# Do you have trouble being mean/evil in video games? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** video-games-e-games\ **Created:** [November 26, 2023, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718 "2023-11-26T12:59:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Disinfectus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/disinfectus/32/11085_2.png) [@Disinfectus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disinfectus)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2023, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/21 "2023-11-26T20:19:59Z")
I tend to take the good guy route whenever possible. The only exception I can think of is _GTA 5_. In that game, I’m not sure how possible it is to not be mean/evil to some extent. And I’m not all that apologetic when I run over an innocent bystander when chased by gang members. My rationale is that I’m looking at pixels, not people. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2023, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/22 "2023-11-26T20:39:43Z")
I don’t play many video games for just this reason. I don’t like the emphasis on shooting and killing. The more realistic the videos have become, the less interested I am in playing them. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2023, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/23 "2023-11-26T21:40:50Z")
If I have a choice I’ll always pick the good choice although there was a recent video game where I deliberately skipped over the “Bad” quest. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2023, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/24 "2023-11-26T21:43:39Z")
It’s kind of annoying, I’ve played several video games that force you to kill people. I like games like Assassin’s Creed where you can just knock people out. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2023, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/25 "2023-11-26T22:28:58Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Well, some games are literally just murder simulators that give you every incentive as a player to kill. I will gleefully murder anyone and everyone in **Hitman** or **Grand Theft Auto** in as absurd and hilarious ways as the game makes possible. First, this is a good point, if the whole game is about being the villain, sure, lean into it!. But again, most modern CRPGs especially have a dual path morality. Which leads to this: [quote=“Love\_Rhombus, post:12, topic:993718, full:true”] > [@Jophiel](#): > > I sort of need that power-driven motivation though; I’ve no interest in just playing a general asshole. Yeah, I could be evil, not an evil jerk. Like I’ll shoot people in the face, but I won’t hurt their feelings. Seriously. And if I’m not human, it’s not cannibalism! [/quote] Altogether too often, the evil (or brutal, or -renegade- path) just boils down to being a jerk to be a jerk, rather than it’s more pragmatic, effective or in-character. Or as @kenobi_65 and others put it, puppy-kicking [for the evulz](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ForTheEvulz). It gets frustrating in such games because sometimes you’re torn between the head-cannon motivations you’ve created for a character vs. needing to pick specific options to increase your ‘evil’ or ‘good’ score. Mass Effect for Example (which in the latter two versions had a similar mechanic to SWKOTR in which your ‘evil’ choices would manifest visually on your face) was hard, my Renegade (read evil if you haven’t played) was a pragmatist who was willing to make hard choices to win, and was an Earth Firster. Not a raving Xenophobe, just felt that they were using human resources first, and therefore was responsible to Earth first. But I ended up around 60/40 Renegade to Paragon in the latter two games because often the renegade option was just being damn stupid. And don’t get me started about how arguably the Paragon Option is much more evil than the Renegade option for the two main endings! IMHO enslaving a species for all time and forcing it to work to restore their enemies and protect them is far worse than simply eliminating them when you’re in the middle of a genocidal war said aliens started with the stated intent of wiping out all technological organic life in the galaxy, something they’ve done COUNTLESS times before. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2023, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/26 "2023-11-26T22:42:33Z")
I have no problem playing evil. In the _Star Wars: The Old Republic_ MMORPG, I had a group of 3 friends I played with (we play tabletop RPGs in real life, heck they were my groomsmen and one woman at my wedding). The 4 of us played Dark Side, each of us playing one of the 4 main classes. It was pretty fun. I played a Sith Sorcerer. We got all the way through the game and completed the main storyline as a group. I cackled like a madman in real life every time I shocked someone with lightning in dialog parts. My friends wondered if something was wrong with me. Maybe they were right When it’s over-the-top cartoon evil, I just find it funny and enjoy it. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2023, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/27 "2023-11-26T22:55:41Z")
Aside for all who haven’t played the SW:TOR MMORPG, you can totally play Light Side Sith and Dark Side Republic Military. So I had (have?) a dedicated light side Sith Sorcerer as a Healer. In most ways the game is a lot more nuanced that many of the movies. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2023, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/28 "2023-11-26T23:29:36Z")
