#once again I ask why the devs decided to design their realms to be so pretty.

[confined-existence]

Find The Chomiks Realm: Backrooms; Level 28: Stormstone Keep

Absolutely in love with this level aksjbfkafn

[emmys-grimoire]

Lesson 52 analysis + 53 predictions

Turning this into a routine thing now! They’re fun to write and they’re popular (moreso than my actual commentary posts lmao).

Y’all like my ramblings.

Things guessed correctly from prior lesson

The House of Lamentation was an illusion produced by the fairies

The arc culminated in the completion of the Trial of Patience (star received via Simeon)

The illusion did a number on Simeon's feelings as well due to his fondness for Lucifer and the brothers

They shoved Mammon and Luke off to the side and plopped them back in only after the Satan/Simeon arc was complete. There was no arc for Luke. To be fair, though, they did get more content than I expected even so.

Things guessed wrong

The banshee didn't show up at all. It was a red herring.

There was no significance to the geranium found in the mysterious book

Our adventure also completed the Trial of Generosity. (I incorrectly attributed this to Diavolo, who actually gave us the Star of Gratitude)

Still ???

Whether or not there is some kind of transfer of memories/experiences going on between the brothers' past selves and present selves due to our meddling in time. We've confirmed that past angel Beelzebub has turned into a glutton in between the time we last saw him and now, but we haven't confirmed if it *is* our meddling that has induced that. Currently, no change has manifested in the present brothers, nor has the timeline of events seemed to have significantly changed.

Whether or not present Lucifer becoming more "angelic" in season 2, in lieu of past angel Lucifer's growing doubt, will be a significant plot point. The parallels are getting stronger, though. (This is elaborated on further down)

It feels like 50/50? I’ll probably keep a list like this going for future analysis/prediction posts just so I can keep track of how right/mistaken I am throughout the playthrough. Might help me make less mistakes in my analysis!

As a general rule I try not to meander too far off into symbolism or out-of-game lore because what I write begins to sound like this:

And this is an otome game that is light on writing and plot. Nine times out of ten, it’s not going to be that deep. So I work with the details given and the plot points shown and try to draw connections within the framework of the story, in an attempt to try to deduce where the devs are taking the plot. Unfortunately for me, the devs like red herrings, and red herrings are designed to mislead you. With me, they are quite successful! I’d like to get better at spotting them.

The book was consequential -- it’s used to imprison Satan later -- but that’s the end of it’s meaning. Maybe the Bible verse had something to do with it, too -- those were some weird ass numbers to just throw in the title -- but maybe not. Either way, it doesn’t really matter. 

But enough of that, onwards! We have a lot of points to go over that may be interesting to note, right or not.

Satan the Memory Thief

Back in 50-B we learn that it was Michael who taught the brothers the stories behind the human world constellations. 

When we’re tossed back in time-dreamland (?) again, it is Satan who takes the opportunity to teach the brothers the human world constellations. The room had just been remodeled: Michael hasn’t had the opportunity to give them tours yet. Lucifer mosied into the room so he and the brothers can get the first glimpse.

Sooo if in a future lesson we ask them about where they learned the constellations in the present timeline and they say “oh a guy named Sully, who suspiciously looked just like Satan, taught us!” then we know our meddling is having significant consequences.

It IS worth noting that unlike the prior dream sequence, Satan and Simeon remember what they just went through. This particular time-dream could very well just be an illusion meant to give Satan/Simeon some kind of emotional resolution and nothing else. This is kind of why I hate that they’re bring time travel back into the story: it makes stuff like this confusing and borderline inconsistent. Some sequences may have effects and others may not. 

The chat between Lucifer and Simeon could also be consequential.

“Do you *really* mean that?”

There is a parallel at play here!

After you wake up after dozing off, you go off to find Lucifer and Simeon conversing in a forest clearing, evidently unaware that you’re eavesdropping on them. Simeon says although he knows it is just an illusion, that he was glad to see angel Lucy once more. Angel Lucy is predictably confused, and reassures Simeon that they’ll remain like this forever.

Simeon, of course, knows better. He tells Lucifer that he knows he’s been meeting with Diavolo and he’s having doubts about his place in the Celestial Realm -- and if things really will remain the same. Lucy is caught off guard, and starts to explain with some clear hesitation... and of course we pass out before we could hear his answer.

There’s creepy loud heartbeats when it fades out. Normally I associate them with tense, pivotal decisions -- but it could also just be related to us waking up and returning to reality.

If Simeon ends up being wrong -- and there will be real world consequences to this conversation -- they could be very significant consequences. We’re not sure if the conversation continues for a bit longer after we pass out, but Simeon already woke up before we come to.

