through your own influence, can change the alignments of your party members. Essentially gaslighting and manipulating them into following along with the way you think, which fits into the running theme the game has of your actions having rippling effects and consequences for others.
One very interesting thing that came out from that in Telltale was when the "X will remember that" right before they die. The death is unforeseen because the "X will remember that" made me think that I will meet them again.
The morality systems I like are ones where morality isn't measured using metrics, i.e. You aren't given good boy points for being good, as morality is subjective and better moral choices create strong moral ambiguity so an action being good is a matter of perspective. Instead the choice should be based on the moral/ethical conundrum and perceived rewards/penalties from the action and long term consequences.
About DnD. Alignment no longer matters in 5e. That part of character creation now has backgrounds and each one has separate personality traits, bonds, amd flaws to make a more diverse decision making process than a 9 spot matrix. Which, to me, makes that aspect of "what would my character do" easier for new players, but still enjoyable for those from older editions.
A major thing people forget is that prior to 5e where they went "new phone who dis" to most of the lore, Good and Evil, Law and Chaos were tangible, objective things, that had yes/no answers for pretty much everything.
The dnd system isn’t prescriptive though? It’s a descriptor of how your character generally acts, but your character is still a character, there’s no restriction on what you *have* to do, you might just end up changing your alignment
In older editions, many classes had alignment restrictions, and straying too far from certain alignments could cause a character to lose most of their class features. And then there's always the possibility of a divine class losing their god's favor through an alignment change. There might be a few others that I can't remember. So, there are or at least have been mechanics that punish straying from an alignment. Though I think they have been moving away from that over time.
A major thing people forget is that prior to 5e where they went "new phone who dis" to most of the lore, Good and Evil, Law and Chaos were tangible, objective things, that had yes/no answers for pretty much everything.
special mention to Fallout new vegas morality system : Torch powder gangers to death with a flamer, get good karma. Steal from their lockers after they ded, gain bad karma.
@@swishfish8858 Well, Karma and reputation are actually two different systems. Also, I don't think the two factor rep actually makes that much sense. If you do a lot of side quests until a faction idolizes you, and then start murdering every single member of that faction you meet, they'll just be like, "eh, he's okay". Even medal of honor recipients aren't allowed to start murdering fellow soldiers.
Special mention to the fact that just about the only thing karma affects is whether or not you can recruit Cass, so it's essentially a measure of her opinion of you and nothing else. Snoop on somebody's computer? Cass *sees*. Steal pinyon nuts from a caravaner? Cass *knows*. The Courier has singlehandedly swung the war in favour of an NCR victory and helped countless people across the Mojave, but the Cassnubis weighs their heart and senses too much compulsive pickpocketing, so it's time to spend another two hours hunting Fiends to atone.
Some honorable mentions of moral choices in games being dragon age and kingdom come deliverance (i would love to see you guys hash this one out btw. It's such a good game of historical fiction.)
KCD does a great job at putting the choices into the perspective of the lower levels of society. Henry runs quests and fights for the rich and the powerful, and many of the things he does are just out of the scope of the people he talks to. It's an interesting twist on the idea of doing bad to accomplish good.
@@someonerandom704 Yes. I also love the fact that some of the characters are in the gray too, like Divish's wife who presents herself as a good Christian, yet seems to present herself to Henry at every turn.
I would love to see a historical philosophy approach to this. Walking through the increasing complexity of an Ethics class from Utilitarianism to Social Contracts would be cool!
Restrictive morals: when the idea is to roleplay an archetype and let them interact. Contradictory morals: when the idea is lead the player through an intense story of drama with high emotional impact. Cumulative morals: when the idea is to give the player freedom to play how they want and provoke thought and retrospection about their past decisions.
@@teresakruskie7450 in spore, depending on you're actions, you get a red/blue/green card for every stage. You're cards influence thing like you're archetype in the space stage, your tools in the civilization stage and etc.
I had a lot of fun playing mass effect as a Shepard who would do anything to defend their crew mates. Led to mostly paragon choices and saving both members, but damn those renegade options that allowed me to kill someone putting a loved one in danger were satisfying
i think that the forgotten realms morality structure is truly the best. Chaos, Order, Altruism, Egoism. Four primal forces that truly define morality. Genius.
I think This War of Mine is the game I’ve played that handles these kinds of decisions best. You can steal and pilfer your way through the whole game and never suffer any direct consequence. But you always run the risk of your thieving play style weighing heavy on your group’s souls, which can lead to a myriad number of dreadful outcomes. It’s kind of fascinating how you’re never directly punished for your actions, because everyone involved tacitly understands that that kind of behaviour can be justified given your situation, but unfortunately, the heart weighs heavy from immoral acts, no matter how well the circumstances make those acts more understandable.
One system that has different elements that you cannot uphold all at once, and interestingly shows different ways to stretch or change the interpretations is the Ultima games system of virtues, starting from the fourth game and continuing the rest of the series.
