Do you quest by your own morals?

VampiricByNature

I'm still sorry Valaste.

Tommy_The_Gun

I only look up "The walkthrough" where there is a red dialogue option. Sometimes it is really cryptic and can mess up the result of the quest.

SantieClaws

Morals?

You mean the mushrooms yes? Oh so tasty and fun to pick!

Otherwise this one she has no idea what you mean at all.

Yours with paws
Santie Claws

Danikat

Turelus wrote: »

I think generally in TES and MMO games one has to play without any kind of moral system in order to actually complete all the content.

SWTOR had a much nicer system of so many quests having choices when taking the quest in order to help you choose a moral stance. ESO doesn't offer this and the only morally right choice sometimes is to ignore the quest, which doesn't let you get achievements (which unlock dyes and house).

So for me personally I just play a character which will do anything for anyone for self gain and imagine all the helping innocent quests which seem out of character I am demanding payment to get that gold/item at the end.

SWTOR pretty much has to give you a good and an evil choice (or rather light and dark) because that's how morality works in the Star Wars universe. The only ambiguity is that sometimes wanting to do the right thing can tempt you into doing something evil.

That's the difference between a fantasy universe that started off as a children's fairy tale (but in space!) and one that started off as travelling around the world beating people senseless for money and helping some woman find some staff while you were at it. (Of course both have developed considerably since the original concept, but the underlying theme is still there.)

Also I wouldn't say you have to play with no morals, just very different ones. If I was to play ESO acting exactly like I do in real life I basically wouldn't leave the towns. I wouldn't even accept the helping quests beyond offering to go and let the soldiers know they need help because trying to step in myself would just get me killed. Which is why I start with the fundamental attitude that my characters are not me and do not act like me. They were raised in a world where killing someone in self-defense IS the right thing to do and where capital punishment is much more wide-spread and accepted. So they have morals which suit that world, not the real world. They'd be as out of place in real life as I would be in Tamriel.

Duiwel

No, I usually play as 2 persona's so I always play both roles in RPG's. However in ESO I have 3

My Imperial Augustus Septim is a firm, militarist soldier with very conservative and sometimes ruthless ways. He would condone killing a criminal if it was for the greater good.

My Orc is gentle and caring but can be brutish in his delivery but he means good.

My Redguard is a good guy and doesn't kill people ever.

So even though I am not a RP'er by heart I do actually RP

ZOS_JohanaB

We've moved this thread to Quests and Exploration

Voxicity

First world problems

Nestor

I have one character who will steal bread from his grandma to make a sandwich with cheese he stole from your grandma. He is the only character that has done the Dark Brotherhood. He is the only one that has sacrificed the goats in Alikir for those quests.

All my other characters are generally good, with some confusion over property rights. They have never sacrificed any of the goats in Alikir, in case you were wondering.

Yes, I think Goats are cute.

jlboozer

I gave a girl to Sheogorath for 2 skill points...so no, if it will make me richer or more powerful then it's goodbye morals. It's the Elder Scrolls way....Hail Sithis!!

SydneyGrey

Danikat wrote: »

... and sometimes I feel guilty, even over minor things. The other day I pickpocketed an NPC and then head them say "Oh no! I can't keep replacing that!" and I felt terrible.

LOL! I pickpocketed some homeless guy, and the thing I got from it was a tent. So ... my character stole the only housing this poor soul had, which was a folding tent. I felt bad, too. I wanted to give it back.

Sausage

I remember when I was doing my Journey the first time, I just chose to do whatever was the most wrong/evil.

Rouven

I like that there are some scenarios where you can't win. End the misery of ghosts or make sure travelers will be safe in the future?

I have so far not dismissed a quest though on moral grounds.

Ojustaboo

If you choose to roleplay a character with good morals then so be it.

If you really struggle with the concept of playing this game and it really conflicts with your real world morals, then you probably shouldn't be playing most computer games ever

I love playing a thief, sneaking around, going into buildings, I also love playing an assassin, sneaking up behind someone and killing them. But they are pixels on the screen nothing else, at no point do I ever ever ever consider I'm really killing something or stealing something.

Whereas, a few months back I got out of my car in a supermarket car park and found a wallet with credit cards and a load of cash in it (about £300).

I took it to the supermarket customers services, told a manager, they counted out the contents in front of me, made a record if it, took my name and address etc.

Later that night a thank you card was put through my door containing a £20 voucher for that supermarket from the very very very grateful wallet owner.

One real life, one a game, zero connection between the two

BlackSparrow

I play each of my characters differently depending on their personal personalities, backstories, and quirks.

My Dunmer assassin is generally ruthless and cool, but also task-driven and willing to obfuscate friendliness if it means getting something she wants (e.g., getting her soul back from Molag Bal). However, she has a soft spot for Argonians in distress, since her only real personal connection in her childhood was with her Argonain nanny, so will always rush to their aid.

