@tigerpirro "You can believe what you want but I do not think that God condones hate in any form." You're wrong. God condones hatred of sinful actions: i.e. hate the murder. He does not condone hatred of a person: i.e. don't hate the murderer.
It sounds like Pagliarulo is afraid of putting deep morality in games because he doesn't want to tell gamers what's "right" or "wrong." This is where a moral system comes in. Take a system of morality, either religious or philosophical, and implement it consistently. Whether it's Christian, Buddhist, or even Nietzsche, try it. Make consequences in the game that are delayed and have a logical outcome based on that system. Then the moral depth becomes an aspect of the game world, just like the character, rather than "telling people what to do" in the real world.
I think an effective way of implementing morality is to have a given faction react in light of a moral choice. I.e. if you play a dirty cop, the other cops chase you on sight after they discover your crimes. Constantly being on the run from former allies while still trying to complete the game's objectives would provide the type of content they were talking around in the article.
They said they were going to discuss how morality in video games reflect in real life, but they really didn't. Personally, I think the key word is "influence." How we believe in real life will influence how we play a game (i.e. if I'm a nice guy I'm more likely to choose "Rescue" than "Harvest" the little sister), and how we play a game will influence how we see real life (i.e. playing every bloodbath game out will probably lessen the impact of a grisly murder on the evening news.) However, I don't think it'll change who we are. And in a game we can CHOOSE to override our natural inclinations to experiment with a different moral path.
Dutton is firmly entrenched in the storytelling of the 20th century. It's only in recent years that knowing a character became the reason to experience a story. The heart of story isn't the characters, it's the conflict. It's the hard spot those characters find themselves in and the journey of getting out of that spot. And video games excel at presenting conflict.
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