Fus Ro Decision
Rasco, J.O. (2019), Fus Ro Decision!: A Study on In-game Decision-making in Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Unpublished Undergraduate Thesis, University of the Philippines Diliman College of Mass Communication
In this study, I looked into how decision-making processes are formed within media through action role-playing games. I also sought to examine how these different decision-making processes are played out in my individual view. Specifically, I have investigated the in-game decisions that I made in the video game Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, during the period of study. I have analyzed how these in-game decisions are played out based on my own reflections. I have used Marina Krcmar and Drew P. Cingel’s article, Moral Foundations Theory and Moral Reasoning in Video Game Play: Using Real-Life Morality in a Game Context as framework and methodology. In Krcmar and Cingel’s study, they investigated moral and strategic reasoning behind in-game decisions made by gamers playing action role-playing games. I found that Krcmar and Cingel’s conclusion in their 2016 study that more experienced players use moral reasoning more is not necessarily true in my case. I also found that my gamer self is the kind of person my real life self would like to be. My findings may be used by game developers to rethink the moral systems in their game design and to consider eastern perspectives of morality. I recommend that future researchers utilize moral alignment systems such as the one used in Dungeons and Dragons.
Keywords: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Moral Foundations Theory, Video Game Ethics