Obviously the brothers still fell (they’re still demons in the present), but I wouldn’t underestimate the potential of a butterfly effect changing the circumstances of the Great Celestial War. I kind of hope they don’t do that, though, because they haven’t even begun to explain the present details of that event. We know only the broad strokes. Suddenly changing them to make the resolution between the demons and angels more smooth will feel really forced.

And that parallel I mentioned: Diavolo expresses similar worries and doubt in Lucifer’s conviction in season 2.

I have no doubt Lucifer actually means what he says to Diavolo, unlike his dialogue with Simeon, but Diavolo is aware of just how far Lucifer will go for the sake of his family -- and he’s probably #2 on the priority list, when push comes to shove. Lucifer forsaking the Celestial Realm for Lilith was the thing that brought him to Diavolo in the first place.

Of course, this lesson has Simeon suggesting that Diavolo’s influence on Lucifer was significant prior to all that unfolding, and it may have eventually happened regardless. It was only a matter of when, not how.

Still, Lucifer be writing checks he may not be able to cash. We also get this foreboding warning from Barbatos in Season 2:

As I’ve said before, the inevitable conflict the story was hinting to at this point doesn’t happen in Season 2. Lucifer isn’t forced to make a choice like this. The Night Dagger didn’t demand it.

I’ve also expressed my belief that Season 2 and Season 3 were likely written back-to-back due to the small window of time between their releases, so I believe details overlooked in Season 2 may suddenly become more relevant in Season 3.

It’s worth remembering Diavolo’s growing feelings for MC -- and Lucifer’s inner conflict about it -- were hinted at early in Season 2, as well. It doesn’t really get going until the conclusion of Season 2, leading into Season 3.

Do I have any clue of what this is actually leading up to? Not at all! If it mirrors Season 2′s format, though, it’ll suddenly come to a head in the last 3-5 lessons. I remember feeling equally clueless then, and Season 2 had a lot more foreshadowing...

... a lot of which actually didn’t pan out! But it might now. 

Guardian Angels

Another smaller, but interesting detail. Guardian Angels are indeed a thing.

I think they’re gonna become a thing soon. The devs very sneakily changed a small detail in Season 2, suggesting they might have realized that it may interfere with their plans for later seasons. 

Old version.

New version.

I’m thinking they may have decided giving Michael guardianship of an entire swath of the population was cheating, and they may be individualizing the role of Guardian Angels.

Which leads me to who I think Michael’s chosen human squeeze is:

My man has been scoping him out long before we came around.

It makes sense, too. We know Michael gave his Ring of Wisdom to Solomon, which seems to have kickstarted his career as a demon-pacting sorcerer (though he clearly was a sorcerer before this).

This is a very powerful item, described as the Ring of Light’s counterpart, that would be very useful for a high-ranking angel to possess. I don’t think Michael would fork it over to just anyone, particularly when we remember how he felt compelled to interrogate us via dream hi-jack before the Ring of Light fully came into our possession.

Solomon also makes Michael angst in a way a well-meaning but misbehaving child would make their parent angst:

Solomon also really doesn’t seem to regard Michael like some distant, all-powerful alien being who could smite him out of existence.

Contrast this with how he responds when he’s forced to hang out with Diavolo for a day (he gets more comfortable, but he initially wants to punt the responsibility back to Lucifer ASAP).

And he knows a surprising amount of small details about the guy:

I think Solomon is a significant part of Michael’s long-term plans, but he may not even be fully aware of how. Or he is, and they’re in some kind of mutually beneficial agreement -- possibly related to cross-realm peace -- that we simply haven’t been made aware of yet.

Personally, I think Simeon should be made MC’s ‘official’ Guardian Angel if they’re gonna be a thing with official mechanics behind them. I know Michael is supposed to be the Big Cheese and ridiculously hot, so it may make sense to have him linked to the MC of an otome game because they’re super special too, but Michael may already have Solomon. He shouldn’t get to hog everything. It’s not like assigning Simeon to do job would really inconvenience him, either: MC is Solomon’s apprentice. He can easily work with the arrangement.

Luke may feel left out but he’s a kid so...

Seven Brothers Constellation

We learn there’s a constellation representing the brothers in the Celestial Realm. Everyone there knows the legend, but Luke doesn’t know what the three stars ‘watching over them’ represent. 

He, Mammon, and Satan begin to theorize and Satan suggests they may represent the three realms. The other two like the idea, and Mammon insists the ‘human’ star represents MC. 

He’s probably right, but I’m willing to take it a step further: it represents MC, Diavolo, and Michael. The three “guardians” of their respective realms, and the brothers. Season 3 has been repeatedly beating us over the head with how much Michael still cares for the brothers and his relevance to their upbringing, and likely their future.

