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Robindaybird posted:honestly a lot of RL hippie communes either fall apart due to internal conflicts, calling it quits when they realize they're not cut out for the kumbaya lifestyle or fall prey to charismatic cult leaders. Most communes also don't have to deal with the environment trying to kill them, which adds additional pressure. Communes are always in places like America where you can walk around in the sun and never places like the Arctic or northern Siberia. RedSnapper posted:
Yes, they just seem so wildly unprepared for what they got their children into.
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Dec 12, 2022 05:10
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Just started reading the thread and jesus the game straight up kills a kid  Yeah game doesn't look so cute anymore. Poor Tammy.Anyway let's be a dumb curious kid and go to the gate, and I guess keep raising Perception and Bravery.
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Dec 12, 2022 15:27
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painedforever posted:So... we have to be bullies to be friends with Marz? That's... not a good outlook. No, we do not have to be bullies to be friends with Marz. We have to interact with her in a way that is stimulating and pleasing to her, same is with everyone else. Unfortunately, our LPer is so Marz-averse, there isn't much in the LP I can point towards as a hint for what to do with Marz to become friends. The game is very carefully written to not require the main character to stick to a particular stance, set of beliefs or even an attitude towards other characters in order to befriend anyone. Clarity is absolutely capable of being at 100% friendship with everyone in the colony without being a dick or burying some people in gifts to soothe them (but birthday gifting will be necessary to 100% everyone before the game ends). There's one character who arguably could be described as an exception, but only in that to expedite friendship gain Clarity would need to say things that the character would take at face value while the player is free to interpret them as sarcasm. Kacie posted:Definitely been thinking about the presentation of Marz vs Tang. I agree that if one reads Marz as a bully, then Tang is as much of one, if not more so in some cases. I personally wouldn't call them bullies insofar as neither intend to cause harm and pain to the people they hurt. They're both socially awkward pre-teens in a tiny colony without anyone seriously investing into their development (because survival comes first, I guess). Tang's only adult supervision is her scientist mentor who... is not a good example of socialisation, and Marz's dads are about as busy as our parents. Tang & Dys are likely to only have had a genetic donor, so no dad in the picture. They are a pair of identical twins, and given Tang's full name, it's likely that their mother ended with a pair of them instead of a single child on accident. I find it interesting how much more investment and sympathy there is for Dys & Cal than for Marz, Tang & Anemone wherever I see people discuss this game. All these kids are abrasive and lovely to each other in some form or another (well, not all, but we haven't interacted with the exceptions, really), but the boys primarily turn to passive aggression and evasion, while the girls are active aggressive and blunt. Points for a strong inversion of traditional gender dynamics, but also this makes for a showcase in how easy it is to default to finding the non-resistant, shy and passive to be more deserving of sympathy. rastilin posted:With only 20 people to work with, it seems kind of impossible that this colony would still be around 10 years from now. I can't quite remember where it's mentioned, but the colony is about 100 (maybe 150?) people, majority adults in their 30s/40s. There are definitely other children younger than Clarity's creche group, and probably some older teens & young adults in the Kom-Utopia age range, although that's less certain. Szarrukin posted:I have nothing to add. Again, why do we even have military? Vertumna starts looking less like "hippie colony" and more like old Israeli kibbutzim - raising kids toghether, emphasis on community but also on military aspect and defense from some vague threat. (I know kibbutzim still exist, but from what I know they are much different than ones from Israel early years) I'm still not sure how much of what you say in the posts is playing up a "first playthrough" perspective, and how much is down to you not having seen a lot of the game, but just in case: since this is a question, and people seem to be interested in how and why the colony came to be, maybe Clarity could use a couple visits to the Humanities class? And I guess we should go to the gate to meditate on whether Rhett is right.
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Dec 12, 2022 17:23
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Lokapala posted:No, we do not have to be bullies to be friends with Marz. We have to interact with her in a way that is stimulating and pleasing to her, same is with everyone else. Unfortunately, our LPer is so Marz-averse, there isn't much in the LP I can point towards as a hint for what to do with Marz to become friends. I largely agree with this post. I actually find all the Marz hate really weird, especially since she's a young bratty girl, not a full-grown adult. Lokapala posted:I'm still not sure how much of what you say in the posts is playing up a "first playthrough" perspective, and how much is down to you not having seen a lot of the game, but just in case: since this is a question, and people seem to be interested in how and why the colony came to be, maybe Clarity could use a couple visits to the Humanities class? I'll second the suggestion to take Humanities.
