Discussing the Lack of a Renegade (Aka be an @$$hole) Option in Recent BioWare Games

[Riedquat]

The awkward thing I find about the choice to be an arse is that I absolutely hate it. I get no joy playing such a character, and I'm rather dubious of people who do.

I can think of a few instances where I'd love to be that person.

Templar: I swear to Andraste I never touched that Mage Girl...

Hawke Batman Voice: SWEAR TO ME!

Oh, there's the odd occasion, just not as a full-on all the time POS.

[TGLS]

The awkward thing I find about the choice to be an arse is that I absolutely hate it. I get no joy playing such a character, and I'm rather dubious of people who do.

I can think of a few instances where I'd love to be that person.

Templar: I swear to Andraste I never touched that Mage Girl...

Hawke Batman Voice: SWEAR TO ME!

Oh, there's the odd occasion, just not as a full-on all the time POS.

To me, there are two reasons to put an evil path in a game:

1) To make the good side a sacrifice. Giving the player a choice between doing something good (or not doing something bad) and a reward makes the player actually feel like they are working against a world that wants them to be bad. This makes being good even better, because you're sacrificing to do it.

2) Letting the player do as they please. There's no reason to shoot many characters in Fallout New Vegas, but famously, you can kill basically everyone. This makes your choices matter more. If your only option is complete a quest or have it wait until later, you don't really have a choice.