Being good is boring, I have to be good everyday in real life to my boss, to clients, etc, not because I want to, but because I have to for my own survival. Yes in real life being good is rewarded and consequences for being bad exist . . .
This is the explanation I hear most often - it's an interesting difference in worldview. I tend to think that the world tends to reward bad behavior and people get to the top at the expense of others. Small things like j walking or selling individual cigarettes are harshly punished while big things like evicting people to build luxury apartments, running vulture funds, deliberately getting people addicted to opiods etc are highly rewarded.
"Evil" does not exist in our world but I tend to think that people in positions of power have personalities that D&D calls evil like selfishness, callousness etc. This movie is now 20 years but makes this point pretty well:
https://www.thecorporation.com/film/about-film.html Spoiler: if a corporation could be diagnosed by a psychiatrist they would meet criteria for sociopathy.
But, sadly, real world evil doesn't show up wearing unholy symbols and you can't fight against real world "evil" with a broadsword -so I find catharsis in playing in a world where some good-intentioned nobodies with a back story take on the forces of evil
and win.
Because in real life the forces of evil usually prevail 😢
I agree with most of what you say, but I disagree that 'real' evil doesn't exist in the real world. You can be so far down in hate, jealousy, power hunger, desire, lust etc. that you'll commit evil acts fully knowing they are evil with little or no shame. To me that is evil. But to be a bit philosophical: Evil is not a force of nature, but rather an abstraction made up by man to emphasize all the qualities and actions we don't like in our society, and in ourselves and others. In fantasy you can be born evil, not so in real life imo. The devil was invented by man, to scare off people from commiting acts of evil.
Regarding whether it should be boring to play good (or evil for that matter): That is of course a matter of perspective, but in my views it is nonsense and simplification. Being human (or another being of similar intelligence) is always interesting because of the many layers and thought constructs of the human mind. It doesn't really matter if you are good or evil, there will always be dilemmas, contradiction in thoughts, emotions and relationships etc that make up individual complexity. Even socalled 'simple minds' are not so simple upon scrutiny. Let a person fall in love for instance, and all of his/her beliefs may shake or shatter. Good people become evil, and evil people become good. Excuse me for saying, but to say that being good or being evil is boring is a bit primitive and narrow minded, at least if you are taking it beyond your own preferences and playstyle. Not trying to offend anyone, although I probably will.
Btw, love your inputs, maybe we can all learn something, and broaden our perspectives on people, life and the world in general, at least a little bit.