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Dec 12, 2022 18:59
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Tangent is by far the most interesting character we've met so far, in my eyes.
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Dec 12, 2022 19:44
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Sneak peek into next update.
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Dec 13, 2022 00:15
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I'll try to cool down with Marz hating, it's just that I really, really don't like bullies and a) her behaviour is much, much worse than Tangent's and b) neither young age nor hard childhood aren't any justification. As far as I remember, older Marz is less "alpha bitch bully" and more "egoistic, self centered but not downright malicious" anyway. And yes, second playthrough will be more Marz-friendly. (although I'm not going to participate in Dys bullying - luckily, as Lokapala mentioned, it is possible to be friends with Marz without being an rear end in a top hat) quote:I'm still not sure how much of what you say in the posts is playing up a "first playthrough" perspective, and how much is down to you not having seen a lot of the game, but just in case: since this is a question, and people seem to be interested in how and why the colony came to be, maybe Clarity could use a couple visits to the Humanities class? Kinda both. Mostly first playthrough perspective, but it's been a while since I played last time and I only finished game once (with Tangent ending) so I guess there's a lot of things I simply don't know or forgot. Also I didn't mentioned that before, but I really like menu theme. It's very catchy.  I really don't think untrained 11yo kid can help in any meaningful way. Let's just observe from safe place.  drat. I don't know why, but Naruto reference seems to be very out of place. Also, devs didn't bothered to make another Kombucha model, which is why we don't see any plasrifle on his shoulder and he appearently brought his ball to the fight?  Retreat!  Even despite circumstances, it's good to see Dys&Tang together, for once.     She's right. I was there until Kom found me and told me to go hide. Of course I am right. You were at the gates? C'mon, what's going on out there? Didn't saw much. Something almost killed me.I am not suprised. I guess Kom decided not to tell anyone about our little excursion.   Oh no. Not again.  What happened? Don't worry about that. It's adult stuff, okay? You guys won't be able to go into the Engineering wing for a little bit, not until it's decontaminated Now that I think of it, as far as we know there wasn't anyone adult with us in creche, not even parents, much less any soldier. Whatever killed Hal could as well get into creche and kill all of Vertumna children (sans Cal). I hope safety procedures for next year will be updated.  Hopefully this one will be better.  That second answer :roll:  I miss him too He was a good teacher. He didn't deserve to... to die. I wish I could've done something to save him.Tang sighs. Well, we can't count for adults to protect us, that's for sure. We'll have to do it ourselves  What are you playing? You haven't heard of it. I made it myself. Where did you learn how to do that? It's pretty simple. People on Earth used to make this kind of stuff all the time. And I have a lot of time to learn new things. Um. What happened to Marz? Adults believing bully and victim blaming person who is bullied, I know this story.  I don't like any of these answers. I can totally understand 12yo bullied kid to hate his bully and find creative ways to vent, but even for me videogame where he burns Marz alive it's kinda too much. I don't want to encourage him by playing his game, but at this point I'm 120% sure there is no one in entire colony who would actually help Dys. I also don't believe talking to bullies can change anything. If they were able to listen the voice of reason, they wouldn't be bullies in the first place and, as we remember, Marz is literally augumented to be unable to feel shame for her actions.  I'm sorry friend, but this gives me unpleasant school shooter vibes and I'm not even American. I really like you, but... this is wrong. Seriously, I know that there are no therapists but virtually all kids here need some help. Even if we ignore some glaring psychological issues here, we are living in colony under constant threat and three people died already, one of them being our friend. And it's gonna be worse.   Oh look, hopeyes, they are so cute... wait, what do you mean "they pounce"?  Yeah, that's new. And I have a bad feeling if even one-legged fluffy meerkat is attacking us.  Oh, hi. I hope you don't have any Columbine-like games with you this time.   Holy crap! I kinda imagine it looking like big Crustle  New card that I probably won't ever use.  You bet it is. Such big arachnid must have some amazing respiratory system to survive.   I really wish we could give him some proper help.  Anyway, we kept exploring, but no event was noteworthy, mostly things we've already seen - peecows, unisaurs, old stuff.   Sometimes it feels like two hundred already. I kinda screwed up here - I should've picked photophonor from Dys, which unlocks new job.  Instead I've picked flower that... honestly, I have no clue what it does. Wiki suggests it's a gift for character we won't meet in a long time... who likes all items equally.   