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President Ark posted:... I just noticed that the Skynet killbots have super-realistic teeth. Half of them at that time were infiltrator units or something like.
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May 12, 2014 21:20
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President Ark posted:... I just noticed that the Skynet killbots have super-realistic teeth. I imagine it's because when they're covered in fake skin to look like Austrian bodybuilders, metal teeth would give the disguise away. e:f,b
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May 12, 2014 21:22
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President Ark posted:... I just noticed that the Skynet killbots have super-realistic teeth. All the better to eat you with, my dear. 
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May 12, 2014 21:24
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Captain Oblivious posted:You're trying so hard it's adorable If Earth is the cradle of the mind, then might organic bodies be merely the cradle of the soul? quote:Why then, do they explicitly state that it's sending troops through the Warp Gate to conquer Earth? You are forcing a form of "salvation" on people just own up to it. Suppose Earth is in a state of total ecological collapse and humanity has been reduced to mutated techno-barbarism. A post-apocalyptic setting where the bad guys have won, making an already bleak world worse still for the remnants of humanity. Then a warpgate opens and the prodigals return. They have changed since they left for a better world, found freedoms you in your squalid misery can barely understand. Freedom from your petty oppressors. Freedom from hunger and thirst. Freedom from the merciless whims of a dying planet. Freedom from the tired demands of flesh and bone. I don't know about you, but I'd welcome the lost children of Earth as saviors. quote:Even if Beyond Earth is more optimistic than SMAC (not a high bar), transhumanism is a non-starter for a lot of people. It will be dystopian no matter what you do so you might as well not wuss out from the harder questions. Why does it have to be dystopian? What if the future genuinely will be better?
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May 12, 2014 21:25
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Cythereal posted:If Earth is the cradle of the mind, then might organic bodies be merely the cradle of the soul? Nothing is better for everyone. I literally just covered this in the post you quoted. "transhumanism is a non-starter for a lot of people" Ergo, anything that involves transhumanism (2/3rds of the affinities) is dystopian to the viewpoint of some people. People are fundamentally not rational actors and it doesn't matter how much "better" the Borg State is on paper. There will be resistance to transformation.
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May 12, 2014 21:28
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Captain Oblivious posted:Nothing is better for everyone. I literally just covered this in the post you quoted. I don't believe that. I hope that the future will be better, and that transhumanism will mean leaving behind some of the worst parts of mankind. Yes, two of the three affinities will reject the path of Supremacy, but that's not what I'm arguing. I am arguing that the Liberation victory could be exactly that: the prodigal sons and daughters of Earth returning to liberate and uplift humanity into a better tomorrow.
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May 12, 2014 21:31
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Cythereal posted:I don't believe that. I hope that the future will be better, and that transhumanism will mean leaving behind some of the worst parts of mankind. You are either not reading or not comprehending and I'm not sure which it is. Some will accept liberation. Many won't. We can't even get people to get behind Universal Healthcare in America and that's something that's tested, put into action, and objectively superior to the current system by every measurable metric. You think being upgraded won't have to be done by force in the case of, I'll be extremely generous, lets say 50% of humanity? Truth has never had anything to do with persuasion. The Borg State can be as objectively superior as it wants and the only plausible outcome of a return to Earth is still conquest  Religious reasons, philosophical reasons, you name it, the average person has cause to violently resist sweeping change to the fundamental human condition.
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May 12, 2014 21:36
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Cythereal all your posts read like terror robot propaganda, fyi.
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May 12, 2014 21:37
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Captain Oblivious posted:Nothing is better for everyone. I literally just covered this in the post you quoted. If i recall correctly, the intention for the victory conditions of the game is to mark a 'next stage of humanity' event Just about anything that isn't the standard 'kill all the motherfuckers' or score victory is probably going to end up looking like some sort of transhumanist playground. Even Purity is supposedly going to involve genetic engineering to become 'purer' humans without stuff like illness or disability or who knows where their going with is The impression I get from the panel video I watched around the time of the original announcement is that the team wants to focus on the positive aspects of these possibilities and paint things in a positive light rather then play into the usual dystopian concerns. We'll see if they actually succeed at that, I guess!
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May 12, 2014 21:38
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Captain Oblivious posted:You are either not reading or not comprehending and I'm not sure which it is. Some will accept liberation. Many won't. We can't even get people to get behind Universal Healthcare in America and that's something that's tested, put into action, and objectively superior to the current system by every measurable metric. You think being upgraded won't have to be done by force in the case of, I'll be extremely generous, lets say 50% of humanity? I'm reading your arguments. I'm simply rejecting them. I'm saying that the Liberation might very well be welcomed on Earth as salvation. Yes, some will resist it out of fear or a desire to protect their petty amounts of power, but I believe that the return of the Supremacists will be welcomed by Earth. Liberation, not conquest. quote:Cythereal all your posts read like terror robot propaganda, fyi. As opposed to the fear-mongers peddling Chicken Little's vision of the future? Perhaps.
