Men-E More on 16/12/2010 at 18:24
Doesn't anyone in the System Shock fan base feel lack there are unexplainable gaps or mysteries in System Shock 2's story? Because even after gathering all the information of what happened on the Von Braun and Rickenbacker from all the PDFs, this overall data just doesn's seem quite satisfactory.
For example: most of the crew of the Von Braun seem to me not very smart, and appear to be very prone to seductive influences. Such as the fat man who secretly desires to be one of the Many through his dream. Very few of them made much of an effort to thoroughly analyze the consequences of the Many's influ
Then there's Diego's eventual corruption, which happens very suddenly right after it was established that he disliked Korenchkin. His transition into a member of the Many felt like it occurred too quickly.
Weren't Rebecca and her boyfriend somewhat responsible for the mayhem on both ships. Didn't they hack into the computer systems when they wanted to be together, and didn't attribute to the growing problems on the Rickenbacker and the Von Braun?
Where on Tau Cetti 5 was SHODAN discovered? With the eggs, or in some hunk of scrap metal away from the eggs?
These are just few meager questions, which I am sure can be easily answered.
But on the whole, I feel the explanations given by the PDFs and ghost viewings were unsatisfactory. It seems like Ken Levine was concentrating more on wanting to integrate his commentary about consumerism and collective mentality than to make a cohesive and satisfactory story and experience. The mysteries of the Von Braun should not have simple answers: they should be complicated, and even more disturbing.
steo on 16/12/2010 at 19:42
People often do not behave rationally, especially when in life-threatening situations and when in love. The many are described as having 'powers of mind control', which suggests that it's a little more than just whispering in people's ears and characters like Korenchkin are obviously power-hungry bastards and thus easily seduced.
Tommy says something along the lines of 'they [the rest of the crew] want to save the earth, I just want Rebecca.' It's clear where his motivations lie.
It's explained that the eggs and SHODAN came from the escape pod which was jettisoned by the hacker from citadel station. Presumably the eggs grew, spread out, and evolved, while the data fragment containing SHODAN was amongst the wreck of the pod.
Koki on 16/12/2010 at 20:17
Quote Posted by Men-E More
It seems like Ken Levine was concentrating more on wanting to integrate his commentary about consumerism and collective mentality
Oh, you are one of
those people.
ZylonBane on 16/12/2010 at 22:28
Quote Posted by steo
It's explained that the eggs and SHODAN came from the escape pod which was jettisoned by the hacker from citadel station.
Grove.
Kolya on 16/12/2010 at 23:42
Tommy hacks into Xerxes' emergency subsystem but that is hardly the cause of the disaster which is already in full swing at that time. It's merely a sign of the known weak security of Xerxes.
SHODAN was discovered in the data-wafer as explained comprehensively through audio logs.
Men-E More on 17/12/2010 at 03:54
No, Koki, I am not one of those people. I didn't know those people existed. Actually, I'm not exactly sure what those people are. Sorry, I shouldn't have made that comment. It had little to do with the topic, and it was unfair towards Ken Levine. But the people you speak of, what is their problem with Ken Levine?
Thank you, steo and Kolya for explaining some of the mysteries to me. I had at one point toyed with the idea of an expansion pack in the vein of T2X for SS2 which attempted to fill in the gaps in the game's story. Unfortunately, it involved outlandish story paths, newer characters that were supposed to be on the Von Braun but were never mentioned, and a secret TriOptimum scientific habitat on Tau Cetti 5.
Maybe a Diablo: Hellfire styled expansion pack would better suit SS2.
Nameless Voice on 17/12/2010 at 04:15
Quote Posted by Men-E More
PDFs
Argh, even in the future there's no escaping from Adobe Reader.
Koki on 18/12/2010 at 09:18
Quote Posted by Men-E More
No, Koki, I am not one of those people. I didn't know those people existed. Actually, I'm not exactly sure what those people are. Sorry, I shouldn't have made that comment. It had little to do with the topic, and it was unfair towards Ken Levine. But the people you speak of, what is their problem with Ken Levine?
It's not about having a problem with Ken Levine, it's about finding hidden social and political commentary in all media.
For example, you might have thought Avatar was intellectually cheap special effects flick as an attempt to grab as much cash as possible, but really it was all about war in Iraq.
Kolya on 18/12/2010 at 11:15
It could be both, you know. Maybe not Avatar, I haven't seen that. But System Shock 2 has political allegations about consumerism and collectivity that are rather obvious. It's mainly a great horror game but these elements still are there and give it's story depth, because they're not one-sided either.
rachel on 18/12/2010 at 16:26
Koki fail subtlety? That' unpossible!