A loving eye! A trusting, gentle eye!  Again, I don't like any of these answers. I wish we could pick something like "xenobiologist" or "explorer" instead of "monster hunter". I remember that when I was twelve I wanted to be paleontologist. Or astronaut, but even back than I knew that if you are not American, your chances to be astronaut were even slimmer than usual. (I didn't knew ESA is a thing back then).  Mom. There are literal monsters outside, I don't know what do you mean by "too many hologames" Al and Bernie's full names are Aluminium and Burnish.   Lazy time.   I definitely prefer this over some sick torture porn.  Huh, so it isn't self insert. Perhaps the mysterious figure we met earlier?   Following your wishes I'm going to focus on humanities now.  I don't think we've had a chance to meet Congruence yet? Yes, our colony has fully functioning AI.  Tang, I know you are smart, but being a teacher isn't just about knowlegde. I'll say it's the least important part while it comes to be a good teacher and with almost no empathy and minimal social skills I don't think Tangent would be good teacher.     More!  Oh crap. I have absolutely horrible handwriting, I hated calligraphy classes when I was a kid and honestly, I do not remember when was the last time I used my pen for anything else than sign myself.  Right?  ...ugh, I guess she has a point.  I have to admit, I'm still not sure if I hold my pen "properly" while writing.   Marz, I promised goons I'll be nice to you. Don't make this even harder. We could offer our help, but Tangent would just consider it a pity from our side.  Although I am genuinely curious what Marz writes in her free time. Poetry perhaps?   At this point I don't think it's just hay fever.    For once I fully agree with Mom.   DAD! Will he be OK? It doesn't seem to cause long-term damage to the body. I've been tracking its effects for three seasons now. The toxin is flushed out of the body after three to five days and it's not contagiousShe looks down at your father. What that means for you, Geranium, since you're particularly susceptible to the toxin - you should be taking better pains to avoid exposure. If you must go outside during Pollen, use a respirator. Your dad smiles weakly You got it boss.As your literal boss, I'm ordering you not come into work for the rest of the week. You are on strict bedrest.She leans in to touch her forehead to his. They stay like that, smiling with relief. That could be worse.   Hopefully it won't cause any allergic reaction.   Tangent asking for help? Must be something big.  I came as soon as I could! I'm researching the Shimmer, the respiratory illness some people report during Pollen. I'm loathe to admit it, but I need your assistance. Confirmation that Geranium is our biological father, which isn't that obvious in Vertumna society.  That last sentence is... unnerving. Sometimes Tangent seems to be one unfortunate accident away from stereotypical mad scientist.  Second question mark is "Helped Tangent".   Someone's in trouble.  That's one of things I like in Tangent - she hates it when she's wrong, but she will not lie about it and isn't afraid to admit she made a mistake. She requires perfection from everyone, herself included.  I think that at this point we all know what Tang would say to second answer What were you working on? Something I've been working on with Chief Engineer Instance. I'm not supposed to talk about it. And I don't want to talk about it. You will. I certainly hope so.  Now, something we were all waiting for.  The history of our little group.  We already knew the basics - group of people disappointed in late stage capitalism society decides to make their own, with  What we didn't knew is that Vertumna Group started as glorified fandom of SF book.  Now that I think of it, I don't know many left-wing SF writers besides Ursula K. Le Guin (and I would gladly take some recommendations - back where I live, fantasy and SF authors are usually more or less right-wing biased). One could argue that Vertumna is slightly similiar to Anarres from "The Dispossessed".   Another reveal: colony on Vertumna IV isn't first attempt of creating new society. It looks like Cythereal was right, and Vertumna Group was basically a cult.   And, judging by "more colonies" part, it wasn't small cult, but a large movement with violent past. Large enough that some people considered it as legitimate threat for more conservative ideologies.  I wonder if Hal would be able to give us more nuanced answer. Welp, we'll never know or will we?   At last we know roughly how many people are in Vertumna - one hundred plus children born after leaving Earth (and minus six deceased people so far), so I would say... about 120 people? I'm pretty sure it isn't enough people to maintain genetic diversity in a long run, but perhaps genetic engineering helps circumvent this issue.  Notice how spaceship was bought but Congruence and genetech were "acquired by connected group members".   It looks like Earth was in much worse shape than we thought.  Confirmation that Clarity and rest of Vertumna colonists don't actually speak English. Very nice touch.   That's a lot to think about. What do you think about Vertumna Group and our colony now that we know our origin story?