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May 12, 2014 21:39
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Cythereal posted:If Earth is the cradle of the mind, then might organic bodies be merely the cradle of the soul? I'd view them as incomprehensible, inhuman monsters 
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May 12, 2014 21:44
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Demiurge4 posted:I'd view them as incomprehensible, inhuman monsters Oh no, they never go hungry or thirsty! Woe unto them, natural disasters no longer threaten them! The horror, they no longer suffer the slow collapse of old age! The end is nigh, they are free from disease and injury! It is time for humanity's childhood to end.
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May 12, 2014 21:50
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Boys, I think we found one of them robosexuals, let's kick his rear end.
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May 12, 2014 21:52
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Cythereal posted:Oh no, they never go hungry or thirsty! Woe unto them, natural disasters no longer threaten them! The horror, they no longer suffer the slow collapse of old age! The end is nigh, they are free from disease and injury! The funny thing is I'm all about the transhumanism angle personally, I am merely mocking your inability to grasp how many people ain't gonna see it that way and are kind of attached to the whole humanity thing.
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May 12, 2014 21:53
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Cythereal posted:Oh no, they never go hungry or thirsty! Woe unto them, natural disasters no longer threaten them! The horror, they no longer suffer the slow collapse of old age! The end is nigh, they are free from disease and injury! I mean I'm all for transhumanism myself, but I doubt I'd ever go further than a few bionics.
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May 12, 2014 21:53
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Hmmm! I am a post-apocalyptic savage, catching rats to feed to my family midst the blasted ruins of a dying earth. I know nothing of machines or civilization save for the rotting wreckage that fills the ghost-haunted cities of the bygone ages, and the silly legends that the elders passed down from their elders. Suddenly, a glowing vortex appears in the sky, and thousands of gleaming bionic figures come pouring out, slaying the tribesmen who, in terror, futilely throw spears and arrows and stones at them. What do you suppose I would think?
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May 12, 2014 21:57
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Captain Oblivious posted:The funny thing is I'm all about the transhumanism angle personally, I am merely mocking your inability to grasp how many people ain't gonna see it that way and are kind of attached to the whole humanity thing. Personally, I'm of the opinion that assuming people in the future will respond to transhumanism the way we do now is not a good idea. It's hardly as though you'll be landing on the planet and clicking the "become robots yes/no" button. I'd be surprised if a Supremacy faction doesn't accept cybernetic augmentation as widespread and completely normal before the next step is taken.
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May 12, 2014 21:58
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See, now, this is why this thread rocks so much more than the last one. The other thread consisted of 100% bitching about how none of the games were perfect. This thread is instead debating and discussing the merits of awesome possible future paths for humanity.
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May 12, 2014 22:03
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DrSunshine posted:Hmmm! I am a post-apocalyptic savage, catching rats to feed to my family midst the blasted ruins of a dying earth. I know nothing of machines or civilization save for the rotting wreckage that fills the ghost-haunted cities of the bygone ages, and the silly legends that the elders passed down from their elders. Suddenly, a glowing vortex appears in the sky, and thousands of gleaming bionic figures come pouring out, slaying the tribesmen who, in terror, futilely throw spears and arrows and stones at them. Where we're going you won't need to think.
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May 12, 2014 22:05
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I have to say that the possibility of Purity going for genetical enhancements and other options in order to perfect the human organism makes them sound far more interesting than I gave them credit for from the beginning.
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May 12, 2014 22:08
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Sylphosaurus posted:I have to say that the possibility of Purity going for genetical enhancements and other options in order to perfect the human organism makes them sound far more interesting than I gave them credit for from the beginning. Yeah but at that point Purity is basically "Harmony, except a little bitch who's afraid of taking it to 11". Yeah I said it.
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May 12, 2014 22:12
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Captain Oblivious posted:Yeah but at that point Purity is basically "Harmony, except a little bitch who's afraid of taking it to 11". Haw! I like you. Harmony vs. Purity players are inevitably going to be compared to James Cameron's Avatar and I love it. Hee hee hee.
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May 12, 2014 22:14
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If the Harmony ending really is another "fuse with Planet consciousness" thing like the article suggested I will be going Harmony out of a steadfast inability to break the habits SMAC taught me 
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May 12, 2014 22:17
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If the path that allows humanity to mutate itself and other creatures into a chimerical menagerie is wrong, then boy, I don't want to be right.
