Question Of The Month Reader Responses: Issue #245

A few months ago we asked readers to tell us the worst thing they've ever done in a video game. Our respondents took the opportunity to confess their shameful digital deeds, the best of which can be seen right here.

Blame It On The Role:

• The worst thing I have done in a video game was in The Elders Scrolls IV: Oblivion. I replaced some fruit with a poison apple in an abandoned house, and at the time the person living there was unknown to me. Much later on in the game, I got a mission that took me back to this abandoned house and the person who was suppose to forge signatures for me never showed up. I thought it was a glitch in the game, but when I looked into it, I realized I killed the forger who was also secretly the Gray Fox. That was a terrible moment and I realized that after beating all other guild, main, and miscellaneous quests, that I could not fully beat the game with that character anymore.
  
  Adam J. Paredes
• The worst thing I have ever done in a video game is become a necromancer in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. I would travel from town to town casting Frenzy upon every citizen and watch them kill each other. Afterwards, I would cast Revenant to raise the dead and have them kill whoever was left. Due to my very high sneak skill level and the silent casting perk, I could cast spells without ever being caught.
  
  Joaquin Gonzalez
• Well I, the princess, was asked to sign a petition to help the poor in Fable III. I took that petition and rubbed it on my bum. I felt bad about it, but that's what princesses do...right?
  
  Kerry Brown
• According to my daughters, worst thing I've done in a video game is kill bunnies in Skyrim. According to me, it was getting every Krogan teammate killed in Mass Effect 1 & 2.
  
  Kyle Wadsworth
• A couple of weeks ago I was playing Mass Effect 3 and one of my roommates was watching me. I was working through my Renegade playthrough and I came to a key mission where I had the choice to let one of my friends cure a disease or kill him. With my roommate watching, I chose to brutally shoot my friend in the back as he entered the elevator. The following cutscene where he attempted to crawl across a room while bleeding to finish his task and died right before he could succeed officially made me feel like a piece of scum. My roommate agreed.
  
  Matthew Yancy

Crossing The Line:

• Two words: White phosphorus.
  
  Kimball Jackson 
• The white phosphorus scene in Spec Ops: The Line still haunts me. The worst part is that I had correctly guessed the situation, but was too impatient to change what I was doing, until a hastily-aimed shot ended in tragedy. I honestly haven't enjoyed military shooters the same way since.
  
  Rob Sweeney

There's No Greater Punishment Than Regret:

• The worst thing I've ever done in a video game was shoot Mordin Solus while being a renegade Shepard in Mass Effect 3. I literally had nightmares that same night because I felt so guilty.
  
  Matthew Finck
• Even to this day I find myself lying awake remembering the time I threw the baby penguin off the map in Super Mario 64.
  
  Jake Reed
• I accidentally told a Wookie in Knights of the Old Republic to kill his father. I still get really emotional about it sometimes.
  
  Austin Mclaurine
• Let's see worst thing I have done in a video game was in Red dead...I just beat the game and was a good Samaritan throughout the game... but when approached by probably the only nun in the game I lassoed her and tied her to the train tracks for an easy 50 achievement points and an ever haunting bad conscious that forced me to church that weekend
  
  John S.
• The worst thing I've done in a game is rob the shop in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening. I stole the 980-rupee bow from the store early on, and the game asked me if I was proud of myself. Upon reentering the store, I was met with the "ultimate price," and everyone in the game forever after addressed me as "THIEF". I can't even describe how that affected my childhood.
  
  Nick Pattishall

Griefing Gone Wrong:

• The worst thing I have done in a game? I picked up four Legendary weapons a team mate accidentally dropped in Borderlands 2 and promptly ended the game. I have felt dirty ever since.
  
  Joe Atha
• I've blown up Megaton in Fallout 3, put on the Jack of Blades mask in Fable: The Lost Chapters, massacred Oakfield in Fable II, activated the ray sphere a second time in Infamous, sided with Elija to kill the Mojave wasteland in Fallout: New Vegas, replaced the Council with a human puppet government in Mass Effect, and gave the Collector Base to the Illusive Man in Mass Effect 2. But the worst thing I have ever done in a video game was I once accidentally killstole in City of Heroes. To this day, I am ashamed of that.
  
  Talbot Bluechel
• In GTA 4's multiplayer mode, a friend and I would convince other players that there was glitch that could be accessed in a helicopter. I would fly them to the middle of the water and then jump out of the helicopter so it would crash into the ocean, causing them to either have to take 10 minutes to swim back to land or restart the game. Meanwhile, my partner would be waiting in a boat nearby and we would cruise back to land. Needless to say, we did not have a lot of fans.
  
  Brad Trimmer
• The worst thing that I have ever done in a video game is in Knights of the Old Republic. My dad and I had been playing the game for quite a while. My dad was about to fight Malak and win the game and I was still stuck on Kashyyyk. I was playing one day and when I was finished, I saved the game over my dad's save file on accident. My dad hasn't played since.
  
  Daniel Sanchez
• Drowning newbies in World of Warcraft. My friend and I would cast water breathing on ourselves, swim out to a ship wreck, swim deep into the ship, and then invite newbies to our group. We would then summon them to us. They would appear deep in the shipwreck, start drowning, then panic. We'd watch as they would thrash around, desperately trying to find a way out until they drowned, at which point they would go still and float upwards.
  
  It was absolutely horrible of us to do, but also made us howl with laughter. We'd send them some gold and an apology later. If they were great sports, we'd invite them to the guild. We were, of course, playing horde.
  
  Erik Wolford

Man's Best Friend:

• The worst thing I have ever done was in Fable II. (Spoiler Alert) You know your best friend in the world (the dog) dies in a devastating twist. What you may not know is that with the Knothole Island DLC you can bring him back, at a steep cost. I deliberated for days over whether or not to do it. I am a Paragon and always have been in morality games. In the end, I knew I couldn't find all of the pieces to the armor I wanted without him so I did it...I led an old man to slaughter as a human sacrifice in return for my beloved pooch. It haunts me to this day. My armor looks awesome, though.
  
  Garrett Palmer

Some Neighbor:

• The other day in Animal Crossing: New Leaf, one of my fellow villagers asked, "How does this shirt look on me?" I answered, "Awful."
  
  Drew Bowden

Not Really Getting It:

• I picked up a turd in Duke Nukem Forever!
  
  Xan Holt

A Classic:

• What's the worst thing you've ever done in a video game? It's definitely when playing The Sims (original version) when I was a young teen. I used the editing cheat to put my whole sim family into a large room, removed the door, added a fireplace, very flammable carpet, and a dozen couches or so. Eventually the whole room went ablaze, and to top it off, I installed a boom box in the room, and watched the sims run around in horror to the tune of generic country music. It kinda creeps me out that I laughed as hard as I did. Then again, it was really funny.
  
  Adam Jenkins

What's the worst thing you've ever done in a video game? Confess in the comments below.