Small unrelated side question: why didn’t it put my words in a quote box? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2023, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/29 "2023-11-26T23:33:52Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > > [@Jophiel](#): > > > > I sort of need that power-driven motivation though; I’ve no interest in just playing a general asshole. > > Yeah, I could be evil, not an evil jerk. Like I’ll shoot people in the face, but I won’t hurt their feelings. Seriously. > > And if I’m not human, it’s not cannibalism! Good question; I just quoted it from Parallel Lines and it seems to be working. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2023, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/30 "2023-11-26T23:35:10Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > > [@Jophiel](#): > > > > I sort of need that power-driven motivation though; I’ve no interest in just playing a general asshole. > > Yeah, I could be evil, not an evil jerk. Like I’ll shoot people in the face, but I won’t hurt their feelings. Seriously. > > And if I’m not human, it’s not cannibalism! And quoting you directly, seems to be working. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2023, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/31 "2023-11-26T23:48:46Z")
I wouldn’t be the least bit bothered by what I did in a game, but what might bother me is if I felt myself getting a charge out of doing bad. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2023, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/32 "2023-11-27T00:51:48Z")
Yeah, I totally lit up the hostages in Call of Duty MW:2’s “No Russian” mission. It felt _very_ weird. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2023, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/33 "2023-11-27T00:57:21Z")
Piper Cub was telling me about that one. He thought it was weird too. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2023, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/34 "2023-11-27T01:01:17Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > Aside for all who haven’t played the SW:TOR MMORPG, you can totally play Light Side Sith and Dark Side Republic Military. Forgot to mention that. Agreed, I had a bounty hunter from the Sith who was Light Side, and a commando from the Republic who was Dark Side. We were all Dark Side Sith though in that group. My sorcerer, Darth Venomuss, was especially sadistic. ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2023, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/35 "2023-11-27T02:01:43Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > Small unrelated side question: why didn’t it put my words in a quote box? Maybe there’s a line break thing going on similar to what happens with spoiler tags. (I.e. Spoiler tags can only be applied to one paragraph at a time. If you want to have two paragraphs in the same block covered, you have to put a set of spoiler tags around both.) ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2023, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/36 "2023-11-27T02:09:33Z")
The closest I get to evil is playing Renegade in Mass Effect, because IMO Renegade Shepard is a much more interesting character than her Paragon counterpart. (I also always play FemShep for the same reason and because Jennifer Hale is an awesome VA.) ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2023, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/37 "2023-11-27T02:12:40Z")
I generally cannot do it. I have played the Mass Effect series maybe six times and I keep meaning to play a renegade run and I just cannot do it. That said, I have no problem playing something like Dungeon Keeper where you are an evil dungeon keeper. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2023, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/38 "2023-11-27T02:24:03Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > I generally cannot do it. > > I have played the Mass Effect series maybe six times and I keep meaning to play a renegade run and I just cannot do it. My first playthrough of the original game was straight Paragon up until the very end when I decided to let the Council die instead of saving the Destiny Ascension - they’d been absolutely no help, had ignored all my warnings, sternly lectured me about every decision I made, and would’ve gotten the entire galaxy killed if not for me, so I wasn’t about to sacrifice human lives to save them. After that, I decided I had to replay the game as a full Renegade and never looked back. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2023, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/39 "2023-11-27T02:57:29Z")
Renegade Shepard is the one who punches a reporter in the face. That makes it the best Shepard. Though to be honest, I never went one or the other. I just did whatever seemed best in any situation and so usually stayed somewhere in the middle. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2023, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/40 "2023-11-27T03:24:03Z")
My first playthrough of something I’ll generally be nice, unless something really annoys me. But later playthroughs, I’ll do whatever. And it’s very rare a game will actually make me feel bad for my choices. I’d go into examples of when that happened but I got distracted by this beer that just got put in front of me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718.md?page=3)