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Dec 14, 2022 22:08
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Definitely kind of weird cultists - it's not clear to me that your parents have ever seen the 'outside world' Genetic engineering would seemingly solve the diversity issues... sort of. The issue is that you need to get to that 1000 threshold before you lose the genetic engineering capability, and doesn't look like fertitility rates are at that level given when they just said the technology is going to break, so does seem like the colony is doomed.
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Dec 14, 2022 23:07
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I think that Vertumna is a skip and a hop away from a eugenic movement using genetic engineering to breed 'superior' humans. I'd bet that that is why they were seen as a threat on Earth. This particular group, at least, seems to be made of hippies, but this: Is something that would have Chairman Sheng-ji Yang nodding in agreement with (and I say that as someone who likes the Human Hive). Vertumna is striving to not simply be a social movement, but a eusocial movement that wants to radically change the meaning of human society, and likely humanity itself in the long run. Even if they meant well, it's no wonder at all that other people saw them as a threat. Such a movement, especially combined with their intense use of genetic modification, would be one charismatic demagogue away from something nightmarish. Of course, you could easily argue that such a radical effort is necessary and justified and good, but still. From what we currently know of the colony, things are probably balanced on a razor's edge of commitment to their principles versus compromising for the sake of survival.
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Dec 14, 2022 23:15
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Szarrukin posted:Seriously, I know that there are no therapists but virtually all kids here need some help. That link does not apply to the Vertumna Group. They have access to therapy. How good it is, why it is in the state it is, who and how gets access to it - are all things that we might try and learn about. ...Although I'm fairly certain the reason why Dys does not get any is obvious: you cannot force people to undergo therapy. And he would not choose it himself. His name, his backstory and the story of his mother are very relevant to the topic of Strato colonists & therapy, actually. Szarrukin posted:Instead I've picked flower that... honestly, I have no clue what it does. Wiki suggests it's a gift for character we won't meet in a long time... who likes all items equally. White Astrantia is a unique universal gift, that gets you +10 Friendship with any character. Szarrukin posted:Now that I think of it, I don't know many left-wing SF writers besides Ursula K. Le Guin (and I would gladly take some recommendations - back where I live, fantasy and SF authors are usually more or less right-wing biased). One could argue that Vertumna is slightly similiar to Anarres from "The Dispossessed". A lot of Soviet SF is full of variations of this game's plot! And I swear one of Lem's novels is, too, but I cannot remember its name. Soviet SF in general is full of explorations of what a true communist society (In Space!) could look like. When it's not mind-numbingly boring super-hard SF detailing how a spaceship engine might work. Szarrukin posted:At last we know roughly how many people are in Vertumna - one hundred plus children born after leaving Earth (and minus six deceased people so far), so I would say... about 120 people? I'm pretty sure it isn't enough people to maintain genetic diversity in a long run, but perhaps genetic engineering helps circumvent this issue. The genetic diversity problem was accounted for by the nice people tasked with procuring advanced AI & genetech. Strato has a lot of genetic material in their freezers! And there's our answer as to why Rhett thinks in terms of training soldiers, and not guards. Because he was one. Maybe even a child soldier, given that he was 31 when Strato left Earth. The named adults fall into 3 groups (not counting Eudicot, who was probably one of the founding members of the original Vertumna Group): Rhett & Instance left Earth aged 31; our parents, Hal & Tonin were 21-24; and one of Marz's dads & Cal's mother were... 13-15.
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Dec 15, 2022 00:28
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so were they the only known success because: -they had the combination of ideological coherence and technology and everyone else failed? -communicating with other seed ships across space is hard? -communicating is easy but nobody wants to talk to the scientologist hippies?
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Dec 15, 2022 01:02
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I guess that "connected group members" who "acquire" advanced AI and genetech is major advantage when it comes to space travel and colonization of exoplanets
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Dec 15, 2022 01:14
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Mister Olympus posted:so were they the only known success because: -easier to keep the cultists in line if they think there's no one else left and nowhere they can go.
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Dec 15, 2022 01:27
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I actually left that history lesson more sympathetic to the colony rather than less. When the dominant strains of your culture are Immortan Joe and Hitler (With Nukes), a bunch of absolute weirdos trying to start over with as little baggage as possible seems a lot more appealing. Also it makes the Naruto reference even weirder. I like the strong naming scheme of everyone having names from science textbooks but we haven't even seen a reference to Muhammed or Jesus. Or Le Guin. Was Naruto like the one outside piece of fiction that slipped through?
