» Mon May 25, 2009 3:59 am For instance, take Planescape: Torment. The whole idea of the game is to find the good part of the main character and kill him off, so that the main character (the bad part) can become mortal again and die.
You see, the problem with this idea is that in the real world, people struggle to kill off their false counterpart (the ego) so they can experience bliss and happiness. This idiot, called the ego, lives inside our mind, constantly talks to us to temp us towards irrational behavior 24/7. It deceives us into thinking we'll experience happiness and bliss by acting out whatever the ego suggests to us, only to find out that after our desires are fulfilled, we are left disillusioned and can never experience true joy and satisfaction, always constantly wanting more. And so, in Planescape, gamesas 1.0 sets a fine example by making the bad guy our hero and granting his wishes.
For example:
The Nameless One WANTS to discover his true identity and to know more about himself => BAM! His wish is granted as the game progresses!
The Nameless One WANTS to die in the end by killing off his good side => BAM! His wish is granted once again for the game's finale!
I know I'm speaking for the past gamesas 1.0, but how about using one of your billionth brain cells for once by failing to grant the Nameless One (his ego incarnate) his wishes, so that he suffers an eternity of agony and torment? Wouldn't this have more of a creative element to it? Or instead, why not have his good part slay the Nameless One himself for the grand finale while continue living on as a spirit?
You see, people don't want to believe that a struggle between good (the soul) and evil (the ego) exists and that good always prevails in the end (Planescape = evil prevails = thumbs down), people NEED to believe this is so to help in their real-life internal struggles!
When you develop products on behalf of the ego, instead of the soul, the universal karma will make sure your sales will suffer, regardless of how highly critically acclaimed your products are, because we live in a universe that is anti-ego (ie. rewards the humble)!
Lastly, don't ever confuse altruism with the soul. The soul is never altruistic because it already KNOWS that all souls are equal. It is the ego that must put on acts of altruism to deceive the world and destroy value. I think a part of gamesas 1.0 went on to feed the ego in most of their game storyline is because they thought that if they shied away from altruistic main characters (ego), and instead focus on journeys, which grant the main character his heart's desire(s) (ego again), they might have a winning formula! Unfortunately, it didn't turn out this way, did it?
The moment gamesas 2.0 realizes that the ego must never be fed, and the soul must never be starved in developing plots for their future games will be the moment gamesas 2.0 becomes a true financial success (karma financially rewards properly principled companies)!
