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Decision-making in games


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Usually, games have you play as the hero. But there are also some games where you can either choose a villain route, or make some villainlike choices throughout the game. And sometimes it's not a black and white "hero or villain" choice, but multiple decisions that players have to make throughout the game in gray area situations. 

 

In these games, how do you handle decision-making? Do you choose one path over the other? Do you make multiple files in order to do every possible choice and get every ending? 

 

In games like these, I always go the hero path or do what I think is right in each situation. I can't be mean even in games. I might look up the outcomes of the choices I didn't pick, but I'd feel bad if I did bad stuff. 

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Pretty much the same as you, I just play through the game trying to do what I think is "right", or at least what I would do if I were personally confronted to these choices.

In subsequent playthroughs however, I may pick different options just to see more of what the game has to offer. But in the end I seldom stray far from the path I've chosen for myself.

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I will particularly enjoy playing as a vilain , it will change and make the game even more interesting. Cause as you say , we always play as the hero and it's the same story all the time : will beat the bad guys and we become the greatest hero ever .

 

In games , kinda same as Ali and ArcherEric : on a first run i choose the option i prefer , and then on different run i choose another to see what options the game has to offer.

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Depends on the character I'm "roleplaying" as. For example in Skyrim with my Nord I joined the Stormcloaks, while with my other character I joined the Empire. I like to see the alternative(s) too, so if possible I save before making big decisions. Doing right or wrong is for me less important than what makes sense for my character.

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  • Support Squad

I prioritise based on what effect the choice will have on characters I like.

 

For example, in Dragon Age Origins you get a companion who is a rogue mage. The story takes you to a mages institution, which she is very opposed to. Instead of going there and picking up a companion, and the main healer of the game, I ended up murdering my would be companion and going on to murder hordes of demons because it got me like 10 extra points of approval with this rogue mage companion.

 

I ended up using a lot of potions in that game.

 

No, i'm not weak to peer pressure.

 

ShuttupthisismychoiceinthegamedONTJUDGEME

 

If it gives me a choice with no impact on the game and the chance to do something funny I will also do that 100% of the time.

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Depends on the game. Some games go “if you don’t do both paths you won’t get the full story” or “you won’t get properly rewarded if you don’t do both.” If the game is designed where you’re not forced down any particular path, I just make whatever decisions I objectly agree with and let the game take me where it wants to take me.

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I enjoy games that have dynamic choice making, things that either alter the game's path, how events play out in certain scenarios, or how others react to you. Games like Devil Survivor 1&2, Kingdom Come Deliverance, Symphony of the Night, Aria of Sorrow, Wizardry 8 and Tyranny are all great examples.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Generally speaking, games aren't nuanced enough to go beyond the obvious good or bad routes.

But then generally speaking, I also follow my own path. Sometimes I choose violence as the optimal choice, and sometimes i choose 'diplomacy'. To choose a mix, there has yet to be a decent game depiction in the genre.

if you look at undertale, there are genocide runs and pacifist runs. Where are the realistic runs? Nowhere. You either adhere to one principle or its opposite? Pls, how long has it been since we regarded life and the human experience as black and white??

 

Choosing diplomacy doesn't always mean being passive or unresponsive. Choosing to be aggressive doesn't mean that you'll get your way either.

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On 4/10/2018 at 10:09 AM, smeargletail said:

I like to play the villian first as stupid as it sounds I love the rebel feeling of power but, hate being berated (I got really low self-esteem)

I suggest playing Tyranny then. That is essentially what the entire game is about.

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The most important thing is whether the choices actually matter, and secondly if they are realistic. In most games, the "good" and "bad" options are too obvious. Others that try to mask them simply don't reveal the whole choice. For example some choices seem to be the "good" ones, but their continuation is the "bad" one, which in my book is quite a cheap way to do things. Then there are those games where choice is nonexistent or false, meaning things go one way whatever you choose to do. Which... might sometimes work positively by immersing you into the game and giving you the illusion of active participation in the events to come, but other times it's blatant mockery, similar to when you are forced to do actions where unnecessary eg press f to show respect.

