Designing Ethical Dilemmas

Manveer HeirRaven Software

July 28, 2009

What Would You Do...

If you had to choose between your wife and your daughter?

You found a wallet on the street with $1000 and no clear owner?

Watch a mother and her child wither away to ensure your survival?

Who Is This Guy?

B.S. Computer Science Virginia TechProgramming Intern at Big Huge Games on Rise of LegendsGameplay Programmer at Raven Software on Wolfenstein for 2+ yearsGame Designer at Raven Software on WolfensteinCurrently Lead Designer on a top-secret project

What This Talk Is About

How to understand and design games that let players experience ethical dilemmas

This talk is not about:

Ethical responsibilities of the designer

How to act ethically in the workplace

No one told me research = reading :(

Why Ethical Dilemmas?

One tool to create more meaningful play experiences

Need game emotions beyond fear and aggression

Can be the key to unlocking these new emotions in players

Ethics vs. Morals

Morals are the principles of right and wrong behavior (Merriam-Webster)

Ethics are a set of moral principles: a theory or system of moral value (Merriam-Webster)

Ethics are a rational, methodological approach to the questions of good, evil, duty and values (Sicart)

Types of Ethical Designs

Open Ethical Design

Open System Design

Open World Design

Closed Ethical Design

Substracting Design

Mirroring Design

(Sicart)

Open Ethical Design

Open System Design

Rules, systems, and mechanics are affected by player choice, but not narrative

Games such as BioShock

Open World Design

Character, narrative, fiction being affected by player choice

Games such as Fable

Closed Ethical Design

Subtracting Design

Player knows actions have weight, but has to decipher

Player deciphers the ethics of gameplay outside the scope of the game

Mirroring Design

Create a relation between the actions of the player and the character

Can reward unethical gameplay this way to challenge the player's ethical framework

Dilemmas Require Open Design

Closed designs rely on a high level of authorship by the designer

These games can potentially become preachy and don't take full advantage of the medium

Open designs are harder to account for, but potentially more rewarding

Open designs will be the way in which our games will open up new emotional responses in players

We Got Problems

Black and White Model

Designers tells you if you are doing a good or bad job

Binary system that doesnt account for ambiguities that exist

Applying scores and mechanics to ethical decisions marginalizes the decision

BioShock

Saving or killing Little Sisters starts off as an emotionally impactful decision

Turns to realization of the strategy

Robs the impact of the ethical decisions and turns the decision into one of optimal strategy

Star Wars

Never feel like Luke in the games

Need something more

Need ambiguity!

World is Gray

How Do We Reach Our Potential?

Narrative

Consequences

Obstacles

Permanence

Narrative

Player must be invested in world

Not economically invested

Emotionally invested

Ludic elements need to support narrative elements

Ludonarrative Dissonance (Hocking)

No Magical Formula For Narrative

Consequences

Choices have consequences

Need to significantly impact the game

Player needs to understand consequence is a result of earlier choice

Do not minimize impact of consequences

Mass Effect

Obstacles

Obstacles can make the player stop

Push player down a new path

Try making moral road the more difficult

Game paths don't have to be equal

Challenge player's conceptions of what is ethical!

Train

Permanence

Redoing our choices robs them of the impact

Choices that are mechanical (shooting) are fine to redo

Forces player to live with consequences

Lends self to experiential gameplay, not mastery

Tenpenny Tower

A Funny Thing Happened...

ENRAGED

UPSET

BETRAYED

DISGUSTED

How Does Tenpenny Tower Fare?

Narrative I care about the world of Fallout, I feel bad for the Ghouls being treated like less than humans. I want to save them and do the right thing.

Consequences If I do the right thing the humans still die and they never come back.

Obstacles It's easier to just kill one side outright. Doing the right thing requires me to convince others and do an extra quest

Permanance I decided not to let myself reload... why?

VENGENCE

This Is The Potential Of Ethical Dilemmas In Games

Thank You

Questions?

Contact Info

E-Mail: heir.manveer@gmail.comDesign Rampage:http://designrampage.blogspot.comFollow me on Twitter: @manveerheir