Did GGG lose their moral compass?

I'm just surprised. And delighted. I honestly thought you were further down the jaded path, but that's probably just projection at this point.

So Chris actually thought I'd like Bestiary. We talked about it in vague terms before it landed. A Pokémon-inspired league all about catching animals, cataloguing them, maybe getting rewards for doing so? Hell yeah, I'll take that. But when I saw how they implemented it, I was horrified. Forget the mechanics (which I thankfully dodged due to said horror) -- you can't sell me on a pokémon inspired league and then bait-and-switch it into fucking animal sacrifices. Bestiary WAS the correct word for what Chris described to me. It wasn't even close to the correct word for what the league actually was. And of course, I copped all sorts of shit for vocalising my thoughts there, because omg it's just a game, get over it, etc etc. I probably should have kept those thoughts to myself, because how could mere players here know what Bestiary really meant to someone who was told to expect one thing by the game's designer but got something else entirely? Hindsight proved how that one example would pave the way for me grasping that whether by design or misunderstanding, what is planned and what is released are two very different things when it comes to PoE, and I'm invariably not going to be anywhere near as impressed with the latter as the former. Betrayal was the only exception there, and that was more brilliance in conception than in execution.

But when Bestiary went core, I used it to get flasks 'of staunching' as well. Of course. Because for as long as you play Path of Exile, you don't have a moral leg to stand on. You just don't. You murder those animals in their cages right along with everyone else, even if they have to be given ugly faces or designated as 'corrupted'.

Sometimes you have to do unspeakable things to nice guys to solve a pressing problem on short notice with insufficient data.

Aww poor cute little drop bear. I have to implant this pulse generator in your hippocampus to cause you to have intractable seizures so I can understand enough about neurophysiology to craft a topaz flask of grounding. So I can go run my Vinktar Square and not burn through 6 portals learning how conductivity works.
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Then there's delve. I'm jugging along, and see there's some currency in the ice at a place called Howling Den. Off I go, bonking this way and that, until I get to the point. There are starving dogs everywhere, of every different breed, large and small. They're matted, emaciated, eyes dull and crusted with rock dust and azurite salts. I'm supposed to go thaw out some hunks of meat for them, but it's tainted. I thaw, and wait with my bonk stick at the ready. Finally at the last minute, the tiniest little doggo comes stumbling out, always the tiniest last, I can hardly bonk because the screen is blurred with tears. And I hear a tiny yelp and know it's over.
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Lastly there's Xopec, Architect of Power.

The reason why we can do temple at all is because he wired the doors so they open automatically.

The -mana cost technology he bequeathed to the world enabled entire phyla of builds to spring into existence. His discovery predates Elreon's by centuries.

He never harmed a soul. Never performed a single human sacrifice (on purpose, that is - the harnessing of electricity naturally had some accidental martyrs). His work ultimately made it possible to work on the pyramid day and night - electric lights and sanders and drills and ventilation fans vastly improved the safety and efficiency and comfort for ALL the architects, and the workers, even the d$#@!%@#!$#& snake constructs. But down he goes, in a fragile heap of skin and bones, his plastic pocket protector skittering out across the mosaic stones of the temple, spraying leaky pens and calipers everywhere, his mad-scientist thick spectacles crunching underfoot. The lights around us flicker a bit, as though the soul has passed through the current and wires to escape into the grid. Meanwhile, we twist his rings off his fingers and snap his lanyard from around his neck, inspecting it for -mana cost.

We do not want to follow that train of thought.

__

Someday Chris might reveal to the world the original significance of the Albino Rhoa. Pay careful attention on that day.

Or you could just hold your nose, say "hey it's a pixel game where you move pixels around and some pixels change shape and colour and then a pixel reward pops out". And play, keeping in mind that the lore and packaging is supposed to appeal to one personality type, but you can in fact choose to make up your own reality as you go along.

Scenario 2: the doggos are bad

vs

Scenario 3: The doggos are good dogs, they're all good dogs.

You steer the cart into the node, the lights come on, you hop off the running board and all them puppers come running up to greet you, tails wagging, noses up in the air, big toofy smiles on their faces. You open a big plastic bin labeled BIG TOOFY BISCUITS and pour them out for the good doggos. There's some little ones in there too so you go to the other side of the node and tear open a big bag of LIL SNAPPY PUPPY BIKKIES. Then you go fishing around in the chest and pick up a handful of frags or something and go on your way.

Scenario A: You're a thief, and you and your violent, weird hirelings are breaking into a sanctuary and stealing holy relics for resale. Sleight of hand, preparation, and not getting greedy are your strengths.

Scenario B: You're a surgeon, and you and your residents and trainees are attempting to remove a kidney tumour on a patient whose overall kidney function isn't stellar so you have to be careful how much you take - and how much you leave behind. Mechanical skill, preparation, and moderation are your strengths.

If you can't get past the roleplaying as a thief part, there's always making shit up.

Sep 21, 2020 Chris comes into work, feeling relaxed. The team has ironed out the major server/patch bugs and the launch has been a success.

Chris: "Where's my chair?"

Someone chuckles behind him.

Chris (moving towards desk): "What is this?" His mouse is gone and something seems wrong with his keyboard. "Funny guys, but I need the H, E, I,S and T keys back."

Chris checks his desk drawer, finds a contract...

"The contract is set,
the details arranged,
you'll find the next clue,
where the last light was changed.."

"

Exile009 wrote:

It's worth noting that at least one of the exiles was actually a good person.

The Marauder was a true Karui, which of course means he did probably kill some people - for trying to enslave him! Still okay...

The Duelist is a shallow showboat who murdered a man cos he insulted him. So yeah, not good.

The Ranger is an eco-terrorist who murdered cos she likes animals more than people. K, moving on...

The Witch is a witch, and not of the Hallmark variety. Much like the Marauder, she was provoked, but she sure did relish her revenge (on kids, no less!).

The Scion killed her husband cos she don't need no man. Well, it was a forced marriage, and may very well have been forced sex as well, so there's that. Still, she might've been fine if she'd just been allowed to stay single (but then, the Marauder might've also been fine had he not been enslaved...).

The Shadow is an assassin. 'Nuff said.

However!!

What did the Templar do wrong? He was exiled merely for speaking out against the corruption of his faith. Which, sure, is an understandable reason for why a theocratic state like Oriath would send him away, but not a moral one (not by our standards anyway). Afaik, he didn't kill anyone. He was exiled for being medieval equivalent of a whistleblower. That doesn't make him a bad person. So I put it to you that at least one of our protagonists is genuinely a good dude (his subsequent virtual genocides on Wraeclast notwithstanding).

The Templar runs around without pants on?

That's not bad compared to the others but you did ask.

Maybe the "heresy" he's accused of was the direct cause, or result, of his running around with no pants on. That seems to indicate he wasn't the moral paragon we're looking for among exiles.

And there's always the hint that the templars, if not he personally, had a long track record of burning other people alive. So it's entirely possible his heresy consisted of a minor nitpick with semantics, or believing Innocence's arse wasn't golden or muscular, but for the big picture issues like burning agnostics at the stake or experimenting on captive Karui children, he was lockstep with the High Office.

"

Turtledove wrote:

The Templar runs around without pants on?

That's not bad compared to the others but you did ask.

Ah, the great pants debacle. Maybe GGG has been leading us astray the whole time.

"

ShadyC wrote:

I can't believe Return of the Jedi came out 5 years before I was born.

I saw all three OT movies on release day. My grandma took me and my sister because she loved Star Wars. At the very least, she appreciated the movie more than we did, being the mature one. Coolest. Grandma. Ever.