Wednesday, June 9, 2010

EXP Podcast #81: Morality Dilemma

In an effort to explore the depths of choice and human ethics, morality systems have become commonly used tool in game design. Morality can be a deeply complicated and heated topic of discussion, so how do games successfully tackle this subject with players? Recently J. Matthew Zoss asked this question of some influential game designers in his piece on Gamasutra. Fittingly, GameSetWatch's (and Gamasutra's) Andrew Vanden Bossche joins us this week as a guest host to delve into the "rights and wrongs" of morality in games. As usual, you can find the inspirational article in the show notes, as well as links to more of Andrews work. We encourage you to check it out and leave your thoughts in the comments section.

Some discussion starters:

- Are moral dilemmas weakened when tied to in-game rewards/punishments?
- Does isolating moral decision making, and announcing it as such, devalue the decision?
- Morality systems seem very popular. Is this a passing fad or is it here to stay?

To listen to the podcast:

- Subscribe to the EXP Podcast via iTunes here. Additionally, here is the stand-alone feed.
- Listen to the podcast in your browser by left-clicking the title. Or, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format.
- Subscribe to this podcast and EXP's written content with the RSS link on the right.

Show notes:

- Run time: 40 min 48 sec
- "Ethics 101: Designing Morality in Games," by J. Matthew Zoss via Gamasutra
- Design Diversions, biweekly column by Andrew Vanden Bossche via GameSetWatch
- Mammon Machine
- Music provided by Brad Sucks