What if they have first-person perspectives which are objectively comparable to us in the same way that we are comparable to solar fusion?
What are the necessary and sufficient conditions to be "total jerks" in any objective sense?
Then, if I understand the question correcly, the creators would be being partially altruistic, which we'd mistake for being non-altruistic because we don't understand that solar fusions can suffer.
"Not taking other-regarding reasons for actions seriously" makes you a total jerk. "Others" are beings with a first-person perspective, the only type of entities for which things can go well or not well in a sense that is more than just metaphorical. You could say that it is "bad for a rock" if the rock is split into parts, but ther...
If it is... I hope they do not crash the system with the test.
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/12/12/physicists-universe-simulation-test-university-of-washington-matrix_n_2282745.html
Be sure to check out the actual reseach papers linked in the article! I would have linked to them directly, but the article is full of follow-on links of considerable interest.