Athayniel wrote...
We've already pointed out that the death toll is already staggering and likely to get worse. Is that not enough?
You admit that the sacrifice need not always be death. So what exactly is the issue you have with the 'earn your happy ending' brigade? We're not asking for the fight to be easy, we're not asking to not have to make choices with profound consequences both good and bad. We're just asking that our squaddies not be issued red shirts for 'Teh Drama!'
Let me try a different approach and you might understand better where we're coming from. Maybe you've heard of the Trolleys thought experiment, which is pretty well-known in moral theory.
Ex: A trolley is running out of control down a track. In its path are five people who have been tied to the track Fortunately, you could flip a switch, which will lead the trolley down a different track to safety. Unfortunately, there is a single person tied to that track. Should you flip the switch or do nothing?
This is the perfect example of a "hard choice" because there does not exist a "best of all possible worlds" scenario. Leave the switch, five people die. Flip the switch, one person dies and you potentialy feel more responsible for that death.
Now, imagine for a second that a third option exists; you can press a third button, which will magically untie all six people and allow the train to pass them by unharmed. What do you do?
The existence of this third option, by necessity, removes the existence of any "hard choice" on the part of the player because everyone makes it out unharmed. It is the quintessential perfect ending where everyone goes home and sees their loved ones. It can't exist with the Trolley scenario because there is no reason to pick the other two scenarios, assuming you aren't malicious. The "hard choice" is contingent upon something necessarily being sacrificed in the process.
You're presenting the issue as if it's melodrama, which is something I'm having trouble comrehending. Character death is something which has existed in fiction long before Greek epics were told. There is absolutely no reason why Bioware should not be allowed to present scenarios either of tragedy or necessary death. Random mook death doesn't meet this threshhold, akin to arguing that Ben Kenobi/Yoda didn't have to die because in Episode IV we watched some rebel fighters get crushed by Vader. That's why we illustrate that death needs to be made personal.
Why don't we want our party members to die? Because we like them and it affects us emotionally, which is exactly why death, suffering, sacrifice, etc, are such an important element in these stories. I don't mind a "happy ending". I mind an ending where everything falls together perfectly, no one dies, Earth is saved, no psychological suffering, Reapers dead, etc, which is similar to the altered trolley scenario, . If you want to argue that the perfect ending is better than "hard decisions", by all means. But you're going to have to demonstrate how/why your scenario gives us both what we want. It doesn't any more than the magical third option can give the Trolley thought experiment meaning.
Modifié par Il Divo, 15 octobre 2011 - 03:39 .
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Oh well, enough musing about specific squadmates.
And I happen to have a lot of spare time on my hands since I'm done with my homework and I have vacation, so I'll probably spend the next week here...
...Arguing...
It's much more fun that way!
