I have this problem. In any game with choices I have trouble being a evil character. I always feel bad and can never complete the game with such a Character.

I can understand taking evil choices if it is to achieve a goal like making a fight easier, or helping you get some type of advantage and will take them.
It seems like in all games Evil choices are mostly you being rude just for the sake of being rude.

So, does anyone else have trouble playing evil Characters?

I've been finding the evil choices in this game, well, stupid.

Yes, because games are not really designed with an evil character in mind. So what you mostly get is the tired of trope of 'evil is dumb'.
Also what motivation would an evil character have, in helping anyone in the first place? Money, power? You wouldn't help others to achive that, you would lie, steal, use force, use shortcuts ect. But that would have to be a whole different game.

found for myself evil is more fun multiplayer, remember playing Bg 1 and 2 back in the day and it was a blast. laughing at all the dialogue choices

Well then don't choose every evil action available? Most times you can choose an alignment neutral approach. Go only evil if you achieve something by it.

Originally posted by Sreve:

I have this problem. In any game with choices I have trouble being a evil character. I always feel bad and can never complete the game with such a Character.

I can understand taking evil choices if it is to achieve a goal like making a fight easier, or helping you get some type of advantage and will take them.
It seems like in all games Evil choices are mostly you being rude just for the sake of being rude.

So, does anyone else have trouble playing evil Characters?

Gaming has a very long history and some design decisions that seem questionable were actually founded in experience rather than theory. Usually when someone asks why the F a developer went with this method there's often a logical reason for it, even if that reason is purely marketing or income. In the case of evil characters being over the top, this was a developed trope because of early RPGs that challenged players with truer to life moral dilemmas which received backlash for making players feel too conflicted. In the development of the Ultima series, morality became a recurring theme in the focus groups, something Richard Garriott talks about in interviews. People actually had a harder time dealing with choices that weren't black and white and struggled choosing between two morally gray or equally dark options. Even with two good moral choices there can be much debate over which is more just and some may even take offense to one or the other based on their own moral compass.

The solution was to make Evil not "Evil" but *EEEEVILLLLL*, almost comically so. The writers for the early Dungeons and Dragons books, especially 2nd edition, even commented on the same with alignment causing too many table discussions and real world drama. So they went with a more clear cut and extremely polarizing dichotomy. Evil wasn't merely selfish, it would steal candy from a baby. Players found this approach more readily acceptable and easier to digest that Good means Holier Than Thou Charity Cultist while Evil meant Serial Killing Psychopath Who Literally Kicks Puppies.

I used to. Over time it became easier though.

The only advice I can give is to remind yourself that it's not real, there are no actual negative consequences to being evil in the game, and that your character doesn't have to do what you personally know they should do or what you personally would want them to do.

It's kind of like watching Breaking Bad and seeing Walt let Jane die or tell Hank he thinks Heisenberg is still out there or whatever. You might be screaming "noooo" inside, but he does it anyway. Make your character more like that, even if you don't personally agree. You might feel uncomfortable with it at first, but remember that character isn't you... and just do it.

Never had any issues and actually I'm doing it quite naturally (f@#$% Queen - ruined everything I'd done >_<).

Do you understand that being evil =//= picking EVERY [Evil] option in game?

It was a bit jarring at first. Telling Ember that her ideas are stupid. I passed the threshold into a card carrying puppy kicker (unless they're *EVIL* puppies).

Nothing says you have to try evil options in-game just because they are there. If you aren't comfortable with them, don't do them.

Most Evil options are Neutral Evil and thus quite representative of omnicidal nature of its representative, the Lich. With that said, most of them are stupid too. Idk, NE is sometimes written properly, CE is hot dumpster fire(most of time) and the only thing that's usually properly written on Evil side is Lawful Evil. Idk, I always find dealings with Devils intriguing and interesting. And well written. Now, whether they actually ARE properly written or whether it's just my bias...who knows?

Originally posted by darkholyPL:

Yes, because games are not really designed with an evil character in mind. So what you mostly get is the tired of trope of 'evil is dumb'.
Also what motivation would an evil character have, in helping anyone in the first place? Money, power? You wouldn't help others to achive that, you would lie, steal, use force, use shortcuts ect. But that would have to be a whole different game.

Exactly! But that ... "Game of Thrones" would be so interesting. Idk, we need a proper Devil themed D&D / PF video game. To show how interesting and nuanced that can be.

The problem I have is that a lot of the so-called "evil" choices are just murderhobo stuff that are going to hurt you in the game. When you first meet Lann and Wendu, (Evil) "Die stupid mongrels!" Really? You know nothing about them, and these are people that can help you find the exit in a monster-infested dungeon. Does it make any sense at all, evil or not, to kill them?

Or, in another situation I have trouble with, letting them kill Ember. Not that I care that much, but then you lose out on a companion, all of her side quests, and the all-important XP. Makes sense from a character standpoint, but not from a gameplay one. Those are the most difficult situations I find to resolve.

But to address the OP more directly: no, in the first place it is just a game, and in the second, playing evil seems more cathartic to me to help me deal with the frustrations of RL.

Just play lawful evil, neutral lawful actions work well enough.

The joy of evil is really based on the dialogue options, Which like I brought up previously if it was multiplayer you would have someone else with you enjoying npc's reaction to what insults you pick. Ive not done my evil playthrough yet so havent really focused on the evil choices, Is the dialogue any good with funny or witty remarks? or is it just plain I kill you know?

Well, it depends on the game, i would say. In games where evil is to be cruel without reason, i don't play evil. I am no Camilla, who ebhoy to see other suffer und dying. If a game interprets evil as determined, then it is an interesting choice. In games like Tyranny, Mass effect or Kotor Sith Lords, evil was mostly determined, clever.

Here in Wotor evil is mostly stupid, kill people because you don't like their look. *roll eyes* Regil is an interesting evil char and i wish the game give us the players smart evil choices. Like in the first encounter with him: will i sacrifce the wounded to save the rest of the Group? Yeah, for the Demon Path to implent choices to be cruel, because you enjoy to be cruel, is ok, but there are more ways to be "evil"

Originally posted by jutschi78:

Well, it depends on the game, i would say. In games where evil is to be cruel without reason, i don't play evil. I am no Camilla, who ebhoy to see other suffer und dying. If a game interprets evil as determined, then it is an interesting choice. In games like Tyranny, Mass effect or Kotor Sith Lords, evil was mostly determined, clever.

Here in Wotor evil is mostly stupid, kill people because you don't like their look. *roll eyes* Regil is an interesting evil char and i wish the game give us the players smart evil choices. Like in the first encounter with him: will i sacrifce the wounded to save the rest of the Group? Yeah, for the Demon Path to implent choices to be cruel, because you enjoy to be cruel, is ok, but there are more ways to be "evil"

lawful evil tends to be easier to role play as you are restrained to being evil with the bounds of the law, Chaotic evil tends to be the most boring because games tend to make them very simplistic acts of murder but I guess you can play evil trickster? Seen it leans more into the chaotic aspect alot so will aid with dialogue I guess.