Why Do You Play Evil? Open Question.

[Eira]

I've played all alignments, but I find myself curious about others who play evil, especially since they so often seem to seek out or find themselves in the position of antagonist to "Team Good". Do you choose to do it with intention of eventually being an antagonist? Is it the only option for the class or race you want to play? Or for the location?

Interested in hearing what draws you to it, whether it's a main or alt.

Personally, I vastly enjoy a character that's more subtle, with manipulation and planning for the long game, and the exact type of that doesn't really fit for a good or even always for a neutral character.

[Draco]

I play evil personally because I find it's a lot easier to focus on that selfish personality. The kind of ambitious character where you'll do what you need to to achieve a goal. I've tried playing good-aligned characters in the past but I find them so very limiting, and ultimately, boring because of the narrow path you can walk. But an evil character, they can do and act the same way a good character does but they can be completely selfish about it on a level that the good character simply wouldn't feel comfortable with. Evil creates conflict, even amongst themselves.

[Red Ropes]

im evil irl

[Irongron]

I don't really go into it for the PvP, as such, but more the sense of drama that can surround playing an evil character. There is definitely something competitive when playing evil - not just against those that are good aligned, but pretty much everyone else. In this respect the game can feel more of a...game. The roleplay among competing evil characters is often one marked by abiguity and uncertainty, and in that respect, more demanding.

The truth is that Arelith is full of often very friendly support networks, when joining many factions other characters can just be so VERY nice. They give you things, they are almost agressively friendly and reasonable. I'm never quite sure if that considerate nature is entirely in-character, or whether the players themselves are just trying to be nice to each other, either way, being someone that is objectionable, rude, or insulting in such interactions is something I find rewarding -the roleplay and atmosphere can quickly become tense, and out of their comfort zone characters can behave some unexpected and really quite entertaining ways.

When playing an evil character, I really do try to be bad, and if it comes to PvP, I will only ever act as my character would, so for instance I try not raise an enemy to spare the feelings of those behind that character, unless I geniunely have good cause to do so.

The biggest difficulty I have when playing evil, comes from not actually wanting to upset the other player, or act in a way that I think might make a person feel genuinely bad. It's particularly hard when I encounter a character that just feels so earnestly nice, that I can't fully convince myself that they're truly in it for just the roleplay, but rather looking, through their character, to make and roleplay friendships. Not long back I encountered a character that was just so hellbent on being kind to my relatively low-level character that I just had to avoid them, because as much as my character would gladly take advantage of someone behaving in such a way, I, myself just couldn't do it.

Another example of where I would always suspend the 'evil' is if I find a shop or quarter that has clearly accidentally timed out, and left me with some obviously valued items and fixtures. I'd always try to track down the character and return their belongings, albeit in an unpleasantly role-played way as I can manage in the circumstances.

I guess, in conclusion, I'd say evil appeals to me because, as I said above, of the uncertainty it brings with it, and because (and this sounds quite bad) it naturally isolates you from those who are playing more socially; If you are in a room full of poeple going out of their way to roleplay awful individuals, then chances are that very few of them are blurring the lines between a role-playing game and a digital extension of their 'true' self.

I don't mean the above as any kind of insult to social roleplay - Arelith can be absolutely beautiful, and some of my finest moments have been spent passing the time in good company, simply spending time with one-another, but when I play evil? The real 'game' seems to come vivedly to life.

[Xerah]

I like telling stories. Some stories require an evil person to tell the story. That's really the only reason.

[Anime Sword Fighter]

free edgelord pass

warlocks and necromancers objectively cool

interacting against whoever is opposite aligned me to spark tension and create story

[xanrael]

I've found it easier to have conflict within a faction or have frienemies depending upon the occasion.

That's not to say 2 good factions/PCs couldn't come into conflict, but I've seen it less in practice.

Honestly though I like proactive neutral with a series of small goals to reach a large goal more than either end of the G v E axis.

[Xarge VI]

I feel that across my characters in the good-evil axis evil is winning. I don't think I've ever had a long term good character, although I've had good ideas for good characters. And this writing seems to work as my attempt at self-analyzing so it may not be very coherent.