Just wanted to say I appreciate the funky Megaman outro music. But also, spacing out your moral quandaries to give them time to breath and giving your players time to do what your game wants them to do is a must. D&D is primarily a monster slaying game, but if every monster has a tragic back story that make you feel bad for doing what you're supposed to then folks may struggle to find the fun. Which is why everyone loves the undead, you don't have to feel bad about killing them.
...until you discover that the lich king is a good neighbor and those "undead monstrosities" were the deliberately reanimated former town elders who wanted to stay on to advise and protect their descendants. (I have a setting bit that includes just such a lich king. He does freely admit that he wants to rule the world, but: "I have more time than even the elves, I see no need to fight pointless wars.")
That's assuming that you play D&D as a dungeon crawler. There are multiple ways to play D&D. In my group, combat does not take as large a part most of the time.
What about games without a morality system? Games where the world itself reacts dynamically to your actions, just like the real world would. I have always believed that to be the absolute best way to portray morality in video games and tabletop rpgs.
I always appreciated the Guild from Fable in how they don't tell you not to be evil. We are all the Heros of our own story and no matter what path you went down your labeled as a hero either way.
I like the morality system in Red Dead Redemption 2, because it’s less of a morality system and moreso a measure of how “in-character” you’ve been as Arthur Morgan. You can rob people and get no morality penalties-but when you kill someone that isn’t with the law or a rival gang? *That’s* when you get a morality penalty.
My issue with video games morality systems is they are only Chaotic Evil or Neutral Good. No choice in between or right or left in the D&D system because game writers are uncreative. "Do you want to pet this dog or cut off it's head and eat its puppies, choose now."
I think once you've decided to break down choices into good and evil then you kind of get stuck making a good choice and a bad choice instead of just an interesting choice.
This is a good overview of alignment systems. I am trying to put together a system similar to D&D, but with a third dimension. The Good-and-Evil axis is on the third dimension since any action on the other two might be moral, immoral, or neither. The other axises are Order-and-Chaos and Ideals-and-Facts (that is, are you doing things based on your beliefs like Zekrom, or are you letting evidence guide your actions like Reshiram)
Been getting into Z axis representations of complex beliefs recently. Still not perfect for conveying nuance, but that extra dimension really brings a lot to the table.
In the PnP-RPG Vampire 5e there is an amazing moral system: You have a Humanity rating, that shows how well human your character is and you define your own moral rules called convictions and the group defines tenets for the whole group. if your character does something inhumane, monstrouse or something that runs against the convictions or tenet, they get staines on their humanity and become over time more monstrouse. BUT if they do something bad to uphold theiy convictions they get fewer or no staines at all. Translated into a digital space that could become a choice at the beginning, fe character creation, where you can choose some convictions and some actions or dialogue options are restricted from you or have repercussions, depending on your convictions...
I am a bit disappointed that you haven't talked about traps to fall into when designing morality system while using DnD's alignment system which is a very flawed system, (also it is a in-universe morality system for the Forgottem Realms)
I mean, if we're going that route, the Paragon/Renegade binary is practically the worst possible morality system you can have short of intentionally messing up with the players. Can't really have a video about morality systems without talking about their shortcomings.
A major thing people forget is that prior to 5e where they went "new phone who dis" to most of the lore, Good and Evil, Law and Chaos were tangible, objective things, that had yes/no answers for pretty much everything.
Interesting video, and got my brain juices flowing. I'm not entirely sold on the categorization of moral systems since there are ways to make any system restrictive, contradictory, or cumulative without changing the core aspects of the system. I also think there's a really pervasive misinterpretation of D&D alignment that's propagated here. Alignment is just that - alignment. Which mystical forces are you aligning yourself with. This is typically informed by your choice of deity to worship, or a pact you take, or the tenants of an order you join. That simply isn't the same as a morality chart. Good and Evil are tangible allied factions of gods, with similar worldviews and moral frameworks, yes, but they are not the same as the moral concepts of good and evil. In fact, within the service of an Evil deity, the moral framework for good and evil actions could look much different than one would expect, as could the moral framework under a Good deity. There's a reason we don't always see paladin orders as "the good guys" even though they may be of a Lawful Good alignment. There's a ton of material there for telling interesting stories (like how a species may be bound to the Evil god that created them while defining their own way of life that may be a good and just one). I'd hate to see shallow interpretations of alignment result in sanding all of that interesting storytelling inspiration away.
Ace combat Zero has a morality system They will put you in different classes the knight, the solder, and the mercenary. Depending on which class you are you fight different enemies and they will describe you in there interviews even the enemies will respond to like if you kill a disable aircraft not only will you hear the scream of the pilot the others will call you a monster. I tried the mercenary route but I didn't want to go any more and started to spear disable aircraft. This is a series that tries to show both sides of war the solders and the civilians.
"What Would Garrus Do?" I mean, based on precedent, be a best bro to all his friends, and then shoot any potential criminal who even blinks at him wrong.
Speaking of morality codes in RPGs... Have you tried Dogs in the Vineyard? Long story short, it's designed to have the characters face moral choices where they are in power to say what's "good" or "evil" since they ARE the law AND the word of God all rolled into one... And each new "town" (read: "episode") they visit will be made on purpose, by design, to challenge their previous rulings.
