Warren's Spectre on 15/8/2011 at 22:22
More petrol for the PR machine lads!
Zooey on 15/8/2011 at 22:27
Quote Posted by Papy
Edit : BTW, if you wanted to invent something meaningful out of SS2's story [...]
I don't need to invent shit. I can back it up. I didn't want to do it for that mouthbreather dethtoll because he'll probably die if he has to shut his troll hole for more than three posts. But for your condescension I'll do it. So here's the political aspect that doesn't exist in SS2 according to yourself.
Quote Posted by System Shock 2 Manual
THE WORLD OF SYSTEM SHOCK 2
[...]
The events on Citadel station have led to a general unrest and rebellion against megacorporate government. The previously-ineffectual governments of Earth's nations were now banding together to form the Unified National Nominate (UNN) and stand up to the suddenly defensive corporations. Governmental controls over business were stepped up, and national governments instituted severe political controls, using newly built-up military forces and secret police to force control over society and business. Bureaucracy became the watchword of the day, and technological development slowed to a crawl as everything had to be signed and countersigned in triplicate.
Attempts were made by the UNN and national governments to take over megacorporate holdings completely, but the corporations were not yet powerless, and they made a stand. An ever-widening rift between the public and private sectors developed, as governmental attempts to shut down non-compliant factories were met by well-armed TriOptimum soldiers and other mercenaries. A wary truce settled between governmental and megacorporate forces, and things became stable... for a while.
[...]
Anatoly Korenchkin, a brutally effective TriOptimum executive, is chosen as the captain of the Von Braun, over Captain Diego's objections. There are strong and fairly substantiated suspicions that Korenchkin ordered the assassination of the UNN official some months earlier.
Marie Delacroix is appointed the Von Braun's chief engineer, tasked to keep her nascent FTL drive functioning. Dr. Delacroix is vocal about preferring a longer period of testing for the FTL drive, and goes on record as saying that the ship is not ready for the field. However, pressure to launch the mission is growing daily, and the Von Braun/Rickenbacker mission embarks in early 2114.
A few months into its historical journey, the situation has begun to deteriorate. Tension is running high between the civilian elements of the Von Braun and their military counterparts on the Rickenbacker. In addition, Delacroix's predictions prove to be accurate, as the Von Braun is plagued with numerous malfunctions.
[...]
I won't bother explaining to you SHODAN and the nature of the Many. I cannot help it if you cannot see they were developed as contrasting parties and as extremes which the player both won't want to join despite sharing traits with both sides. Oh dear, here's a chart for you:
SHODAN = Tech, Egoist, Cold Blooded
Many = Bio, Community, Emotional
Human = Tech + Bio, Alone + Trying to save the Crew, Cold blooded + Emotional
Somehow the human player is in the middle of it all without falling for the extremes of either side. Could that mean SS2 wanted to tell us something about extreme views in general and condone developing differentiated ethics? It's hard to tell isn't it?
In other news: 12 years after its release System Shock 2 is still throwing its pearls before swine.
Thank you, I'm done now. You can go on with that Deus Ex sequel.
Warren's Spectre on 16/8/2011 at 00:35
Oh Zooey, where were you when we were getting high?
Dresden on 16/8/2011 at 04:49
Quote Posted by polytourist97
What is being thrown? Magazines?
Remote detonation explosives.
Koki on 16/8/2011 at 05:54
Yeah, and the AI tries to get away from them which according to the Internet is a hilarious bug.
Bakerman on 16/8/2011 at 13:23
I liked the bit where the AI was absolutely helpless.
june gloom on 16/8/2011 at 17:33
Quote Posted by Zooey
I don't need to invent shit. I can back it up. I didn't want to do it for that mouthbreather dethtoll because he'll probably die if he has to shut his troll hole for more than three posts. But for your condescension I'll do it. So here's the political aspect that doesn't exist in SS2 according to yourself.
Hahaha, and then you post a blurb from the SS2 manual and then your hilariously disconnected attempt to extrapolate something out of that. I love it, I haven't seen a post as completely insane as yours for a while.
Here's the basics, since you're trying too hard to assign meaning that isn't there to something that doesn't need it to realize you're wasting your time:
System Shock 2 = Aliens meets 2001, with Blade Runner as background. The ship has been taken over by strange, violent creatures, a malevolent AI wants to destroy them, and all that shit you posted from the manual is straight out of every cyberpunk novel ever. Hardly the deep and nuanced metaphorical plot you're pushing it as. And then you go use your made up bullshit to bash Bioshock? I guess one advantage to being stuck in the past is the Twin Towers are still there for you, right?
Briareos H on 16/8/2011 at 19:20
I'm all for mocking people who extrapolate metaphors from obtuse material or paraphrase "subtle" "literary" references from overly pompous plots, but... seriously? The struggle of the player between the single emotionless individual and the all-loving, all-embracing community didn't strike you as an obvious and pretty innovative (for the time) background theme of SS2?
I'm not sure I would talk about "pearls", but at least it was a smart move back then.
june gloom on 16/8/2011 at 20:07
Not particularly, no. Flesh vs machine, hardly innovative, it's been a theme of sci-fi (and cyberpunk) for ages.
polytourist97 on 17/8/2011 at 10:15
Quote Posted by dethtoll
System Shock 2 = Aliens meets 2001, with Blade Runner as background.
So...I might be missing something, but I just see that as "System Shock 2 = Awesome".
