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

[Frostlich1228]

It was certainly not my intention to discourage you or tell you you are wrong, I'm merely sharing something I came up with, which by no means needs to be truth or fact. Addendum: I'd stated before this season even started that the Chryssalid Queen theory seemed unlikely to me.

I Reiterate that when said " Cyssalid Queen " I meant it like a monarch Queen that rules and controls, not a Insect Queen that Births other Cryssalid.

But your previous point is interesting... in my Broodmother theory I figured that the Aliens controled the Broodmothers by torturing them if they disobeyed... But Perhaps instead of that, The Alien Leader Starves the lesser Cryssalid if the broodmother disobeys it's orders, So if it disobeys it has to hear the Starving Screams of it's People in her mind 24/7. That could how the Aliens keep the Broodmothers in Check...

 

[Frostlich1228]

They are essentially 'mindless' animals, which makes them hard to control and impossible to mind control.

If they were indeed mindless wouldn't controlling them be easier? It's obvious that the Cryssalid do think intelligently, as you can see by their actions in battle. (Flanking Targets, Going for Targets with less armor, ETC)
It may be just instinct that drives these actions but even if it is that would mean that the creature is not in fact mindless and should be able to be Mind Controlled.

Also I refuse to believe that the In Game mechanics have nothing to do with the lore, I think that everything in the game should be used to figure out the lore. I like to read inside that lines of a game as vague as X-Com and look at everything as a puzzle piece to help put the lore of the game together.

The Main Reason I love the Cryssalid so much is that we know so little about them.

 

[Taxor_the_First]

I wouldn't call them "mindless" per se. I'd explain the whole "difficult to ASSUME DIRECT CONTROL of" thing as hormones, similar if not exactly the same as the Muton Berserker. It's directly mentioned that they have little to no self-preservation instinct because of those hormones that make them really aggressive. Hell, you unlock an item that works by directly injecting hormones into your troops after the Berserker autopsy. While it isn't directly stated, I'd say that that is why the two enemies act so similar and are similarly hard to mind-control - they're simply too mad to control efficiently.
The way I see the mind-control is that it clouds the victim's normal judgement, and then makes "suggestions" to them, which they take to be an instruction from someone they trust to make goo decisions for them, and then... well. Shotgun to the face, sorry mate, but the voices told me to do it.

*sigh*. And I told myself I wouldn't get involved in this.

 

[Dragonivon]

A slight variation on the Chryssalid theory, but perhaps one that answers a few other questions as to why they aren't attacking other species. The thing is that Chryssalids don't show up until after the abductions have happened. The reason for that is the Chryssalids were grown in captured human bodies and as such are keyed to other humans as the most viable host. This would be a variant on the virus theory but one that assumes once the Chryssalid egg is implanted into a host, the resulting Chryssalid becomes keyed to that species as potential prey.

The problem with bringing and maintaining live chryssalids through space bothered me but if it were just a cache of adaptive parasites that would be implanted on specimens of the target world, making them hostile to that species alone, then it would much more manageable. Still terrifying, but more terrifying if we realize that every Chryssalid was once a human.

 

[Taxor_the_First]

... The reason for that is the Chryssalids were grown in captured human bodies and as such are keyed to other humans as the most viable host. This would be a variant on the virus theory...

... Still terrifying, but more terrifying if we realize that every Chryssalid was once a human.

This is all the more creepy because I have a cold at the moment.
And I'm super hungry.

Shit. Hopefully I can still type with those claw-scythes.

 

[Grelite]

I Reiterate that when said " Cyssalid Queen " I meant it like a monarch Queen that rules and controls, not a Insect Queen that Births other Cryssalid.

Yes, you have said this many times, and I have always expressed my opinion on it the same way.

And the mindlessness implies Taxor said: they are mindless in the sense that they are too obsessed with finding the next victim to infest they cannot be told to do anything else. Their ability to prioritize the weakest targets is hardly a case to indicate significant enough intelligence to be able to control it. All that is in the game implies (or literally says) they are hard to control - unalterable instinct that is hard-coded into their genes. Humans are simply the weakest targets on the field and they need to reproduce as much and as fast as possible or their line ends because they'll starve before they can reproduce.

As for Dragonivon's theory: as much as I like it, it wouldn't explain their ability to infest sharks and whales unless they were attuned specifically to 'just' Earth's animal kingdom.

