Which ending do you think is the best one now?

The Something Awful Forums > Main > General Bullshit > Which ending do you think is the best one now?

Which ending do you think is the best one now? This poll is closed.
New Dark Age	26	47.27%
The Benevolent Dictator	19	34.55%
The Invisible Hand	10	18.18%
Total:	55 votes

[Edit Poll (moderators only)]

Grillfiend: Nov 29, 2015; Belgians ITT
(ie Me)

Cubone posted:

tracer tong is right at least insofar as recognizing that the consolidation of governmental power that's not ultimately answerable to the governed is an existential threat that can never be entirely eliminated, and I do believe that more smaller, closer communities are a good idea in some respects, firstly because it's less alienating to the individual just going by the savanna principle, and secondly because I believe sociopolitical diversity is important for the same reason biological diversity is� but I also believe that there has to be some level of global community that's capable of recognizing and responding to what works and doesn't work in those smaller scale communities and maintain a minimum level of mutual diplomacy. this solution rejects centralism, but recedes so far back tribalism re-emerges as a threat. it also seeks to stifle technological advancement, which I think history has repeatedly demonstrated to be paternalistic and always in vain. even if it weren't, vigilance is just the constant, eternal cost of freedom, and this solution at best makes it slightly more manageable for an indefinite amount of time

merging with helios is the same kind of quasi-religious technocratic nerd jerkoff fantasy as ~the singularity~, and speaks to a woefully pathetic, condescending conception of ones own species as being unable to take responsibility for its own destiny.
algorithms are neither apolitical nor amoral, there is no robot savior coming down to save us, and nobody who would choose to give themselves absolute power should be trusted to do so. gently caress this ending

and preserving the illuminati barely even deserves mentioning. it's just the kind of obstinate, nimby, don't-rock-the-boat pseudo-wisdom that allows broken power structures to persist long after they've demonstrated themselves to be corrupt or incompetent. while there's certainly something to be said for not throwing the baby out with the bathwater, in this case we're discussing a secret government that had no right to govern in the first place. same sad, authoritarian compulsion as the helios ending, only combined with a revolting subservient deference to the status quo. gently caress this ending too

if I had to pick one, the new dark age is the least worse, but only because the other two are abominable
the real issue is that, due to the conspiratorial nature of deus ex's plot, all three endings start from the frankly wrongheaded assumption that authoritarian power structures derive their power from obfuscational complexity, when, in truth, authoritarianism is much more likely to thrive in simple, vertically integrated power structures without a lot of facets to worry about and especially not a lot of finicky, loud-mouthed, unreliable human individuals with their own sense of curiosity, duty, and ethics. a smaller government is easier to control, and the idea that complexity somehow exists to obfuscate a government's actions from its people is reductive, manifestly counter to the reality, and, sadly, an effective propaganda tool for authoritarians looking to tighten their grip within democratic systems by eliminating complexities that impede their desire for unilateral control

sir, I only asked for a forty

# ? Apr 18, 2019 15:23

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# ? Apr 25, 2024 23:03

Big Dick Cheney: Mar 30, 2007

Why would billions of people die just because you can't communicate globally? I feel like that's on the people who built the system.

# ? Apr 18, 2019 15:30

Gay Weed Dad: Jul 12, 2016; cool dude, flyin' high

Easily the part where he starts walking normal and you're like "drat, he Keyser Soze!"

# ? Apr 18, 2019 15:39

Meme Poker Party: Sep 1, 2006; by Azathoth

Big Dick Cheney posted:

Why would billions of people die just because you can't communicate globally? I feel like that's on the people who built the system.

Social media withdrawal.

# ? Apr 18, 2019 15:56

OMFG FURRY: Jul 10, 2006; [snarky comment]

i think i stopped playing for awhile after this part

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1b-bijO3uEw

# ? Apr 18, 2019 15:57

Nigmaetcetera: Nov 17, 2004; borkborkborkmorkmorkmork-gabbalooins

Big Dick Cheney posted:

Why would billions of people die just because you can't communicate globally? I feel like that's on the people who built the system.

I haven't played it in a long time but it seemed pretty clear from the context that lots and lots of people would die. I mean, it was clearly intended as the bad ending, with helios being the good one and the illuminati being the neutral one. Also, it doesn't really matter who is at fault, just what the consequences are.

# ? Apr 18, 2019 16:05

Arrhythmia: Jul 22, 2011

Nigmaetcetera posted:

I haven't played it in a long time but it seemed pretty clear from the context that lots and lots of people would die. I mean, it was clearly intended as the bad ending, with helios being the good one and the illuminati being the neutral one. Also, it doesn't really matter who is at fault, just what the consequences are.

You're a buffoon if you think that the game presents any of the endings as canonically "better" than the others.

