Quote Originally Posted by BillyKaplan View Post
The sooner people detach "light and darkness" from "good and evil" the more this debate can progress. The two pairs are unrelated.
The trouble with detaching Light and Darkness from Good and Evil is that you are then left with the question: Just what ARE Light and Darkness? What kind of actions promote Light? What kind of actions promote Darkness? By elevating Light and Darkness to such abstract concepts, it becomes impossible to try to guide the world away from extremes. I ate a sammich for lunch, and the world got two Darkness points? Dammit! How was I supposed to knooooow???

It makes it easier to tell a story, sure. You can pick whatever actions best suit the current plot line to move the balance one way or another. In patch X.X, the WoL runs Dungeon X, and the Light is strengthened! Hooray! But in Patch Y.Y, WoL runs Dungeon Y, and inadvertently strengthens the Dark while the Ascians chortle with glee. Onoes!

Speaking of the Asicans, it doesn't help the "Darkness is not Evil" theory that the folks apparently on the side of Darkness are all (save Elidibus) cackling villains. :/ Sure, we have the Warriors of Darkness, in theory evidence that you can promote the Dark without being evil - but they USED to be Warriors of Light, and are only WoDs now because the Ascians helped them become so. Plus, they became WoDs out of desperation, and were prepared to engage in some pretty evil acts to save their world. Which, again, doesn't help the theory.