Finally, the game's design shows that game mechanics and gameplay take precedence over story and even engine. Typical TBS design to focus on gameplay - at some point story is sacrificed to make for better gameplay and you have to start making more and more ridiculous assumptions or excuses to keep the gameplay better. Take another TBS game, Civilization; units are not to scale with cities, can only move on grids, can't be stacked, etc. Doesn't make sense logically, but it makes for great gameplay.

 

[Anuvis11]

Don't let that discourage you, like Hokucho said there are always different paths you can take, hell i would personally love to see the death of all the members of the last squad as a wrap up for a story arc. If that is not an emotional ending i don't know what is and I bet if you ask someone you could even get a whole new story worked up sorta like your own fresh start. I would love to help write it along with any one else who would want to. Hey, do what you want but I have seen the talent in some of these people and I was glad to write with them even though this was my first colab and I wasn't that much in the spotlight until my character died. It is still fun though.

That would be great. More people means more progress. We should further discuss what to do with this mess. One problem I do notice though, is that my progress is much slower than that of the series itself. College eats a pretty big chunk of my day, and I'm spending too much time thinking about the plot. If I had someone working on that with me on a regular basis, I'd have more time to draw the manga itself. Anyone who wants to help, please do.

 

[Dragonivon]

As for Dragonivon's theory: as much as I like it, it wouldn't explain their ability to infest sharks and whales unless they were attuned specifically to 'just' Earth's animal kingdom.

Well, the dietary preference could be as simple as 'carbon-based lifeforms' (since it's assumed the Sectoids and other aliens are not carbon-based) though it might have been them hedging their bets since the majority of earth is covered by seawater, perhaps they thought they needed to exterminate the sea life as well as the land-dwelling humans. If we presume these aliens have been to many worlds, which seems very likely, they wouldn't assume there was only one sentient/dangerous species on the planet but try to plan for contingencies. Again, a lot is open to interpretation.

Though for myself, if I ever had to annihilate the species of a planet, I would certainly wish for the ability to unleash Chryssalids on my enemies and just sit back as they inevitably die.

 

[summerjuliet]

That would be great. More people means more progress. We should further discuss what to do with this mess. One problem I do notice though, is that my progress is much slower than that of the series itself. College eats a pretty big chunk of my day, and I'm spending too much time thinking about the plot. If I had someone working on that with me on a regular basis, I'd have more time to draw the manga itself. Anyone who wants to help, please do.

I don't want it to run into the "too many cooks in the kitchen" problem, but if you guys need any more hands helping out with the story, I'd love to pitch in! And I'd say don't worry too much about your pace; school is super busy right now, and I don't think most of us are just sitting here waiting for replies.

 

[Grelite]

Why would you assume none of the aliens are carbon-based?

 

[Dragonivon]

Why would you assume none of the aliens are carbon-based?

A few reasons, though I guess it's not clear either way from all the autopsy reports though in one instance it refers to radiocarbon dating of Ethereals so we can presume they have some carbon in their systems amidst the genetic manipulation and implants but no assurance that it's the core of their genetic sturcture. The sameness of most of the aliens indicate they are most likely clones of each other from a quote from Sectoid autopsy: "We've found no discernible genetic variance between any of the small humanoid aliens that have been examined thus far. They are perfect genetic copies, each and every one of them." To me, that indicates they don't have to rely on anything as messy as biological creation or variance.

But we are speculating on the physical characteristics of a fictional collection of races. I'm not sure how deeply the game designers considered the background of the enemies they created. It is endlessly fascinating to speculate though.

 

[Anuvis11]

I don't want it to run into the "too many cooks in the kitchen" problem, but if you guys need any more hands helping out with the story, I'd love to pitch in! And I'd say don't worry too much about your pace; school is super busy right now, and I don't think most of us are just sitting here waiting for replies.

I think 2-4 people working on it should be fine. 5 people is the maximum for me. Additionally, I believe we should probably find a place to talk about it, separate from the think tank. What do you guys think?

 

[Frostlich1228]

All Valid Arguments, it's your opinion, and I would rather not change it, I just wanted to show you why I think this is right

 

[MarineAvenger]

I think 2-4 people working on it should be fine. 5 people is the maximum for me. Additionally, I believe we should probably find a place to talk about it, separate from the think tank. What do you guys think?

