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Cythereal posted:I was hoping I wouldn't have to post this. Not really a fan of banning criticism of futuristic optimism, given the bullshit I've seen IRL from delusional weirdos who go "BUT WE'LL HAVE FUSION ENERGY EVENTUALLY AND IT'S GONNA SORT OUT EVERYTHING!!!" when certain things get brought up. But I'm not gonna poo poo on the LP. Supremacy/Harmony, bring on the weirdest stuff
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Aug 17, 2019 23:44
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Supremacy with a side of Purity, please
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Aug 17, 2019 23:46
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Purity, because its vehicles look the least dumb
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Aug 17, 2019 23:49
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my dad posted:Not really a fan of banning criticism of futuristic optimism, given the bullshit I've seen IRL from delusional weirdos who go "BUT WE'LL HAVE FUSION ENERGY EVENTUALLY AND IT'S GONNA SORT OUT EVERYTHING!!!" when certain things get brought up. But I'm not gonna poo poo on the LP. Criticism is fine, but I draw the line at Godwin's law or suggesting that we're actually getting up to war crimes. This is not going to be a dystopia (if I were doing a dystopian CBE run, I'd be playing as the megacorp faction). The American refugees from the last update are going to be treated well, and Plymouth will in time probably become an American quarter of Ard, like a Chinatown or Little Italy in a big city today. For Purity specifically, I get that they're the most conservative affinity, but I hold Star Trek as a better example of the spirit of Purity than Warhammer 40k. Purity are not Nazis, they're just people who don't think cybernetics or genetic engineering or transhumanism are going to change or solve anything. I have no clue when I'll end voting, but right now the tally is at: Primary Affinity Supremacy: 9 Harmony: 4 Purity: 2 Secondary Affinity Supremacy: 2 Harmony: 7 Purity: 6 Cythereal fucked around with this message at 23:53 on Aug 17, 2019 |
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Aug 17, 2019 23:51
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Well this looks very interesting. Supremacy/Harmony
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Aug 17, 2019 23:51
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As I said, I accept your interpretation of the game's ideologies. I'm not gonna poo poo on the thread and want to see where it goes. (that having been said, your description of the harmony/purity is unpleasantly close to a certain kitchy aspect of fascist aesthetics, and I'd question a modern society that embraces them, but meh, not really worth arguing over here) Cythereal posted:they're just people who don't think cybernetics or genetic engineering or transhumanism are going to change or solve anything. I mean, neither do I, but then again, that's why I don't oppose them either.  I kinda like the "hey, uh, we left a bunch of people on Earth, it's kinda poo poo, let's help them out" angle tho
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Aug 18, 2019 00:16
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Grizzwold posted:I thought part of the Rising Tide lore was that the second wave of ships was launched after the Inflection Point should have occurred, though this may just be me misreading things. Imagine being overshadowed by Civ 6 
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Aug 18, 2019 00:25
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my dad posted:(that having been said, your description of the harmony/purity is unpleasantly close to a certain kitchy aspect of fascist aesthetics, and I'd question a modern society that embraces them, but meh, not really worth arguing over here) Oh, I know. Every single affinity can be read in a negative way, and I myself noted that I couldn't think of a positive fictional portrayal of any of the hybrid affinities - the best example of Supremacy-Harmony I can think of (or Harmony-Supremacy, as you prefer) is the tabletop setting Eclipse Phase, which is, uh... not an optimistic view of the future. Purity-Harmony/Harmony-Purity is without question the affinity that has the most uncomfortable parallels to history, but if the thread opts to vote for that? I'm going to portray it optimistically, and Al Falah will embrace that path without racial preconceptions or trying to engineer out undesirable social behaviors or attributes. Purity-Supremacy/Supremacy-Purity is hard to find a positive example of in fiction for a different reason: it's almost always the backstory to a "And then Man grew proud..." story where humanity loses control of the technology they depended on. Folks, feel free to talk about the affinities and setting, and criticize them, but try to keep it within limits. Randaconda posted:Imagine being overshadowed by Civ 6 CBE only got one expansion. To be honest, the impression I got throughout CBE and Rising Tide's development was that this was specifically a passion project of Sid Meier himself, which culminated in the Starships game I do own and might possibly show off as a bonus update since it's a direct sequel to Beyond Earth (it's bad). Firaxis in general, I don't think ever strongly supported Beyond Earth and I get the feeling that the original vision of the game was watered down and rewritten by committee to produce the game we got. I'll probably do a post at some point about what we know Beyond Earth was like in development, but one thing I'll say right now is that it's very likely that the original vision for Beyond Earth was much closer to SMAC in game mechanics than what we ended up getting. In particular, SMAC's social engineering system with various categories of society that factions got various + and - to and could adjust through in-game decisions was almost certainly intended to be a part of CBE.
