Character resolve, for those who are interested, usually comes around the end of any story. The main character is faced with a decision to change the way things are or to continue on with how things have always been.

I see attempts at character resolve in Bioware games Dragon Age and Mass Effect. Bioware used it in an interesting way by implementing character resolve throughout the game rather than just at the conclusion. For instance, in Mass Effect 2 morality choices can go two ways, paragon or renegade. Say you have chosen a solid renegade path for the first half of the game but decide it's time to go back to the good side. While that would be nice and all, and while it appears that it is possible through doing good deeds, if you were to start being an angel and only doing good deeds your reputation among those already affected would not change and it would be incredibly difficult to make your way back to the paragon side. So at the end of the day it's just another failed attempt to make the player feel like their actions make a difference. It can be argued that if you build up your renegade or paragon points the special dialogue options that are unlocked could seriously affect the outcome of the game and that's the major effect on the game it has, but really the choices made with special dialogues usually just lead to hooking up with Miranda or Tali. Oh, and if you're evil you might get some facial scars... (scary I know)



Bioshock also tried character resolve throughout the game with choosing whether to harvest or rescue Little Sisters. For a long time I found this to be the best example because at least in my case, when given the opportunity I would always choose to rescue the Little Sister. Choosing to rescue would result in receiving less ADAM than character who harvested Little Sisters. [Spoiler Alert] This concept fails if you rescue all Little Sisters or harvest them. Little Sisters will provide you with gifts and by the end of the game the amount of ADAM received either way will amount up to a little tiny amount less or more. So really it's another failed concept.

Although in most cases the entire idea of character resolve is flawed, there is a ray of hope shining down looking forward. I think that the idea of character resolve can work, but there needs to be stronger repercussions to actions taken by players. In most cases it's just a small little pinch on the arm as a result.

So what do you think? How can games improve on moral choices and character resolve?

Hello and hi there.

About a year ago I started blogging here on Destructoid and instantly fell in love with the site. Unfortunately, as a full time student and newspaper editor its hard to blog on the side and abruptly stopped posting after a few months. This was a major bummer for me because I love to talk about video games but have little to no audience for my blathering when it comes to friends and colleagues, so I decided to make some time for my love of video games and return to blogging.

While all of you have no idea who I am for me this is a nice little self-homecoming post. I have followed Destructoid and many of it's community posters for some time now and love the site. When my gaming friends and I go to buy a new game there is always a discussion on what IGN.com or Gamespot.com gave the new title, but I always interrupt with "Well, Destructoid gave it..." (It usually wins them over)

I plan on covering gameplay, story structure, game mechanics, you name it. If it has to do with video games I'm liable to type up a storm on it. If you'd like to check out some of the posts I did before I stopped they are still on my page. I had a few more posts but decided they weren't exactly the direction I want the blog to go in so removed them.

As for my life outside of video games... I am the Editor-in-Chief of my colleges newspaper (which is why I write up storms) Other than that I spend a majority of my time living the gamer lifestyle. I also work at Kohls..... I fold towels.

So there it is, my reintroduction. I look forward to posting, interacting and being a part of the Destructoid community.

Grand Theft Auto 4 has, and always will reign supreme in time spent on my 360. Something about cooping up in the watch tower of the Alderney State Correctional Facility and taking out waves of police officers just makes my day. Of course, only in a video game would this be enjoyable, or even possible for that matter.

Sandbox video games have a special place in my heart. I love the fact that I can wander around a large city looking for a nice shoot out location, breaking into cars I'll never be able to afford, and doing the near impossible, jumping off helicopters, outrunning the cops, etc. It's a great way to kick back and relax for me. The fact that I can handle situations differently every time also gives me a metaphorical woodie. Ever since GTA3 came out for the PS2 I have been somewhat of a junkie for crime sandbox games. True Crime: Streets of LA was a favorite of mine, also the Way of The Samurai franchise has been a favorite of mine since the initial release in the U.S. (Way of The Samurai can be called a crime sandbox game because lets face it there were a lot of civilian bloodshed in those titles)

Honestly, I believe that Nonlinear game play provides some of the most interesting and thought compelling video games of our time. Not to say that GTA4 is philosophical in any way, although in many situations, Niko is given the choice to let his victims escape assassination, but that is still a small, small example (The GTA series has been massed with ideal situations to use the nonlinear approach but sometimes the missions are so easy, these situations aren't taken advantage of). I think Anthony Burch put it into perspective in one of his Rev Rants from back in June. He said "We think in nonlinear terms, but mainstream designers don't seem to get that, or at least it pays them well enough not to do nonlinear stuff." I agree with Anthony 100% on this one. Why can't all games be nonlinear, it's a great approach to any game, and although some of today's titles have a strict story line, there should be a feeling of "well if do this, then this will be different."