# ? Apr 18, 2019 16:20

Nigmaetcetera: Nov 17, 2004; borkborkborkmorkmorkmork-gabbalooins

Arrhythmia posted:

You're a buffoon if you think that the game presents any of the endings as canonically "better" than the others.

ugh fine I'm a buffoon

why's everybody always have to get personal on here? i thought one of the endings was worse than the other two, so what, it's a video game

# ? Apr 18, 2019 16:23

Arrhythmia: Jul 22, 2011

Nigmaetcetera posted:

ugh fine I'm a buffoon

why's everybody always have to get personal on here? i thought one of the endings was worse than the other two, so what, it's a video game

All of the endings presents you with incalculable suffering and the destruction of the enlightenment ideals of the American revolution. Each ending is framed similarly, with someone, be it Daedaelus, Tracer, or the Illuminati, clapping JC on that back and saying "congrats, you made the right choice". Deciding which ending is the "good" one is a personal choice you made, not one the game set up.

# ? Apr 18, 2019 16:29

Nigmaetcetera: Nov 17, 2004; borkborkborkmorkmorkmork-gabbalooins

Arrhythmia posted:

All of the endings presents you with incalculable suffering and the destruction of the enlightenment ideals of the American revolution. Each ending is framed similarly, with someone, be it Daedaelus, Tracer, or the Illuminati, clapping JC on that back and saying "congrats, you made the right choice". Deciding which ending is the "good" one is a personal choice you made, not one the game set up.

The enlightenment ideals of the american revolution had failed by that point. Something new was needed.

# ? Apr 18, 2019 16:34

OMFG FURRY: Jul 10, 2006; [snarky comment]

the only true revolution is the tracer tong one because thats the only one where all the records/debts are destroyed

but only the Agent Orange play through is the true Gaming Experience

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qohaWhfGjJM

# ? Apr 18, 2019 16:41

Arrhythmia: Jul 22, 2011

Nigmaetcetera posted:

The enlightenment ideals of the american revolution had failed by that point. Something new was needed.

All three endings give you something new: enlightened absolutism, aristocratic oligarchy, or small scale feudalism. Deciding which of these is the best option is a personal choice.

# ? Apr 18, 2019 16:41

Nigmaetcetera: Nov 17, 2004; borkborkborkmorkmorkmork-gabbalooins

Arrhythmia posted:

All three endings give you something new: enlightened absolutism, aristocratic oligarchy, or small scale feudalism. Deciding which of these is the best option is a personal choice.

Fine, well I choose number one and two and think anybody who selects number three is probably the unabomber.

# ? Apr 18, 2019 16:43

Beartaco: Apr 10, 2007; by sebmojo

Cubone posted:

tracer tong is right at least insofar as recognizing that the consolidation of governmental power that's not ultimately answerable to the governed is an existential threat that can never be entirely eliminated, and I do believe that more smaller, closer communities are a good idea in some respects, firstly because it's less alienating to the individual just going by the savanna principle, and secondly because I believe sociopolitical diversity is important for the same reason biological diversity is� but I also believe that there has to be some level of global community that's capable of recognizing and responding to what works and doesn't work in those smaller scale communities and maintain a minimum level of mutual diplomacy. this solution rejects centralism, but recedes so far back tribalism re-emerges as a threat. it also seeks to stifle technological advancement, which I think history has repeatedly demonstrated to be paternalistic and always in vain. even if it weren't, vigilance is just the constant, eternal cost of freedom, and this solution at best makes it slightly more manageable for an indefinite amount of time

merging with helios is the same kind of quasi-religious technocratic nerd jerkoff fantasy as ~the singularity~, and speaks to a woefully pathetic, condescending conception of ones own species as being unable to take responsibility for its own destiny.
algorithms are neither apolitical nor amoral, there is no robot savior coming down to save us, and nobody who would choose to give themselves absolute power should be trusted to do so. gently caress this ending

and preserving the illuminati barely even deserves mentioning. it's just the kind of obstinate, nimby, don't-rock-the-boat pseudo-wisdom that allows broken power structures to persist long after they've demonstrated themselves to be corrupt or incompetent. while there's certainly something to be said for not throwing the baby out with the bathwater, in this case we're discussing a secret government that had no right to govern in the first place. same sad, authoritarian compulsion as the helios ending, only combined with a revolting subservient deference to the status quo. gently caress this ending too

if I had to pick one, the new dark age is the least worse, but only because the other two are abominable
the real issue is that, due to the conspiratorial nature of deus ex's plot, all three endings start from the frankly wrongheaded assumption that authoritarian power structures derive their power from obfuscational complexity, when, in truth, authoritarianism is much more likely to thrive in simple, vertically integrated power structures without a lot of facets to worry about and especially not a lot of finicky, loud-mouthed, unreliable human individuals with their own sense of curiosity, duty, and ethics. a smaller government is easier to control, and the idea that complexity somehow exists to obfuscate a government's actions from its people is reductive, manifestly counter to the reality, and, sadly, an effective propaganda tool for authoritarians looking to tighten their grip within democratic systems by eliminating complexities that impede their desire for unilateral control

