Black & White ... and GREY?

Applebrown · Post by **Applebrown** » Tue Mar 27, 2001 7:30 pm

I've always wondered from all of the previews, interviews, etc. about this. It seems that you're able to play a good god and succeed, and also an evil god and succeed... but it doesn't allow you to be a GREY god and succeed. Or a dark grey god, or a light grey god... my point is that in this game you have to choose to be completely Black or completely White in order to really succeed and gain followers.

Admittedly within this framework there are literally hundreds of ways to solve the various problems throughout the game, maybe thousands or more, but they all carry a theme with them... good or evil.. and I realize this was the design.

Please do not say, "oh but you can be light or dark grey! You can choose to do any quest however you want." Well if you don't get rewarded for it, then you really can't unless you're playing _against_ the grain... which is not the way games are designed (yet).

My question is... do you think it would have been better for them to have a third way to play? True neutral, true balance between good and evil... and still be rewarded with followers? How about even more choices... or unlimited choices? How could this have been balanced to make it work?

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Applebrown @ [url="http://www.GameBanshee.com"]www.GameBanshee.com[/url]
Make YOUR Gaming Scream!

[This message has been edited by Applebrown (edited 03-27-2001).]

Dúnadan · Post by **Dúnadan** » Thu Mar 29, 2001 3:06 pm

Well, I have the game and I can say, it is certainly not either "Black" or "White". When performing a quest, there are limitless methods of solving a problem, and some are most definately neutral. One can also vary the method in which one completes certain tasks to add a healthy balance of good and evil tot he game, thus becoming a neutral deity.

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fable · Post by **fable** » Thu Mar 29, 2001 3:40 pm

He does point out a good point, though, Dunadan: all these RPG games really force you into some sort of good/evil alignment, where you are rewarded for being either very good, or very bad, rather than providing ethically good, neutral and evil solutions to problems. Even BG2 still inclines towards offering "thug" evil responses. And it sounds like B&W generally requires you to be bad or good, or a mix of bad and good, rather than finding some paths which are complex and not so easily discerned.

I've known only one RPG game recently that really supports a broader view without good/evil alignment: King of Dragon Pass. But then, it's a curious, strategic RPG, very unlike anything I've seen since the old KOEI series of PC games bit the dust. Available at [url="http://www.a-sharp.com,"]www.a-sharp.com,[/url] if you want to take a look, although frankly, they do a lead-footed job of displaying the game's features. I reviewed it about 8 months ago for Daily Radar; I think the review's still up there, somewhere.

Applebrown · Post by **Applebrown** » Sun Apr 01, 2001 9:49 pm

My main point was that in the end, you need to be either primarily good or primarily evil to solve the game... afaik, and this is why I wanted to know what people thought of having the "neutral" option. I know that quests can be solved in a variety of manners, but your creature is reared in a good or bad way for the most part.

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Applebrown @
www.GameBanshee.com
Make YOUR Gaming Scream!