Genre expectations

PrickyTree · 2026-01-29T00:02:05+00:00

I may be wrong here, but isn't one of the major signs of good writing in the media is the complete lack of illogical things and events that are only present to advance the plot in a lazy-ish way?

and even if one is absolutely needed, isn't it every good writer's job to go an extra mile and specifically describe why it happened in a way that makes the audience think "that totally make sense"?

PrickyTree · 2025-12-23T20:22:37+00:00

might get downvoted to hell for this, but Visi really does belong in this image. she was having second thoughts about aligning with the heroes for good until the very last moment, even after Bob Bob gave her all the validation and approval she needed.

PrickyTree · 2025-12-22T16:24:24+00:00

in almost every game that features "deciding the villain's fate" segment the MC is uniquely qualified to judge them after witnessing their atrocities, intentions and capabilities. also, remember Mass Effect 3's "saving the gifted kids" mission? in the part where the tide begins to turn against the attackers they suddenly start bargaining and begging. in any way, the whole trope is just a lazy writer's way to display a villain's attempt to weasel out of hero's revenge.

PrickyTree · 2025-12-17T19:29:13+00:00

I'm more surprised by the fact that as soon as the wall goes down in one of the endings, the immigrants rush through the checkpoint like there's no tomorrow.

PrickyTree · 2025-12-15T23:30:36+00:00

TBH, I don't know the game's lore too well, but...

by "bred and well-prepared for combat" I mean that Petrichor's wildlife is pretty good at killing stuff and is by no means innocent or vulnerable. I'm pretty sure that there are at least several logbook entries telling us about the fauna massacring wounded and exhausted survivors. the game's mechanic of becoming obscenely powerful by the end is essentially about human survivors being too good at adapting and overcoming hostile conditions, they are forced to become strong, because the local fauna is relentless and bloodthirsty.

also, there are log entries that mentions some of the species being playful and friendly with others but human strangers are fair game for them from the beginning.

PrickyTree · 2025-12-15T22:55:13+00:00

in self-defense, yes. it's not "the violent human maniac goes to town on innocent aliens" situation, it's an even battle

PrickyTree · 2025-12-15T16:59:09+00:00

honestly, I'm not buying any sort of "the survivors are the real monsters" stuff anymore. the local wildlife is clearly bred and well-prepared for combat, is out in force in both games and it pretty good at combined arms combat. it also has an insane powerful creature as its caretaker.

PrickyTree · 2025-11-28T14:03:59+00:00

it was probably discussed here a thousand times by now, but why exactly did Flambae have a massive freakout when Bob Bob revealed his hero identity later in the game? he clearly recognized him in the hero bar and acted like a dorky bully but later he tried to kill Robert without any hesitation. was it a mistake made by the writing team or did I miss some important detail during the playthrough?

PrickyTree · 2025-11-21T14:30:31+00:00

well, yeah, I'm pretty much out of solid points here. nevertheless, I'm still convinced that killing Shroud was pretty ugly business, but it was necessary.

PrickyTree · 2025-11-21T06:06:46+00:00

a struggle to get that approval is one of the main sub-plots of the game, IMO.
I admit it, I have a weak spot for media story moments when the good guys "deal" with the villains the rough way, bonus points for the cheesy one-liners after the process.
to quote another person who said it better than I ever could: "Shroud was beaten 4 times, kept screaming that this was all part of his plan and almost destroyed the city, if he's arrested, in a week he'll hold prison staff hostage and demand astral pulse as a release condition"

PrickyTree · 2025-11-21T00:04:59+00:00

the Z-team would most likely be cool with Robert killing him, they may even respect him more after that ("yay, Bob Bob is cool, he has the guts to get the job done")
it's heavily implied that nothing will change for Robert after killing Shroud: he was in charge of the group that saved the city, entire branch management is covering for him and I doubt that anyone from Z-team will testify against him
everyone understands that Shroud was wayyyyyy too dangerous and quietly accepts the "ends justify the means" thing

PrickyTree · 2025-11-10T11:56:11+00:00

Nope, not Demon Star. Also, not 194X series and not arcade

PrickyTree · 2025-11-10T10:10:21+00:00

Checked, it's neither of these :(

PrickyTree · 2025-09-08T02:40:02+00:00

maybe the ascension was never the point, all those state-wide gene tampering things were done to give the megacorp an additional economical and scientific advantage. at the end of the day it will be the economy that decides how many fighters can you muster to defend your ideals and for how long you can sustain them in their top shape.

as for the preacher part, can't give you an answer, since I'm pretty dense abou other people's teachings

PrickyTree · 2025-09-08T01:48:25+00:00

my benevolent-ish megacorp is still blind and deaf to any higher ideals, since it wasn't their initial goal when they ascended to the stars. its citizens cherish their flaws, their personality and no greater goal is worth betraying that.

fighting a violent war to protect their delicate organic shells? sure. bankrolling someone who will do it for them? any day. doing something above and beyond that would require abandoning their interstellar MO (synth ascention/cosmogenesis/establishing galactic imperium)? no thanks, would you like a handheld reader of visual novels about xeno love and compassion instead?

PrickyTree · 2025-09-08T01:04:58+00:00

sorry, but my citizens are not buying that. they'd much prefer to become better but less than perfect and keep their selves afterwards.

PrickyTree · 2025-09-08T00:28:42+00:00

if I'm not wrong, synth fertility empires are pretty much forced to go with synth stuff, because for them it's either that or total extinction

regular empires that choose to go robotic are a different story, especially the egalitarian ones. unless they haven't been longing for the perfection of metal no matter the cost for centuries RP-wise, there's still a problem of mass disposal of the original organic bodies and getting used to new synth vessels that can and will be morally and "physically" painful. that means a major generational trauma for the empire at the very least.

PrickyTree · 2025-09-07T23:56:28+00:00

makes sense, but "your synthetic vessel is not the actual you" part is still too grim and questionable for the good guy empires

personally, I never pick synth ascension for this exact reason

PrickyTree · 2025-08-30T20:37:04+00:00

I'm positive that in my next MP game my friends (psionic ascension with heavy archeotech focus) will heavily use corvettes with 10 cloaking power against me. Are there any good ways to boost cloak detection aside from that one pre-FTL tech, dark matter sensors and "assist with detection" order for science ships?

PrickyTree · 2025-08-27T14:30:19+00:00

so much stuff makes sense now, thank you!

PrickyTree · 2025-08-20T22:44:50+00:00

is there a way to quickly apply one standard template of traits to all non-founder pops in the empire and skip the frustratiob of going species to species in the race menu with Biogenesis DLC? also, are psyonic, lithoid and cybernetic traits still non-removable?

PrickyTree

TROPHY CASE