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Dec 15, 2022 01:43
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…Yeesh, necessary or not, these guys are creepier and creepier with each revelation.
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Dec 15, 2022 05:32
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BassMug posted:…Yeesh, necessary or not, these guys are creepier and creepier with each revelation. The thing to remember though is that everyone here (including the parents!) was born into the cult. The L Ron Hubbard in this Scientology analogy and all his recruits died on earth. (as far as has been revealed anyway)
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Dec 15, 2022 05:53
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I disagree that Marz was trying to bully Dys with the nano-printer incident. That sounds a lot more like Marz thinking she knows best what Dys needs, and trying to make him do what she wants. That's not good, it is attempting to control Dys, but it isn't bullying. The adults not listening to Dys is par for course - the adults are not paying attention (because they're desperately trying to keep the colony alive). Whether or not talking to her would help depends on whether or not she decides to really listen - which is not an easy skill for adults, and something that teens are expected to have a hard time doing. That doesn't mean it isn't worth an attempt. I see what Lokapala was getting at - thank you, Lokapala - with how the teens are handling (or not handling) issues. My take on the colony - as Congruence says, they don't have a way to keep up their tech level and replace high-tech equipment. That's scary. They should expect to see more bad reactions as the immune system fires up against all the xeno biology, and possibly new pathogens adapt to human physiology. They are in a race to figure out how to replace/replicate medicine on the alien planet from native resources before supplies run out and their nano-printers break. They may not have that long as there's hostile mega-fauna, and possibly they're seeing changes in smaller fauna aggression, too. The colony appears to be trying to do a lot of things all at once, between the societal, cultural, biological changes, and trying to survive in a new colony. That hurts their survival chances. And I still feel they're not taking the existential threat seriously.
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Dec 15, 2022 06:46
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I put our odds of reaching adulthood at maybe one in five.
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Dec 15, 2022 07:00
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Kacie posted:I disagree that Marz was trying to bully Dys with the nano-printer incident. That sounds a lot more like Marz thinking she knows best what Dys needs, and trying to make him do what she wants. That's not good, it is attempting to control Dys, but it isn't bullying. In that case she would not only admit it was her who did it, but she would actually be proud of it and would never allow Dys to take credit for this "achievement".
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Dec 15, 2022 08:21
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Tulip posted:Also it makes the Naruto reference even weirder. I like the strong naming scheme of everyone having names from science textbooks but we haven't even seen a reference to Muhammed or Jesus. Or Le Guin. Was Naruto like the one outside piece of fiction that slipped through? It's funnier that way 
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Dec 15, 2022 09:58
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Kacie posted:I disagree that Marz was trying to bully Dys with the nano-printer incident. That sounds a lot more like Marz thinking she knows best what Dys needs, and trying to make him do what she wants. That's not good, it is attempting to control Dys, but it isn't bullying. The adults not listening to Dys is par for course - the adults are not paying attention (because they're desperately trying to keep the colony alive). Whether or not talking to her would help depends on whether or not she decides to really listen - which is not an easy skill for adults, and something that teens are expected to have a hard time doing. That doesn't mean it isn't worth an attempt. I still can't get over the "no shame" thing. It feels like one of the main things with starting a colony is that people have to work together or everyone will die. Purposefully choosing a genetic change that actually makes it harder for someone to get along with others is the worst idea imaginable in this situation. It gets me that all their genetic changes are little "fun" things and not a standard "survive in extreme environments" package. That change that makes that one person grow scales when they're injured just sounds like such a terrible idea down the line. It's small enough to not really help him survive, but is still large enough to have unforeseen edge cases that may require constant medical care down the line. It's such a bad idea that any group of people that had changes actually be reviewed would have shot it down. It feels like a science fiction fan-club should be able to workshop out these changes beforehand and realize that they introduce troubling variables into a difficult situation.
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Dec 15, 2022 11:46
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The "no shame" augment feels like something a parent who had been through a lot of childhood embarrassment would come up with and they hadn't thought it through. In fact, "hadn't thought it through" seems to be a pretty common element. It gives me the impression that they're all under pressure to give their kids an augmentation without any standards as for what.
