The Escapist - Paladins can Loot?

Dhruin said:

I'd rather leave the whole hardwired good/evil thing behind and encourage better use of factions and multiple paths/solutions. Players can decide for themselves the motivation of their character if the game presents enough opportunities through their choices and alignment with a suitable faction(s).

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Exactly. If there is these choices, and the NPC get to know about, and react and remember your choices in a semi-realistic manner, the whole alignment system becomes superfluous, a crutch mayber to aid in character creation, no more.

Squeek said:

Gygax had a brilliant idea, and his straightforward alignment system may have been its single greatest feature. By forcing the player to choose his alignment along with his character class, the game required the player to get the first thing straight -- his role.

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I completely agree, Squeek. If I'm playing a role-playing game, then I'm going to play a role. I'm not just going to play willy-nilly. Your starting alignment is just that, a starting alignment. I assume my character had a childhood of some sort, but I guess I'm one of the few folks that bothers to fill out that NWN description box with an actual history of my character.
Over the course of the game, alignment should be flexible. My character is growing and alignment should reflect which way my character is growing. I consider the choices made by the player and how that affects their character's moral perception as well as the way the world reacts to the character to be every bit as important as the character mechanics.