When confronted with the choice to report Nathan or Hide the Truth, my ethical reasoning went like this “Using a gun to kill innocent people is wrong”, and “Lying to an authority figure is wrong”, but at the same time I wondered if I would be safe to report him. Who was to say whether I would be believed? Not to mention, if information had gotten to Nathan that I tattled on him, would I be safe? I started to worry over Max’s safety, and the morality of it all. Max could die simply for telling the truth if the truth wasn’t believed. However, I was more concerned for the fate of my classmates, and Chloe. It was likely he could kill her if he saw her again, so I ended up reporting Nathan.
I also found myself spending way too much time talking to everyone, rewinding where I could so everyone would like me. However, while I was happy that no one was calling me dumb or a poser, it all felt incredibly fake. I wasn’t gaining their approval because I knew about art, skateboarding, or drones, but because I cheated so that people would like me. The more I thought on this, the more I realized that it was more than just regurgitating information. Max was listening to them. She was listening to their interests and remembering them, and while no research was done beforehand, I felt like this was a better alternative. It made me wonder about my position as an ethical player compared to Max. These people on campus had no emotional ties to me, so being nice might have come from a desire to get their assistance in the future. I doubt I would have been cruel, but I don’t think I would have spent my time if I didn’t think these interactions would help me later. I then thought about Max’s perspective. Was she rewinding time and gaining their approval for personal gains, or because she genuinely wanted to be kind? To see her classmates happy? I’m still not sure.
Lastly, I had the choice to comfort or make fun of Victoria. This is where I felt like the mechanics had a chance to mess up the narrative. I chose to be nice to Victoria, since I felt like it was wrong to continuously abuse her, especially when I was the one who caused paint to fall on her. Yet, that seemed so off to me. I dropped paint on her, then pretended to be concerned for her well-being, ignoring that it was myself who did that to her. The game forced me to ruin her outfit, yet allowed me to be kind afterwards, which felt oddly conniving.
Overall, I felt like it was important to recognize the player and player character differences in this segment. My reasons for doing something was likely different than Max’s, which makes me wonder if the same two choices can both be ethical if made for the wrong reasons.
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