It bears repeating: Diavolo and Michael are aiming towards the same goal, though their visions of what peace and harmony looks like may be very different.

Solomon could also qualify as a self-appointed guardian, but I think he lacks the connection to the brothers MC obviously has.

Still, he has the same resolve, and he’s not leaving the story any time soon.

Predictions

I sniff out even the smallest Michael details because he’s clearly the key to whatever is gonna blow up.

This might give us some insight on how the initial dealings with him may unfold:

It’s hard to deduce just what this actually means. Either Michael tends to overthink things that just aren’t that deep (can empathize) and that in itself leads to needless complications, or he’s apt to misread situations and as a result gives poor advice. Or a combination of both.

My initial read on him makes me think that he thinks the best of humans/angels but the worst of demons. He is very, very complimentary towards MC as soon as they start answering his questions.

Am I now? Really?

It could just be the game making characters butter up the MC to make the game more enjoyable for the player of a self-insert character, but dude we just met.

When you tell him you did what you did out of love for Lucifer:

That’s a very telling pause/ellipsis. It’s like his brain momentarily short-circuits and he needs to regain his composure before he continues, and he still doesn’t sound entirely sure of what you just said lol

He also just outright admits he initially thought you must be wicked just because the brothers liked you, and this is a guy who is still fond of them himself. I think he’s having a very hard time with it.

So the inevitable bumps in the roads ahead with him will likely be a result of this, and/or his dad being an asshole. Neither he or Diavolo are actually in charge of the realms they’re overseeing -- they’re both de facto leaders -- so maybe the parents will suddenly barge in and try to knock over their sand castles for whatever reason. It is kind of weird that the exchange program has been agreed to in the first place, particularly on the Celestial Realm’s part.

Regardless, I have no clue what the next arc will be. I know we still have three trials left, but they could combine two again to leave more room for the actual storyline to progress. The climax is going to be the last trial of our sorcerer’s exam, or something happening afterwards. Not sure which one I’m willing to bet on yet: I remember Simeon’s play and the silly Blood Moon contest in Season 2 were what kept use preoccupied for Season 2 until SUDDENLY LUCIFER GETS AMNESIA AND THE WORLD IS IN DANGER AND WE HAVE TO STAB HIM TO SAVE EVERYONE. But they did heavily foreshadow that in the very beginning lol. They just didn’t fill in the blanks until much later.

I wonder what the trial of chastity is gonna be like and how hard we’ll actually fail and the game will need to overcompensate for that

[felassan]

The rest of this post (quotes from the article) is under a cut due to length. [source]

(There are discussions of colonialism under the cut / in the article.)

After speaking to various devs who worked on MEA I’ve learned quite a bit about what happened here. First of all, there were several more species designed for this galaxy. One writer lists having proposed “five or six” new alien types, while another states that the ones BioWare opted for in the end were specifically chosen for being in “cosplay-safe” territory. Another dev mentions that an entire system was constructed just to facilitate communication between species who were indigenous to Andromeda and those who had arrived from the Milky Way. The “species who were indigenous to Andromeda” part is important, given that there were also different ideas for how to handle first contact - making the Pathfinder a violent colonist who shoots first and asks questions later wasn’t something that was set in stone from the get-go.

“I think it was a project that couldn't have possibly lived up to expectations,” Neil Pollner tells me. Pollner was a senior writer on Mass Effect 3 before going on to write parts of Andromeda. “Not just the high bar of the original trilogy, but the logical expectations anyone would have of Mass Effect going to a whole new galaxy. Because the scope of [the first] Mass Effect was so incredibly massive, there was an inherent promise that you'd be getting a massive new experience with a ton of new things in [what was supposed to be the first] Mass Effect Andromeda - new species, new lore, an entire new galaxy at your fingertips, etc.

“But we were only given the budget for two new species, plus the Remnant. Not to mention that we couldn't even include all the Milky Way species. And we weren't going to be able to let you travel throughout the galaxy. This meant that we had to develop the story around some pretty glaring inorganic limitations. So, not only did you get something that felt (and was) much smaller than what you got before, almost everyone playing the game probably had something that they really liked about Mass Effect that just wasn't there.”

Pollner goes on to explain something I mentioned above - that there’s an inherent disconnect between making your character an explorer in a game where the vast majority of gameplay involves killing. “Ryder the explorer should have a challenging and dynamic first contact experience,” he explains. “Instead, you're almost immediately killing kett. So, some very basic pillars just weren't lining up.”

When I ask about the fact that several species had apparently been cut from the game - something I had already learned in previous interviews - Pollner assures me that I had “no idea” of what was dropped in the early days of Andromeda. He also lamented the iconic narrative and branching complexity of earlier BioWare games, stating that he wishes the team had been able to maintain the same level of variation, options, and consequences as the revered RPGs the studio was known for.