The moral choices in Elder scrolls online, Where they generally cannot change the world because of your choices all that much comes in the form of Judgemental or Forgiving most of the time.
Great video for my fanfic OC. Would u guys make videos about the Greater Terran Union (GTU) & Antares Confederacy (AC) from the Templin Institute in the future?
I killed Paarthurnax. I still remember the conflict, 3am I paused the game and went for a glass of water. Immortality and potential for dictatorship is not a good combination. This decision still ticks in my moral compass
I seems weird how some games for example reward evil decisions by giving the player more attack power and reward good decisions with more defensive/healing power. I prefer a more aggressive playstyle so even though I would normally choose the good option I instead go with the evil one since the rewards I'll get from those choices are more compatible with my preferred playstyle.
Fallout New vegas's morality system is absolutely hilarious sometimes. You can mow down an entire camp of fiends or the Khans and still have good karma.
"Because let's be real, you want that moment where the player sets down the controller and just, stares at the choice in front of them unsure of what to do." *I love you *You'll always be my dearest friend
when your d&d alignment is so chaotic that you aren’t neutral, lawful, good or bad. chaotic chaotic, the one who does chaos in a chaotic way for no reason other than chaos
2:14 Well for Star Wars there is the "GRAY". A sec that delves in both Light and Dark force powers. And believe that is the TRUE BALLANCE of the force. 6:09 "This War of Mine" does delve into these Moral choices and most time show the end results of what you did or did not do.
A thing I’m interested in is fantasy or sci-fi morality that is alien/ blue-orange morality. Something that would be immoral in our world but is moral to the people in universe. Like say a world with beastmen but they think more instinctual so are fine with more authoritarian leaders and might actively resist attempts at democracy
The Legend of the Five Rings RPG has an amazing “morality” system in its game where characters are encouraged to follow all seven tenets of Bushido, even tho they can contradict one another. This means loosing and gaining honor, glory, and status
I much prefer The Orville's rules about contact with less advanced civilizations than Star Trek (show up if asked to even if they haven't reached X technology)
In the metro game series it has its own morality like do you kill the unarmed or help a woman find her son and red dead redemption 2 also has its own morality system
Most morality systems suck because they don't understand evil. The evil choice is almost always the dumb choice. And you can make the same choice, but have very different reasons behind why you would do or not do a thing.
In some ways a factional system is a kind of multidimensional mechanical moral alignment system, where your standing with different groups is affected by your actions, or more importantly, your reputation for certain actions.
My thing with morality systems is when they try to split thing into "Good" and "Evil" but then I disagree with the choices they tell me are good vs bad. Or when the moral choice is counter to the game play actions. "I will never kill." Proceeds to kick a guard off a cliff.
Lawful Good: Eats them after breaking them apart Neutral Good: Breaks apart and eats with a friend Chaotic Good: Breaks apart a Kit Kat that has more than 2 bars and shares them all Lawful Neutral: Breaks Kit Kats, but doesn't get them entirely broken off. (Chocolate remains) True Neutral: Peels apart Wafers Chaotic Neutral: Sucks off chocolate, then eats wafer Lawful Evil: Bites from the sides Neutral Evil: Breaks Kit Kat in half, but not the long way. Chaotic Evil: 1:09 (Hey that's 69 seconds in the video nice!) True Evil: Only eats wafer and leaves chocolate
I miss "bad" binary morality systems. Feeling like you're doing a thoroughly evil or good playthrough. My favorite moments were often the result. See betraying everyone, or saving Bastilla in Kotor 1.
I think they're terrible. Always feels childish whenever I play through that sort of system. It's the biggest issue I have with KotOR as a series, because a rigid binary of good and evil just reads to me as nonsensical.
You truly are chaotic evil if you eat several Kit Kats at once. The artist definitely nailed that
whoa whoa whoa, are you saying the individual fingers that make up the kitkat are themselves called "kitkats"??? excuse me, but that's chaotic in and of itself
but its what my character would do...
and chaotic neutral is eating a egg with out taking off the shell
@@Otto_Von_Beansmarck chaotic neutral is eating the shell and putting the contents of the egg in an egg-shaped container
@@Fire_Gaming64 exactly
The pugmire part reminds me of this quote from Clash of Kings, "Jaime reached for the flagon to refill his cup. 'So many vows...they make you swear and swear. Defend the king. Obey the king. Keep his secrets. Do his bidding. Your life for his. But obey your father. Love your sister. Protect the innocent. Defend the weak. Respect the gods. Obey the laws. It's too much. No matter what you do, you're forsaking one vow or the other.'”
The Pillars of Eternity games have the best morality system in any game I've ever played. There isn't one. Almost every quest has multiple outcomes, the characters and factions react realistically to your decisions, and the "good" decisions are often literally determined by the actual morals of the person playing the game. There is no "karma" stat encoding your "goodness level", only understandable and realistic reputations among different factions and characters. Absolutely masterful. I can't imagine how much effort went into crafting these stories.