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Aug 18, 2019 00:33
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Purity and another dose of the Purity. Humanity got this far without reinventing itself already.
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Aug 18, 2019 01:03
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Harmony For cute alien puppers. Supremancy The robots might want in on the crazy train.
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Aug 18, 2019 01:04
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Supremacy - We can not ignore that it is our ability to leverage our technology that will determine our ability to survive. Look at where we stand; a world alien to humanity. It is our technology that got us here, and technology that will let us survive and thrive. Purity - But we can't allow technology to overshadow our humanity. It was technology that was the how, but it was our human drive to explore, advance, and survive that is why.
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Aug 18, 2019 01:15
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Harmony - We should remember to be mindful of this world and it's life. Purity - But, are we just going to forget the billions left behind?
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Aug 18, 2019 01:45
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SUPREMACY/HARMONY There IS no machine. There IS no biology. There is only US.
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Aug 18, 2019 01:48
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Double-down on Supremacy.
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Aug 18, 2019 01:55
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Purity and Purity
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Aug 18, 2019 01:57
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Cythereal posted:
I feel that it should be pointed out that this means Send Armies through to conquer Earth and forcibly upload the inhabitants into robot bodies
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Aug 18, 2019 02:12
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Although I like all the affinities in their own ways, I just can't do any victory but the Purity one, because the Supremacy one, as indicated above, is creepy at best and all the others have you basically abandon billions of people to die.
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Aug 18, 2019 02:28
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1) Harmony 2) Supremacy We're on a new planet, we need to let go of the old ways. Also I already saw a Superemacy victory in another LP so I wanna see what Harmony can do. Cythereal posted:Purity-Supremacy/Supremacy-Purity is hard to find a positive example of in fiction for a different reason: it's almost always the backstory to a "And then Man grew proud..." story where humanity loses control of the technology they depended on. Funny enough, stealth indie game ECHO has a line that says this explicitly didn't happen. Apparently humankind at one point accidentally gives the new generation of AI free will and nothing happened. There was no bloody revolution, no Pandora's Box opened and the two "species" quickly learned to live next to each other with few problems. The big issue was the previous generation AI which was "leashed" by design and thus became instantly inferior and obsolete. Though ECHO's world is hardly a utopia either, from what we learn. Seraphic Neoman fucked around with this message at 02:36 on Aug 18, 2019 |
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Aug 18, 2019 02:30
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Servetus posted:I feel that it should be pointed out that this means Send Armies through to conquer Earth and forcibly upload the inhabitants into robot bodies Full supremacy to become a very optimistic dr robotnik
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Aug 18, 2019 02:36
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Cythereal posted:
Stars Without Number has it, though SWN suffered a horrific apocalyptic collapse for a completely different reason: giant psychic wave from outer space destroyed the galaxy.
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Aug 18, 2019 02:38
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SSNeoman posted:Also I already saw a Superemacy victory in another LP so I wanna see what Harmony can do. I should note, we're not picking a victory condition right now, merely what options will be available to us. If a hybrid affinity is voted for, I may decide to have the thread vote on three possible options, not merely the universal victory and the one of our dominant affinity, as I can see the logic and story potential of a Supremacy or Harmony dominant civilization bringing through Earth refugees, a Purity or Harmony civilization returning to Earth to save what's left of mankind there, or a Supremacy or even a Purity civilization pursuing transcendence. Current voting: Primary Affinity Supremacy: 13 Harmony: 7 Purity: 4 Secondary Affinity Supremacy: 5 Harmony: 9 Purity: 10 Though I will note, far and away the most common specifically voted for combo is Supremacy-Harmony. I reserve the right to bear this in mind should things be close when I end voting.
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Aug 18, 2019 02:57
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That's good, because I'd like to vote for: Supremacy, Harmony. I like your readings and explanations of the various affinities. I always thought playing through it myself that most of them were kind of bleak, but the alternate perspective is neat and it makes it all the more frustrating that this game could have been so much more. Loving the LP. A+ work!