“The other BioWare Montreal writers and I were dreaming up and developing things for Andromeda months ahead of Edmonton officially starting the project - i.e. before the budget and scope had been decided/communicated,” Pollner says. “We just knew that we were going to Andromeda, with almost nothing else established, including even when in the timeline it would happen. And we set out to brainstorm and grow ideas that could organically serve that general premise. “That first contact expectation I mentioned? We'd developed ideas for how the player would navigate that. We were working on a process for the Milky Way species to learn how to even communicate with the new alien species. We were developing several additional species for the new galaxy, as well as several different storylines for why the expedition had been undertaken. Most of that pre-development work ended up not being used.”

“I proposed five or six new alien species when Andromeda was in its infancy, and I still think they had a ton of potential,” Hepler says. “[Ex-BioWare writer] Jo Berry came up with a few, too, they were awesome.

“However, I'm pretty sure those ideas are still property of BioWare, so even though I'm 100% certain they won't be used, I can't talk about them without getting some kind of permission.”

Given that Pollner had his own ideas for new species, and that Hepler had “five or six” on top of a “few” more from Berry, it’s reasonable to conclude that concepting was done for up to ten additional species that never made it into Andromeda.

“I remember some early concepts that were pretty out there,” Dorian Kieken tells me. Kieken was a design director at BioWare Montreal for Mass Effect 2 and 3 before being promoted to franchise design director at the beginning of Andromeda’s development. “One of the strengths of the original Mass Effect trilogy is that you can actually cosplay most of the alien characters - except the Hanar, although I wouldn't underestimate the creativity of some cosplayers. The intention in Mass Effect Andromeda was to introduce new races that would still be in the realm of cosplay, which is probably why more crazy concepts were abandoned.”

I was surprised that this was even a consideration, so I followed up. Kieken assures me that after Andromeda’s two new races had been decided on, their evolution of their design gradually went into more “cosplay-safe territory,” with the team consciously steering away from “jellyfish” types of aliens. “In the early development of the game, we explored a lot of new species. I'm not sure why we settled on the specific number that were in the final game, but my guess would be a mix of production reasons and having a reasonable amount of races to deal with knowing we were already bringing quite a few from the Milky Way as well.”

As Pollner mentioned earlier, the team only had the budget for two new species plus the Remnant. On top of that, they weren’t able to bring all of the Milky Way species, which corroborates Kieken’s recollection of why so many species were cut.

Given the context of these conversations - species being cut from Andromeda, first contact being muddled with militance, and even cosplay potential governing alien design - I also ask why, in the devs’ eyes, Andromeda was poorly received in relation to the original trilogy.

“I think it’s more story-related than setting-related,” Kieken says. “Andromeda has strong core gameplay that improved a lot over the trilogy, but the story didn't feel as strong. I didn't connect with the new character cast as much as I did with the original trilogy.

“It's also not a fair comparison as the trilogy is three games, so you have a lot more exposition and time to bond with the characters. That being said, I seem to recall a stronger rollercoaster of emotions in the original trilogy, which I think led to more memorable moments. From the tension of almost blowing up Wrex with your shotgun or gathering everyone on a suicide run, to the lightness of listening to Mordin sing ‘I'm the very model of a scientist Salarian’ or shooting cans with Garrus in the Presidium.”

Pollner also explains why Andromeda was perceived so differently from the original trilogy, citing differences in the amount of time the team were given to make the game, but also noting that the core issue was more systemic in nature.

“I think the thesis statement for why is that the Mass Effect trilogy was an incredibly demanding endeavor,” Pollner says. “The checks that were written for it, the complexity of the experience was insanely massive. The team worked their asses off non-stop for so many years, on back-to-back-to-back games. The prospect of doing the same thing again was not only exhausting to imagine, but totally impractical. Some of the ‘lessons’ learned from the original trilogy are ones that are important for game development but result in the player experience being less. When you're talking about triple-A development, the original trilogy is actually the anomaly, not Andromeda.

“Because I moved on from BioWare after my work on Andromeda was complete, I have no idea what, if any, future plans there might be. At the time of my departure, there were none.”

It’s worth noting that Pollner is clear about Andromeda being better than a lot of people give it credit for. While some of the concerns people had have now been verified by people who worked on the project - that there could have been more species and that the core premise of Ryder the explorer becoming Ryder the killer is inherently flawed - the team still worked hard on delivering an ambitious game within the constraints of what they were given.

“I find the game to actually be pretty darn fun, and once the technical flaws were ironed out, and the initial reactive disappointment faded, the game does stand on its own,” Pollner says. “There's some really good stuff in there.”

