Because many CMDRs don't have the gumption to do anything else.
So why are we fighting again?
- Thread starter Ziljan
- Start date
I think you might be missing the point.
The point is you should not really have a motivation to attack them, as obviously these Thargoids are not the real enemy.
That is why they only attack when attacked by us, that is why they only threaten if you come too close, and subsequently refrain from attack if you move away again.
That is why they only threaten if you carry stolen Thargoid technology, and refrain from further aggression when you release that technology to them.
And, for reasons we can only guess at, they also get upset when confronted with Guardian Technology. Perhaps in the past the Guardians did a number on them too. Perhaps the Guardians where the same kind of trigger happy xenophobic killers as many of our cmdrs seem to be.
I bet we will soon meet the Thargoid faction that will give us all the reasons we need to fight them...
Yes.
I think the lack of a "storyline" right now IS the storyline. "They" and beating on the war-drums just as much as is needed to get a typically xenophobic humanity to once again devote itself to conflict. There's no actual threat yet.
We just see humanity being humanity - the masses seeing an "other" and automatically thinking it's a threat and therefore acting violently (and so more often than not fulfilling their own prophecies of danger) - and an ambitious few, who find themselves in the right position, taking advantage of this fear and paranoia to further their own agendas. It's a scenario older than recorded human history, it just has a different facade now.
I'm curious as to where Jasmina Halsey is in all this. She's been curiously silent.
It's too easy to blame human nature, but there is nothing natural about the story progression. All we've been given so far is a series of guns and a butt probe, surprisingly the Thargoids react negatively to both of these. We're being set up for conflict. Not even told why. So that what? Galnet can say humans started the war because humans are violent apes? Feels like a setup to me. I'm done killing Goids until I've got a real motivation to do so again.
This. The storyline so far clearly suggests there is no reason for us to fight these Thargoids.
Oh, Jasmina had a press statement last week, being rather negative about the superpowers but glad the cold war is over. For now.
Have you read the 2nd book from Drew? Its official lore and makes a few things rather clear.
Pretty much it. You don't have to attack them. Unless you are just here for the loot.
You also don't have to blow up innocent traders for components simply because its Anarchy system and you'll get no repercussion - still many people choose to.
Would be funny though if at later point FD introduces some gameplay which actually depends if you ever killed an alien, and how many
But knowing there will be a massive outcry "we didn't know we must not kill them!unfair!!" they probably would not
Last edited:
I am aware of the propaganda. If any of it is true, then we are being railroaded into an arms race with the clearly non-aggressive Oresians. My question is: why? And why are we getting CGs that advance the cause of using Oresians as target practice?
I strongly disagree.
The start of the "modern" Thargoid interactions was humans taking, experimenting upon, and destroying Unknown Artefacts - which turned out be living "parts" of Thargoid ships. For all we know, their "sensor organ" might be the equivalent of a human navigator on a ship. We can't assume our understanding of personhood and individuality applies across species. We don't know how the Thargoids viewed the artefacts we were taking, using, and selling. But from their point of view, we could very well be aggressors. All these same points are also true of the barnacles, and humanity's treatment of them. And the Unknown Probes.
The exact same things apply, in reverse, to them taking Occupied Escape Pods. We can't assume they know what they are taking. Clearly, they are interested in it, but we don't know why. As the only biological part of human ship debris, it might be the only part intriguing to a race that uses biological technology. We don't know what they are thinking in taking them. We don't know what they are doing with them. We don't know if they know what they are taking.
We don't want them to take our fellow humans in this manner, yes, but that does not automatically make it a malicious act on their part. We might justly fight to prevent their being taken, yes, but that does not make the Thargoids our enemies.
Regarding the destroyed ships, we don't know the context of that yet. It might be reasonable to assume the Thargoids finished those fights, but it's not a given that they started them. And even if they did start them, it's incorrect to claim they are "hostile" without knowing why they started it.
To me, claiming the Thargoids are hostile is only true from an obtusely anthrocentric point of view.
We can be in conflict with them over escape pods and any witnessed aggression to our ships, yes. But that does not mean they are hostile. Right now, the most we can say is that each side is a major unknown to the other. Claiming "hostility" implies knowledge of intent. We don't know intent. They don't know our intent.
The most we can say right now is that there is conflict and a lack of communication.
Good rule of thumb - follow the money. Who profits from a war with the Thargoids?
