Good or Evil?

     There are many a game that give you the option of playing the hero, or taking the darker path.  I personally always choose good because of one large flaw in the system, there is never a compelling reason to play evil.  Normally, the choices will be to A. Save the citizen, or B. Be a douchebag. I want a real decision, not just good and bad buttons. Give me a situation where I have to choose between defending a village from a dragon, or allowing the dragon to attack the village because they have been poaching the dragons young. I would choose bad in that case, screw that village. So I was wondering what the Giantbomb community thinks. If you had a better reason to go to the dark side, would you? 

I want a real decision, not just good and bad buttons. 
 
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So why did you give us just good and bad buttons? 

  There is no real reason to choose one over the other so good.

good. 
 
its my nature.. i cant be evil it fucks me up if i do anything wrong =\

If Good and Evil were a scale of 1 - 10 (all the way evil bastard being 1) I'd be somewhere like a 7 or 8. I'm not a goody two shoes in games yet won't be an asshole, I usualy do the right thing.

I'd rather have neither. "Good" and "evil" are depressingly simplistic, and the fact that these so-called moral choices are trumpeted as being somehow revolutionary is a testament to how immature games still are.

Lawful Good, always. No exceptions. Yes, I'm a zealot.
 
Only in video games though... which is odd. I don't follow nearly as strict a code of honor in real life than I do in games.

The opening post and Torus already made my points in a sense, but I don't like either because they're oversimplifications. In your example, is the evil thing to shield the poachers from the consequences of murdering dragon young, or is it evil to aid the dragon if just by sitting back and doing nothing? People like saying life is black and white, but it's only that way if you're too close and looking at minute details without taking in the big picture: that's when everything turns into shades of gray.
 
Some games reward the player for being 'evil' (such as killing townsfolk and selling their property), while others fail to recognize the consequences of actions (like saving a traveling merchant from bandits, whom could later bring you free weapons). The issue is neglected because it's not being given a proper, realistic take or fails to apply long-term consequences.

Usually I'm good but I love being evil too, but either way it doesn't matter what you choose because there are hardly any consequences for your choice.

i always played evil my entire life. But for some reason lately playing good has been appealing to me more, and it makes my inner demon angry. I want a game where things are not just good or evil, but where you have to think about the consequences of your actions and not just kick the kitten? Play with the kitten?
 

I most naturally take the good side. But on subsequent playthroughs, I do find being evil can be more fun, even if I have to force myself to be 100% evil at times.

Normally good but I do do some pretty evil stuff like when I killed everyone in Megaton on Fallout 3 for no reason.

I usually stick with the good option a game gives, but during multiple play throughs of a game I usually mix it up

I agree, its almost impossible for me to go through a game as evil unless that is the only reason I'm playing through it. What I mean is, the evil options make you out as a complete douchebag. There needs to be more of an anti-hero feel, like The Punisher sorta thing. Not just evil for the sake of being evil.

I like to do the right thing, but be kind of an ass doing it.
 
If a game is just black and white I play good, because evil decisions usually seem like short-cuts that lead to seeing less content.

evil :-) I always play through the game being a total jackass. but somethings are just too evil even for me...

Evil, your nearly always rewarded in my experince (you can steal in fallout 3 for example) and if some of the powers in the game a alignment unique I always prefer the evil powers rather then the good powers (star wars games)

I always play good.  Doing bad things, even in games, makes me feel bad as a person.  Besides, as has been mentioned, "evil" doesn't feel evil to me, it feels more thuggish.  Evil comes across as a bully or a run-of-the-mill criminal as opposed to real evil which has layers of cruelty and a level of complexity that makes what they do seem right to them.  It would be far more interesting if the quests were presented in a way that skewed the option to make the player feel they were doing what was good even though it could also be seen as evil.  If a player was told there was a terrorist element hiding within a village and it's suggested you "pacify" the village in order to remove the threat.  On the opposite side, if the player chose the "good" route and went only after the terrorists they were able to uncover, the consequences to not completely removing the threat should be felt.  Perhaps by not wiping out the town, a terrorist escaped and caused greater harm later on.  That would also add an element of risk to playing solely as good.  

Evil always, then on replay be a goody two shoes.

Usually I'll choose whatever option gives the best reward.  Using Fallout 3 as an example, I usually save Megaton, but then turn around and sell out the android to the Commonwealth.

I usually play Evil first, then Good.

I usually play good first, because If I go around killing everyone, then I might miss something that has to do with the story or miss a quest or accidentally kill a quest giver like in games such as Fallout 3 or Oblivion.

I play good, or "good". I find myself comically inept when performing evil or "evil" tasks, especially when it comes to cute things. That's why I had a hard time playing Overlord. I couldn't stand fucking slaughtering those sheeps.

Good first, then Evil. 

I remember playing through Mass Effect and I was attempting to get the renegade achievement but so many choices I didn't want to choose the bad option. So by one point in the game I was actually half Paragon and half Renegade so I ended up using the Noveria glitch to get the Renegade achivement then played the rest as Paragon because there is no way I was gonna (Spoilers) let the council die and then let that ass Ambassador Udina be on the council.

Evil, my main character in Fallout 3 is a BASTARD. In the unmarked quest in Canterbury Commons, I tried to persuade that Uncle guy to set up a network of traders, only to find that I had killed them all. Rivet City is nearly empty because of my antics.