I think it's a major flaw in today's gaming industry that designers and writers aren't at least dreaming up a few different endings for games. That is why Way of The Samurai is such a great game, the original title had seven different story endings depending on what branches the player took, it almost left a sense of mystery to what will actually happen. Normally by the middle of the plot I already can tell what will happen in most games. Grand Theft Auto 4 may have only had two separate ways the story could conclude but at least the player has the chance to make that decision. That decision sticks, and that's what the player longs for, a decision that they can see the outcome of, that they made, and that they pay the consequence or benefits for.

It's not a hard question to ask yourself. Do I want to write a page in the heroes book for once?

I thought I had it under control, but as any addict will tell you, you never fully have it under control. Content... yes content is my... metaphorically anyway, heroine.

It's always the same story, just when I think I have the best gear, achieved everything, and cleared every instance, something new comes out... O Blizzard, you dirty bastards you, you've roped me in once again with your damn patches.

Ever since I was 14, I have played World of Warcraft, and ever since I was 14, World of Warcraft has been a big time kill in my life. For those who haven't played World of Warcraft and don't understand what it's really all about, let me give you a run down.

World of Warcraft is:
1. Time Consuming
2. Social Life Murdering
3. a home for trolls
4. the most common way of being referred to as a nerd
5. not hard to be good at

WoW is not as much of a skill based game, as it is a thinking game, well in my case at least. It actually has helped me hone a lot of my skills in problem solving, but don't let it foold you, much like a drug, once you begin playing WoW, every time you quit it just seems to creep back into your life, like a sad sack x-girlfriend who knows how to break a lock. In my case, expansions have driven me out the door, and patches have pulled me back in. For instance, the newest patch, Fall of The Lich King (what a original name), has brought my character from the cold depths of the "frozen" status on my account. Which also brings about another round of ridiculous monthly fees, which leaves me saying the most sarcastic woohoo of my life. Let's not forget those balanced pvp battlegrounds, and ridiculous content lag. With all this hate I still find myself running around a busy Dalaran, looking for a raid. Sometimes I do this for hours, in hope I will find some sort of action, but rarely do. So in other words, It's a lot like crack.



The PvP aspect of World of Warcraft, is something like players stabbing their eyes out and face rolling all over their keyboard until someone finally dies from blood loss. One class over powers all classes, to one group of people, but if you talk to the other group of people your class is more over powered than any class and they just got nerfed, blah. blah.... blah. . It makes me want to rip my ears out listening to these people whine. On and on.



One of the main reasons I find myself playing WoW still is because honestly it feels familiar. WoW is a lot like coming home from a long day, and just watching TV. That same sitcom that you love is on, and you will watch it and Wheel of Fortune for a hour or two and then go to sleep.

One of the reasons I leave is probably a problem all WoW players have. You probably are in a guild, with some people you wouldn't recognize if you saw in real life, you probably run the same content constantly, and you probably complain about the things I complain about. So in a way it's monotony without a face. So like work, but its sopposed to be fun.

So why do I love/hate this game?

I love WoW because it has been a big part of my life, all of my best friends I honestly could not of connected with if it hadn't been for it. I guess in a pathetic way I owe WoW for a lot of crucial life experiences. Which makes me feel sad about the direction my life is leading. Also, it provides a nice frustrating time kill.



I hate WoW because, although, it is probably on of the best MMO's of all time, it's constant let downs and ideas that won't work push me out the door time and time again. The major flaws in its PvP system will never be corrected, and they will keep adding expansions until it is completely milked of value.

All in all, I am just another guy who sounds like WoW's bitchy girlfriend.

So I will shut up and do the dishes now, because WoW is shaking his fist at me and I don't want my class to get nerfed.

This will be a rant.

The Call of Duty franchise has been an increasingly outstanding line of titles. Activision's latest release, Modern Warfare 2, is also a needless to say, great game. Being a every so often player of MW2 I do actually believe this. But here is my major problem with both Modern Warfare and Modern Warfare 2.

