I have tried 3 times to play an evil toon. I can steal with no regrets but I just can not finish a game playing evil. Last time I killed off Goodsprings and was sad for days. Every time I go back to good springs I see the bodies of the people who tried to help me. Doc body is right on the steps store, Cheyenne body and smiley body nearby. Then I went to the prison and helped the Powder gang which wasn't too bad. But when I hit Novac Boone will not even talk to me. AND now I being hunted down by the Rangers and at level 6 I have no chance.

Oh well maybe it just my values at work.

Anybody else have this problem?

I know the trolls will have fun at this post saying it is only game!
And some of the people will say how much they enjoy playing evil ways.

I can only play the Hero way! How about you?

I have a similar problem, but not for the same reasons.

I have tried to be neutral, but my karma just keeps going up, mainly for killing fiends, and when i steal things to try and rebalance it, i still seem to end up having good karma, even after the loss of karma for stealing!

Playing an evil doesn't require playing a psychopath. For example, sometimes when you complete a quest you have the option to do it for free or ask (and sometimes even demand) a reward. Other quests can have negative effects depending on the path you take.

The cannibalism perks area great way to maintain a very low karma without killing lots of innocents (and Ghastly Scavenger helps offset the karma bonus you get for killing feral ghouls).

It not so much about game mechanics of karma. It more about my feelings about helping people instead of screwing them. Example. I could never sell somebody to slavery (or for that fact even shooting those NCR guys in nelson). I just have free slaves or help those powder gangers that were taken from Nipton. Sometimes I do not help like that jerk in Nipton who wants my Medx, but most of time I go out of my way to help the helpless.

Yeah, me too. All my characters turn out to be white knights. The evil path is just so banol.
Oh, wait - does robbery count as evil?

I got a laugh from this post because I can't seem to play evil characters either. (Thought I was alone.) It just goes against the grain so to speak.

I tried in Morrowind, Oblivion, Fallout 3, Fable 2, Fable 3, and NV. I never get far! It's just not me. (I know that's the point of games, to be what you can't but still. )

My evil guy in NV barely left the docs house and I went back to my sweetheart of the wasteland character. She's nice!

I have the same problem - helping the Powders take Goodsprings make me feel sort of disgusted with myself. Who could find something like that fun?

Don't get me wrong - I can play evil, just not "indiscriminately kill everything in sight" evil. Being evil is easier in NV, when there's a whole organization (The Legion) backing you. In Fallout 3, it was impossible to be evil and logically approach the main quest. Ultimately, I prefer a good Chaotic Neutral character. After doing one evil playthrough in NV, I think I've got it out of my system.

Being evil in FO3 isn't so hard consider your just have loot cattle everywhere.

I guess if you want to keep yourself evil Cannibal is the best way to go.....

I think some people misunderstood this post. I am not talking about the game mechanic of Karma. I talking about playing a toon that does evil things (0ther then stealing) like slavery killing off goodsprings good people. ect.... I have no problem stealing if it helps the greater good (lol usually my good).

My evil character is only evil to people who arnt useful or annoy him.

He kills powder gangers because they are weak and have valueables on them..NOT because they are bad.

He kills the lottery winner because hes very annoying.

He wont attack anyone more powerful them him.. hes not stupid.

But say hes wandering and finds a random merc or vegas citizen all alone or in s small group.. he will hunt them. Most times sniping them.

If he needs to get something and you have it you better offer it cheap enough and without guff or he will just blow your head off.

He will do good deeds for money or just because he doesnt like the bad guys.. or because the bad guys have valued items.. or because the good guys have stuff to sell him.


He SOOOO loves to set people on the cross on fire.... then eat em.

You can do slavery for the greater good...wait, that's what the Legion *suppose* to be doing.

I think I am evil because everyone believes I am the Wasteland Messiah yet I secretly kill them for weapon repair parts.....

Killing Goodsprings citizens is considered evil?
Nah I don't have that problem.
But I could never side with Metzger after meeting Sulik in Fallout 2 though.
And I could never kill Ian or even let him die in Fallout 1, even if I had gone 5 hours without saving I would have to reload if he died.
Other than that I don't really regret any of my actions, they were all justified in their own way.

I have this problem in every RPG I play that gives "evil" options. Along the same lines, I had a really hard time in the first Mass Effect game, gunning down a settlement of people who were possessed by some evil fungus thing. I knew it wasn't their fault, but you get so many Renegade points (a.k.a. negative karma) for killing them!