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Dec 15, 2022 11:54
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rastilin posted:I still can't get over the "no shame" thing. It feels like one of the main things with starting a colony is that people have to work together or everyone will die. Purposefully choosing a genetic change that actually makes it harder for someone to get along with others is the worst idea imaginable in this situation. Marz thinks its pretty simple. Everyone does what she says and that way there's no disagreements or conflicting methods.
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Dec 15, 2022 12:07
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With every update Exocolonist looks more like leftist version of "A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear" book.
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Dec 15, 2022 12:08
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Szarrukin posted:With every update Exocolonist looks more like leftist version of "A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear" book. Word And I'm with everyone on Marz's "upgrade" "We're travelling to another planet to start an Autonomous, Mutualist, Anarcho-Syndicalist Commune! Let's make sure our daughter isn't burdened with one of the most powerful means of regulating her behavior"
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Dec 15, 2022 13:19
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The kids are not alright. And neither will the colony considering there seems to be a whole lot of bad ideas and planning around this project. That people see this as a better alternative really hammers home how hosed Earth must be in this. This game is a lot darker than I thought it would be.
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Dec 15, 2022 15:12
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RedSnapper posted:And I'm with everyone on Marz's "upgrade" I have no idea what's driving this reaction to Marz, other than the tone set by the LPer, I guess? We have 2 kids in this story whose augments alter their emotional processing, and the shameless one is not the socially maladjusted one here. Aside from the fact that Marz's attempts to corral people to be "normal" is actual normal social behaviour for pre-teens aged 8-12, consider other kids for context here. Tang & Dys are straight up antisocial, one disdains other people, the second hates them. Cal is so self-righteous, he'll gently caress over 6 or more people involved in a game because of his pressing need to tell Anemone he knows better than her what she should enjoy. Anemone is a sporty tomboy and thus generally isn't very social outside of organised sports. What do we know of Marz, other than her attempts to push her standards of self-care on Dys and attempts to force socialisation on people around her? - her way of loving up a sportsball game was no way of a similar magnitude to Cal's, and she took the social consequences of that with equanimity instead of a shouting match - she tried to organise "Valentine's Day" as a communal fun for the kids (and a reciprocal gift-giving fun, no less) - last Vertumnalia she organised a water fight fun for the whole colony, that was enjoyed by all - she works a job at the depot, thus helping with resource distribution and logistics for the colony Yes, she's awkward as gently caress about it all, but so is everyone else, and we are talking about kids age 11-12 here. ...how, exactly, is Marz the bad commune member??
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Dec 15, 2022 16:48
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Marz is a protagonist stuck in a side role.
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Dec 15, 2022 16:52
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Lokapala posted:I have no idea what's driving this reaction to Marz, other than the tone set by the LPer, I guess? Can't speak for anyone else, but I've been the Dys to more than one Marz, and it is a wholly unpleasant experience. Considering the site we're on I wouldn't be surprised if that's driving the lack of sympathy for her. I don't think Marz is a bad person (she's a kid, for one thing) but I find her personality type annoying 
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Dec 15, 2022 16:58
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Lokapala posted:I have no idea what's driving this reaction to Marz, other than the tone set by the LPer, I guess? Because while her behavior is pretty normal for a child her age, she's been genetically engineered to not care when people get mad about it. Which means that it's going to be really, really hard to make her stop. Combined with the fact that there's only like these 5 who are the same age on the whole planet, means that they're going to be stuck with Marz for the whole of their lives. Her parents made her this way on purpose. Actually, I think the hippie commune makes Marz much worse to deal with. In a normal society, the others would be providing negative feedback by just avoiding her, and she would find it much harder to force the issue; so she'd have to make an effort to get along (shame or no) if she wanted company. This would calibrate her behavior. Here, the village dynamics mean that the others can't effectively curb her behavior, so they don't really have any option beyond just tolerating her.
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Dec 15, 2022 17:46
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Lokapala posted:...how, exactly, is Marz the bad commune member?? Picking on someone for their flaws is still bullying even if you actually want them to change those flaws. Especially when those flaws are made-up, like Dys smelling. She's a straight-up bully. Maybe it's not as apparent and she's a more sympathetic character when you're not doing a playthrough with Dys as your best friend, but this is one that is.
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Dec 15, 2022 18:22
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Lokapala posted:I have no idea what's driving this reaction to Marz, other than the tone set by the LPer, I guess? Roman Reigns posted:This game is a lot darker than I thought it would be.
