# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2023, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/41 "2023-11-27T03:27:02Z")
I feel like ‘evil’ playthroughs are mostly ‘skip lots of content because you’re taking shortcuts through the narrative’ playthroughs. So I almost always play a good guy first and then, if I play again, a bad guy. Mass Effect was great because “renegade” wasn’t “bad guy.” You didn’t miss out on stuff by playing that way. ---
**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, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/42 "2023-11-27T03:27:07Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Renegade Shepard is the one who punches a reporter in the face. > > That makes it the best Shepard. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/cenKx5hV9N4/maxresdefault.jpg "Shepard Punches News Reporter Khalisah al-Jilani In Mass Effect 1, 2 & 3") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cenKx5hV9N4) ---
**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, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/43 "2023-11-27T03:32:08Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Renegade Shepard is the one who punches a reporter in the face. While I played Paragon I think I always punched the reporter (I may have skipped it once to be 100% Paragon which didn’t change anything). ---
**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, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/44 "2023-11-27T07:39:52Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > While I played Paragon I think I always punched the reporter For one brief, shining, glorious moment your Paragon was a Renegade. 😇 😈 ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2023, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/45 "2023-11-27T10:48:15Z")
It’s never really bothered me. I get annoyed with the creators sometimes though. Like when I had to kill that dog in Walking Dead. I was really hoping he would be my new friend. ---
**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, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/46 "2023-11-27T11:26:38Z")
Good point. I don’t have a problem being evil to people. But I really hate having to shoot dogs, even if they’re trying bite my face off. I’d rather just give them some food and hug and stroke them and call the George. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2023, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/47 "2023-11-27T11:40:50Z")
Yes and I’d even go further than most here: I don’t like that a lot of the grinding in video games involves killing lots of animals (or sentient plants or whatever). Sure, the fodder often _attack_ you, so there’s an argument that you’re defending yourself. But if you otherwise have no reason to be in that environment, a lot of that justification disappears. Obviously I’m not so precious about this stuff that I can’t play and enjoy a bog standard RPG. I’m just saying that it is one of the things that takes me out of the game slightly: that the game inherently relies on me behaving in a way that I wouldn’t. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2023, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/48 "2023-11-27T12:17:10Z")
Selling people into slavery is something I’m not comfortable with in games (like Fallout 3 or Dragon Age), unsurprisingly. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_McQwark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@Steve\_McQwark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_McQwark)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2023, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/49 "2023-11-27T12:54:45Z")
I spent a lot of hours killing Nazis in Wolfenstein 3D, but I hated shooting the dogs. I know it’s not mean or evil, heck they were trying to kill me, but that damn yelp got to me. > [@Mijin](#): > > I don’t like that a lot of the grinding in video games involves killing lots of animals (or sentient plants or whatever). > Sure, the fodder often _attack_ you, so there’s an argument that you’re defending yourself. But if you otherwise have no reason to be in that environment, a lot of that justification disappears. In Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, I have no problem killing wolves - those bastards attack constantly until you kill one of them. The foxes, however, I never kill. They always run away so I feel guilty killing them. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2023, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/50 "2023-11-27T13:11:15Z")
> [@Steve\_McQwark](#): > > In Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, I have no problem killing wolves - those bastards attack constantly until you kill one of them. The foxes, however, I never kill. They always run away so I feel guilty killing them. As I say, if you have reason to be there, I’m fine with it. If I’m trying to get from A to B, and wolves are attacking me on the way, and all I can do to defend myself is kill (one of) them, then fine. But in a lot of RPGs you’re going into the mushroom kingdom, say, hacking down anthropomorphic Vicious Mushrooms and gaining XP. In that case, I feel bad even if the mushrooms are aggressive, because why am I there bothering the things? ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2023, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/51 "2023-11-27T14:18:54Z")
Yes, like in the Fallout games. I tell myself I’ll do a playthrough as an asshole but it just feels bad. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2023, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/52 "2023-11-27T15:11:04Z")
> [@Disinfectus](#): > > The only exception I can think of is _GTA 5_. GTA has the advantage that _everyone_ in the game is _some_ kind of asshole or other. Even the NPCs that just spawn on the street. Spend a few minutes listening to their vacuous, self-centered chatter, and murdering the lot of them becomes much less problematic. ---
**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, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/53 "2023-11-27T21:54:59Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > Yes, like in the Fallout games. In Fallout 2, you can marry [Miria](https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Miria) and pimp her out. I was never cool with that. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2023, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/54 "2023-11-28T10:17:18Z")
I have a very hard time playing as a Renegade in the Mass Effect series. I’ll give you an example. In Mass Effect 3, Samara will shoot herself to avoid killing her Ardat-Yakshi daughter if you don’t stop her. You then have the option of killing the daughter yourself and leaving them _both_ dead, rendering Samara’s sacrifice pointless. Only a truly heartless bastard would do that. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2023, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/55 "2023-11-28T10:36:11Z")
I generally have no problem with stomping on pixels. But then most of the games I’m drawn to have monsters and such, not realistic humans. What I do have a problem with is when my path to level up requires making the game suck for another player. I much prefer cooperative growth, trading, mutual points in battle and the like. I will work around the software to make it happen that way if I can. I end up being the one-woman UN most of the time, teaching others how to scale up faster by working together instead of smashing newbies and ruining the game for them. ---
**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 28, 2023, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/56 "2023-11-28T17:36:03Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > What I do have a problem with is when my path to level up requires making the game suck for another player. I also dislike PvP in most situations. There have been some notable exceptions (Star Wars Galaxies was fantastic for Rebel vs Empire combat, and I loved Alterac Valley in World of Warcraft) but for the most part it hasn’t been enjoyable. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2023, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/57 "2023-11-29T17:44:13Z")
I always want to see the good ending. I tell myself that I will play through again on the evil side but I never have time to. I would rather move on to a game I haven’t played. I killed more people than smallpox in RDR2 but I did try to make the good choices. I think that made the emotional impact of the story that much better. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2023, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/58 "2023-11-29T17:57:31Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > I also dislike PvP in most situations. The worst is when it is foisted upon you in a _single player game_, e.g. Watch Dogs 2, Sniper Elite 5. It’s developer-sanctioned griefing and just a cheap way for them to shoehorn in multiplayer. The really fucked up thing is those games _already have multiplayer modes_. I know you can turn it off in the settings, but they almost always restrict certain game content for doing so. It’s a really shitty practice and I wish they would knock it the fuck off. ---
**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 29, 2023, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/59 "2023-11-29T18:29:45Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > The worst is when it is foisted upon you in a _single player game_, e.g. Watch Dogs 2 Yeah, I adored that game except for the times when another player showed up out of nowhere when you’re trying to do a mission and starts hacking you. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2023, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/60 "2023-11-29T18:50:29Z")
I tend to roleplay, even when the game is not actually a role-playing game. My characters range from good (avoiding harm to others) to selfish (maximizing personal gain). I don’t do cruelty or jerkishness for its own sake. I hate built-in alignment systems, because the designers invariably align actions differently than I do. Baldur’s Gate 3 got it right–there’s no alignments, only consequences for actions. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718.md?page=4)