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May 12, 2014 22:24
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Captain Oblivious posted:If the Harmony ending really is another "fuse with Planet consciousness" thing like the article suggested I will be going Harmony out of a steadfast inability to break the habits SMAC taught me I hope we get dark and gut wrenching quotes like this one. quote:You are the children of a dead planet, EarthDeirdre, and this death we do not comprehend. We shall take you in, but may we ask this question--will we too catch the planetdeath disease? You already did Planet, you already did 
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May 12, 2014 22:24
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Captain Oblivious posted:If the Harmony ending really is another "fuse with Planet consciousness" thing like the article suggested I will be going Harmony out of a steadfast inability to break the habits SMAC taught me Whatever it is, I really hope there isn't any fluff about a 'blooming' or whatever it was called that made it seem like any option beside transcendence was doomed
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May 12, 2014 22:27
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Speedball posted:Harmony vs. Purity players are inevitably going to be compared to James Cameron's Avatar and I love it. Hee hee hee. From the sounds of it, Supremacy on a good day will be somewhere between the Cybran Nation and The Culture. On a bad day... SHODAN, the Borg, Eclipse Phase, Dr. Robotnik, take your pick.
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May 12, 2014 22:27
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It's pretty funny that given how all the different philosophies are set up to be incompatible, one of the victory types is being the first to contact another even more alien civilisation. I'm sure that our first diplomatic relationship with an alien race will go real well, given our track record.
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May 12, 2014 22:28
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We're genetically disposed to fear The Other and form exclusive tribes I'm sure first contact will go well Plus the gyrations many religions will need to go through to account for another sentient species And that's about as far down that d&d road I want to go as it relates to hex based city builder game
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May 12, 2014 22:40
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AriadneThread posted:Whatever it is, I really hope there isn't any fluff about a 'blooming' or whatever it was called that made it seem like any option beside transcendence was doomed Well to be fair, incredible amounts of ecological damage could have stopped the Blooming too. v vYou'd just be maiming an ancient God-like intelligence in so doing.
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May 12, 2014 22:53
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Fuligin posted:let us never forget the sins of the past thread Mods please please change the thread title to this. I've always been a fan of transhuman concepts, but I find the idea of transforming into an alien being rather than a cyborg way more interesting and novel and also cool. And yeah, you people who aren't cythereal have a point. Screw those earth guys who'll never understand what we've found, we'll just stay here and chill with our planet bro.
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May 12, 2014 23:13
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At any rate, in case anyone missed it in the latest blog, we now know more about one of the playable factions. The Pan-Asian Cooperative is an industrial faction, receiving production bonuses. And Brasilia has previously been referred to as a/the militaristic faction.
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May 12, 2014 23:36
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With the sub-factions thing going on in addition to Affinities I hope that we get something like the Looters again.Prav posted:Of course it's a liberation. You can trust us. We are here to help you. I hope we can make Terminators.
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May 13, 2014 00:32
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Strange Matter posted:The tragic irony of SMAC is that because Miriam can only really win if she rushes everyone she comes across at the start of the game, she will either be dead or will have won the game already before the really horrible stuff like the Dream Twister, Singularity Inductor or the Bulk-Matter Transmitter becomes available which would vindicate her beliefs. what's wrong with the bulk-matter transmitter?
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May 13, 2014 00:37
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There was already a thread for this game, but this one is way better. The ability to basically 'roll you own' civ with the starting bonuses is really interesting and, from a game design perspective, much easier to balance (change the 'credit' cost of whatever bonuses you make). Changing unit upgrades is probably for the best, that's just tedious in the original civ.
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May 13, 2014 00:40
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Speedball posted:See, now, this is why this thread rocks so much more than the last one. The other thread consisted of 100% bitching about how none of the games were perfect. This thread is instead debating and discussing the merits of awesome possible future paths for humanity. The last thread didn't involve cringe-worthy discussions that basically surmise which forms of xenophilia you fetishise most. 
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May 13, 2014 00:49
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rudatron posted:There was already a thread for this game, but this one is way better. The old thread was earth circa 22XX, it was polluted and damaged by its inhabitants. This one is the new planet we've discovered, vibrant and untainted for now.
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May 13, 2014 00:49
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Verviticus posted:what's wrong with the bulk-matter transmitter? Or the singularity inductor, for that matter. It's just teleportation and a really fancy reactor, right?
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May 13, 2014 00:50
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Fuligin posted:Or the singularity inductor, for that matter. It's just teleportation and a really fancy reactor, right? And what of the immortal soul in such transactions? Can this machine transmit and reattach it as well? Or is it lost forever, leaving a soulless body to wander the world in despair? —Sister Miriam Godwinson, “We Must Dissent” Something something technology is bad and caves are the only suitable habitat for mankind's pure souls or whatever
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May 13, 2014 00:55
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Chonchon posted:And what of the immortal soul in such transactions? Can this To be fair, the video does seem to back her up on that.
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