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Dec 15, 2022 18:44
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Roman Reigns posted:The kids are not alright. All the parents in this colony were brought up in a cult compound. We literally have no idea how bad the earth is/was because there is noone around who had unfiltered experience of earth.
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Dec 16, 2022 00:09
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Lokapala posted:I have no idea what's driving this reaction to Marz, other than the tone set by the LPer, I guess? She's a straight-up bully and honestly, I don't know what else can I say beside what's already been shown. I would say it's one of the most realistic portrayal of bullying I've seen in videogame - unlike games like Life is Strange (where bullied person is likeable and sympathetic and bully is outright unlikeable) in Exocolonist bully is person who is actually very charismatic and liked by rest of community, who tends to turn the blind eye on bullying, and bullied person is a loner and "weirdo". "They are just children", "they were just kidding" and "but they did so many good things for community" are very common IRL justifications for bullying. Tangent is distant, but she never did anything outright mean for anyone. (the "you are too stupid to be my friend" turned out to be misinterpretation from my side). Tang is cold, Marz is cruel. Szarrukin fucked around with this message at 00:40 on Dec 16, 2022 |
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Dec 16, 2022 00:36
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Szarrukin, I recommend reading some of Octavia Butler's works. Her writing is powerful and thought-provoking.
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Dec 16, 2022 03:56
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The more I think about it, the more questions there are. For example if they're speaking Esperanto, who decides what media got translated; the ship probably doesn't have a full cross section of media or anything remotely esoteric. They have poems, sure, but poems are tame. No murder mysteries, no techno-thrillers, no sci-fi, no satire, no Machiavelli, no soviet sci-fi, no Korean web-novels and so on. Exploring the mental state of people in this strange cult seems way more interesting than the strange planet they're standing on. Certainly the lack of sci-fi context would probably change how they relate to their technology.Kacie posted:Szarrukin, I recommend reading some of Octavia Butler's works. Her writing is powerful and thought-provoking. I've heard it said that media keeps trying to convince us that conflict comes from people being "different", and not from people standing between us and the land with the really precious metals (that they're mining themselves... how dare they). I think that basically every conflict boils down to this if we drill down a bit.
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Dec 17, 2022 03:16
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So, we are part of a cult, that also speaks Esperanto as their official language? Isn't that basically a cult within a cult?
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Dec 18, 2022 16:16
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rastilin posted:The more I think about it, the more questions there are. For example if they're speaking Esperanto, who decides what media got translated; the ship probably doesn't have a full cross section of media or anything remotely esoteric. They have poems, sure, but poems are tame. No murder mysteries, no techno-thrillers, no sci-fi, no satire, no Machiavelli, no soviet sci-fi, no Korean web-novels and so on. Exploring the mental state of people in this strange cult seems way more interesting than the strange planet they're standing on. Certainly the lack of sci-fi context would probably change how they relate to their technology. clearly the only movie they had is William Shatner's masterpiece Inkubo
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Dec 19, 2022 05:04
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In 1966 no less. I didn't realize but Shatner's been acting since 1958, that's impressive. EDIT: But not, because it would probably involve too much conflict and contact with the old society. So they wouldn't take it along.
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Dec 19, 2022 08:07
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| # ? Jun 1, 2024 05:17 |
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quote:For example if they're speaking Esperanto, who decides what media got translated; the ship probably doesn't have a full cross section of media or anything remotely esoteric. They have poems, sure, but poems are tame. No murder mysteries, no techno-thrillers, no sci-fi, no satire, no Machiavelli, no soviet sci-fi, no Korean web-novels and so on. Later it is confirmed that there is at least one anime series in Vertumna archives. Happy Holidays to you all!  Now that we know a lot more about Vertumna history, perhaps we should occupy our mind with something lighter.   Sure, that sounds neat!He shows you around rows of corn and bean from earth.* They all look a little yellow and scraggly, not what you'd expected, but your dad enthusiastically points out the vegetables ready to harvest Don't forget that Vertumnalia festival is coming up. There will be a talent show and a science fair. I'm sure you eager to participate, Clarity!Seeing how we already took part in two Vertumnaliae, I wonder if this dialogue wasn't supposed to show up much earlier. (*with lower "e" in original text, don't know if this is a typo or not)  I still want to unlock Geoponics jobs   We might not be the smartest, but we are not stupid either  ez  Of course I'll help! Honestly we just need somebody to label petri dishes and move them from the cooler to different machine. A hopeye could do it.  