Tyranny (by the same developer) has a similar approach. Each companion has Fear and Loyalty, both of which are affected by the player character's actions--and it's possible to cultivate both. Other characters and factions have Favor and Wrath, which are likewise affected by the player character's actions and able to be cultivated simultaneously.
The later Dragon Ages do as well, where instead of the Para/Rene system of its brother Mass Effect, other characters opinions of you shift based on the decisions you make.
Yep. This video is like a manual for a problem that fails to address the most important aspect of every solution. All extrinsic morality systems will be imperfect, so the most important aspect will always be deciding which problems will you take with your simplification.
@@Gyrono Dragon Age was what came to my mind too. But not just the later games. Remember for example the Succubus mission in Origins? In my opinion a perfect moral dilemma because both sides had convincing arguments and your choice didn't really effect your playthrough at all.
ME3 has some rather interesting moral dilemmas that to the Galaxy Readiness Score, or whatever it's actually called. For example, some refugees are asking for entry into the citadel, which is already crowded. You can side with the clerk, telling the refugeesmto leave, or you can side with the refugees, opening the citadel up to kore as a safe haven. If you do the obvious good latter decision, however, your combat readiness goes down as now military vehicles have fewer lanes to deploy out of. ME3's emphasis on war efficiency really brings home the little decisions you make.
2:56 I'm somewhat reminded of Asimov's laws of robotics, and the way that poking holes and finding loopholes in them (arguably) creates more interesting stories/scenarios than the laws themselves
The law is often quoted as a techno-ethical foundation, but the rules contradict each other in the very story they're introduced in. He was intentionally showing how morality isn't as binary as machine logic, and how creating a race whose purpose is subservience is an ethical quagmire in itself.
I guess dogs share some of the qualities of robots (in their relationship with humans).
Most morality systems in games have the same problem: they focus only on the extremes. They make them based on good/evil, light/dark, paragon/renegade, etc. The further to the extreme you go, the more rewarded you are. I always hate this because they are unrealistic. I have never done paragon or renegade playthroughs for the Mass Effect games, I have always just played them the way I would in reality. I always feel punished by these games because they are so far from reality and the games are further designed around choosing between extreme choices.
The two original KOTOR games are even worse about this because some of the best Force powers are locked away at either end of the moral spectrum. There's *zero* benefit to being a grey Jedi - you just end up a master of none who sucks at everything. You pretty much have to fully commit to a light side or dark side playthrough, preferably early on.
i usually take the most profitable option which surprisingly tends to lean slightly on the light side
This is why I like more cause-and-effect morality in games, where there's no explicit system of "right" and "wrong", but at the same time there's a very clear distinction between what's "good" and what's "evil" to everyone around you. Do whatever you want! Just don't be surprised if your choices have consequences. For all their issues, that is one thing that Elder Scrolls games do surprisingly well.
@@jasonblalock4429 Which really sucks because of how powerful Grey Jedi are in the lore. A lot of seriously powerful Force-users were Grey Jedi rather than Sith Lords or Jedi Masters, and that concept of a powerful force of cosmic neutrality is lost in KOTORs 1 and 2. You hear about them, but never get to be one of them, or even really see any of them, and that's needlessly restricting, in my opinion.
@@TheSkyRender it's like playing a very well-written novel, but Disco Elysium is just the cause-and-effect kind of morality you want. Options on spectrums from political, social and emotional, play as eccentric as you want or as normal as you want, the game will judge you for being a weirdo or being..Reasonably straight-laced as a detective. Only really enjoyable morality system I've found in years.
_"Tak wrote the world, according to the dwarfs, but unlike most gods he does not require that the dwarfs think of him, merely that they do think."_
- Terry Pratchett.
The dwarfs of Discworld managed to build the most technologically advanced civilization on the disc because they worship (or rather, actively DON'T worship) the disc's only atheist deity.
One thing that constantly breaks my immersion regarding social choices in games is that their consequences are virtually invariably transparent. "Character X will remember that" and they make sure to tell you EXACTLY what they thought about what you did.
In the real world, humans will smile and flatter you while you are in a strong position, all the while simmering inside and waiting for the perfect opportunity to stick their dagger in your back. They lie for all sorts of reasons: because what they REALLY feel isn't socially acceptable, because they haven't had time to "digest" something major that just happened, because their current hand is weak, because their current hand is strong and they want you to overextend, etc, etc, etc.
I miss having games where judging character and figuring out where you REALLY stand with others is part of the experience. I reckon the only game where you had that was Vampire Bloodlines, but even that was mostly in a linear fashion, following the narrative without taking your actions into consideration.
I like some of the decisions you have to make in Stellaris. I've had games where I've been trying to play as a good people, and sometimes run up against places where there aren't clear right or wrong answers. For example, I found out that there's an underground civilisation on one of my planets, so I try and befriend them - all good so far. Then I have some refugees turn up from them - taking on refugees might seem like the right thing, but doing so would anger their civilisation. Or, should I give them some of our advanced weapons? Doing so makes them happier towards me, but risks them turning against me. One of the few games where I've felt genuinely conflicted about moral choices.