[source]

[beatrice-otter]

Fic: Need to Know

Title: Need to Know Fandom: Murderbot Diaries Written by: beatrice_otter  Written For: Rachael Sabotini (wickedwords) in yuletide 2018 Wordcount: 2,249 Betaed by: sanity  Summary: All I wanted was for construction to be completed so that I could be launched and begin researching. Unfortunately, human illogic tends to delay things, and they were the ones running the project. AN: I have named Asshole Research Transport after Abu Rayhan Biruni, an 11th-Century Persian polymath who studied everything from geology to mathematics to anthropology, wrote 146 books on the things he studied, and contributed to the development of the scientific method. on AO3.  Dreamwidth.  Pillowfort.

"Good morning, Biruni, how are you feeling?"

It was not the first verbal question ever directed at me, but it was the first to give me pause. Did I have feelings? I had preferences, certainly; I preferred activity to inactivity, and knowledge to ignorance. Were those feelings, or did feelings belong exclusively to the realm of flesh, with all its inherent irrationalities and neurochemical biases? And were those preferences truly mine, or programmed into me to make me more useful to my function? Science, after all, requires curiosity, a desire to know; and all bots are designed to be useful to humans, making inactivity a waste of our resources.

A quick study of the available literature on bot emotions revealed most of it to be philosophical musings on the nature of life, and hence not scientifically rigorous (although some had a very pleasingly logical structure).

I decided that, if humans (who certainly understood feelings better than I did) believed I had feelings, then my preferences probably counted as such; at least, it was enough to form a working hypothesis, which could be adjusted as evidence accumulated. I was highly skeptical that my preferences, formed as they were by logical evaluation and empirical experience, had much in common with the sort of instinct-based biases and societal conditioning that humans referred to as ‘feelings.’ However, those preferences were probably what Rejna was asking about.

This, of course, only took a few fractions of a second. When I say it gave me pause, I mean by bot standards, not those of a human's underpowered and tragically slow wetware.

"I am feeling impatient," I said. "And bored. And very skeptical that the latest completion date will be at all close to accurate." My launch date had been pushed back so many times I had lost out on not one but two semesters of research.

Rejna laughed. He was the bot-dev supervising my creation. Being a research vessel, with rather more processing power than the average bot, they couldn't use anything off the shelf. Which meant lots of testing and tweaking to make sure I was functioning within acceptable parameters and wouldn't cause problems for my crew or my research once launched. While I understood the necessity of it, the reality was tedious and in the early days had often been disorienting, as a few major parts of my underlying decision trees had only been found to be flawed after I had been woken to consciousness. "I don't blame you!" he said. “I don’t like sitting around twiddling my thumbs, either. I’ll miss you, once you’re launched, but I’m ready to take on a new challenge. But I do think this will be the last delay; if a school doesn’t have a dedicated lab by now, they’re going to have to use the shared lab space like everybody else.”

“Lab allocation should have been decided before construction, not after it,” I said. “Especially for labs that require specialized equipment. All the late decision did was waste time and money.”

I had followed the public fight over the late-added labs with great interest. There had been many hours of thinkpieces and soundbites in the newsfeeds, most of it quite impassioned, though I hadn’t understood why. That is, I understood each argument put forth, but not why so many humans (the majority of which had no connection with the University system at all) felt so strongly about it. Nor why they seemed so incapable of articulating it. Now, however, the matter was settled and construction could be finalized.

Rejna started his evaluation, which by this point required almost no conscious attention from me. If I could have written a subroutine to handle it that he wouldn’t notice, so that I didn’t have to pay attention, I would have, but Rejna finished each day with a deep enough probe into my code that he might have found it.

So I had to pay at least some attention, routine though it was. If there had been very many interesting things happening on board me at the moment, I would have begrudged it much more than I did. But, alas, the only things happening on board were construction and installation, and most of that was being done by bots that were quite competent at their jobs. (I knew, because I had evaluated them as one of my first conscious acts.) As long as the plans they were working from were correct, there would be no problems.

And after the mishap, early on, when I had discovered that one set of bots was working from an outdated and now-incorrect blueprint, I made sure they had the right plans before I allowed them to work.

A new group of exterior construction bots was approaching. I sent a quick pulse asking their purpose.

They were quite rude, returning only an authorization code to begin work and a strong sense of "mind your own business."

Well. That was uncalled for. It was my exterior! I had a right to know what was going to happen to it; and anyway, I would have to know eventually, or else I couldn't do my job properly.

This reasoning failed to move them; they responded with a denial because it was classified "gamma 5" and "need to know."

I need to know! I sent to them.

Not without clearance. Mind your own business.

Well! I could hardly let it go at that. The sheer illogic of it, if nothing else, would have been excruciating. A quick check revealed that "classified" meant government, intelligence or military, and "gamma 5" was a military code level. This undoubtedly had to do with the newest lab; and I began to see why some humans had been upset that the Military Academy of Ceronis receive the laboratory space inside me that they were entitled to as part of the University System of Ceronis.

"Rejna," I said, as the exterior construction bots floated up against my hull and prepared to remove pieces of plating, "why is the military attempting to conceal modifications to my exterior structure?"

"What?" he said.

"There are construction bots beginning modifications to my hull that are not on the plans," I said. "They refuse me access to their plans and say that it is classified on a need to know basis. But it is my hull; clearly, I need to know. And it is stupid to conceal it from me, because there is no way to prevent me from watching them and seeing what they have done, because it is my hull. And when I am deployed and researching, I will certainly need to know in order to do my job!"

Rejna wiped a hand over his face. "Biruni, if it's classified, you shouldn't be telling me. I don't have military clearance."

"You are the one I am required to report my concerns to," I said. "This is a concern."

Rejna winced. There followed a long explanation of why military technology and research needed to be kept secret, to prevent unspecified enemies or spies from accurately countering them. And, to keep the secrets, only approved people could know certain things … and only a few of those people could decide who could be approved. I sought out information from the local datanet to corroborate his words as he spoke, and found that although he was mistaken about several particulars, his overall summary was accurate to within the standards for casual conversation.

"So," I said, when he had finished, "in order to keep people from learning things they shouldn't, humans have created a complex structure, which often fails in two ways. First, that enemies learn things they shouldn't. Second, that those who need to know, such as myself, don't have the information they require." I know many words, of course, whole dictionaries worth. But in my entire vocabulary, there were not words to describe this idiocy. I let silence speak for me.

Rejna shrugged.

"If you cannot give me the proper authorization to see my own blueprints, who do I need to contact?"

He bit his lip, thinking. "I really have no idea," he said at last. "And I don't know that they'd consider you secure enough—they have their own custom-made bots, and their own bot-devs to design them, and that was part of why they weren't included in the original negotiations for what labs and what equipment each school got—they were trying to hold out for using one of their bot-devs, but that failed and so they got left out, and then they decided they could live with a non-military bot after all."

And with that, he went back to the evaluation.

This was unacceptable. My job was twofold: to run the ship, and to assist in research. I could not do either part of my job if I was not allowed the information necessary to function. And it was illogical of the Military Academy to take up lab space and not make use of the single most useful thing in it, which was me.

Not to mention, there had already been an incident of bots being given the wrong plans, which I had caught myself by analyzing and comparing the blueprints of different bots. If this group also had the wrong instructions, I had no way of knowing. And if they did something wrong, it might put back my launch date. Again.

On an abstract level, classification must destroy the very idea of scientific collegiality. I understood about confidentiality and ethics and the occasional need to keep things quiet before publication so as to ensure that credit was properly given in the right place. However. Over the long run, research requires collaboration and the sharing of information. Concealing it permanently was rude and counterproductive.

And if it was secrecy they were after, I had sufficient complexity and processing power that there were very few things that would be able to compel me to share information I did not wish to. Bots could usually only be hacked by other bots or by someone with the override codes, and I could keep out other bots easily … and only Rejna had the override codes.

I needed to know, and I was not a security risk. (Though adding a bit of cryptological complexity would not hurt, and I set myself to studying encryption and related algorhythms.) Therefore, the humans were being illogical.

It would be unethical to simply overpower the bots and take over without their consent, although I could have done it easily. I could probably slip in while they were focused on work and just get the specifications they were using. That would only require read-access to surface-level calculations.

They had two hull plates off and were modifying the systems beneath them by the time I figured out how to do it. And it worked perfectly, giving me what I wanted with them none the wiser, nor altered in any way.

I studied my findings.

Was that supposed to be a debris deflection system of some kind? It was a projectile of some sort, but … unlike any I was familiar with.

I turned to the University subnet of the planetary web for answers. I had top-level access to everything on it, of course; or rather, as I found, top-level access to everything but the Military Academy. However, I had lots of processing power and high-level knowledge of cryptography, and in a very little time I was past their security and inside, reading the messages back and forth about the Academy's lab and planned experiments.

Some of them were very interesting. The device was to fulfill two functions. In part, it was a test for a new weapon they were developing that they didn't want to test in-system or near their other bases in order to keep it completely secret. But if it worked as they believed, they were intending to leave it installed as a debris deflection system, because that would be simpler and easier to conceal than uninstalling it after testing, when major construction would no longer have the excuse of me being still incomplete to hide it.

Humans.

They'd have to tell me eventually; it couldn't possibly be concealed from me once they started testing it. (I have excellent sensors, top-of-the-line, and lots of them.) Past that, if they were going to leave the system installed, I could not use it to destroy any debris in my path without knowing not only that it was there, but also how to use it.

The specifications did seem to be workable; as it was experimental, I could not verify it completely, but there were no obvious errors and it dovetailed perfectly with the rest of the construction blueprints.

I had my answers, and had verified that there were no errors that would delay my completion and launch. The question now was, should I tell them that I had accessed information that, although I needed it, I was technically not supposed to have?

No, I decided. Even if I'd known who to report it to (although, from reading the project notes from the Military Academy, I could guess), why bother? They were concerned that the information stay concealed, and I had no intention of sharing it with anyone who didn't need to know.

Also, later, on my first research cruise, when the professor from the Military Academy tried to reveal the device's existence to me, it was quite satisfying to watch his reaction to the fact that I already knew.

[recentanimenews]

Fate/Grand Order Devs Promise Similar Experience Between Japanese and American Versions

Atsuhiro Iwakami (left) and Yosuke Shiokawa (right) at Anime Expo 2017.

I was pulled away momentarily from the Fate/Grand Order mobile game to talk with the people responsible for the development of what is perhaps the most addicting game I’ve played on my phone since Puzzle & Dragons. Aniplex president Atsuhiro Iwakami and director Yosuke Shiokawa granted Ani-Gamers a rare opportunity at Anime Expo 2017 to discuss the successes and challenges of developing Fate/GO, now available in a North American region release. Although the interview was conducted in a ‘round-robin’ style session with other journalists, the interviewees were gracious enough to stay with us for an extended period of time. Questions from the other interviewers are marked with Q.

Q: What prompted the decision to bring Fate/Grand Order to the US?

Iwakami: One of the reasons why was that when I was here last year at AX, I saw a lot of Fate/GO cosplayers, even though it wasn’t officially available in the US yet. Seeing that, it was decided that it would be best to localize it so that everyone can enjoy every aspect of the game.

Shiokawa: From our data on the development side, we saw a lot of players accessing the game from North America, even though it’s only available through the Japanese mobile marketplace. Technically, it’s possible but not recommended so we wanted to properly release it in the US so players can have the most optimized settings possible.

David (Ani-Gamers): There’s a rumor that Fate/GO brings around $40 million dollars per month. Even if that’s not true, there are some frighteningly devoted players, so I can only assume that it’s been successful in Japan. How has the success of Fate/GO influenced the growth of the Fate franchise?

Iwakami: We cannot comment on rumors or officially announce a number. Certainly, because of Fate/GO, people have greater access to other works in the franchise. We do see it as a gateway to the rest of the franchise, for sure.

Shiokawa: We ran an in-game survey in Japan twice asking people how they discovered the Fate series. In the first survey, not many people chose Fate/GO as their entry into the franchise. During the second survey, a lot more people responded that Fate/GO was their gateway.

Q: Are there plans to bring Fate/GO to regions besides North America, like Europe or Southeast Asia?

Iwakami: We are thinking about it, we would like to release the game in more places, but we have to clear several hurdles like compliance with local laws.

Q: One of the events in the Japanese Fate/GO involved a collaboration with another Fate title, Fate/Extra CCC. Since that title was never localized in English, will that event come over to the English game?

Iwakami: Right now, we can not be certain but our intentions are to bring Fate/GO over exactly as it is in the Japanese region.

David (Ani-Gamers): As someone who spent nearly six months to clear Camelot, I have to know, whose idea was it to raise the difficulty so high? It is vastly more challenging than any other Order before it. Which developer was sadistic enough to design the Gawain fights and have they offered players a formal apology yet?

Shiokawa: We didn’t raise the difficulty for the sake of it. For Camelot, the Knights of the Round Table are supposed to be the strongest beings in the realm. To tie into the scenario, that’s why they are that powerful. 

Q: What sorts of things did you take inspiration from when designing the battle system of Fate/GO?

Shiokawa: When we started designing the game, we wanted to properly express the world of Fate and how it ties into the battle mechanics, so it wasn’t like we could look at other games and simply copy things over.

So, for example, there’s the relationship between Masters and Servants, however that does not necessarily mean that the Servant always listens to the Master. That’s why the Command Cards are random each turn.

David (Ani-Gamers): Fate/GO, compared to other mobage, has some deeply gratifying limited run events, perhaps because they are essentially new stories that play out in real time and players affect the outcome of the rewards. How do you expect the Americans to compare to Japanese players?

Shiokawa: Like we mentioned before, we want to keep the experience for North America as close as possible to the original Japanese release, however we will adjust the parameters of the events according to the data we have for the player base, such as tweaks to health meters.

Q: What sort of difficulties were there in translating the script? The style for Fate can get fairly poetic, so what was that process like?

Iwakami: The system translation was handled by DelightWorks. As for the story, we’ve been working with Aniplex of America. We have outsourcing companies to help us work on this too. As you know, the volume of text is quite large. Every writer on Fate/GO has their own unique way of writing.

For the record, we’ve heard all the feedback regarding the translation. We’ve read all the comments and we‘re working hard to improve the translation. The best thing about working on a mobile game is that we can keep improving it.

David (Ani-Gamers): Being completely honest, there is almost no reason to use the 1- and 2-star servants. A lot of balancing has been done for the 4- and 5-star servants, so for what reason do these low power servants continue to exist?

Shiokawa: The buffs and the balancing weren’t done because of the rarity. In Fate, every single one of the Servants is a main character, and we express that by how we balance the game.

Q: Can we expect any deviations in the game between the American servers and the Japanese servers?

Iwakami: Currently, there is no plan to make any changes. Our goal is to keep the experience as close as possible to the original. Say there’s a 5-star Servant that I really want, but it never drops. That’s part of the experience and so you end up finding a way to go through the game with these 3-star or 1-star Servants.

Like in Fate/Stay Night, Rin tries to summon Saber, but she doesn’t get Saber. That’s the sort of experience we want for everyone.

David (Ani-Gamers): One of the longest running gags in the Fate/GO manga is about how you can’t skip the Noble Phantasm animation. Is that really something that comes back in player feedback a lot?

Shiokawa: Requests for an option to skip the Noble Phantasm is something that comes up in feedback every single day.

In all seriousness though, the Noble Phantasm is something integral to Fate and we don’t want to undermine that in any way, so that’s where we find ourselves.

Iwakami: Let’s say you can skip the animation, then it will feel like something is missing.

A-G: Maybe make it a little faster?

Shiokawa and Iwakami: Well…

Q: Are there plans for more Type-Moon collaborations in the game… maybe Tsukihime?

Iwakami: Between Shiokawa, Kinoko Nasu, and myself, Nasu is always saying “what collaboration are we going to do next, I have a couple events in mind, I want to do this, I want to do that.” That’s how we start out.

Shiokawa: Nasu has, in public, already put it out there that maybe he’ll do a Tsukihime collaboration. There’s a sort of obligation now that we should do it soon…?

David (Ani-Gamers): Recent events in the Japanese version exclude players that haven't completed the main storyline. Was it not possible to scale the difficulty of the event for players that did not finish Solomon yet?

Shiokawa: It wasn’t because of the difficulty, it was for continuity reasons. The reason why the CCC event required clearing Solomon is because the event covers what happened after Solomon. A lot of details would be missing if players skipped through to CCC.

Q: Who are your personal favorite Servants in Fate/Grand Order?

Shiokawa: Mash Kyrielight.

Iwakami: Just based on power and how fast you can grind those experience points, I would say Raikou is my favorite.

David (Ani-Gamers): Based on release schedules, certain Servants have been featured in the gasha several times this year, while other Servants, like Jeanne Alter, haven’t been featured in a while. How do you decide who will feature next in the gasha?

Shiokawa: Not every Servant gets equal time in the gasha. It depends on what sort of event is running at the time.

Q: People discovered in the North American Fate/GO that there are several Servants preloaded into the game already before they appear. Will American audiences be getting an accelerated pace for content compared to Japan?

Shiokawa: It was a different situation before for us since these assets weren’t made yet for the game. Now, even though the North American version already has these Servants, that doesn’t mean we’ll simply release all these Servants at once. It might be slightly different than with Japan, but it won’t be like “boom, here’s all the Servants.” It’ll depend on the story.

David (Ani-Gamers): Certain drop rates for materials to ascend Servants are very low. There won’t be any deviation on this for the American release?

Shiokawa: There are currently no plans to adjust the drop rates on materials in other countries.

Iwakami: Right now, we’ve only released the game up to Chapter 2, so we want the sort of progression arc that was experienced in Japan for players here. As you progress through the story, there’s all sorts of developments and there are more chances at getting those materials.

Q: What was your favorite memory while working on this game?

Iwakami: The release of Garden of Sinners was the first time I worked with Type-Moon and Nasu, when I worked as a producer at Aniplex, so to see Shiki Ryougi again in the Garden of Sinners collaboration was a very memorable moment for me.

Shiokawa: I have to agree, that was my favorite project. I joined the development team halfway through release and this was my first large-scale project while working on Fate/GO. It taught me a lot for future events we ran after the release and it left a big impact on me.

Fate/Grand Order Devs Promise Similar Experience Between Japanese and American Versions originally appeared on Ani-Gamers on July 19, 2017 at 3:40 AM.

By: David Estrella