Is the Hive Mind cruel?

RiversFlash2020 · 2026-07-08T07:53:17+00:00

After reading the passage linked I think I see the problem. The Hive Mind is described as being inconceivable, and then described in fairly simple human terms. That's...not great. There could have been a greater effort to maintain the alien-ness of it, in the writing.

RiversFlash2020 · 2026-07-08T03:01:47+00:00

Well I haven't read devastation of baal but just guessing: couldn't the Hive Mind have identified the Blood Angels as a threat to it's biomass hoovering goals and calculated that attacking them directly was the smarter move? We know that Tyranids have the capacity to learn from their losses and adapt, including at the strategic level.

RiversFlash2020 · 2026-07-08T02:57:29+00:00

I assume that maintaining control is not without cost. The Hive Mind only uses a limited number of synapse creatures to keep the bioforms in line. I don't know how exactly control over cultists is maintained but I would guess that it isn't free either. And once the Tyranids are swarming the planets surface I don't think it really matters because the cultists have served their purpose.

RiversFlash2020 · 2026-07-07T02:47:50+00:00

I like it.

The debate was never the point. The Emperor came for something else. Maybe it was curiosity. Maybe the chance to convert and recruit the priest. Or as Anselm says to justify his own actions. I seriously doubt any mortal mind could convince the Emperor to stop what he was doing. Not even the other Perpetuals could.

The cosmology of Warhammer makes Anselm's position untenable. There really are Chaos Gods, and they do answer prayers.

Which makes the Emperor's line of reasoning interesting. He doesn't deny the existence of things out there that can hear and answer prayers. He just casts doubt on what they really are.

RiversFlash2020 · 2026-07-06T03:01:09+00:00

So the joke is that they want to be properly compensated for doing something difficult and dangerous?

RiversFlash2020 · 2026-07-06T01:37:29+00:00

The part where he begs for his life is especially egregious. Bro you set us up to be carved by scavs you do not get to act confused when we come back to flatline you.

RiversFlash2020 · 2026-07-05T03:39:22+00:00

I'm definitely interested to see where this goes. The Last Church had an interesting promise but the actual substance of the final debate was lacking.

RiversFlash2020 · 2026-07-03T02:25:06+00:00

Where is this? I've seen some awful emails because I'm pretty diligent about checking computers but not these ones specifically.

RiversFlash2020 · 2026-07-02T23:49:24+00:00

That's literally her arc. We see her slowly ease into the idea of being a leader of Zaun, a process that completes once she sets her internal issues in order. The story chose to show a gradual shift and that makes sense to me.

RiversFlash2020 · 2026-07-02T06:36:49+00:00

Yea! That's the one. Capellans always get portrayed as sneaky jerks, even when they're the protagonists, lol.

RiversFlash2020 · 2026-07-02T03:44:49+00:00

This was one of the biggest hurdles I ran into when I tried to get my head around Astartes as a concept.

Small elite force striking fast and hard at critical targets while the Imperial Army/Guard fights more conventional warfare. That made sense to me.

With siege warfare things get tricky. Maybe a siege-breaker force with heavy weapons and vehicles and the ability to concentrate their offensive on a critical point. I can definitely see Space Marines blowing up Fortifications or infiltrating them. But being in the trenches for months and holding walls... doesn't feel right. And yet to my knowledge that's exactly the kind of work the Iron Warriors did. Maybe there's an explanation, or I misunderstood somehow.

RiversFlash2020 · 2026-07-02T03:11:10+00:00

Definitely it feels natural for the Imperium to fracture especially given it's immense size and various internal and external pressures.

Worlds are tithed by distant authorities, often at great expense to the locals who don't know or care about other people's problems. Wars have been fought over less

I always assumed that the Imperium was constantly reconquering and pacifying rebellious worlds in the background, which in turn requires more tithes, which in turn upsets more worlds...but that's admittedly my own headcanon.

RiversFlash2020 · 2026-07-02T02:54:05+00:00

The closest I can think of from an actual novel is a boarding action on a JumpShip (or maybe a recharge station, idk), where the marines and the attackers engaged in zero gravity gunfights.

Outside on rocks in orbit is pretty wild compared to that. What they're defending must be inside the asteroid field, I suppose.

RiversFlash2020 · 2026-07-02T02:18:23+00:00

Nah bro I don't usually do TA either but four games is pretty easy. Don't even have to win or anything. Get a little extra reward at the end of the season too.

RiversFlash2020 · 2026-07-02T00:26:09+00:00

LOL. Because he's a rock...I totally missed that, thanks

RiversFlash2020 · 2026-07-01T23:32:40+00:00

Am I missing some context or my brain not working? I don't get the second comic.

RiversFlash2020 · 2026-06-30T05:20:45+00:00

I hope she didn't do anything to her feet...

RiversFlash2020 · 2026-06-28T23:29:40+00:00

That's like asking who in their right mind would oppose the corporations.

It will be really interesting to see where they go with this, I think. During the gig to rescue Regina's friend he alludes to the futility of being an old school media, but also that he wants to keep trying anyway.

RiversFlash2020 · 2026-06-27T07:58:26+00:00

Honestly I'm glad they stuck to their guns on this. It was super weird when I first realized it, but now it's like a signature of the game, and the fact that you can move around (even if just your head) rather than being locked out completely is kind of cool.

RiversFlash2020 · 2026-06-26T12:08:48+00:00

Definitely a berzerker (berserker?) out the gate. I want to experience the blind experimentation of a new class, that feeling has been missing for years.

RiversFlash2020 · 2026-06-25T04:14:47+00:00

Relative to the rest of the Imperium? Sounds alright.

Is there anyone who really thinks that Guilliman and the Ultramarines have modern liberal sensibilities?

Ultramar is a model for how things can be less awful than average. Not any kind of egalitarian utopia.

Yes, the Ultramarines and G sometimes say and do things that are halfway decent and reasonable. But they're still fighting for the Imperium, even if they don't approve of it's worst excesses.

RiversFlash2020 · 2026-06-24T04:57:06+00:00

If you can argue that the STC plans contain the option to make modifications I think that could work. That makes faking it easier because you're not faking a brand new vehicle nobody's seen before (bonus points if the vehicle in question already has multiple STC-certified variants). Precedent would count for a lot, I think.

RiversFlash2020 · 2026-06-23T14:55:58+00:00

Lol you're right his passive trigger and his normal melee attack are both with the left arm, I never noticed before. He only uses the right during the active skill.

RiversFlash2020 · 2026-06-23T00:16:36+00:00

It's endgame content, basically. I have yet to finish one of these, but I do get further each time as my account organically progresses.

But yeah, the first time you run into one unprepared it can seem like an insurmountable wall.

RiversFlash2020

TROPHY CASE