I have had similar experiences going into the Grey Tempest mid-game crisis event. I could protect my own borders comfortably, or I could risk getting struck at home in order to help protect my neighbours and allies from this marauding faction going around the galaxy melting planets and killing billions that I could potentially help to stop at the source.
I feel like such games are good at setting up things like this organically. When you have to think both inward and outward in your choices and nothing is strictly about the moral of the choice alone.
The new Avatar: The last Airbender TTRPG does some interesting stuff with contradictory morality systems, needing to maintain balance between two strongly held personal ideals, which is a really interesting way of centreing internal conflict and roleplaying.
faction opinions (the "X will remember that" scenario) are my favorite. and apart from Telltale games, see also the Influence sub-alignment in kotor2, faction rank in certain Elite-alike flight sims, and the syndicate affiliations in warframe
It's way cooler when they don't tell you that the character will remember your actions. Imagine that you have the option to go back and rescue someone but you choose not to and then near the end of the game, your friend betrays you because you didn't rescue that person.
KOTOR 2 has, without a doubt, the most interesting binary alignment system in any game. Simply the idea that you, through your own influence, can change the alignments of your party members. Essentially gaslighting and manipulating them into following along with the way you think, which fits into the running theme the game has of your actions having rippling effects and consequences for others.
The “X will remember that” is basically tell the player, you will be stuck with this set of consequences
One very interesting thing that came out from that in Telltale was when the "X will remember that" right before they die. The death is unforeseen because the "X will remember that" made me think that I will meet them again.
The morality systems I like are ones where morality isn't measured using metrics, i.e. You aren't given good boy points for being good, as morality is subjective and better moral choices create strong moral ambiguity so an action being good is a matter of perspective. Instead the choice should be based on the moral/ethical conundrum and perceived rewards/penalties from the action and long term consequences.
About DnD.
Alignment no longer matters in 5e. That part of character creation now has backgrounds and each one has separate personality traits, bonds, amd flaws to make a more diverse decision making process than a 9 spot matrix. Which, to me, makes that aspect of "what would my character do" easier for new players, but still enjoyable for those from older editions.
A major thing people forget is that prior to 5e where they went "new phone who dis" to most of the lore, Good and Evil, Law and Chaos were tangible, objective things, that had yes/no answers for pretty much everything.
The dnd system isn’t prescriptive though? It’s a descriptor of how your character generally acts, but your character is still a character, there’s no restriction on what you *have* to do, you might just end up changing your alignment
In older editions, many classes had alignment restrictions, and straying too far from certain alignments could cause a character to lose most of their class features. And then there's always the possibility of a divine class losing their god's favor through an alignment change. There might be a few others that I can't remember. So, there are or at least have been mechanics that punish straying from an alignment. Though I think they have been moving away from that over time.
A major thing people forget is that prior to 5e where they went "new phone who dis" to most of the lore, Good and Evil, Law and Chaos were tangible, objective things, that had yes/no answers for pretty much everything.
@@StompinPaul Oh you wanna play a Paladin in a morally gray to dark party? See ya next fall..
special mention to Fallout new vegas morality system : Torch powder gangers to death with a flamer, get good karma. Steal from their lockers after they ded, gain bad karma.
@@swishfish8858 Well, Karma and reputation are actually two different systems. Also, I don't think the two factor rep actually makes that much sense. If you do a lot of side quests until a faction idolizes you, and then start murdering every single member of that faction you meet, they'll just be like, "eh, he's okay". Even medal of honor recipients aren't allowed to start murdering fellow soldiers.
Special mention to the fact that just about the only thing karma affects is whether or not you can recruit Cass, so it's essentially a measure of her opinion of you and nothing else. Snoop on somebody's computer? Cass *sees*. Steal pinyon nuts from a caravaner? Cass *knows*. The Courier has singlehandedly swung the war in favour of an NCR victory and helped countless people across the Mojave, but the Cassnubis weighs their heart and senses too much compulsive pickpocketing, so it's time to spend another two hours hunting Fiends to atone.
Some honorable mentions of moral choices in games being dragon age and kingdom come deliverance (i would love to see you guys hash this one out btw. It's such a good game of historical fiction.)
Don't forget TW2!
KCD does a great job at putting the choices into the perspective of the lower levels of society. Henry runs quests and fights for the rich and the powerful, and many of the things he does are just out of the scope of the people he talks to. It's an interesting twist on the idea of doing bad to accomplish good.
@@someonerandom704
Yes. I also love the fact that some of the characters are in the gray too, like Divish's wife who presents herself as a good Christian, yet seems to present herself to Henry at every turn.
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Er meh 😑
dnd alignment is descriptive, not proscriptive. its only restrictive if you are actively trying to maintain a certain alignment
It's also restrictive for outsiders who are, in a way, embodiments of certain alignments
What would Garrus do? Calibrations. He would do calibrations.
