Quantic Foundary have produced a study that looks into player preferences when playing rpgs. This study focused on faction preference in rpgs and looked at the data according to motivation scores, age and gender.
[...]RPGs are known for creating deep narratives where players are able to immerse themselves in a compelling world and get lost in their "role". As developers seek to create more immersive worlds, characters have become more and more customizable. Not only can players choose what their character looks like, or their base stats and abilities, but also their ethics and moral code. Will their character be a champion of the helpless, or a power crazed tyrant?
While this mechanic has experienced a resurgence (Mass Effect, inFamous, Bioshock, and Knights of the Old Republic series being some of the more popular examples), it is not a new one. A more classic example would be from 1985 when Ultima IV introduced a virtue system that, depending on how the player answered morally ambiguous questions, would determine their class and other gameplay details.
Do gaming motivations and demographics impact the choice of "good" or "evil" factions in RPGs? It turns out they do, but sometimes in surprising ways.
More information.Younger Gamers Are More Likely To Pick The Dark/Evil Faction
So if gender doesn't influence faction choice, what about age? As we've seen in a previous article, age can have a large influence on how gamers play, and that appears to be the case here as well.
The average age of players who preferred the Dark/Evil side was 22.7 years old. Players who sought out more morally ambiguous options averaged at 26.3 years old, and finally those more inclined to seek out Light/Good factions were the oldest at an average age of 27.8. Overall, among gamers who have a faction preference, those who preferred the Dark/Evil side were much younger.
