Paragon vs Renegade - aka you're all a bunch of huge sissies

[Psychotic]

So I finally got around to beating Mass Effect. For those who don't know, it's an RPG with choices. You can go around being a goody-two-shoes who kisses Grandma and gives to charity, or you can be a total asshole who is rude and snarky at best, and homicidal at worst. Every action you take earns you either Paragon or Renegade points and eventually you get an achievement for each one.

Naturally, I decided to be the hugest smurfing prick in the Universe. I then got curious, and decided to look at my friends' achievements - including a lot of you. And every one of you, every damn last one apart from Ouch! (who had both) had the smurfing Paragon achievement and not the Renegade one.

Why? I'm fascinated that so many of you play nice with these fictional characters. Obviously in real life it's good to be courteous and friendly, but in a video game, well, why not let loose and do whatever the smurf you want? I have experienced no downsides to my behaviour, so don't you come at me with your "consequences" nonsense It's a lot more funny and satisfying being a jerkwad.

What about all of you? Do you prefer being a classic babyface hero, or do you prefer being more of an anti-hero, and why?

[Ouch!]

I could try to talk him down, or I could shoot the bastard. This is not a difficult choice. Ammo is unlimited.

The proper answer is that they're not quite as bad ass as we are.

[Timekeeper]

People like to immerse themselves in games like that, and have their character either reflect the person who they are, or the person that they want to be.

Naturally, I decided to be the hugest smurfing prick in the Universe.

[VeloZer0]

I always strive to keep my character neutral, as I really dislike having all of my actions pigeon holed into an abstract good/evil system.

[NeoCracker]

Fall OUt 3 so much of the world pissed me off I just slaughtered them all. Cause smurf em. I couldn't bring myself to play a good guy in that game.

Fall Out New Vegas I just wanted to side with Benny, cause he was smurfing awesome.

Overall It depends on how much I like the world.

[Jessweeee♪]

Oh man. All of you straight Paragons are missing out on some great dialogue and interrupts. Being nice is usually more satisfying, but after the first time around it's more fun to punch people out of windows.

That said I haven't played the original Mass Effect as a Renegade. My boyfriend borrowed it from a friend a couple of weeks ago and I only recently finished it for the first time ever as a Paragon.

[Ouch!]

Badass.

[Laddy]

I like to be my idea of what a hero should be.

[Wolf Kanno]

In Fallout, I'm a super nice guy but its because I play the games pretending I'm the Venture Bros. so I make the nice choices and the absolutely stupid ones. Talking to prostitutes is funny and not using guns in a fight with Super Mutants when you are built for science and running away is amusing.

In MegaTen, I tend to be apathetic unless being good or a jerkwad nets me something (damn Social Links) though I mix it up to keep me from being Neutral alignment since I take the Palladium Books argument that Neutral is technically impossible and selfish alignment is more accurate to what neutrality is.

[Pheesh]

I do whatever i can to sleep with as many video game girls possible. Good or Bad is just a means to an end.

[Freya]

I just can't be bad. I mean hell I feel bad about THINKING about lying so if in a game it tells me to shoot someone or talk them down. I'll just do the good guy choices. I plan on playing through as renegade soon but I'm trying to get a perfect save right now for ME3.

[Madame Adequate]

That's gotta be bull, the first character I ported over to ME2 was a renegade, this cruel Chinese dude.

Edit: And because the 'evil' path is usually really badly written, being a psychopath rather than a classy evil genius or anything.

[Iceglow]

In my defense good sir!

I do indeed have a renegade file, in fact I have several paragon and several renegade save files for Mass Effect. However, having completed it once with my Paragon Soldier class file I ended up getting distracted by the beauty of bagging real life people out on Halo with you and generally acting like a prick in the multiplayer mayhem known as action sack.

As soon as I manage to stop my current gaming obsessions of either being a prick in Halo Reach and bagging the out of people with you, or becoming a well respected and feared Call of Duty Black Ops player. I fully intend to return to all my save files and clock everything out on the game for maximum everything so that when Mass Effect 3 comes out in March 2012 I will be ready to launch off on several simultaneous runs decimating everything in my path with clip upon clip of ammo.

[Rantz]

I do whatever i can to sleep with as many video game girls possible. Good or Bad is just a means to an end.

This has been my raison d'être since I first played Leisure Suit Larry.

[Slothy]

I always strive to keep my character neutral, as I really dislike having all of my actions pigeon holed into an abstract good/evil system.

My actions generally tend to fall towards the good side, though it's more about me trying to act roughly how I imagine myself acting in reality. Problem is that these good/evil systems really are a pain in the ass as they not only pigeon hole everything you do into one category or another in their moral binary, but they outright limit the options available to you to fit into these categories.

More freedom and less judgement please.