I would love to see a historical philosophy approach to this. Walking through the increasing complexity of an Ethics class from Utilitarianism to Social Contracts would be cool!
Restrictive morals: when the idea is to roleplay an archetype and let them interact.
Contradictory morals: when the idea is lead the player through an intense story of drama with high emotional impact.
Cumulative morals: when the idea is to give the player freedom to play how they want and provoke thought and retrospection about their past decisions.
Zoey being horrified in the middle (not the end) of A Storm of Swords. Nice attention to detail.
Cumilative morality reminds me of the card mechanic from Spore
wat
@@teresakruskie7450 in spore, depending on you're actions, you get a red/blue/green card for every stage. You're cards influence thing like you're archetype in the space stage, your tools in the civilization stage and etc.
And making a chellenge to steer 180 the alignment betwen eras
CuM
I had a lot of fun playing mass effect as a Shepard who would do anything to defend their crew mates. Led to mostly paragon choices and saving both members, but damn those renegade options that allowed me to kill someone putting a loved one in danger were satisfying
Like Kai-Leng?
I mostly played as a Paragon Shepard, but punching that one nosy reporter is very satisfying.
i think that the forgotten realms morality structure is truly the best. Chaos, Order, Altruism, Egoism. Four primal forces that truly define morality. Genius.
Well that kinda just more narrow dnd alligment
@@tomekkowal4780 maybe you misunderstand? Order = lawul, chaos = chaotic, altruism = good, egoism = evil. Or did i misunderstand you?
I love that a) your shepard is female and b) she has freckles. :D Such nice attention to detail.
6:04
this is what orwell was trying to warn us about
My favorite morality system is Asimov’s Rules of Robotics, which each give sensible guidance but all have their limits and edge cases
His short stories which grapple with how the laws can contradict and break each other are my favourites
I think This War of Mine is the game I’ve played that handles these kinds of decisions best. You can steal and pilfer your way through the whole game and never suffer any direct consequence. But you always run the risk of your thieving play style weighing heavy on your group’s souls, which can lead to a myriad number of dreadful outcomes. It’s kind of fascinating how you’re never directly punished for your actions, because everyone involved tacitly understands that that kind of behaviour can be justified given your situation, but unfortunately, the heart weighs heavy from immoral acts, no matter how well the circumstances make those acts more understandable.
One system that has different elements that you cannot uphold all at once, and interestingly shows different ways to stretch or change the interpretations is the Ultima games system of virtues, starting from the fourth game and continuing the rest of the series.
Just wanted to say I appreciate the funky Megaman outro music. But also, spacing out your moral quandaries to give them time to breath and giving your players time to do what your game wants them to do is a must. D&D is primarily a monster slaying game, but if every monster has a tragic back story that make you feel bad for doing what you're supposed to then folks may struggle to find the fun. Which is why everyone loves the undead, you don't have to feel bad about killing them.
...until you discover that the lich king is a good neighbor and those "undead monstrosities" were the deliberately reanimated former town elders who wanted to stay on to advise and protect their descendants.
(I have a setting bit that includes just such a lich king. He does freely admit that he wants to rule the world, but: "I have more time than even the elves, I see no need to fight pointless wars.")
That's assuming that you play D&D as a dungeon crawler. There are multiple ways to play D&D. In my group, combat does not take as large a part most of the time.
What about games without a morality system? Games where the world itself reacts dynamically to your actions, just like the real world would. I have always believed that to be the absolute best way to portray morality in video games and tabletop rpgs.
I think that's what he was referring to as cumulative systems?
when done right in games morality can be such a fun thing to experience, think about, and discuss
Technically in D&D, the actions of the player characters can change their alignment.
I always appreciated the Guild from Fable in how they don't tell you not to be evil. We are all the Heros of our own story and no matter what path you went down your labeled as a hero either way.
6:16 Walpole reference!!! Also nice nod to Undertale during the Dog Segment.
Mass effect is my favorite video game and has been for years, you’ve convinced me to do another play through 😅
I like the morality system in Red Dead Redemption 2, because it’s less of a morality system and moreso a measure of how “in-character” you’ve been as Arthur Morgan. You can rob people and get no morality penalties-but when you kill someone that isn’t with the law or a rival gang? *That’s* when you get a morality penalty.
My issue with video games morality systems is they are only Chaotic Evil or Neutral Good. No choice in between or right or left in the D&D system because game writers are uncreative.
"Do you want to pet this dog or cut off it's head and eat its puppies, choose now."
I think once you've decided to break down choices into good and evil then you kind of get stuck making a good choice and a bad choice instead of just an interesting choice.
Star Wars the Clone Wars is one of the best pieces of media ever made and explores morality REALLY well.
This is a good overview of alignment systems. I am trying to put together a system similar to D&D, but with a third dimension. The Good-and-Evil axis is on the third dimension since any action on the other two might be moral, immoral, or neither. The other axises are Order-and-Chaos and Ideals-and-Facts (that is, are you doing things based on your beliefs like Zekrom, or are you letting evidence guide your actions like Reshiram)
Been getting into Z axis representations of complex beliefs recently. Still not perfect for conveying nuance, but that extra dimension really brings a lot to the table.
