Do Game Choices Show Who We Really Are?
I used to play video games a lot in my former life. I didn't play many RPGs because they take so long to finish. But I did play a few, as well as adventure style games with RPG elements and interactive game modes.
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Some games ask you -- or force you -- to make choices in order to progress in the storyline. There are often multiple endings to the game that can result from various decisions made throughout gameplay. Some decisions are relatively benign for some games, while others revolve around two main paths: good or evil.
When I used to play games, I mostly chose to do positive or neutral actions, and rarely did negative choices that would tip my character towards the evil spectrum. I understand how some people like to simulate choosing evil choices in a fictional unreal virtual reality, even though it's not really them doing anything wrong to anyone else, but why choose that path anyways? Is it only to play through the whole game in another storyline to get another ending?
I ask this because, how really do things need to get before the actions and choices we make are a reflection of who we truly are? What if, instead of a virtual avatar character we act through, there was a game that we ourselves were the character?
I was watching Westworld with my girlfriend and this question arises when one guy's brother-in-law brings him to the park to experience the game. His brother-in-law tells him that the game will bring out who he really is, to show him who he really is. I found this quite telling of how all games can potentially bring out who we really are.
Later we the brother-in-law act in bad ways, stabbing a drunk in the hand, being rude to to host robots AIs, and engaging in debauchery with robot whores. While the main guy is excusing himself for bumping into AI robots; he helps a drunk out of the mud who fell off a wagon; refuses to have sex with a robot AI because he loves someone for real in the real world; and is deplored and shocked at his brother-in-law stabs the drunk at the bar for bothering him.
The park in Westworld is within the real world, but the host AIs are programmed not to harm the guest humans that go there to do what they want. It's like having the "god" code in a video game, where you can't be killed but get to do as you please, for good as a hero for example, or for evil as a villain. The choices and actions that people make in this real-world park game of Westworld show who they really are.
When you are in a virtual reality where you can't have negative consequences applied to your real world life, or when you do thing in the real world where negative consequences can't be applied to you in your real life, the choices, actions and behavior you engage in will demonstrate who you really are.
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Do you choose good or evil?
Is it ok to screw people over just because it's a game? If it would be, then why is it not ok to do so in sports games? Why would it be ok to do in a virtual reality? Aren't our choices a reflection of who we are?
What do you think? Do games where you have a choice to do good or evil truly reflect upon who you are? Or is it all insignificant just because it's a game? What if you played a game like Westworld, where it was literally you making choices and actions through your own body and behavior, rather than a virtual avatar character that you act through? Would that make things different? If so, why? Why do your choices change if you are acting through someone or something else (like in a video game) vs. your real life body in a game like Westworld?
I would like to hear what people think of this aspect of who we are as being reflected in our game actions. Please share your thoughts :)
Thank you for your time and attention. Peace.
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This is really a great and thought-provoking article.
While you specifically talk about games with a storyline, I have always been wondering why war games are so popular. I mean, why could it bring any fun to shoot to death other virtual characters? Ok, I get that people seek the thrill and adrenalin, stress relief and finally say 'it's just a game'.
But I think in a roundabout way it also has to do with the fact that many people like the power and influence given by owning a weapon.
Anyway, in RPGs I always love to create my character in a way it resembles my real persona, and Inaturally take the decisions which I would take if I was in that situation.
I mean, we all have a shadow side, there is nobody who embodies either Light or Dark100%. I think by embracing one's shadow side we are much more balanced altogether, which means that playing the evil role in a game could also say that we are not so stuck in judgement and extremes.
But what do I know? There are surely different perspectives, and each one responds differently to video games ;)
Indeed, I did the same. I try to immerse myself and do with the character as I would do if I was there for real ;)
Although you can take on the dark side because it's "just a game", why desire to? The game puts us in a world where we have more power at times,w e like that. So if you can do anything, why not do good, even if it isn't real? Being in an unreal place without the consequences of society seems to let people unleash and let loose... so that shows a part of them at a deeper level.
The shadow side isn't something to embody in action, it';s something to recognize and choose to sublimate, transmute and change for the better by being aware of it and not doing it. That's "spiritual" alchemy ;)
I like to play FPS once in a while, because it's short, and I like to get rid of bad guys, get rid of evil lol ;)
Thanks for the feedback.
When I was in the 7th grade, many of my friends at school talked about fun they had shooting squirrels or prairie dogs. These animals were considered pests to many.
One day I walked through the woods with my .22 rifle. I shot my first squirrel. I held the dead body in my hands and considered what I had just done.
Killing without a real purpose was something I would never do again. That is not who I am. The next year, after I shot my first deer for food, I came to fully understand the difference.
