X-COM THINK TANK (Out of Character Discussion about X-COM and the Series)

[Wisekill1]

Alright, I have an idea about what happened to Bloemfontein after operation Swift Night. I'd like to know the your opinion about it before I mention it in my post.

After the failed operation the South African military tried to take the city on their own, unfortunately the Chrysalid outbreak had spread to far, after losing multiple Regiments in only hours the High command requested a nuclear strike before the Chrysalids could spread too far away from the city.

XCOM carried out this nuclear strike.

Either the African fighter pilot or the one from Asia delivered a Thermonuclear bomb and turned the infected city into a wasteland, civilians and South African military elements were both lost on a massive scale as the result.

 

[ACisHere]

Alright, I have an idea about what happened to Bloemfontein after operation Swift Night. I'd like to know the your opinion about it before I mention it in my post.

After the failed operation the South African military tried to take the city on their own, unfortunately the Chrysalid outbreak had spread to far, after losing multiple Regiments in only hours the High command requested a nuclear strike before the Chrysalids could spread too far away from the city.

XCOM carried out this nuclear strike.

Either the African fighter pilot or the one from Asia delivered a Thermonuclear bomb and turned the infected city into a wasteland, civilians and South African military elements were both lost on a massive scale as the result.

XCOM wouldn't have nukes. Nukes remain in the sovereign control of nuclear-weaponized countries. Can you imagine being a nuclear country and giving your nukes to a multi-national organization you don't have any control over? A multi-national organization with countries in it that already had their own serious concerns with terrorism, revolutions, and never had access to that kind of technology before?

No, a sovereign power that already had nukes did the nuking after XCOM said they were pulling out of Bloemfontein.

 

[ACisHere]

I agree with the restriction of active soldiers.

I wonder, should we call this one for now and wait for Long War Mod for Enemy Within to be finished? The people waiting to enter, probably aren't going to enter any time soon.

Or, we could have people waiting to enter, start writing journals now. I'll leave it up to you guys.

I have a conversation with my fellow fury waiting to go up, but I've been reticent to post it since it is outside of XCOM's vision. Permission granted?

Edit: I want to participate in the Long War Modded role play whenever that happens.

 

[PrismaCube]

Might I say I would also be in favor of a long war mod.

 

[Wisekill1]

XCOM wouldn't have nukes. Nukes remain in the sovereign control of nuclear-weaponized countries. Can you imagine being a nuclear country and giving your nukes to a multi-national organization you don't have any control over? A multi-national organization with countries in it that already had their own serious concerns with terrorism, revolutions, and never had access to that kind of technology before?

No, a sovereign power that already had nukes did the nuking after XCOM said they were pulling out of Bloemfontein.

I'm not sure, XCOM is already given so much power by the council, do you think the countries would trust them with so many advanced technologies later in the game but not give them Nuclear weapons as a last resort defense at the start?

 

[PrismaCube]

Might I say this game is story wiesed fucked up anyway, I mean getting only a limited amount of cash per month is kinda stupid in such a situation, jsut give it all, if the world is taken over by aliens it wont matter how much money you will have.

 

[ACisHere]

I'm not sure, XCOM is already given so much power by the council, do you think the countries would trust them with so many advanced technologies later in the game but not give them Nuclear weapons as a last resort defense at the start?

XCOM simply doesn't have the resources to monitor, operate, & secure a nuclear silo. They're stretched thin building their own base, researching tech, and setting up an anti-UFO air force. It's far easier and less risky to leave it in the hands of the military already controlling it. Now, if XCOM deems a place worthy of nuclear holocaust, the Council can certainly take that to the sovereign nation and ask them to nuke the place. Perhaps one of the Council members already has that kind of power in the sovereign nation's military, given the clandestine nature of the Council. It would give XCOM the ability to launch a nuclear assault without XCOM being forced to take responsibility for doing it, as it would appear to be the nuclear country instead. Doubtless the decision to nuke a place during the alien war is going to met with heavy scrutiny, and scrutinizing XCOM would slow it down in bureaucracy, second-guessing, armchair-generaling when it can ill-afford to be slowed down. Far better the nuke isn't seen as XCOM's decision, leaving them free to continue the war at full speed.

Besides, the Council countries didn't trust them with advanced tech. XCOM surpasses their weapons due to having first access to alien tech, which gives them an advantage on their own weapon research. And a laser / plasma rifle is a far cry from a single weapon of mass destruction when it comes to the potential destructive power.

The Council countries couldn't know at the start of authorizing the XCOM project how far their technology research would go. They started a snowball rolling, and it later becomes an avalanche the size of which they can no longer control. It's a good thing the avalanche is on the Council countries' side.

 

[summerjuliet]

Well that was a cluster fuck...and not at all how I wanted to come in. This'll be interesting.

 

[ACisHere]

Might I say this game is story wiesed fucked up anyway, I mean getting only a limited amount of cash per month is kinda stupid in such a situation, jsut give it all, if the world is taken over by aliens it wont matter how much money you will have.

You're misrepresenting what is happening. Every person, every nation, every shadow team and government organization has limited resources. That is an immutable fact of life. The question is how much of your limited resources you spend, where do you spend them, how do you measure the return on your investment?

