Alignment, Reputation, and Karma in RPG/CRPGs

A

APTYP

Sonny, I Watched the Vault Bein' Built!
I'd love to hear your opinions on the above topic. Do you think alignment (AD&D or Arcanum) sucks? Fallout-style Karma and Reputation rules? Have any ideas on your own alignment/rep/karma system?

Post it here, and let's hear it!



http://www.nma-fallout.com/cgi-bin/forum/ForumID5/786.shtml#11

zero-x's bitter words after his encounter with roshambo:

"I agree with you but there comes a fuckin point i dont know who roquirbo thinks he is but I at least you didnt really criticize me and i appreciate that i hate people who fuck with my ideas when i didnt say shit to em and yes he is the kind of guy i would take a scalpel tear his head open the take an hammer use the end to samsh through the medulla and use the nail pull as a pry to pull back the top of the skull revealing a brain (small but brain nontheless)and take desert eagle magnum and blow it through his fucking spine as he still breath and then rip out his heart and show him how black it is before he dies but as you said thats illegal well cya"
 
Um.. how are they different? If you doo a 'good' act, your karma goes up. If you kill a 'good' person, your karma goes down..

But overall, I liked the Karma method Fallout had. It's great that you can be hated in one town, yet praised to the heavens in the next. It's a more realistic format..

In magic-using RPGs, someone can 'sense' alignment... the reason behind it is simple. As you perform more evil acts, you 'aura'(?) becomes darker. But what of those less adept? Can you convince them that you can be a good guy?

*shrugs*
http://www.envy.nu/bpen/illuminati.jpg
 
Don't you think the "good/evil" scheme is a bit old? What is good for one, can be bad for another, while they may agree on the second thing.



http://www.nma-fallout.com/cgi-bin/forum/ForumID5/786.shtml#11

zero-x's bitter words after his encounter with roshambo:

"I agree with you but there comes a fuckin point i dont know who roquirbo thinks he is but I at least you didnt really criticize me and i appreciate that i hate people who fuck with my ideas when i didnt say shit to em and yes he is the kind of guy i would take a scalpel tear his head open the take an hammer use the end to samsh through the medulla and use the nail pull as a pry to pull back the top of the skull revealing a brain (small but brain nontheless)and take desert eagle magnum and blow it through his fucking spine as he still breath and then rip out his heart and show him how black it is before he dies but as you said thats illegal well cya"
 
To a point:

[font size=1" color="#FF0000]LAST EDITED ON Sep-23-01 AT 10:44PM (GMT)[p]>>Don't you think the "good/evil" scheme is a bit old? <<

Good vs. Evil has been around since before the times of Beowulf and will continue forever. It is a tried and true format that sells. In the end, selling is what matters.

But I have personally always liked the "Grey Hero." Is he good? Is he bad? You really cannot tell.

Ex: The WWF did away with most of their Good vs. Evil battles and went to Grey vs. Grey matches instead. Many feel this is something that brought them back into the limelight of entertainment (along with changing wrestlers from Comic book like heros and villians into more realistic figures).

The gaming world went into this road more than once as well, with Fallout being an example. How people view you counts for much. I'd rather see a more realistic view of people and how they interact with each other, and live their lives in game worlds than a more realistic view of combat in games. Espically in RPGs. It gets me into the story and actual role-playing instead of worrying about killing.

True Raven
http://www.annunakiguild.net
The Annunaki FanFic and Theory Guild
 
RE: To a point:

Oh yeah, the "Hero vs. Villain" always was a safe bet, but shouldn't we experiment more?

It's interesting what you were saying about the people's opinion of you. In ideal, each NPC should have an "alignment blueprint" of you and other characters, based on the information fed to them by the "virtual gamemaster" (computer and/or game designer), so that what you really are doesn't necessary mean that others see you for who you are. And the information fed to them would be "filtered" on the base of the previous information (ex. if NPC1 knows NPC2 is a liar, he won't take his warning that NPC3 is a bad, bad man).

But that's in theory. In practice, it'd be very difficult to accomplish, and it only shines when there is a sofisticated dialogue-generating program for the NPCs. So we're back to simulation. If we were to take other alignment scheme for our RPG, what would the alignment options be?



http://www.nma-fallout.com/cgi-bin/forum/ForumID5/786.shtml#11

zero-x's bitter words after his encounter with roshambo:

"I agree with you but there comes a fuckin point i dont know who roquirbo thinks he is but I at least you didnt really criticize me and i appreciate that i hate people who fuck with my ideas when i didnt say shit to em and yes he is the kind of guy i would take a scalpel tear his head open the take an hammer use the end to samsh through the medulla and use the nail pull as a pry to pull back the top of the skull revealing a brain (small but brain nontheless)and take desert eagle magnum and blow it through his fucking spine as he still breath and then rip out his heart and show him how black it is before he dies but as you said thats illegal well cya"
 
RE: To a point:

>[font size=1" color="#FF0000]LAST EDITED ON Sep-23-01
>AT 10:44 PM (GMT)
>
>>>Don't you think the "good/evil" scheme is a bit old? <<
>
>Good vs. Evil has been around
>since before the times of
>Beowulf and will continue forever.
>It is a tried and
>true format that sells. In
>the end, selling is what
>matters.

But is it not the grey-area that plays with your feelings what makes great books "great?" They leave you thinking and questioning your own values and ethics. They portray something that is not right, but not wrong either, something that requires deeper thoughts because it just "is." It is consequently something that makes RPGs interesting also.

-Xotor-

[div align=center]

http://www.poseidonet.f2s.com/files/nostupid.gif
[/div]
 
RE: To a point:

>>But is it not the grey-area that plays with your feelings what makes great books "great?" They leave you thinking and questioning your own values and ethics. They portray something that is not right, but not wrong either, something that requires deeper thoughts because it just "is." It is consequently something that makes RPGs interesting also.<<

This is what I was refering to in the latter half of the post. I'll make myself more clear to aviod confusion.

The "tried and True" formula of Good vs. Evil will always be around and will always sell because it is familiar and has been used since stories began hundereds if not thousands of years ago.

The grey area is something I like much better. I was never a completely Pure charector in any RPG I've ever played. This is because I'm not a completely Pure person in real life. There are very few truly Good people and very few truly Evil people in life. 90% of us are Grey people so it would be natural that we like that style of things.

True Raven
http://www.annunakiguild.net
The Annunaki FanFic and Theory Guild
 
RE: To a point:

i wish arcanum had more reputations. it was sweet in fallout to look at my guy and see. prizefighter, made man, porn star, gigilo, ect ect. i think im about half way through arcanum and i have only 3 reputations. 2 of them are from shrouded hills (the very first freakin town)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top