# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2023, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/81 "2023-11-30T04:36:03Z")
I do not like doing it, and sometimes i will try to go thru as LG to see it if can work. Mind you, In Baldur’s gate 1 &2 my rogue had no issue with burglary and pickpocketing. ---
**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 30, 2023, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/82 "2023-11-30T04:38:22Z")
I do find it funny that I’ll hesitate to do something evil to a character but have zero problems stealing anything that isn’t tied down in most CRPGS. Of course, if you’re the freaking chosen one, but have to have 5 or 6 side hustles to afford gear (Looking at YOU Skyrim and the like) - well, it gets easy to excuse. ---
**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 30, 2023, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/83 "2023-11-30T05:40:54Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > Of course, if you’re the freaking chosen one, but have to have 5 or 6 side hustles to afford gear (Looking at YOU Skyrim and the like) - well, it gets easy to excuse. I’m playing Mass Effect for the first time now. I just became a spectre and told to go gear up with the gear guy. It turns out I have to fucking PAY for spectre gear. AND at astronomical prices compared to where I am right now. (I got 4000 bucks and you want 300,000?) Wtf!? ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2023, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/84 "2023-11-30T05:47:32Z")
Like others, I’m okay if I commit to the ‘evil’ path. Fallout series, Bioshock, Prey, Starfield, and others. But even then I start out with twinges of guilt. Then I use Gemini Cricket for fishing bait and all is good. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2023, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/85 "2023-11-30T08:40:19Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > I do find it funny that I’ll hesitate to do something evil to a character but have zero problems stealing anything that isn’t tied down in most CRPGS Yeah, same. ---
**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 30, 2023, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/86 "2023-11-30T09:51:12Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > It turns out I have to fucking PAY for spectre gear. AND at astronomical prices compared to where I am right now. (I got 4000 bucks and you want 300,000?) Wtf!? By the time you’ll need weapons that powerful, you’ll be swimming in cash. Just sell all the junk weapons and armor and upgrades that your party doesn’t need. ---
**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 30, 2023, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/87 "2023-11-30T18:54:36Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Sure, it’s [Ashes of Creation](https://ashesofcreation.com/). Looks interesting. If you have fun playing it once it’s released, start a thread letting us know what you like. ---
**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 30, 2023, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/88 "2023-11-30T19:29:06Z")
Seconded! ---
**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 30, 2023, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/89 "2023-11-30T20:55:21Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > If you have fun playing it once it’s released, start a thread letting us know what you like. Will do! So far I’ve only played in the first Alpha testing, which is so different than what the release will be that there’s not much to talk about, except to say that despite being so early and missing so many features it was still pretty fun. ---
**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 30, 2023, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/90 "2023-11-30T21:24:51Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > > [@snfaulkner](#): > > > > It turns out I have to fucking PAY for spectre gear. AND at astronomical prices compared to where I am right now. (I got 4000 bucks and you want 300,000?) Wtf!? > > By the time you’ll need weapons that powerful, you’ll be swimming in cash. Just sell all the junk weapons and armor and upgrades that your party doesn’t need. Yeah, I always found ME1 was an embarrassment of riches to the point that I typically had max money, max omni-gel, and the best equipment money could buy for everybody long before the endgame. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2023, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/91 "2023-12-01T05:57:54Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > I do find it funny that I’ll hesitate to do something evil to a character but have zero problems stealing anything that isn’t tied down in most CRPGS Yes, same here ---
**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:** [December 2, 2023, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/92 "2023-12-02T15:36:41Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Paladin is probably my favorite RPG archetype. I love being the tank and the face at the same time, I usually try to subvert the “lawful stupid” stereotype, but I did once make my party apologize to a necromancer and give back all his loot after we sort of accidentally broke into his home and assaulted him. Bit of an aside, but a paladin-type character is done very well in the film _Dungeons and Dragons_. ---
**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:** [December 2, 2023, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/93 "2023-12-02T17:22:29Z")
@Love_Rhombus beat you to it @Mijin > [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > And there’s a Paladin in Honor Among Thieves who’s both amusingly strait-laced and yet cool. Anyway, the last time I played a Paladin was in 3.5, and that was with the supplements that re-did Paladins as a prestige class. Which really worked for me (it was a mid-to-high level campaign, so we started at 12). It was built with 5 levels of warrior and 5 of priest and 2 of the prestige paladin. And my backstory was somewhat tropy, with years of being an ‘evil’ (read brutally pragmatic but stayed bought) mercenary, who after seeing just too much death and horror became a priest, and then a paladin. He went from Lawful Evil to Lawful Good - and he was unwilling to compromise with evil because he knew just how easy it was. So far from lawful stupid - more like the old, tired cop (he was in his late 30s) who kept saying “I know the bastard has it coming party, but trust me, this isn’t a road you want to go down.” ---
**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:** [December 3, 2023, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/94 "2023-12-03T17:51:53Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > So far from lawful stupid - more like the old, tired cop (he was in his late 30s) who kept saying “I know the bastard has it coming party, but trust me, this isn’t a road you want to go down.” If I was your DM I would give you extra XP if during a kobold ambush you griped, “I’m getting too old for this shit!” ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2023, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/95 "2023-12-03T19:43:05Z")
Yes, I have a hard time being evil in video games. There used to be a PS2 game called _Champions of Norrath._ I believe it was the sequel where you had an option to play as evil. It changed absolutely nothing about the gameplay except a slightly different narrative. I couldn’t do it. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2023, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/96 "2023-12-03T21:54:58Z")
Nope I always behave honorably in all the games I play. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2023, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/97 "2023-12-04T15:00:01Z")
In Fallout 4, not only did I have trouble doing anything bad or evil, when I consummated my relationship with Piper I felt guilty, as if I was cheating on Mrs. Solost 😊 ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2023, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/98 "2023-12-04T15:18:50Z")
I generally play the “good” path if there’s a choice, and unless the game is completely awesome don’t replay to see the “evil” path. But if the character is already a criminal (like RDR or Saints Row), I’ll generally leave citizens alone but occasionally drop some nuns on the railroad tracks or toss some molotovs in a hospital just to see what the game’s response is. > [@BobLibDem](#): > > Nope I always behave honorably in all the games I play. What does “honorably” mean? Do you mean your in-universe character is following their own in-universe code of honor? Because that code of honor can be pretty evil. Or do you avoid games where you start as criminal? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2023, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/99 "2023-12-04T15:25:24Z")
I’ve never played a game where you start off evil. I’m thinking of Fallout where I don’t do things like kill cattle or friendly people. In Civilization I don’t raze conquered cities or start a war with anyone who hasn’t previously attacked me. ---
**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:** [December 4, 2023, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718/100 "2023-12-04T15:27:50Z")
Hehe, I kinda felt that way too (with my wife, not yours) on my first playthrough. But the second playthrough, I romanced and sent all the companions to the same settlement. And Everytime I slept there, I woke up with someone else. Lost all guilt then due to the ridiculousness factor. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-trouble-being-mean-evil-in-video-games/993718.md?page=6)