My Khajiit warrior is an upbeat and friendly social butterfly. She helps anyone and everyone and is willing to give even the worst people the benefit of the doubt, as long as they super duper promise not to be evil again. But... she's also violently protective of the people in her life, and also doesn't really see why the guards make such a big deal about "stealing."

My Altmer scholar is poised and elegant... every bit the snob you'd expect an Altmer to be, especially when surrounded by lesser races, as she is in the Pact. Her highest priority is always learning and discovery, and who cares about the common laborers who have to die to achieve that knowledge? But at the same time... she grew up a ward of a Mages Guild Magister, so views members of the Mages Guild as family, and will of course protect them as such. She also is extremely nonmaterialistic, so power and riches don't appeal to her beyond the ability to wear and be surrounded by a few nice things.

And it goes on like that for six more characters.

For me, creating a character is just that... you're creating a character who has a particular way of thinking because of their life experiences. The most interesting part of a game like this is playing them according to those personalities and seeing what happens.

Jitterbug

Nestor wrote: »

I have one character who will steal bread from his grandma to make a sandwich with cheese he stole from your grandma. He is the only character that has done the Dark Brotherhood. He is the only one that has sacrificed the goats in Alikir for those quests.

All my other characters are generally good, with some confusion over property rights. They have never sacrificed any of the goats in Alikir, in case you were wondering.

Yes, I think Goats are cute.

nerf goats!

Jitterbug

Ojustaboo wrote: »

If you choose to roleplay a character with good morals then so be it.

If you really struggle with the concept of playing this game and it really conflicts with your real world morals, then you probably shouldn't be playing most computer games ever

I love playing a thief, sneaking around, going into buildings, I also love playing an assassin, sneaking up behind someone and killing them. But they are pixels on the screen nothing else, at no point do I ever ever ever consider I'm really killing something or stealing something.

Whereas, a few months back I got out of my car in a supermarket car park and found a wallet with credit cards and a load of cash in it (about £300).

I took it to the supermarket customers services, told a manager, they counted out the contents in front of me, made a record if it, took my name and address etc.

Later that night a thank you card was put through my door containing a £20 voucher for that supermarket from the very very very grateful wallet owner.

One real life, one a game, zero connection between the two

TalonKnight

Yes obviously this is a game, but I think one of the most important things people have left out is that there are real people that are actually playing this game.

I agree with some in here that yes, I try for the most part to play this game as if it were me in tamriel.

But the most important thing that I have not read is how do you treat the players, cause they are real.

I for one dont see someone trying to fight a group of enemies next to a treasure chest, and then in turn gank that treasure.

I wait, or more likely help them, and then give them the opportunity to get the treasure chest that was next to them.

Also if I walk up to a node about the same time someone else does I try to do the curtious thing, and let them have it.

However, with that said.... If I am at a starter zone, and there is a champ ranked person that is farming there, I do have a sort of competitiveness about my farming....

TrekFrost

Ankael07 wrote: »

TrekFrost wrote: »

SirAndy wrote: »

It's a game, none of this is real ...

Thanks for clarifying! Wow, so insightful. No shoes Sherlock.

It's also fun to immerse yourself and or guide different characters different directions.

Maybe you play a fully evil character where you kill the Queen if you get a chance.

Do you just blindly take every quest you stumble upon?

Threads like this arent complete without a reality knight to jump in.

I suppose I should have expected that. I guess there was some disappointment in my reply... SirAndy was the the only person I recognized on the entire forum as they're the founder of the guild I USED TO belong to, and they're the only person being a troll.

TrekFrost

Thanks everyone!

This was fun to read through

Darth_Apache

When I started this game I tried to be as moral as I could be.
Now everything and everyone dies. Every chance I get; someone is dying or locked up in an ethereal prison forever.

I have my morals IRL for now...but if I could do half of what I could here IRL...Everyone would know my real name lmao.

I hate people bruh...

souravami

I press E as fast as I can

BlackSparrow

TalonKnight wrote: »

Yes obviously this is a game, but I think one of the most important things people have left out is that there are real people that are actually playing this game.

I agree with some in here that yes, I try for the most part to play this game as if it were me in tamriel.

But the most important thing that I have not read is how do you treat the players, cause they are real.

I for one dont see someone trying to fight a group of enemies next to a treasure chest, and then in turn gank that treasure.

I wait, or more likely help them, and then give them the opportunity to get the treasure chest that was next to them.

Also if I walk up to a node about the same time someone else does I try to do the curtious thing, and let them have it.

However, with that said.... If I am at a starter zone, and there is a champ ranked person that is farming there, I do have a sort of competitiveness about my farming....

tbh, one of the things I really like about this game is that it's designed to make other players as nonintrusive as possible: All containers are instanced to you. for example, and enemy experience and loot is given out to everyone who participated, so "kill stealing" isn't a thing.

