The Daily Grind: would you want a moral compass?
A survey that asked for player feedback on several hypothetical City of Heroes features included the possibility of a 'rogue' system, in which your character's actions in the game would dictate whether they swing to the hero side, the villain side, or a grey area inbetween. At present, heroes and villains are stamped as such from character creation onward, and the story arcs treat you as one or the other, with no moral ambiguity.
In the KOTOR games, of which an MMO version is now on the cards, characters can veer towards the light or dark side by means of their actions. You choose a side in the course of play, not by making an irrevocable choice at character creation.
Would you like to see a 'moral compass' system in any of the MMOs you play? Does the idea of corrupting a 'good' character or redeeming an 'evil' one appeal? Does it enrich a game to have meaningful moral choices that shape your character's affiliation? Or does such a system inevitably lock you in to the game's idea of good and evil, rather than allowing you to determine your own alignment?