We think the Shimmer is the form of their reproduction. It's like... a fungus trying to turn us into more fungus like it. It's really neat, actually. You sound like you like the fungus I admire the mechanism. But we'd be much safer if surveyors just set fire to it rather than trying to study it. Who knows what else is out there, trying to kill us!I'll say nuke it from the orbit. It's the only way to be sure. Tang firmly keeps her 1st place in "most sane kid on planet" competition, as long as we don't mind her perfectionism and occasionaly falling into "humanity gently caress yeah" mode.  Where could I find a sample? Our most useful reports have been from foragers returning from Valley of Vertigo where the pollen is thick all year. That might be a good place to start.Or to get infected ourselves.    Why not Tirah? She's a life support engineer, she's surely capable of assisting Instance. Also, I might be wrong, but it seems that with Hal's death Vertumna has no one with enough knowledge about Earth's history and culture to be a teacher, much less dedicated historian, seeing how life sciences get Instance as replacement, but humanities have to settle for AI, who is unable to provide more nuanced context besides basic facts, as we've already seen.  I kinda missed it before, but in very first update of this LP it was mentioned that Tammy's mom (with suprisingly Earth-like vanilla name, being just fancy variation of Lavender) is dead, which makes her another person on our "people who died before landing on Vertumna" list. Remember, it was stated before (on Tammy's very funeral) that all people who passed away on Stratospheric died from natural causes, claim that gets more and more suspicious with every update.  Here's our Council. No Tirah (again) and, suprisingly, no Rhett.   there's a covid joke somewhere here  We have champion title to defend!   Easy.    What's up Tang? Just. Great. Well, I compromised an experiment I was working on because the vent was still open when I was spraying the workstation down with sanitizer.She sniffs It's so gross here, I probably did that fungus a favour Tang, I know Vertumna isn't paradise, but we are the priviledged ones now. Remaining 99,99% of humanity lives in an postapocalyptic hellhole, with nuclear wars (plural!) included.  I hate being patronized too.  Time for more humanities classes.   While I can understand Earth-That-Was nostalgia, I think climate problems are more relevant issue.   ...well poo poo. I didn't expected it to be THAT bad. Honestly, it is quite possible that colonists on Vertumna are, or soon going to be, last remnants of human species.  "Exocolonist" isn't very subtle with its anti-capitalist message, as we are going to find out very soon, and I like it. Time for being subtle is long gone.  I'm not sure what the "weird mud" is supposed to be. Oil? Coal?   As I told, both Instance and Tang are great scientists, but very bad teacher material.   New job unlocked!  But we have something much more interesting planned for this month  Boy, this gonna be fun.     The planet broke before capitalism did.  I don't have anything to add here.  Cal addressing elephant in the room.  One answer is missing - how we can be so sure there are no natives on Vertumna? As far as we know, we explored less than 1% of planet.  I'm not saying anything.  Oh, sister.   We know enough biology trivia to become better friends with Cal   Enough slacking around, time to check out our new job   Is it just me, or a lot of research on Vertumna is basically "let's gently caress around with this alien thing and see what happens"?   Perspective of more expeditions is getting closer.   I hope that in case that Clarity decides to start career in music, her scenic name will be Lil' Potato.  According to Vertumna Research Code there's only one valid answer   Yup, confirmed - humans (except Instance and Tang perhaps) just do random poo poo and Congruence keeps us from hurting ourselves.  We spent one of our mushwood logs to find out what it is, exactly. Don't worry, we have like 12 more.   we useful now   More Humanities.   ...with nothing really interesting happening.  But I'm kinda sure some interesting poo poo is going to happen this month.   Xenobotany is the first job that actually is affected by Glow (besides sportsball which is just locked)    gently caress it. There's no security here and Engineering is exactly the place where xenos attacked last time. We're leaving.   oh gently caress  Awww, this little thing is scared and wants to leave. Just like us.  We should team up.  Our new friend? Aren't they cute? With these tentacles and many eyes they look like chibi-Cthulhu. I wish I could name them Little Old One.   Welp, who knows, perhaps they're sentient and will tell us their name one day? Perhaps when the stars are right?  I wonder if our parents are going to notice our little xeno pet/friend?   Geoponics. Our main (and only) source of food. It's like they knew they don't have to kill us all - just cut us off supplies and let us starve.  I feel this year is going to be rough. But hey, not only nobody died this year, but we also made a new friend!
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Dec 24, 2022 21:25
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