 

As Mael pointed out, realistic routes are somewhere in the middle. It's understandable that taking too long to create meaningful paths for most choices is either going to take a long time to code or won't actually provide a change in the story that diverges enough to be called a different choice, but when it's there, it's certainly appreciated. In games like Skyrim you do have a choice, and it actually isn't good or bad by conventional standards, because neither faction is objectively benevolent or evil. Heck you can even disregard both if you want to, and that's a great way to organize the "path of the pc". In games like VTM-Bloodlines your choices start from the very first encounter you have with the other characters and the factions you choose. Then there are those like Mount & Blade where your whole path is your personal choice (from whom to recruit to what your end goal is). 

 

Sometimes choices are the main focus of the game, and you can exploit them to their fullest. Other times the game doesn't need you to make a lot of choices, and that's also fine. In hindsight, it's not the existence of choices that rates a game, but they are one of those factors that when true, then they should be done at least with moderate care, in order to "feel" as if the pc's actions matter. 

 

All that said, I don't usually have a standard way of playing. Usually I'm just taking care of myself, analyzing which choices will benefit me more in the long run, and in general disregarding "good" and "evil", unless I absolutely have to. The main point is to have fun and not be restricted to such rules. It's a fantasy world and you are roleplaying as a character. So, if I have to kick a baby every now and then, so be it. At least I won't use an excuse that "I wouldn't do X in real life".

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Kinda like you, I feel awful if I learn of a better ending to things. 10 times out of 10 I go the hero route... although the right thing sometimes the right thing to do isn't the most popular with the people around you. Best example I can think of is in the most recent Fallout game with Far Harbor. Choosing the Dima ending one can argue isn't the most nicest ending  but it is the right ending.

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  • 4 weeks later...
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A typical example for this type of games, is The Witcher series. There is no "evil" or "good", there are only choices and situations to make others happy, sad, or dead; with or without reason/cause, for that matter. There are also different endings (2, 3) that affect the fate of the whole world, based on key decisions of yours, throughout the story. There are choices, even in Romance, with different "paths", as well. One of the finest examples, concerning decision making in games, especially modern ones...

 

Other games like Grim Dawn, features slightly less important choices, like ways to finish a quest and different outcomes, concerning the fate of certain NPCs, small areas/outposts, even rewards involved... And some are even tied to achievements! Making it a much more simplistic, yet much more varied, experience!

 

Then, there are pioneers, like Vampire Bloodlines... One of the first games, to bring variety and choices, on the table. With all of its different clans and gameplay, plus roleplay, styles and obligations, a multitude of different courses of actions for solving a quest at hand (stealth, combat, bribe, seduce, persuade, intimidate, etc), it was something unparalleled, even to this day... Making it an all times classic title, forever in top PC rankings!

 

If i recall, even open world games, like Elder Scrolls titles, offer such freedom, up to a certain extent...

 

Then, there are shooters with such choices, such as The Suffering 1/2... Your choices affect your appearance, your stats (regeneration and different damage taken from different enemies), the ending... Rarely, though, games of that genre, offer choices, especially ones that matter.

 

Finally, there are other games, like Arx Fatalis, in which "choices" are more subtle and hardly noticeable. Like leaving a key NPC inside prison and fight him later as an enemy, slaughter a pair of thieves-traders or leave beastmen kill them, optional sidequests like robbing a bank and troll rebellion, or slaughter every living being, after having received the final quest.

 

In grey cases like the witcher, i spoil myself on every character, situation and consequences involved first, then i proceed to make my choice (first run). If i play more than 1 time the game (witcher 1/2 i have played many), then out of curiosity only, i do other choices and try different paths. I still have to beat Witcher 3 Goty, though, need a better rig, damn! Good thing saves with decisions carry over, i love this and all games offering this feature!

 

In games like Grim Dawn, i follow the achievements... So i try throughout the difficulties, to try everything, pretty much.

 

In games like Bloodlines, i pay heed to the XP rate, tied to each and every choice involved; i do not care about "good" or "evil", there, just whatever gives the most XP or other type of bonus!

 

In fast paced action games, like the Suffering, i sit through and unlock every path.

 

And in games like Arx Fatalis, i leave nothing alive, at all. Enjoying it, too.

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