It can be assumed every Council nation is diverting as much of its limited resources as possible into their military to fight the aliens. That includes XCOM, their own military branches, intelligence agencies, etc. When XCOM succeeds and makes the Council nation safer from the aliens, you can bet the people controlling the national resources see a winning horse and immediately back up that success with more funding. The goal is to back whatever has the most success, the greatest chance of protecting the Council nation.

That is why a satellite that can detect and intercept UFO's before they carry out their mission gets XCOM more money.
Edit: and That is why the satellites are quite possibly the single most essential technological tool of XCOM in the entire campaign (in my opinion, anyway. There are a lot of important technologies in XCOM, but the satellites are a tipping point, and I like how this is reflected in the game; satellites are essential to a successful campaign in game).

 

[Wisekill1]

XCOM simply doesn't have the resources to monitor, operate, & secure a nuclear silo. They're stretched thin building their own base, researching tech, and setting up an anti-UFO air force. It's far easier and less risky to leave it in the hands of the military already controlling it. Now, if XCOM deems a place worthy of nuclear holocaust, the Council can certainly take that to the sovereign nation and ask them to nuke the place. Perhaps one of the Council members already has that kind of power in the sovereign nation's military, given the clandestine nature of the Council. It would give XCOM the ability to launch a nuclear assault without XCOM being forced to take responsibility for doing it, as it would appear to be the nuclear country instead. Doubtless the decision to nuke a place during the alien war is going to met with heavy scrutiny, and scrutinizing XCOM would slow it down in bureaucracy, second-guessing, armchair-generaling when it can ill-afford to be slowed down. Far better the nuke isn't seen as XCOM's decision, leaving them free to continue the war at full speed.

Besides, the Council countries didn't trust them with advanced tech. XCOM surpasses their weapons due to having first access to alien tech, which gives them an advantage on their own weapon research. And a laser / plasma rifle is a far cry from a single weapon of mass destruction when it comes to the potential destructive power.

The Council countries couldn't know at the start of authorizing the XCOM project how far their technology research would go. They started a snowball rolling, and it later becomes an avalanche the size of which they can no longer control. It's a good thing the avalanche is on the Council countries' side.

I suppose you're right, the strike would have likely been carried out by one of the Council nations. However I doubt that they would claim responsibility, it's more likely they'll just blame the Aliens

 

[Frostlich1228]

Might I say this game is story wiesed fucked up anyway, I mean getting only a limited amount of cash per month is kinda stupid in such a situation, jsut give it all, if the world is taken over by aliens it wont matter how much money you will have.

Well, Nations around the world don't realize the true threat that the aliens pose to humanity so they are not so keen on giving all of their money to X-com. :/

 

[PrismaCube]

Well, Nations around the world don't realize the true threat that the aliens pose to humanity so they are not so keen on giving all of their money to X-com. :/

Sometimes being a human is embarrasing...

 

[ACisHere]

Well, Nations around the world don't realize the true threat that the aliens pose to humanity so they are not so keen on giving all of their money to X-com. :/

I doubt any nation is under-reacting to the aliens' invasion. They may not be supporting XCOM because they feel XCOM won't protect them, but they are doing everything in their power to save themselves.

 

[ACisHere]

I suppose you're right, the strike would have likely been carried out by one of the Council nations. However I doubt that they would claim responsibility, it's more likely they'll just blame the Aliens

Possibly, but that lie would never last. There were scores of human beings involved in any decision to deploy a nuclear weapon, and someone somewhere in the process wondered if perhaps it was necessary, if it could have been accomplished without such a great sacrifice of life. And that person will leak details to the media, unable to remain complicit in the cover-up.

 

[PrismaCube]

By the way did anyone else witness that awesome glitch, where instead of shooting with a pistol he shot his sniper rifle like a pistol, glorious glitch laughed my ass off xD

 

[MarineAvenger]

By the way did anyone else witness that awesome glitch, where instead of shooting with a pistol he shot his sniper rifle like a pistol, glorious glitch laughed my ass off xD

Yeah im confused if i died by pistol or sniper lol

 

[Dragonivon]

Sometimes being a human is embarrasing...

Well, Queen Chrysallid Southway won't have to worry about that anymore.

 

[Hokucho]

You know, I honestly thought me and Kulklinsky would make it out alive as survivors of Home Team. Ah dang. Now I gotta play the waiting game.

I also wonder, can the retrieval team even GET to where the team was wiped out? The place was a total failure, wouldn't that mean they cant go back and retrieve anything? Is the five of us just -there- to decay and rot in the streets?

 

[Quazer Flame]

You know, I honestly thought me and Kulklinsky would make it out alive as survivors of Home Team. Ah dang. Now I gotta play the waiting game.

I also wonder, can the retrieval team even GET to where the team was wiped out? The place was a total failure, wouldn't that mean they cant go back and retrieve anything? Is the five of us just -there- to decay and rot in the streets?

I think you're doing a little more than rotting, to be honest.

 

[Hokucho]

Hey hey, only one of us got egg'd!