Moral Choices in Video Games: "Matter of time"

In an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation called “A Matter of Time”, Rasmussen, a time-traveling historian of the future, visits the Starship Enterprise. His goal is to revive the Enterprise’s “change of history” attempts to help a dying planet teeming with innocent life, but he is bound by a moral code that forbids him from revealing the result of the ship’s efforts to its crew.

At a critical moment, Geordi LaForge, the Enterprise’s engineer, asks Captain Picard if he can remain on the planet to help guide the recovery attempt. Picard turns to look at Rasmussen, who knows if Picard’s trusted officer and close friend will die because of his decision. Picard reluctantly gives LaForge permission to help, while Rasmussen smiles, casually intrigued, and remarks to himself, “LaForge stayed downstairs.”

Hearing Rasmussen’s line, I immediately remembered a certain kind of YouTube video title. “Mass Effect: Ashley Left Behind”, “Mass Effect 3: The Quarians Loose”, and “Infamous 2: Zeke Dies” are a few examples. Similar to Rasmussen’s statement, all of these titles give short, post-labels to video game choices that, at the time, are meant to have emotional and moral impact.

The moral issue Picard faces in “A Matter of Time” can be compared to video game morality in more ways than one. The best place to start is a scene where Picard calls Rasmussen into his personal office. You are presented with a decision not unlike the moral choices in many story-based games:

“I imagine you know why I asked you to come.”

“Yeah, I have a pretty good idea,” Rasmussen replies.

“I am faced with a dilemma. There is a planet below us that is slowly turning to ice and unless we do something about it, I am told that in a matter of weeks thousands, maybe tens of thousands, will die.” .”

“So what is your dilemma?”

“Commander La Forge has a possible solution. The margins of error are extremely critical, but if he succeeds, there will be no more threats.”

“And if he doesn’t succeed?”

“Every living thing on the planet will perish.”

“So do nothing and millions will die. Do something and millions could die. That’s a tough choice.”

“Not if you were to help me.”

Consider Picard’s request as an analog to the moment when an RPG player is faced with a choice that could result in the death of their favorite character. Fearing this, he goes to YouTube or a wiki guide to find a way to keep the character alive. The scene addresses this urgency as it continues:

“There are twenty million lives down there, and you know what happened to them. What will happen to them,” emphasizes Picard.

Rasmussen pauses for a moment, then replies, “And why did you ask to see me?”

“Because your presence gives me potential access to a type of information that has never been available to me before.”

The “information type” Picard refers to is path knowledge that directly connects your actions to your results. Only Rasmussen can see this path, but its presence means that it exists.

In many video games, developers create a system that determines exactly how player choices lead to outcomes. Whether the player sees it directly or not, it’s out there somewhere, transcribed in an online guide or hidden deep within the game’s code.

In either case, the mere presence of this knowledge transforms choices into acts of self-sacrifice. When there is a simple and established system for determining the best decisions, making moral choices based solely on personal feelings and opinions becomes illogical. Regardless of the strength of the player’s convictions or confidence, the system will work as designed and one choice will always lead to the same result.

In “A Matter of Time”, Picard faces the same problem. As he says, “I have two options, but either way, one version of the story or the other will go forward.” Picard realizes that with knowledge of destiny essentially accessible, the only thing “right” is to choose the best outcome for the planet and guide his decisions by choosing the path that leads to it. Picard explains to Rasmussen, “I must take advantage of every possible asset. It would be irresponsible of me not to invite you here.”

As long as there is a process to directly connect choices with outcomes, people’s thoughts will always be tempted to stray in the direction of figuring out the process, questioning their instincts to decide the best destiny for their personal world.

Rasmussen’s following reaction reveals the problem with this line of thinking. Disheartened by Picard’s request, he replies, “We’re not just talking about an election. It sounds to me like you’re trying to manipulate the future.”

This is the main message of “A matter of time”. There is a difference between choosing and manipulating. Although there is a path that connects a person’s choices with their results, it can only be seen from the future. At present, human perception is too limited to imagine all the possible factors that could affect a decision. “Making a decision” describes a moment when, in the midst of this chaos and uncertainty, we give importance to our actions. Just because there is no way to determine how our choices fit into destiny, we can confidently focus on our own opinions, feelings, and consciences in making them.

After Rasmussen refuses to help, Picard describes this more personal morality: “By refusing to help me, you left me with the same choice I had at the beginning. To try or not to try, risk it or play it safe. Your arguments have reminded me of how precious the right to choose is. And since I’ve never been one to play it safe, I choose to give it a try.”

The right to choose does not come from having total control over the future. It depends on the uncertainty. Whether it’s creating random, uncontrollable factors that influence the outcome of an election, or not displaying the accurate result of each election, developers can break the path that connects elections to results. As Picard asserts, it is the lack of total control that gives choices their beauty.

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