I don't get the religious connection some people seem to be making, but then maybe that's because I'm an athiest. The way I see it morality doesn't have to be linked to the effects on your afterlife, how about to your current life?? If I walked into a shop later today and robbed the place I'd be more worried about the effects on my current life(ie. potentially going to jail), than how it may affect gods opinion of me and thus whether he's then likely to send me up or down when I kick the bucket. Obviously though Jackyll87 is right in saying that the quality of the story being told is paramount. Half Life 2 is one of my favourite games ever and it's completely linear. Adding a series of decisions which can change that story being told obviously complicates things, and it's just not worth it if the story is ruined in the process. But Role-playing games are all about choice. Isn't the point of an RPG to be able to play the role you want to?
Personally I love making decisions that affect the course of my game experience but I don't think morality is the only factor involved. Clearly defined good or evil actions for the most part lead players down one of two clearly defined paths, choices are much more interesting when 'shades of grey' are involved, as in Dragon Age: Origins. All of your companions have different perspectives on the situations you encounter through the course of the game and the decisions you make can effect the way they relate to your player character. A lot of the decisions in DAO are not really good vs evil at all, but more about conflicting points of view and it is up to you to react the way that you think best, sometimes a companion may provide a strong argument which makes you rethink your decisions, sometimes you follow your gut and make a hard decision which may backfire later on, often you can dig a little deeper and uncover new information which sheds the situation in a new light. There aren't always clearly defined good or evil options, what you see as the 'right' thing to do in a certain situation may be completely different to somebody else. While options are still very limited at times, the choices you make do have lasting effects and this makes them compelling. All of this is a step in the right direction in my opinion and I hope to see this kind of system evolve further in the future.
Great idea, but I was expecting more titles, but then I was assuming this was a one-off thing, whereas most of the posters here seem to think it will be repeated regularly. If so bring it on, nice work.
Renegade_3's comments