Sometimes I do it because I like moral ambiguity. As an example a character with good/human intentions is pushed into committing abhorrent evil or a character that is to the core vile and abhorrent existing and working as a part of a society, occasionally having the evil ooze out.

Sometimes I just like to freak out people.

On all the characters that I stick to there seems to be some kind of moral theme and a tragedy in the background. Also what Irongron said- I like to push characters out of their comfort zone. And that tends to lead to characters that lean more towards evil than good in D&D alignment chart.

[Aradin]

For me the main draw is the thrill. Inciting conflict (and to me what that really means is 'creating stories') is an exciting thing! I suspect it's my background as a pen-and-paper dungeon master that I'm not afraid to play a villain.

My favourite moments on Arelith have often been tied to those wild sequences where conflicts come to a head. One that sticks out for me is when my warmongering ogre Ikarus got captured by the people of Guldorand while leading a war against them. The next six hours were a nonstop thrillride with tons of characters getting involved with prisoner RP, negotiations, subterfurge, and eventually a massive impromptu siege/rescue effort on Westcliff to break Ikarus out. I'll remember that night for a long time. Getting to experience those epic moments is what fantasy is all about for me.

Besides, the heroes of Arelith need villains to fight against or the server would sure get boring. I get a kick out of being a foil for Team Good, even if I know I won't win in the end.

[Scurvy Cur]

The simple answer is that I enjoy writing character concepts that catch my interest. Sometimes those concepts are evil.

The objective is almost never to "create an opponent for team good" or even "to get in a lot of pvp", though both things happen from time to time when I play an evil character, because the natural progression of that character's actions and outlook brings them into direct and sometimes violent conflict with others, or because they are perfectly willing and comfortable to repay slights with violence.

Sometimes, however, the desire is to change it up. When I've just retired a very patient, tolerant, and kind good-aligned character who will respond to slights and insults by taking the high road, playing someone who is none of those things and will repay any serious insult in blood can be the writing version of a palette cleanser.

I should also note that I play a number of evil-but-not-villainous characters, because there's a whole range of "evil" outlooks that do not need to crush the goodness and light of the world, but are still evil for their willingness to inflict harm on the undeserving or uninvolved for personal gain, or their willingness to cooperate with evil beings so long as there is a personal gain in it.

[Party in the forest at midnight]

I like telling stories. Some stories require an evil person to tell the story. That's really the only reason.

This is a really good reply. It's not about antagonism, alignment and antagonism are two different things. My least antagonistic character is my evil one, who is a shady merchant.

[Pincushion]

Being evil gives you a lot more creative tools to form your characters ideologies and beliefs. Being good-aligned means that spouting out untruths about FR lore, or promoting an inherently false or misleading ideology will get you fact-checked to oblivion. Being evil gives you that tiny bit of extra space to be creative.

And being evil is a lot more fun, obviously.

[Curve]

im evil irl

That sucks for you and the people around you.

I'm a paladin irl who does a whole lot of working towards doing what is right, and ethical. On Arelith I like to get out of myself. Once I played a good character, but they were evil. I don't find any real joy in expanding on a true ethical and moral good on Arelith, it feels too easy. It is far more exciting to find ways to justify and rationalize evil actions. Also? Evil Gods are cooler.

[LIAR LIAR]

I think that alignment is generally a disappointing concept and that I can basically do whatever I want with the concept if I just make it evil, including make a deep person with lots of complexity who helps people for certain reasons, but has many simple, very human, selfish reasons to behave self-serving at times.

[Dr. B]

Why do people like evil characters in books and cinema? There's your answer.

[DM Pandemonium]

Because we live in a society.

[Hazard]

There's just a lot of different types of characters I want to inhabit and stories I'd like to tell, and sometimes that requires me playing the bad guy.

[Seven Sons of Sin]

I find intra-alignment conflict the most satisfying (good vs. good, evil vs. evil).

Approaching X evil cult as a fellow Y evil character rather than Z good guy is a refreshing change of pace.

I also think "playing evil" allows you to get 'straight to the point' in a lot of roleplay. So much of good-aligned stuff is "relationship building" which is a massive timesink.