# ? Apr 18, 2019 17:22

Coolguye: Jul 6, 2011; Required by his programming!

lots of people dying from tong's decision is a pretty logical conclusion. breakdowns in communication literally always lead to breakdowns in trade, and trade is what allows these 'city-states' to specialize and ultimately get more work done with a lessened input of effort.

less work getting done means fewer goods and services, which will inevitably include food, fuel, clothing, and shelter all coming into shorter supply. this isn't an argument, this is a recitation of basic economic theory as it goes back over the course of centuries. in that way, tong's ending is a 'bad' one because yeah he is definitely suggesting you kill a ton of people without a clear idea of what will happen next or that it'll be worth the suffering.

calling someone a 'buffoon' for intuiting this is insanely dumb i m h o

also by dx2 tong has recanted his position and supports the helios ending

# ? Apr 18, 2019 17:46

Cubone: May 26, 2011; Because it never leaves its bedroom, no one has ever seen this poster's real face.

Grillfiend posted:

sir, I only asked for a forty

that's terror

# ? Apr 18, 2019 17:55

YagotmeIdidit: Jan 10, 2018

Coolguye posted:

also by dx2 tong has recanted his position and supports the helios ending

DX2 kinda sucks.

# ? Apr 18, 2019 18:11

Coolguye: Jul 6, 2011; Required by his programming!

YagotmeIdidit posted:

DX2 kinda sucks.

yeah. i liked it a lot as an exploration shooter and i liked the smaller scope of it in the sense that i can rush through the entire game in like 2 days, unlike DX1 which is a big-C Commitment. but in terms of maintaining the atmosphere and narrative strength and all the other things that made DX1 a truly great game it falls flat on its face.

# ? Apr 18, 2019 18:14

Cubone: May 26, 2011; Because it never leaves its bedroom, no one has ever seen this poster's real face.

Grillfiend posted:

sir, I only asked for a forty

y'know, I've made fun of the Hong Kong bartender conversation a lot
I thought it was the silliest example of everybody in deus ex being some kind of drat philosophy major
he's just some dude selling beverage

but thinking about it here in the stupid future, that's just a perfectly normal place for that guy to end up

it's actually much weirder that bob page and walton simons know a single thing about philosophy
irl those guys would have gotten by for their entire lives by mostly just being aggressive blowhards and never having to answer any specific questions

# ? Apr 18, 2019 19:06

El_Elegante: Jul 3, 2004; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS; Biscuit Hider

Cubone posted:

y'know, I've made fun of the Hong Kong bartender conversation a lot
I thought it was the silliest example of everybody in deus ex being some kind of drat philosophy major
he's just some dude selling beverage

but thinking about it here in the stupid future, that's just a perfectly normal place for that guy to end up

it's actually much weirder that bob page and walton simons know a single thing about philosophy
irl those guys would have gotten by for their entire lives by mostly just being aggressive blowhards and never having to answer any specific questions

Peter Thiel, billionaire and philosophy major would like to have a word with you in the abbatoir where he harvests the blood of the young.

# ? Apr 18, 2019 20:43

garfield hentai: Feb 29, 2004

thanks for gettin' me in

# ? Apr 18, 2019 20:50

The Dipshit: Dec 21, 2005; by FactsAreUseless

Totally thought this was going to be about the Mass Effect games.

# ? Apr 18, 2019 21:00

Devils Affricate: Jan 22, 2010

The AIs were smarter and saner than any of the humans, and JC was a pretty cool guy, so Helios ending

Tracer's solution would have resulted in massive human death, as others have mentioned

Illuminati solution is just Helios but worse

# ? Apr 18, 2019 22:11

purple death ray: Jul 28, 2007; me omw 2 steal ur girl

Best ending is the one where Mr Green is an fbi agent and he's like "I'm going to go home and sleep with my wife!" but honestly I couldn't watch the movie without all of the endings anymore.

# ? Apr 18, 2019 22:19

Marta Velasquez: Mar 9, 2013; Good thing I was feeling suicidal this morning...; Fallen Rib

The forums poll software must be glitching. I don't see the option for Goku.

# ? Apr 18, 2019 22:30

Colonel Cancer: Sep 26, 2015; Tune into the fireplace channel, you absolute buffoon

Can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs. Let's not pretend that an average RPG protagonist, especially considering average player's playstyle, is not a mass murdering psychopath so it's not like a few more million kills are gonna matter.