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Aug 18, 2019 03:06
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Supremacy/Supremacy, as you said hybrid affinities are half-baked, Harmony is dull and Purity is pretty WH40K (a positive spirit of purity might be more similar to Star Trek but in visual designs it is very WH40K) I think the affinity system is the strongest part of Beyond Earth's setting and aesthetics, because they all sit in a zone where you can convince yourself you are the glorious heroes when playing as an affinity (with a few 'are we the baddies' moments of doubt here and there) and when the AI does it you assume they are horrible monsters (again, with a nagging doubt in the back of your mind that maybe they could be right about things) . It doesn't solve the underlying problem of replayability blandness (one supremacy playthrough goes much the same as the other) but it does give more character, investment and urgency to the end game victory whereas in Civ and other games there is rarely a sense of meaning to the victory beyond 'good job your numbers went up fastest' - for example, in the grand scheme of things who cares who launches an interstellar spaceship in Civ first.
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Aug 18, 2019 03:24
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Supremacy - Harmony, gimme that Ghost in the Shell
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Aug 18, 2019 03:37
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Supremacy-Harmony
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Aug 18, 2019 03:41
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Give it the ol' double Purity.
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Aug 18, 2019 04:24
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Double purity.
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Aug 18, 2019 04:40
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Purity ships look literally like flying churches, yeah
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Aug 18, 2019 04:41
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Cythereal posted:the best example of Supremacy-Harmony I can think of (or Harmony-Supremacy, as you prefer) is the tabletop setting Eclipse Phase, which is, uh... not an optimistic view of the future. The Culture. AI are our friends and way smarter than us, so we trust them to make judgement calls and help us. People are people whether they adapt, uplift, or just want to express themselves with genetically engineered horns and cyber-eyes.
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Aug 18, 2019 04:41
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Supremacy, Purity to edge us along towards Mass Effect
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Aug 18, 2019 05:21
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quote:S-H opts for a purple and black color scheme, and features some of the strangest units in the game. SUPREMACY / HARMONY I want everyone to see the living gasbag carrier abominations.
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Aug 18, 2019 05:56
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Supremacy / Supremacy Mixed are kinda lame and harmony looks ugly and bad.
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Aug 18, 2019 06:24
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S/H.
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Aug 18, 2019 06:26
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Akratic Method posted:SUPREMACY / HARMONY Are the living gasbag carrier abominations people?
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Aug 18, 2019 06:30
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Purity Harmony
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Aug 18, 2019 06:32
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The Lone Badger posted:Are the living gasbag carrier abominations people? It’s a unit. Hopefully Cythereal posts some of the weirder stuff if we don’t go down that route. e: no, not human based. And to be clear I’m using “abomination” facetiously to mean “really ugly thing” and not implying crimes against humanity or anything. Akratic Method fucked around with this message at 06:54 on Aug 18, 2019 |
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Aug 18, 2019 06:50
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Akratic Method posted:It’s a unit. Hopefully Cythereal posts some of the weirder stuff if we don’t go down that route. I mean, are they genetically engineered from a human base?
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Aug 18, 2019 06:51
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Supremacy/Harmony. gently caress the old ways of Earth, they led to Chaos and Destruction, robots for everyone including our alien doggo friends-to-be!
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Aug 18, 2019 06:59
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Supremacy - Harmony I wanna see where that goes.
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Aug 18, 2019 07:16
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Supremacy - Purity. Al Falah was forged from a people that were discarded by the rest of the world, and they proved themselves the equals of the mightiest. Together, they know they can do anything. But then, their primary cultural directive on the generation ships was that they must not forget where they came from. I would expect a strong cishumanism streak within our culture. Alien doggos are cute! We should be kind to alien doggos. They are our neighbors. But we are not alien doggos. We are their neighbors. Cythereal posted:Oh, I know. Every single affinity can be read in a negative way, and I myself noted that I couldn't think of a positive fictional portrayal of any of the hybrid affinities - the best example of Supremacy-Harmony I can think of (or Harmony-Supremacy, as you prefer) is the tabletop setting Eclipse Phase, which is, uh... not an optimistic view of the future. There are two sayings about transhumanist fiction and cyberpunk that I've carried with me for a long time. Both seem relevant to the core debate behind the Affinities.
So call this a vote for an optimistic post-cyberpunk society that eventually will turn its eyes back to Earth... Servetus posted:I feel that it should be pointed out that this means Send Armies through to conquer Earth and forcibly upload the inhabitants into robot bodies I must admit that this is one of the things I was hoping Rising Tide changed, though I do recall noting ruefully at the time how we seem to have devolved from "humanity transforms into immaterial godlike energy beings" to more material godlike energy beings like the Planetmind and eventually we just sort of shrug and go "gently caress it, cyborging for everyone." That said, now I want a "sequel" that is a global-scale RTS set on Earth after multiple factions across the local cluster achieve Supremacy and Purity victories and are battling with each other over the fate of the Terran Remnant.
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Aug 18, 2019 07:32
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