[D4wN]

I'm currently on my first attempt of playing an evil character and I am very similar as Irongron. The hardest for me is to be "mean" to other players. Especially when it comes to PVP and especially with players/characters I really like and are genuinly nice.

But the reason I wanted to play evil originally was to try a different aspect of Arelith. Meet new people I haven't RP'd with before and to challenge myself into playing something outside of my comfort zone.

The reason I now still play an evil character is because I have found it so rewarding to tell great stories and help people with their personal story/character development. I see the impact my character has on the world and on people's personalities and emotions and it's just incredible. I remember the amazing character development for my own character being "bullied" by evils. And some of my best experiences on the server have been because of those interactions. I hoped to be able to do the same for others.

Being able to tell/facilitate a good narrative on an evil character with minimal/no-PVP is very difficult, but very very rewarding. I'm enjoying it far more than I thought I would. I've found that as an evil character it's much easier to be proactive as well than it is as a good character. It's been fun to dig deep into my creativity to come up with ways to drive this narrative.

[I will never sleep]

I'm addicted to playing evil characters. To me, I find it hard to play Good aligned characters without being primarily reactive to what other people are doing and I find that kind of narrative incredibly dull. With Evil, you can be extremely proactive and not feel pressured to react to what other people are doing all the time.

Likewise- in line with what other people have stated, I like being able to do and converse with whatever my character wishes. Ultimately if they want to converse and woo a paladin- it's Team Good's job to say 'no', not mine. Not to mention I find morally bankrupt characters equal parts captivating, humorous, etc- especially when backed by decent philosophy.

[Skibbles]

Evil has no limits, creative or otherwise, but the ones you make yourself.

I think this is why Lawful Evil is the most popular alignment (wasn't there a poll about this - or a post breaking down the legit numbers, showing this as a fact?) You can be Good when you're Evil, but you can't be Evil when you're Good.

I've made about a dozen characters over the years, only two really lasting long enough to have been remotely impactful, and only two of them were 'good.' One I rolled pretty early into the epics after mostly losing interest, and the other ended up turning wildly and unrepetantly evil after a long story arc where I ended up with a much bigger toolbox of RP on the other side.

I don't know where I'm going with this. It's just more fun. I barely PvP, so that has no bearing on my alignment choice, but when I'm playing Evil I can just do whatever I want - including Good things if it's for a selfish and Evil reason.

[Royal Blood]

Playing evil does feel more liberating. It's as if when you're good aligned you have a set of moralities which you are not allowed to break for any reason. But evil isn't bound to a code of conduct and no one expects you to adhere to it.

In my opinion it is much more primal and real. And the available options for character development are more broad.

Or if you're evil and you do something good you're not instantly branded a goodie-two-shoes. Where in if you're good and your character allows their anger to get the best if them you may well be damned forever.

I am trying to find ways to express those through a goodish aligned character this time around.

[Nobs]

Its fun.

[tidal]

I once tried to go UD, as a drow - probably as one of the steps to distance my character from myself as much as possible, since I was fed up with those overlaps and at times slipping into rping almost yourself.

It worked out just right in that regard, however I also learned that there were many lovely people rping in UD, who were very considerate about not upsetting the player in front of them - and yet their IC lines and emotes were always relentlessly authentic and consistent with their types of evil.

It felt like the next level of RP. It was also such a breath of air after dealing with a couple too many "good & proper" Surface chars who had their players' power issues seeping through them.

Finally, perhaps like some others mentioned, viewing the majority of other characters as food chains keeps the game more game-y, whereas some good chars might find themselves too cozy every now and then - needing a lot of extra imagination and willpower to make things more dynamic and dramatic again.

UPD: other than that, the Abyss made me.

[Edens_Fall]

It's fun!

Sure there are days you beat your head into a wall out of frustration or feel you can't leave safe zones without bodyguards for fear of scry/gank squads, but in general its interesting with no limit on RP possibilities. I've tried Good before and end up getting bored of the bake sales and culture events.

Not saying those are bad or anything, just not my cup of tea.