Hardcore Mode, which lowers all players health down to 30hp, instead of the normal 100hp is the game style that the "best" players of MW play. Can we think realistically though? How is practically one shot kills even a challenge, it's like running around on Goldeneye for the N64 with a golden machine gun. Hardcore Mode, at it's finest was first made popular by Blizzard's Diablo II, a game that we all obviously know. In Diablo II, the player enables hardcore mode, and if that player dies, he or she is permanently dead. That is a challenge ladies and gentlemen. If you die you are done with that character.

I have had many arguments over whether hardcore mode was really hardcore, always a stalemate with COD4 lovers, the only people who will agree with me are either, FPS players that do not play COD4, or COD4 gamers who do not use the hardcore option. A lot of you will probably say "Well then just don't use hardcore," but my complaint is not that people use hardcore mode, it is that people gloat about how fucking awesome they are when they go on a ridiculous kill streak. Well guys I could have a 28 kill streak to with randomly thrown grenades, and a tactical nuke. And please don't tell me that hardcore mode makes it realistic, because one, you can't put a laptop down in the middle of a field and aim a missile into your opponents, and two there are no respawn points in IRL. Some people say it is a strategic way of playing, and that's the hard part. Well fuck, excuse me I forgot that you want to be strategic in a kill fest. What is strategic about getting killed, respawning, getting killed again, and then going on a kill streak. It's all good he meant to die twice, and was planning on jumping out of his chair and screaming "YOU MOTHER FUCKING PIECE OF ASS" at the top of his lungs. I don't know if anyone but my older brother does this, but believe me if you had to deal with flinching from random chains of fuck intertwined with numerous other curses every 20 seconds you would be pissed off too.


So what do you guys think, is hardcore, in fact, hard? In my eyes it's just noobs hoping they will get the drop on someone around the next corner. I live for the hardstyle, so in my opinion, don't slap the word hardcore on something that is easier than a normal game of COD.

A gamers haven, that what Destructoid is. I have only been aware of DTOID for about a month now, and by far this month has been the most gametastic month of the year. Nothing makes my day more than to come home and find six or seven new articles that actually relate to me posted on the home page. I have searched for a place like this for a long time, a place where gamers can actually have a conversation, that is legitimate, JUST about games. This place is like Christmas morning for me.



But seeing as this is my introduction post, maybe I should talk about myself for a bit. 1998 is when my gaming career began, when I was still a single digit age, and most of my thoughts were focused on crayons and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which is still bad ass don't get me wrong. Yes, it was 1998 when a more sophisticated cultural juggernaut crashed into my life. What was this obviously huge, life altering, mind fucking, beast of a thing you might ask. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was that life altering, mind fucking, beast of a thing! Mindless hours I spent shooting at rocks with my slingshot, killing deku babas with my amazing boomerang, and wondering why my older brothers had progressed at such a faster rate while I remained a simple young Link. Hopeless, I felt, as they harangued to their friends about the temple they had completed the night before, while poor little Kavahn was stuck in the castle trying to wake Talon, the owner of Lon Lon Ranch. Years went by, and eventually I did beat Ocarina of Time, when Majora's Mask came out, I bulldozed through the game. I needed more. More games. N64 was not making the cut anymore, and my older brothers had abandoned gaming. Christmas time came, and when Christmas came, so did the games. A PS2 has been bought in the range of these years gone by, and I had eyed it from the day it was bought. Still a naive pre-teen I bought countless games with my chore earned money, some failures, and some successes. Grand Theft Auto 3, Vice City, and San Andreas, were my prize possesions, not to mention Starwars: Battlefront, and so many other games I can't recall today. I found myself losing countless hours of my day playing these games, but did I have any regrets..? Never. A few years go by, Starcraft, Warcraft, Diablo, BLIZZARD! The Sims, and Command and Conquer come in time, and before I could think I was hooked to my PC. Then two games were introduced into my life, World of Warcraft, and Counterstrike: Source. These events my friends, were the beginning of an entirely new lifestyle. A exit from a narrow road onto a highway with many lanes and different cars to interact with. I was hooked, games all day, games all night. To this day, it is games all day, games all night. Seventeen now, I have broadened the horizon, to the XBOX 360, countless FPS games, and even more MMORPGS.

So that is a little about me. I plan on frequently blogging here, so just tell me to GTFO if I suck.