A 3rd Dimension adds Depth. Makes sense.
In the PnP-RPG Vampire 5e there is an amazing moral system:
You have a Humanity rating, that shows how well human your character is and you define your own moral rules called convictions and the group defines tenets for the whole group.
if your character does something inhumane, monstrouse or something that runs against the convictions or tenet, they get staines on their humanity and become over time more monstrouse.
BUT if they do something bad to uphold theiy convictions they get fewer or no staines at all.
Translated into a digital space that could become a choice at the beginning, fe character creation, where you can choose some convictions and some actions or dialogue options are restricted from you or have repercussions, depending on your convictions...
Interesting that he ended on WWGD, because he is a character whose morals you help shape.
I am a bit disappointed that you haven't talked about traps to fall into when designing morality system while using DnD's alignment system which is a very flawed system, (also it is a in-universe morality system for the Forgottem Realms)
I mean, if we're going that route, the Paragon/Renegade binary is practically the worst possible morality system you can have short of intentionally messing up with the players. Can't really have a video about morality systems without talking about their shortcomings.
A major thing people forget is that prior to 5e where they went "new phone who dis" to most of the lore, Good and Evil, Law and Chaos were tangible, objective things, that had yes/no answers for pretty much everything.
Dead reign has a morality system but no neutral
The dog example reminded me of the concept of double think from 1984. Hold two conflicting ideas at the same time, cuz reasons.
Interesting video, and got my brain juices flowing. I'm not entirely sold on the categorization of moral systems since there are ways to make any system restrictive, contradictory, or cumulative without changing the core aspects of the system.
I also think there's a really pervasive misinterpretation of D&D alignment that's propagated here. Alignment is just that - alignment. Which mystical forces are you aligning yourself with. This is typically informed by your choice of deity to worship, or a pact you take, or the tenants of an order you join. That simply isn't the same as a morality chart. Good and Evil are tangible allied factions of gods, with similar worldviews and moral frameworks, yes, but they are not the same as the moral concepts of good and evil. In fact, within the service of an Evil deity, the moral framework for good and evil actions could look much different than one would expect, as could the moral framework under a Good deity. There's a reason we don't always see paladin orders as "the good guys" even though they may be of a Lawful Good alignment.
There's a ton of material there for telling interesting stories (like how a species may be bound to the Evil god that created them while defining their own way of life that may be a good and just one). I'd hate to see shallow interpretations of alignment result in sanding all of that interesting storytelling inspiration away.
“I know it’s controversial but murder is bad. Someone had to it.”
i thank this is the third time you covered this topic
Ace combat Zero has a morality system They will put you in different classes the knight, the solder, and the mercenary. Depending on which class you are you fight different enemies and they will describe you in there interviews even the enemies will respond to like if you kill a disable aircraft not only will you hear the scream of the pilot the others will call you a monster. I tried the mercenary route but I didn't want to go any more and started to spear disable aircraft. This is a series that tries to show both sides of war the solders and the civilians.
I will always be interested in specific design choices like morality.
"What Would Garrus Do?" I mean, based on precedent, be a best bro to all his friends, and then shoot any potential criminal who even blinks at him wrong.
I'm really interested to see how Triangle stratergy will do this
Speaking of morality codes in RPGs... Have you tried Dogs in the Vineyard? Long story short, it's designed to have the characters face moral choices where they are in power to say what's "good" or "evil" since they ARE the law AND the word of God all rolled into one... And each new "town" (read: "episode") they visit will be made on purpose, by design, to challenge their previous rulings.
3:05 good to see Dogamy and Dogaressa floating around
A shotout to everyone who also fell in love with Tali in Mass Effect one, and had to wait for ME2 to have a chance with her
Of course you mention mass effect right off the bat hahaha
Mass effects system sucks. If you play how you want to you miss half the game.
3:05 Dogamy and Dogaressa? IS THAT AN UNDERTALE REFERENCE!?!
The moral choices in Elder scrolls online, Where they generally cannot change the world because of your choices all that much comes in the form of Judgemental or Forgiving most of the time.
Great video for my fanfic OC.
Would u guys make videos about the Greater Terran Union (GTU) & Antares Confederacy (AC) from the Templin Institute in the future?
I killed Paarthurnax. I still remember the conflict, 3am I paused the game and went for a glass of water. Immortality and potential for dictatorship is not a good combination. This decision still ticks in my moral compass
I would like to mention Infamous for having a dynamic and entertaining morality system.
I really enjoyed the way this was handled in Ghost of Tsushima!
I’m really surprised you didn’t talk about Vampire the Masquerade’s humanity system in this one!
I seems weird how some games for example reward evil decisions by giving the player more attack power and reward good decisions with more defensive/healing power. I prefer a more aggressive playstyle so even though I would normally choose the good option I instead go with the evil one since the rewards I'll get from those choices are more compatible with my preferred playstyle.
Fallout New vegas's morality system is absolutely hilarious sometimes. You can mow down an entire camp of fiends or the Khans and still have good karma.
