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Playing through the Black Mage event was a lot of fun. The story line was going really well until I got to the part where the Black Mage starts entering the Genesis Crux and Orchid "rests." You are asked by the Black Mage the reason for fighting, and you are given two options: the "will to sacrifice" and "the will to survive." I chose the "will to sacrifice", which apparently led me to "lose," and I was then reprimanded by Tana, which led to the game saying the "correct" answer was "the will to survive."
Excuse me?
There are two huge issues with even putting this in the game in the first place. Firstly, nearly every MapleStory main storyline (and most secondary storylines) involved heroes who were willing to sacrifice themselves for the good of others: all of the Heroes (especially Shade), Crimsonheart, Afrien, Shinsoo, the mercenary of Grand Athenaeum, all of the Winter Bard characters, the Maple Alliance members... the list goes on and on. To suddenly say that heroes are made from the "will to survive" basically says every past hero is stupid for sacrificing themselves. In fact, the only "hero" who had the "will to survive" was Lireni from Masteria through Time, who actually calls himself a coward and tells everyone "not to repeat his mistakes."
Secondly, it's blatantly wrong in life. All of the heroes we celebrate we do so because they sacrificed themselves for others, even giving their lives at times. Most recently we celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day, who most certainly is a hero because of his sacrifices, not his "will to survive." I would go so far as to say anyone who lives only to survive is a coward who would run away whenever their life is threatened. That's not a hero; no one would respect that person.
So I believe it's simply right to switch the choices: the "will to sacrifice" is the right choice, and is what makes the Adversary of Destiny... not the "will to survive."
Thanks,
AK712
Comments
A similar issue was lampshaded in the Order of the Stick while discussing Roy's inability to attack the cleric of Hel at the Godsmoot; Roy could attack her, but it'd force the clerics whose gods support the destruction of the world to attack Roy thanks to the Godsmoot's rules. Even though the fate of the world is at stake, Roy doesn't do anything: The Durkula arc is eventually wrapped up with a different sacrifice, but this sacrifice makes sense because it actually does solve the problem at hand (also necessary to expand on the plot with the Snarl).
Additionally, it's not so much the "will to survive" as in "eat food, breathe, and don't get stabbed in the gullet by a giant magic sword", it's more like the collective will for the world to survive; the fight against the Black Mage was, at the most basic level, a fight to decide whether or not the world should continue to exist. Someone who escapes a fight just to survive might be a "coward" in some works, but someone who pointlessly stays behind to die when they could pull back and win later would be considered a fool in others.
Think about the similar speech made in One Piece episode 278: Nico Robin turned herself in to protect the Straw Hats from CP9, only for the Straw Hats to turn around and declare war on the World Government; Robin's sacrifice isn't glorious, it's actually rather selfish. In the end, the important part is that her friends fought for her, and nothing is solved by her killing herself, so she declares "I want to live". Because fighting for what you believe in is far more noble an act than simply giving up and dying because of what you believe in.
The trope for this is called Senseless Sacrifice, the downer counterpart to Heroic Sacrifice. You can find more examples of works deconstructing the necessity of sacrifice in the Tropes page, including real world examples as a counter to MLK that you mentioned.
Edit: Also, my character's choices were "I would sacrifice my life if it meant saving everyone else" versus "I must defeat my enemies, even if I have to give my own life to do it". Both were sacrifices. Unless this specific dialog is different per character:
Strive to live on for the people who depend on you, you're of more use alive than dead, etc.
And to repeat words from a recent controversy; MLK did not give his life, he was assassinated.
The point was that you weren't willing to give ANYTHING away.
Rather than saying "It's okay to sacrifice x" your character is supposed to go all anime and say "I'm not giving you a damn thing!"
It's the desire to not lose anything that's important. I feel like this one might have been lost in translation.
Orchid kept telling us that we needed to be ready to sacrifice. When the real key was not being willing to give up anything, even if it meant our life.
I think the explorer felt they HAD to sacrifice, rather than that it was a possibility. At least, that's the way I interpreted it.
Edit: Oh and all those other heroes you mention had a will for the world to survive. The will to sacrifice was second to that.
This is why I think something got lost in translation.
Edit2: I really should have read Neospector's post first...