# ? Apr 18, 2019 22:57

Nicodemus Dumps: Jan 9, 2006; Just chillin' in the sink

purple death ray posted:

Best ending is the one where Mr Green is an fbi agent and he's like "I'm going to go home and sleep with my wife!" but honestly I couldn't watch the movie without all of the endings anymore.

Is that the same ending where Tim curry says "to make a long story short-" and everyone else yells "too late!" because I like that one too.

# ? Apr 18, 2019 23:01

Myron Baloney: Mar 19, 2002; Emitting dimensions are swallowing you

Mess! You! Up!

# ? Apr 18, 2019 23:10

YagotmeIdidit: Jan 10, 2018

OMFG FURRY posted:

i think i stopped playing for awhile after this part

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1b-bijO3uEw

Now we have Siri, Cortana, Alexa...

And since I like the game so much here's the bits where they try to make case for their plan:

Morgan Everett's Plea:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0BokPiEPk8

Tracer Tong's Plea:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuUkdU1-ZHU

Helios' Plea:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4WRzo_nxuc

Paul's Advice:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adgHvq9lUnc

# ? Apr 19, 2019 00:40

TremorX: Jan 19, 2001; All Hail Big Hairy Mike

the only way to win is not to play

# ? Apr 19, 2019 00:52

Bar Crow: Oct 10, 2012

Tracer's is best because it destroys the internet and the internet makes you stupid. I read that somewhere on the internet.

The Helios ending should have be a more explicit joke with JC being lobotomized to become a mouth piece for algorithmically generated platitudes. It's set it up with the "God is the dream of good government" line. They didn't build a god. They just worshiped technology.

# ? Apr 19, 2019 01:27

Arrhythmia: Jul 22, 2011

Coolguye posted:

lots of people dying from tong's decision is a pretty logical conclusion. breakdowns in communication literally always lead to breakdowns in trade, and trade is what allows these 'city-states' to specialize and ultimately get more work done with a lessened input of effort.

less work getting done means fewer goods and services, which will inevitably include food, fuel, clothing, and shelter all coming into shorter supply. this isn't an argument, this is a recitation of basic economic theory as it goes back over the course of centuries. in that way, tong's ending is a 'bad' one because yeah he is definitely suggesting you kill a ton of people without a clear idea of what will happen next or that it'll be worth the suffering.

calling someone a 'buffoon' for intuiting this is insanely dumb i m h o

also by dx2 tong has recanted his position and supports the helios ending

You're talking passed me. You're arguing that Tracer's ending is the bad ending because it involves incalculable human suffering; and you're not wrong. Billions of people will die because of Tracer, and quality of life will decrease dramatically for an unknowable period of time. I'm arguing that the only reason it is the bad ending is that you have read it as the bad ending. You put the lives of billions on one side of the scale, and all civil liberties on the other, and read the way it tipped. But this was your reading of the game. Deus Ex doesn't have it's thumb on the scale like, say, Myst does, where two endings involve you trapped in an abyss for eternity having freed a murderous tyrant, and the third has you save an innocent man. You can say Tracer is wrong, and that his ending is the bad ending, but it's not Deus Ex saying this.

# ? Apr 19, 2019 02:18

El_Elegante: Jul 3, 2004; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS; Biscuit Hider

I hope there�s a porn parody before I die. Hello sexy Janice Reed getting it with Tracer Dong.

# ? Apr 19, 2019 02:48

Colonel Cancer: Sep 26, 2015; Tune into the fireplace channel, you absolute buffoon

Helllloo-is and Illuminaughty.

# ? Apr 19, 2019 02:56

El_Elegante: Jul 3, 2004; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS; Biscuit Hider

Shannon catches JC strokin� in the UNATCO ladies room. Hijinks ensue.

Maggie Chows on Gordon Dick.

# ? Apr 19, 2019 03:01

Colonel Cancer: Sep 26, 2015; Tune into the fireplace channel, you absolute buffoon

One of those big robots twerks suggestively.

# ? Apr 19, 2019 03:08

El_Elegante: Jul 3, 2004; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS; Biscuit Hider

Electronic old men....and their flexibility.

# ? Apr 19, 2019 05:17

kalel: Jun 19, 2012

Colonel Cancer posted:

I like the "Quit to Desktop" ending personally.

Lol

# ? Apr 19, 2019 05:40

beer gas canister: Oct 30, 2007; shmups are da best come play some shmups they're cheap and good and you like them; Plaster Town Cop

�If you don't support Helios at 20 you have no heart, if not a supporter of Tracer Tong at 40 you have no brain�

# ? Apr 19, 2019 06:23

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# ? Apr 25, 2024 23:03

Arrhythmia: Jul 22, 2011

Stark Fist posted:

�If you don't support Helios at 20 you have no heart, if not a supporter of Tracer Tong at 40 you have no brain�

whoa

# ? Apr 19, 2019 06:26

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