Being the bad guy

[RCBH928]

I want to discuss a topic that confuses me in videogames ,
When ever there is a game that gives you a chance to be the bad guy it is never in your favor to choose it. For example:

You get to option to reply to one guy who asks you for help: 1-Sure, I'll help you , 2-Shut up! .
If you choose option 1, you probably will see more of the game by adding extra level/quests and you will end up with some kind of a trophy like a new weapon or an extra life. On the opposite, if you choose option 2, you will have less quests to play, you will lose gaining more power/tools/tropies , and even worse sometimes you get threatened as people continue to attack you or simply they won't help you because you are the "bad" guy. Helping here is important because sometimes you will need directions or to buy an item or some help on a quest.

As you see, there is NO reason to be the bad guy, it will just ruin the gaming experience if you ask me. Why was it put in there ? Everytime they give you options to reply or actions to take (save some one) it is always clear which option the videogame makers want you to pick other wise you will get punished (ex. letting someone die give you the bad ending) . As you see you should never pick the "evil" way. A good example I remember is being a Vampire in oblivion, although you get some super powers if you go out in the day you die! What good is this?I have to skip always to the night time and moving from town to town takes a long time, it ruined the gameplay !!

in my opinion, if you have the option to choose which to be you should gain a little on both sides which adds to the replay of the game. For example, if I choose to be the good guy maybe I get the Knight's Sword but if I choose to be the bad guy I get the power of dark magic. 2 different paths with 2 different but equal options. Or maybe each has their own levels, advantages and disadvantages should be equal or so for each option. Maybe being bad is like the "easy" difficulty and being good is the "hard difficulty or opposite. i also think that there should be an option, just like in real life, where you character can have both good points or bad points. For example maybe you can be a Prince where the people of your country love you and praise you, while you are evil really who has a done a lot of crime but they dont know about it because you do it in secret, that will be fun!

I am aware that some games balances good and evil paths but they are rare as far as I understand.

[fastbilly1]

I am aware that some games balances good and evil paths but they are rare as far as I understand.

Most of the ones I have played balanced it fairly well. Jedi Knight, Bioshock, Black and White, all had two different ways to approach critical story elements, both answers gave you the full game but in different ways. Can you give some examples of unbalanced games?

[RyaNtheSlayA]

Most of the ones I've played have been fair. Hell some of them even favor the evil guy in terms of power (inFamous).

Also Kingmohd you make tons of these threads without ever actually putting an example in the OP to back up your claims. You may want to work on that.

[samsonlonghair]

This title reminds me of the game Wario Land for game boy. This was the first game that ever encouraged me to "be the bad guy"

The game even rewards you for attacking helpless wandering gooms.

This little guy is completely harmless, but Wario could shake it up for a coin or two.

I know this is a platformer, not an RPG, but I think it's relevant because it's the first game where I ever enjoyed acting a little bit evil.

[Hobie-wan]

Kotor?
Infamous?

[BoneSnapDeez]

Don't know if I've ever been the bad guy, but I have played as a Bad Dude before.

[o.pwuaioc]

Even Fable.

[KDub]

Kotor?

One of the most balanced ones out there in my opinion and even technically has a middle option.

If you want to play the bad guy, there will be plenty of missions to skip but others to make up for them. Even better is you can do some of the good side missions and then screw the person in the end (or kill them).

[sabrage]

You should really check out The Witcher. The game never presents you with clear-and-cut "good" or "bad;" generally your choices are morally ambiguous and the results of your actions may not show up for several hours, so there's none of that "I don't like what happened! Reload save." style of gameplay.

[Hobie-wan]

One of the most balanced ones out there in my opinion and even technically has a middle option.

If you want to play the bad guy, there will be plenty of missions to skip but others to make up for them. Even better is you can do some of the good side missions and then screw the person in the end (or kill them).

I kind of did that on my second evil playthrough. I toyed with my crew during the game, then murdered most of them on the beach of the final area.