Empathy is the missing ingredient in most RPGs. WestWorld is different in that the AI is nearly real. Exhibiting pain, pleasure and emotion. When we are face to face with the true consequences of our choices, our true character reveals itself.
Indeed. A purpose for survival doesn't change the actions to harm an take the life of an innocent being. The only thing that changed was the selfish motivation: fun or survival. The choice doesn't change the action done, nor it's consequence to the that was harmed regardless of your motivation. Choice does not dictate what is or isn't moral.
This is a difficult question, with difficulty in explaining the base concepts.
There are people who go through life like a mouse. Afraid to stand up for themselves, afraid to step on the toe of an ant. Afraid to make any noise should they be noticed.
Dr. Peterson talks about how a person who cannot do violence is not good. A person who is capable of violence, and withholds that violence is doing good.
So, the question you ask above depends on the player's starting point.
Are they a man, or are they a mouse?
If they are a man, then their character is usually shown in their character.
But, if they are a mouse, then game is often an escape. Where they are powerful. Where they can pretend to be someone important and do harmful, violent, evil things. Things that they are almost incapable of in the real world.
And often times, being able to play out these roles allows for built up pressure to be worked through. However, the real answer is for these people to stop being a mouse. But that takes real effort, and really looking into the depths of your soul.
Indeed, escapism to let loose and unleash their dark desires...
I love playing these kinds of games, but I don't think that they map very closely onto real world situations, If I'm deciding in say Fallout 3, whether or not to detonate the nuke at the centre of a town or diffuse it, I generally select detonate because I know that I'm in a game world that doesn't feasibly map onto my real life at all, I'll likely never have a chance to see what happens when I would inflict this kind of chaos, nor would I want to if there were real consequences. But in the videogame world, I simple cackle away at the chaos and see what happens from there! There's also been some really interesting research done on how videogames influence our co-operation and feedback mechanisms by modeling the fact that choices have consequence in real life and that they may actually be a great place to practice making choices without real consequences that set people up to be more decisive in real like. This is paraphrasing some things said by Jane McGonigal, authour of a book called "Superbetter"
True, some games are made to virtualize unreal scenarios. Thanks for the book recommendation as well ;)
As a gamer this thought really made me think. During first playthroughs I usually take on a chaotic Neutral stance that is neither overly good or overly evil.
I really commend you for using Westworld as the idea here given a choice and without ramifications most people would indulge their inner evil just to push boundaries.
Given that my personality it would be dependent on my whim whether I would strive to remain within bounds or will push to see how much I can get away with.
Most of my second walkthough a game would be to Lawful evil. Best examples would be personas of Lex Luthor or Dr. Doom.
There are so many gray areas in categorizing good and evil.
Lawful evil? Sounds contradictory.. .lol
I have always wondered how much insight into a personality could be gathered from the decisions made in FPS also. Not just the run or gun or camp modes but, how they approach which paths, do they play with the team or lonewolf it, do they approach a corner 'confidently' or with trepidation. I think if all the data was recorded, a lot about a person would seep through.
Yeah, multiplayer gaming does show an aspect of who we are, as being a lonewolf or team player shows personality and preferences within us. You can learn a lot from the behavior of others, no matter what their avatar is, unreal virtual or real world ;)
A brother and I used to play a lot of FPS online once upon a time and chat. We were both pretty good and could play around and experiment with different 'characters'. He is interested in similar thoughts as myself so we would discuss it and also observe others. Overtime playing with some familiar faces, we could know who they were before shooting them by the way they operated. People work on patterns and I think with enough data (backed up by controls) you could get a pretty clear picture of someone's personality. I wonder how much of the data from gaming is already matched up to social accounts...
Westworld is a great show; can't wait for season 2.
I've never understood the fascination over GTA. You get to 'do whatever you want' and go on rampages in the city. It isn't for me.
Yeah, I played it a few times int he earlier version, but it's just repetitive mini games and achievements, like a lot of games, and a waste of limited time in life... Imagine if there were no video games what people would be forced to do to occupy their time with instead... Maybe... learning... truth? lol
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if it comes to the case my personality is hitman lol .. because I am a lover of the saga of resident evil in video console playstation, tomb raider is another of my favorite games because I like games where I can put my neurons to work 100% if I'm honest I've never played virtual reality game.
I've not played VR games either, but all games are a virtual reality, it's not real ;)
I think how you play the game and the choices you make do reflect you...at least your inner mind. I also think some entity out there is keeping track of our choices. Yes God of course. But I mean why would they have these personality type venues if not to record behavior patterns in people? A scary thought perhaps. It could help in understand human psychological behavior but in the wrong hands could be dangerous. Thanks @krnel.