No one can snitch if there's no snitches to snitch
To be fair, they're vicious raiders, so you're basically doing the world a favour taking out the trash.
Don't forget that if you make friends with a faction, and then murder them, the survivors will just be like, "eh, he's okay".
"Because let's be real, you want that moment where the player sets down the controller and just, stares at the choice in front of them unsure of what to do."
*I love you
*You'll always be my dearest friend
I saw the Walpole. Sneaky little artist. I'm on to you.
when your d&d alignment is so chaotic that you aren’t neutral, lawful, good or bad. chaotic chaotic, the one who does chaos in a chaotic way for no reason other than chaos
That sounds like chaotic stupid
@@briankenney9528 Or just dice roll decisions.
Holy crap extra credits still actually does the extra credits show!
2:14 Well for Star Wars there is the "GRAY". A sec that delves in both Light and Dark force powers. And believe that is the TRUE BALLANCE of the force.
6:09 "This War of Mine" does delve into these Moral choices and most time show the end results of what you did or did not do.
6:14 Nice touch for the history fans.
A thing I’m interested in is fantasy or sci-fi morality that is alien/ blue-orange morality. Something that would be immoral in our world but is moral to the people in universe.
Like say a world with beastmen but they think more instinctual so are fine with more authoritarian leaders and might actively resist attempts at democracy
"Cultural relativity" is a pretty widely explored concept. :P
Extra can you make one video on Egyptian campaign of napoleon
You never want your moral system build in a way that can lead to the misunderstanding that is, the DM telling you "You wouldn't do that."
The Legend of the Five Rings RPG has an amazing “morality” system in its game where characters are encouraged to follow all seven tenets of Bushido, even tho they can contradict one another. This means loosing and gaining honor, glory, and status
I feel like there was a missed opportunity to call the highest good in Pugmire "Be a good boy"
I much prefer The Orville's rules about contact with less advanced civilizations than Star Trek (show up if asked to even if they haven't reached X technology)
What Would Garrus Do? Calibrations
Unless you outright say that you're in love with him, in which case he _can't_ concentrate on calibrations.
Nice examination of morality.
In the metro game series it has its own morality like do you kill the unarmed or help a woman find her son and red dead redemption 2 also has its own morality system
3:04 Dogamy and Dogaressa!
WWGD
Garrus: Not right now I'm doing some calibrations.
Most morality systems suck because they don't understand evil. The evil choice is almost always the dumb choice. And you can make the same choice, but have very different reasons behind why you would do or not do a thing.
'Eddie has created some fictional belief systems in his day' O-O
I think Fallout 1 and 2 are two of the best examples for moral choices.
PANR has tuned in.
Alignment just needs a mechanic as motivation to play that way. A lawful evil player should not be able to use a holy avenger
That actually used to be the case in earlier versions. Certain actions and artifacts were alignment bound.
Frostpunk and the other games from 21bit studio's are full of moral choices and decisions.
I’ve never been þis early, y’all are amazing
In Dnd you can behave any way you want as long as you can talk good enough.
In some ways a factional system is a kind of multidimensional mechanical moral alignment system, where your standing with different groups is affected by your actions, or more importantly, your reputation for certain actions.
Fallout: New Vegas did this kind of system perfectly.
@@catcharide56 As did Rebel Galaxy.
Mass Effect is amazing.
There you are playing Mass Effect and all the sudden, you’re Commander Shepard
I'm surprised that they didn't mention Infamous, but I dont mind that they didn't
My thing with morality systems is when they try to split thing into "Good" and "Evil" but then I disagree with the choices they tell me are good vs bad. Or when the moral choice is counter to the game play actions. "I will never kill." Proceeds to kick a guard off a cliff.
Lawful Good: Eats them after breaking them apart
Neutral Good: Breaks apart and eats with a friend
Chaotic Good: Breaks apart a Kit Kat that has more than 2 bars and shares them all
Lawful Neutral: Breaks Kit Kats, but doesn't get them entirely broken off. (Chocolate remains)
True Neutral: Peels apart Wafers
Chaotic Neutral: Sucks off chocolate, then eats wafer
Lawful Evil: Bites from the sides
Neutral Evil: Breaks Kit Kat in half, but not the long way.
Chaotic Evil: 1:09 (Hey that's 69 seconds in the video nice!)
True Evil: Only eats wafer and leaves chocolate
Chaotic evil: splits them, gets friends for sharing, then still eats them sideways without sharing
Chaotic Scotsman: Deep-fries the entire bar
I miss "bad" binary morality systems. Feeling like you're doing a thoroughly evil or good playthrough. My favorite moments were often the result. See betraying everyone, or saving Bastilla in Kotor 1.
I think they're terrible. Always feels childish whenever I play through that sort of system. It's the biggest issue I have with KotOR as a series, because a rigid binary of good and evil just reads to me as nonsensical.
The 3 laws of robotics is the best code.
Pls do a serie on Talleyrand one day
You go guys!
Wtf am I watching this at 3am.... great vid still