How many of us genuinely enjoy playing 'evil' characters?

Being likewise a sensitive soul, I'll say games are really bad are encouraging players towards evil. Why do folks usually do evil stuff in real life? Some common reasons:

• They do not think what they're doing is evil.
• They stand to gain something by doing evil, more so than from the alternative.
• The believe the evil stuff they're doing is justifiable as it serves some greater good, a.k.a. utilitarian ethics.

Taking Bioware games as an example, evil actions are usually signposted or so unsubtle that they might as well be, the rewards for doing evil are minimal at best and the good path often has superior ones, and doing the obviously virtuous thing nearly always turns out for the better.

So in Mass Effect, for example, we've got clearly marked Renegade options. They doesn't bring any material benefits to the player and actually just makes people dislike you, and even though the Renegade philosophy (insofar as there is one) is that the end justifies the means, Paragon consistently gets you better results. Hence there is no temptation to do evil in ME, beyond a merely aesthetic choice.

While considering the notion that playing villainous or antiheroic characters must be be sadistic wish fulfillment, I pondered how the reverse could also be true. How a ruthless sociopath that doesn't give a damn about anyone but themselves could easily justify most "good" choices, using ORIGINS as an example:

-Help the city guard in Denerim? Eliminate rivals and gain good PR.

-Exorcise Connor? Gain greater influence with a powerful Arl in my debt.

-Preserve the Urn of Sacred Ashes? The Dicsiples of Andraste are a bunch of unreliable lunatics, and I could try to get more ashes for my purposes later.

-Destroy the Anvil of the Void? A racist human or elven, or vengeful Castless Warden might not want Orzimmar to reclaim lost power.

-Save the mages? A way of bolstering your forces, since you still have the Templars as backup.

-Cure the Werewolves? They might be too powerful to control, and it would be better to have two groups (Dalish and former werewolves) indebted to you. Plus, Lanaya could be easier to manipulate that Zathrian.

Kill Loghain? Revenge, and take out a rival.

Alistair rules alone? Easier to play puppetmaster.

So you can just as likely argue that the good choices are there to stroke the egos of players who want to be worshipped. Is that fair? No more so than the notion that desperate and ruthless choices are *only* there to indulge assholes, and not create complex and diverse stories.

Not to mention how "being scared of evil roleplay" can lead to lazy assumptions about people. Or worse, Thought Crime...

I don't see offing Wrex on Virmire as evil. We already saw what happened with a krogan population boom, and the krogan didn't have the excuse the rachni had of being corrupted by Reapers. I have Ashley shoot him, though. That is her job.

Plus, it actually makes the saga much more deep with Wreav in charge.

It's genuinely difficult for me. I'm such a softie. I always default to playing good characters.

Currently playing Pathfinder and contemplating how I'll play a Demon playthrough. Struggling.

If I play as an "evil" character it's mostly because I'm a extremely foul mood and it's a way for me to be destructive without hurting anyone in real life and/or going to prison for the rest of my life.

I have played the evil character.

I understand acting, and role-playing.

Everyone reads what I wrote selectively.

I primarily self-insert, because that's how I consume fiction - "How would I deal with this?"

It is hilarious to me how my statement triggered some people.

True, I don't think it's evil, although it does suck.

However, convincing him is also just as good. 

Yup! Damning a whole race just because some racist politician is having a hissy fit is not a good look! 

You mean Wreav? That fool’s just hot air. Yes the Krogan would definitely have the numbers under his leadership, however they do not have the ships or the resources/facilities on Tuchanka to build them. Don’t forget that the Krogan are dependent on the galaxy at large just to transport their forces to Palaven. 

In a post reaper war galaxy, they would find themselves even more dependent on the galaxy just to get home. Then they would be under constant scrutiny from not just the old council, but also the alliance and potentially Geth if they survive or even the reapers under the control ending. The Krogan are absolutely not a threat under Wreav’s leadership IMO. 

Plus. If they somehow DO become a problem, just smack them with the Genophage 2.0. 

Boo hoo Krogans are too strong we can justify cowardly chemical warfare against them because we are literally too weak to defend ourselves.

This is the hilarity... might makes right, unless someone is mightier than me. Then I get a lawyer or a chemist to do my dirty work.

I welcome my Krogan overlords.

Or as Kratos says... Be better.

My boy scout Paragon Shepard got pretty "renegade" (Mass Effect 1-style) towards the latter parts of the story as some of his walls started breaking down and the pressure got to him. I loved that BioWare did that.