There are a couple exceptions, of course. Crafting nodes and chests, for example, as TalonKnight mentioned. However... I'd count that as more of an online etiquette issue than a morality issue. You do occasionally get chest snipers, who grab a chest while you're fighting the mobs around it, and the general consensus seems to be that those people are breaking etiquette more than that they're doing something morally wrong.

Then again, in the "two players, one crafting node" example, how I treat those depends on which character I'm playing. On most of my nicer characters, I back off and happily let the other player get the node. But on my more ruthless characters, like my assassin or daedric cultist? I press the sprint button.

I agree that other players should be treated with courtesy and kindness. But some things are just part of the game, and not really ethical issues. After all, if everyone backed off at a crafting node, neither of them would get the node.

Ilsabet

I quest by my character's morals. In many ways they align with mine (at least in the case of my main character, who has done almost all of the questing so far), but she also does many things I wouldn't do in real life because she's living in a different world with different parameters and she can get away with things and at the end of the day I know that I'm controlling a character in a game.

I've never refused to do a quest because I didn't like what I had to do, but there have been several cases where I've taken the option to turn down something somebody wanted me to do because I found it distasteful. (The quest somewhere in AD where someone wants me to take grisly revenge on some wood orcs comes to mind.) I've also gone through with doing some things I wasn't happy about just because there was no other option to finish the quest, like with that goblin-poisoning thing mentioned earlier. I count those as my character just wanting to do what was asked of her, or going too far with things before she realized she should back out, or just an old-fashioned mistake that she regretted later. And in some cases she just lets her emotions make the decisions for her. She is human, after all.

One nice thing about playing pretend is that you can cast things in whatever light you want, and that thing you didn't really want to do but did anyway can be interpreted however you want in your headcanon.

leeux

I know there's a few quests I normally ignore (that guy in the first city of EP that ask you to steal something, f. ex.) and that I never'd do the Dark Brotherhood quests (I hate post-Oblivion DB with passion, because the writer butchered previous lore.)

Also there's quite a few quests that I also don't do for other reasons... like, for example, that one quest in Wrothgar where you have to decide which prisoner lives... I abandoned that one the moment the decision made it clear that there was not other way moving ahead, because it makes no sense... it's just written like that with the only purpose of it to be a gut-puncher, and nothing more... it should have had options and different outcomes based on what you do during the quest.

Another example is Tovisa's quest, I did it first time, I really liked the quests (trying to judge objectively ignoring while the bad end...) but thinking about it afterwards, it really makes no sense what happens, and for that reason, and for the reason that I'm not given more options to deal with with stuff... I just don't do it.

EDIT: As for Valaste... I always restore her... who cares about 2 skill points in a game where you can have 300? My main has 310 skill points and I'm still missing skyshards!

But all of the rest, it depends on the character.

Darth_Apache

I am going to have Valaste eat cheese with Shero for damn sure..Gimme dem 2 skill points bruh...

SunnyBunny

There is one where this lady wants you to frame an argonian so she can take over his stall. I had no real idea of what I was doing, I was playing but not really paying to much attention.
WELL they arrested him and I was so angry with myself. When i was running through the area with one of my alt toons I was like screw that NPC and picked her pocket,then going to the same stall and buying something.

I also give money to the NPCs that beg. I don't kill Netch's. There are small areas where you can try and even things out. But that is what playing your own way is about.

Darkestnght

I never read or listen to quest dialog. I skip through it as fast as I can. I just want the xp and the fun of exploring and killing stuff.

Muramasa89

If the quest gives me a decent reward for X option, I'll take X option guaranteed (MG finale is the only example of this in the game to me).

Otherwise, I generally "try to be nice". I used to look up the quest choices when I was given an option presented in red but 9.99/10 times it's completely irrelevant whatever I pick (again, besides the MG quest and one other I can think of involving Bal Foyen, even then the latter is more of a "oh yeah, I picked that thing about 25 hours ago and forgot until now").

I make it my aim to complete every quest possible, so ones like someone else mentioned involving poisoning a goblin in Cyrodiil I completed. I would've liked an option here, as murdering a malicious wood elf would've been more satisfying than a goblin.

Nestor

Darkestnght wrote: »

I never read or listen to quest dialog. I skip through it as fast as I can. I just want the xp and the fun of exploring and killing stuff.

Hate to break this to you, but a lot of the lay of the land comes from quest dialogs. And the Books. If your truely exploring that is.

Darkestnght

Nestor wrote: »

Darkestnght wrote: »

I never read or listen to quest dialog. I skip through it as fast as I can. I just want the xp and the fun of exploring and killing stuff.

Hate to break this to you, but a lot of the lay of the land comes from quest dialogs. And the Books. If your truely exploring that is.

Interesting, how so?