I am game I need something to write for since my character died so I will shoot you a PM and if anyone else wants to join in we can invite how does that sound?

 

[Sarge-Pepper]

My theory would indicate Chryssalids are sexless, simply because there is no need for gender - they reproduce asexually and their offspring would basically be clones, preventing unplanned genetic mutation. They are essentially 'mindless' animals, which makes them hard to control and impossible to mind control. That does make it difficult to explain the game mechanics that they don't attack their fellows. However, the only aliens they ever appear beside in missions (ignoring the one that might show up during Zhang's retrieval) are Floaters (flying, unreachable), Sectopods and Drones (Robots, not food), and Mutons (Could probably pummel a Chryssalid to death). Not a very solid way to explain the last part, I'd say, but in X-COM game mechanics take preference over lore.

This all would contradict the whole RP thing that's going, so accepting this theory should likely be held off for now.

EDIT: Yes, they would have to feed, they would consume large amount of energy judging by their speed and need to develop embryos constantly.

I can see this being prevalent course of though. Mindless drones would be great is controlled by a queen of some sort that has a deal of is in some way enslaved to the ethereals. Saying that realism or logic ruins your good roleplay is like saying that bricks ruin a good wall. You can move around inside of the limitations to com up with a good story, but to huff up when it doesn't suit what your want it to do is silly.

 

[Grelite]

I can see this being prevalent course of though. Mindless drones would be great is controlled by a queen of some sort that has a deal of is in some way enslaved to the ethereals. Saying that realism or logic ruins your good roleplay is like saying that bricks ruin a good wall. You can move around inside of the limitations to com up with a good story, but to huff up when it doesn't suit what your want it to do is silly.

I never said realism or logic ruins good roleplay. I believe quite the opposite, being someone who focusses almost solely on logic. What I am referring to is the design of the game X-COM, which has nothing to do with my opinion on roleplay or the roleplay we're involved in. I am surprised so many see my attempt at sharing a theory as anything more than just that - a theory I came up with I wanted to share, with reasoning as to why I think it might make for logical lore. It's not an attempt to push away anyone who says otherwise, I simply am glad to expand on what I have said. Though I'll gladly ask more critical questions of the Chryssalid Queen theory, I'd rather expand on my own theory.

 

[Sarge-Pepper]

I never said realism or logic ruins good roleplay. I believe quite the opposite, being someone who focusses almost solely on logic. What I am referring to is the design of the game X-COM, which has nothing to do with my opinion on roleplay or the roleplay we're involved in. I am surprised so many see my attempt at sharing a theory as anything more than just that - a theory I came up with I wanted to share, with reasoning as to why I think it might make for logical lore. It's not an attempt to push away anyone who says otherwise, I simply am glad to expand on what I have said. Though I'll gladly ask more critical questions of the Chryssalid Queen theory, I'd rather expand on my own theory.

This was directed at Prism's comment that she doesn't like it when realism is applied to RP.

I loved you theory and reading your responses as they are extremely well thought and and make a great amount of sense. I feel that partially defining how the world works is a key aspect of RP as it tell you what you can and can't fudge as far as science goes, as well as build on possible misunderstandings ans where the come from. Science is a huge part of this game and to roleplay it, we need to at least explain in pseudo-scientific terms how things work.

So yeah, you are good ;>

 

[Hokucho]

Im willing to help in an advisory role or something if you want Anuvis. Cant contribute anything physical myself but I can help theorycraft or something. Its also not like youre on a timer or anything, sometimes the book -does- come after the movie afterall!

 

[Sarge-Pepper]

I dont know about anyone else, but I've been really expecting the wrong turns and false successes science would have made here. The accidental discoveries and the lauded failures that made the team move forward. Like believing that the greys had a hivemind at first, or theories about the sexuality of floaters, etc etc.

I think Vahlen touched on it well with her last post about the laser pistols, but seriously, we are dealing with a whole new range of science. Mistakes are made, theories are proven spectacularly wrong, and scientists try to give fancy names to explain why they don't know what's going on.

 

[Quazer Flame]

I want to roleplay Michael Angel undergoing his physical and mental examinations. Would that be a collaboration with Vahlen?