Are you familiar with the concept of the "unreliable narrator"?
It can be a useful device to advance a plot but it's considered bad-form to rely on it to mislead an audience.
If FDev wanted to create ambiguity then what they should have done would be to have ships destroyed by what appeared to be Thargoid attacks but also create some sort of content which alluded to INRA (or the Black Flight, or some other shady outfit) using Thargoid weaponry themselves.
Sure, FDev could still introduce some kind of plot-twist which reveals that it wasn't the Thargoids who carried out those attacks but that would be a seriously halfassed thing to do and would demonstrate a poor grasp of storytelling.
Personally, I get the impression that FDev have tried to depict the galaxy as a place filled with petty bickering an in-fighting between factions and they've introduced the Thargoids as a straightforward enemy who we're all supposed to unite to fight against.
That being the case, it's a little ironic that some people still choose to assume humans are the bad-guys rather than the alien menace with previous form for wanton destruction.
Course, maybe those people are just operating on the assumption that FDev will poop out some B-movie plot-twist?
What do you make of the distinction between the two thargoid races then?
I think you're thinking of the wrong type of game. What you're saying is true for media with an established narrator, yes. But a totally open-world game like Elite is not that. We are each our own narrator. FD isn't telling you a story here. They're creating a setting. The story you make in it is your own.
Imagine how mad you'd be if they actually probed your girlfriend instead of just looking at her? I'd go full on rampage mode!
Is there a Cliff Notes version somewhere?
Nope, I kill the toids just because there is not much else to do. And even the non human signal source became repetitive...
I'm convinced 2.4 is just a bone thrown to players to keep us mollified until Frontier can get their crap together and start delivering 3.0+ Until then, expect more minimum viable everything--including reasons for 2.4's existence.
.Yes actually that is exactly the point. Why are we getting weapons upgrades to fight the faction that we aren't meant to be fighting? Is someone at Frontier or INRA actively trying to start a war with ALL Thargoids? Should we be falling for it? What are the odds ALL humans will hold fire if the engineers keep throwing new AX weapons at us? Seems like a setup. And if it is, the least they could do would be to provide a motivation, even if it's a transparent lie.
Just a small hook on this posting: Frontier sees this game not only as a game but also as a world simulation. In this case it is very reasonable to -develop- weapons which can be used in case they are a threat. (I of course may be biased due to my job. I work on military equipment. My country hasn't been too war since decades and we all at work hope that it stays like that, but we still produce military equipment to make sure that it stays like that. )
.
So the whole idea of creating those weapons is fine. What utterly went wrong was the process of making sure that those weapons end up in responsible hands. I mean, all states (except failed states and the US) keep military equipment out of civilian hands. (Or at least access would be limited to persons who passed intensive screening and have a several decades long positive track record. ) In contrast, in ED every proven psycho ("Oh, you're only wanted for murder in 132 systems? Here, have some military gear..." ) gets access to them.
.
Sure this can't be remedied any more and i also wouldn't have known a reliable way to limit access to those weapons within the mechanics of this game, but that's the gap we just see here. That being said, i also don't attack Thargoids yet. I sure won't contribute to this trainwreck we players produce.
.
Last edited:
It's a phoney war being fought in some far away field.
That will soon change, you mark my words!
That will soon change, you mark my words!
You're fighting? Who's fighting? Why is everyone fighting? We'll have no trouble here!!
In story terms I've seen / heard nothing that makes me want to get involved. You tube is much quicker if I want to see Thargoids than travelling out there myself for the chance of a random encounter.
I have a feeling that the narrative of this particular story will evolve to become a lot more intrusive on the average commander....just a hunch.
Right now the Thargoids represent the biggest NPC challenge....so everyone who is so inclined wants the 'I solo'd a 'Goid...ain't no thing" t-shirt...so there is your motivation but you seem to have already got that t-shirt
In story terms I've seen / heard nothing that makes me want to get involved. You tube is much quicker if I want to see Thargoids than travelling out there myself for the chance of a random encounter.
I have a feeling that the narrative of this particular story will evolve to become a lot more intrusive on the average commander....just a hunch.
Right now the Thargoids represent the biggest NPC challenge....so everyone who is so inclined wants the 'I solo'd a 'Goid...ain't no thing" t-shirt...so there is your motivation but you seem to have already got that t-shirt
Last edited: