WCarnation on 19/12/2007 at 19:08
Think about it.
He starts off as a criminal, a hacker, and is finally caught and is facing his sentence for his crimes. Edward Diego, a CEO everyone and their dog knows is up to no good, makes him an offer to hack SHODAN and get hardware that shouldn't be in his possession (it's a military device, and in SS2 (likely a result of SS1, though) they are banned from usage) and he ACCEPTS IT.
After that he unleashes SHODAN which causes the events of both System Shock 1 and System Shock 2 which results in a countless number of deaths, planetary ecology being messed around by the creatures, and general endless destruction.
If he turned down Edward Diego's offer, SHODAN would've never been unleashed and Edward Diego would've eventually been busted on what he was doing on Citadel and sent to jail.
The Many would've never existed and the Van Braun would've likely had a decent flight, with perhaps eventual death in a Titantic sort of fashion (Xerxes and the ship its self were pretty half-assed).
Yes the hacker would be rotting in prison with Edward Diego, but the punishment was fitting the crimes he made likely daily. He even turned down the Tri-Opimum job offer to return to committing crimes.
All the blame pivots on him.
The_Raven on 19/12/2007 at 19:27
Cyberpunk heroes, they're actually anti-heroes, aren't the most morally conscious people around.
ZylonBane on 19/12/2007 at 19:42
Quote Posted by WCarnation
Think about it.
Okay.
(thinks about it)
Hmmm...
Nope.
C0rtexReaver on 19/12/2007 at 19:46
I'd say "The Hacker" is more an un-witting patsy. You think Diego would have let him live, had he refused to modify SHODAN?
-CR
rachel on 19/12/2007 at 20:28
We only know he was caught trying to access restricted files about Diego... That doesn't necessarily mean he was a criminal (although it is probable).
WCarnation on 19/12/2007 at 20:34
Quote Posted by raph
We only know he was caught trying to access restricted files about Diego... That doesn't necessarily mean he was a criminal (although it is probable).
Well, considering the ending. He turned down the fancy job for more electronic robbery and he accepted the deal somewhat greedily. That much of a gift doesn't come without a price and he ignored that because he's such a grabby-grabber.
Quote Posted by ZylonBane
Okay.
(thinks about it)
Hmmm...
Nope.
Wouldn't "Nah" be more appropriate?
Quote Posted by C0rtexReaver
I'd say "The Hacker" is more an un-witting patsy. You think Diego would have let him live, had he refused to modify SHODAN?
-CR
The hacker has only himself to blame.
C0rtexReaver on 19/12/2007 at 20:37
Quote Posted by WCarnation
The hacker has only himself to blame.
If you're feeling guilt over having played this character, perhaps you should stick to Tetris or Pong.
-CR
WCarnation on 19/12/2007 at 20:41
Quote Posted by C0rtexReaver
If you're feeling guilt over having played this character, perhaps you should stick to Tetris or Pong.
-CR
I dunno, I think someone who is unwilling to look at characters in different ways should likely stick to Tetris or Pong.
But then again, Tetris and Pong probably do not open up avenues to which someone could name themselves after featured things within them and act like a lord on a message board.
ZylonBane on 19/12/2007 at 21:54
Quote Posted by WCarnation
Wouldn't "Nah" be more appropriate?
No.
demagogue on 19/12/2007 at 23:53
Like The_Raven said, the Hacker is more or less an archetypal anti-hero in the noir tradition, which cyberpunk inherited. He's not the "biggest villain" in the dramatic sense in that he wasn't the spiritual inspiration for bad things going on. He was largely "neutrally" pulled along by circumstance ... "neural" in that he wasn't looking for it, but he didn't seem to resist on a moral level, even putting aside the impossibility of practical resistance; and he didn't have clean hands in getting himself into the position in the first place. So he was certainly implicated in it, and he had a morally flexibility that allowed him to both enable bad stuff and be the voice of conscious in the end at the same time. Just the sort of duality we expect of a good anti-hero.
Quote Posted by ZylonBane
Quote Posted by WCarnation
Wouldn't "Nah" be more appropriate?
No.
Oh dear, the infinite regress is already in motion.
There goes the neighborhood.