I wasn't able to finish Fallout 3 with my evil character because he was just so wicked and mean that I couldn't identify with him at all as a character. I just disliked him and got either upset or bored with the stuff I had to do to stay "in character." Plus, I never got the sense that the game weaves your choice of actions into the story in any thematically meaningful way (though I didn't finish it with that character, so that's hard to say). It seemed like evil options were just there to give you the option, not because it actually had any bearing on any kind of larger message or meaning.

I'm trying again with an evil character in New Vegas, and finding it a little more interesting at least because of the faction situation. The character I'm working on now is a woman who helps the Legion, which does require some mental acrobatics to make sense of. In my mind, anyway, she thinks the Legion is simply the best bet to take care of the NCR, she thinks anyone weak enough to be pushed into slavery probably deserves it, and she hates the NCR because they massacred her family. There's enough in the story in-game to make that background plausible enough to me. I haven't killed anybody in the NCR yet in a way that would affect reputation (i.e., used a stealth boy on one mission for the Powder Gangers). I figure there's no need to bring their hit squads after her yet, and she can do more damage if they don't know she's a threat yet.

It's interesting to play that character, but she's certainly not a sympathetic character (yet?). Killing everyone in Goodsprings did bother me quite a bit, but mostly I sat back and let Powder Gangers take care of things, and then hid the bodies in a wagon so I (the player, not the character) didn't have to feel tortured by them later. I figure my character is just glad she gets Doc Mitchell's house to herself now.

Umm killing everyone isn't evil. Its waaaaaaay beyond that. Evil is when you work for the wrong group, do wrong things such as theft, etc.. Evil isn't killing everyone you see. Thats not normal..

There is a big difference from being a massacring maniac, and an evil genius. It's common for people to assume that there's only one type of evil; and that is killing everyone in sight. But infact, there is thousands of ways to play through this game being Evil. I've done it many times, while I havn't harmed one person, simply made their life a living Hell in other ways.

LoL, excellent - me too, I thought I was alone on this... (me and wolfpup)
One time in the middle of nowhere there was a coyote.
She was hiding inside a little truck (and had been showing red on my map for ages) but just looked at me as I passed.
I stupidly came needlessly close to her as I passed, and as she stood up you could see 2 little tiny puppies in between her legs.
'Awwwww' I thought to myself, ain't that cute...
KaBoom! she exploded as Boone puts one right between her eyes.
Aw man, I said, y'know these things happen... it's Boone, right? His eyes are dead...
But I got about 40 paces farther down the road and it was bugging me, I was sad.
The little puppies were there climbing around on her remains.
So I reloaded - lost maybe 10 minutes, big deal.
Then I steered my crew generously wide when again we passed...
Sounds stupid but I felt like a million bucks!
I'll grin and happily kill deserving humans, but not coyote puppies - is that nutty or what? Heheh...
So don't feel bad Steven king, that's a normal reaction.
Regards

Not in my book, that is 'bad' but not evil.

Yes it is! That is the epitome of evil! Again, in my book.

Thanks so much for your story !!! Your post really made my day to know that others out there who REALLY play these games with true intent! I know it just a game but in real life I would try (I hope) to be the good guy (well if need to I would steal to survive).

Gryphon, I had the same bad feeling after I saw the puppies, but mom was dead by that point. I didn't go as far as to reloading but I still felt really bad.

Man, is that messed up or what?

I"m no good at playing evil characters either.

Don't have any problem with it myself. I don't really "relate" to my characters, I see them as completely separate from myself and my own morals so I don't really feel "guilty" or anything like that. Plus, it's just a game after all.

I played a very evil character on my 3rd playthrough.

I feel bad killing the deathclaw babies at the quarry so no way I can evil through the game.

I couldn't even count how many times I reload to do a situation again if someone or something dies and I think I can do this without that happening. Maybe it's more control over the game than some want to do but whether it's Oblivion, FO3 or FNV, I do it over until I get the best result possible...because I can. If I don't, it hangs on me in a very bad way...almost as if I knew the person or creature. When we give ourselves up to the story, it's like being in a movie and you feel it. I'm fine with that and enjoy it the most...I think it's the best way to play rpg.

I have trouble being "evil" as well, so you're not alone. Usually the first couple times through a rpg the most evil thing I do is occasionally steal something that I really want, like a skill book. I make goodie choices, show mercy, help everyone that asks, etc.
But usually after that, I start being what I'd call more mercenary. I start stealing more (still not everything) and start choosing some of the more selfish or violent dialogue responses...because eventually I really want to see the other half of the game that I'm missing out on, and the only way to do it is be "evil." lol

It still makes me feel bad, tho. :laugh: