#the unplanned variable tow

[5un5yst]

Om other cap! One more to go lol fml.....they/them!

[amplexadversary]

I finally finished The Outer Worlds and despite some criticisms I really enjoyed it.

I think I would have preferred if there were more interesting junk/variety of items to deal with and if my companions actually used ammo; I'm used to fairly scroungy games like Bioshock, so I ended the game with almost the maximum amount I could carry (I hit the limit and had to sell several times) as well as over 100k bits.

I also feel like a lot of the unique weapons and armor were kind of lackluster. If they had scaled better than their generic variants (which you can find better versions of later in the game), I might have been more satisfied.

Also wouldn't have minded having more places to put stuff I picked up and for the inventory/containers I did get to be easier to sort manually (I can't move things to different pages in my inventory if I'm carrying too many different things! And I can't auto-sort by consumable effect! Augh!)

I'm not great at FPS combat (I still hold that VATS from Fallout is probably the best accessibility feature ever made for an FPS and it is not close) but I feel like the balance of encounters needed a little work. Some encounters (the two bosses most notably) that I was expecting to be challenging were not, and the encounters that I did have a hard time with sometimes felt like they were difficult for the wrong reasons.

By the end of the game I was basically only using the medical inhaler in the split second I got to heal my companions before they would inevitably be downed by enemy fire because the animation was so damn long. Whenever my character needed healing it was basically necessary for me to go through the menu (faster, and I get to handpick which consumables I'm using). There is not really any good way to heal companions in this game so I essentially had to resolve myself to expect them to be downed and finish fights alone.

I like the idea of the flaw system but I wish it was more robust than being mostly enemy and damage type weaknesses with a few more interesting options (I decided to bring an anime man to this game so obviously I took the food addiction debuff.) I would likely have taken the cynophobia debuff as well if I had felt any of the perks were worth it, but those unfortunately weren't very tempting either.

I did really enjoy the story of the game, but I feel like a huge factor in that was that I happened to bring a character who meshed really well with the setting and everyone else's problems, and I still had moments where I felt the need to ditch role-playing choices to actually engage with the game better (there are not a *ton* of side missions, and I frequently found myself thinking "okay, [character] would absolutely tell this guy to fuck off but I want the game to last more than 20h"). To offset that though there are definitely moments where the plot and my excuses as to why the guy was even there lined up really beautifully (especially on Gorgon and especially on the Hope. I'm imagining some punched-out monitors on the Hope in particular.)

Assuming the sequel is likely going to be more polished mechanics-wise and have more to do and interact with (not an unreasonable expectation in video games, sequels are more often than not an improvement on the original), I'll probably want to play it.

[the-drowsy-captains-art]

Brain said revert to outer worlds so here we are

[yeehawfolk]

Headcanons about Felix Millstone:

I share a few with @nyokaacore so I figured you'd want to see me put the whole post together!

-Felix is a slow learner, but he really flourishes with an attentive teacher who is patient and that doesn't invalidate his intelligence. He appreciates people explaining things in depth if he needs, and to let him take his time with learning what they're teaching him.

-Felix doesn't read the best, mostly because he's a mixture of self-taught and informal teaching, so it takes him a while to read. It doesn't help he's very hyperactive and finds it hard to concentrate on words vs his serials or comics. He's not illiterate, he's just slow, and he can't concentrate too well, so reading isn't his favorite activity.

-Despite being a slow learner and being a bit frustrated with himself because of it, he genuinely loves to learn. Science has always fascinated him, but nobody ever took the time to really explain it. I HC that Max teaches him a bit post-Scylla and lets him read his books.

-Felix cried the first time he felt dirt under his feet. It was just a little overwhelming, but the Crew was still really supportive and just kinda of let him work it out.

-This one might be a bit controversial, but I honestly feel Felix is some kind of asexual. Demisexual, Aceflux, just plain Asexual...

-That being said, I feel like one day the Captain and Parvati are talking about her being ace and Felix just goes "Wait doesn't everyone feel that way???" And that's when Felix has a realization.

-Despite Felix's happy-go-lucky attitude, he has a little bit of a problem with self-esteem. He's not good with numbers, and ngl he's internalized a bit that he's "stupid" or just a troublemaker and burden. So it really helps when the Captain and everyone else just talk to him like a normal person and accept him for him, silly serial ideas and all. I HC that this is why the better option for the interaction with Clyde Harlow is basically defending Felix as a good crewmate (and why Max's little "Felix will always have a place here; he's family now." Makes me so soft)

-Felix is also a little insecure because he thinks everyone is SO cool, and he's just (in his mind) Felix. Being around the crew helps a lot, though, especially Parvati, Ellie, and The Captain, because they encourage him in and outside of fights.

-Also. Felix has basically imprinted on Ellie as an older sister, so they stick together a lot. Ellie would never admit it to anyone, least of all Felix, but she's ridiculously protective of him. Before Scylla when Max hits a little too close to home when they bicker, Ellie steps in to press Max's buttons so that he'll turn to her instead of Felix.

-Ellie teaches Felix first-aid, CPR, and various other emergency medical techniques. He actually gets very good at them, and ngl Ellie is so proud.

-Felix absolutely ADORES Nyoka. He just. Thinks she's so cool. Whenever she tells her stories, he listens intently and starry-eyed, and knows most of them by heart at this point. Sometimes he retells them with Nyoka with his own flourishes, and its so adorable.

-That being said Nyoka's not exactly sure what to do with him??? He's a good kid, she likes him, but he constantly surprises her and she's not sure if she's ready to be a role model again at first (after her quest she's a bit less nervous about it).

-He shows her Terror On Monarch and she knows it's complete bullshit and just. Not a great show, she watches it with him and lets him excitedly talk with her about it. She corrects the show sometimes, and will then tell him a truer, cooler story, and he absolutely loves it.

-Sometimes he and Parvati have a "movie night" where they stay in the other's room and watch serials with each other. Occasionally, Ellie will join in, and very rarely Nyoka will watch an episode or two with them.

-Parvati teaches him to grow plants, and they name them together when they get big. He's not the best at naming them, but then again, neither is Parvati.

-Parvati and him both love animals, and they MUST play with Bubbles when their Captain goes to visit Phineas.

-Felix and Parvati are bros. Just. 100%. Felix listens to Parvati gush about Junlei and aside from The Captain he's the first one she shows the cheesy poem from Junlei to.

-Also, fuck canon, Felix eventually inherits The Unreliable from the Captain (with ADA's blessing, of course) or joins Ellie's new crew or CHARON with Nyoka, or SOMETHING. He deserved better than his ending.

-Max is surprisingly patient with teaching him basic science (I get this idea bc of how Max deals w a dumb Captain) and even though sometimes Felix gets frustrated with having to go over something multiple times to retain it, Max just lets him work at his own pace. I HC that after Scylla, Max is a lot more open, and even though Felix is like "Max, you're a fucking weirdo since you took those drugs" he actually appreciates Max taking the time to understand him on a deeper level than before.

-Max also loans Felix some of his books, and Felix is SO careful with them, it's more than a little cute lmao. He knows how much they mean to him and despite their bickering he wouldn't ever actually hurt them.

-Also. One day, the Captain takes them all to Edgewater and takes Felix to the river. Felix is enamored and just. Plays in the water for a good long while. His mission in life becomes getting Max as soaking wet as possible, and for once, Max isn't even mad (even though he's dripping wet by the time Felix gets done splashing him). He grumbles a bit, but he's still chuckling and shaking his head when Felix quiets down and lays in the water.

-ADA complains a bit when Felix starts striking up conversations with her, but as time goes on he grows less nervous about her, and starts treating her like another person. Ngl, she really appreciates it after a bit, because he really considers her feelings when he realizes she HAS them.

-ADA could care less about his serials and comics, but she patiently listens to him explain them to her.

-Sometimes, late at night, when the rest of the crew is asleep, he confides in ADA about his fears and dreams. I HC they become pretty close, even though she's a bit prickly sometimes.

[captastra]

Decided to make Rheas character sheet!Thank you @kourumi for helping me ❤😊

[magewardensurana]

Random Halcyon Resident: So your name is Alex Hawthorne?

The Unplanned Variable:

[askfelixmillstone]

Honestly I wonder how many people I looked up to are actually just pure evil in secret. Because I mean after Harlow and then the whole thing with Graham selling out Amber Heights, it makes me nervous. Who else that I respect is actually hiding their true nature. Is Par actually a really cruel woman? Is Phineas planning on selling out the Hopes colonists and holding them to ransom? Is Hiram selling everything we do to the Board? Law, is Captain Ess actually working for the Board??? See, I'm not just worried about if the Rangers are losing this seasons Tossball championship, or if anyone saw me trip over my own feet for the 7th time today, I do have actual fears and worries. I don't know what I'll do if it turns out anyone else turns out to be evil :( maybe move to Scylla and live like that Hermit Lady who gave us drugs

[driftwoodskeleton]

A NEW CAPTAIN ENTERS THE RING!!

This is Orion, she is 21 and I love her. She is here to chew bubblegum and kick ass and shes- ah fuck she dropped the bubblegum. Staunchly anti-Board and also anti eye contact. Orion is Autistic! And also ADHD. This makes doing any quest line very complex because she has never stayed on task more than 3 consecutive minutes. She uses a dead eye assault rifle mk2 with various mods and has named the gun Steven for unknown reasons. I gave her a tragic backstory bc I'm just Like That but she's cool I think. She's my new fave and I love her. Thank u for coming to my TEDtalk

[pencil-prince]

[Lie 20] “In Halcyon heaven awaits!”

[orojuice]

The Season of the Slug

"Who…" Years later, after the Hope's great thawing, and beyond the coming and going of the Season of the Slug, an aged and bedridden inventor sprang from his mattress to grab me by the shirt, cutting his gnarled hands on the innumerable medals pinned to it. As he trembled, as he coughed and spat, as he was dying, I could see a question long dormant and suppressed finally hatch from his lips. "Who killed Halcyon Helen!?" Phineas was always so smart, and likely the only person left in the colony who still cared about that what with changing Aetherwave trends. No surprise there. Bit wasteful though. Instead of reminiscing on getting patted on the back by Earth's revived best and brightest, or staring down Auntie Cleo herself from across a table, he'd rather use what little he had in the tank to trace all his good fortune back to the unfortunate tipping point that made it possible. The Board's head doctors, some of whom he had worked tirelessly to awaken from cryogenic slumber, would rush to this room in minutes, but Welles would be long gone by then. Before that, I supposed that my old partner-in-crime was owed one final courtesy for giving me so much more than he ever intended. I took aim at the wild, fading light of his eyes…and answered. "It was a two-man job."

Commentary:

As 2021 approaches its conclusion, bringing us another year closer to the sequel to the first Outer Worlds game, it may be prudent to manage one's expectations regarding what will and won't be in this new installment. More Enemy Variety? Definitely. Improved UI? Likely. Vehicles? Possibly. Romance? Probably a long shot. And regarding long shots, a particular feature oft overlooked and arguably underutilized may be on its way out if the post-game content and atmosphere around the franchise is of any indication: The Pro-Board Route. Yes. One of the two main narrative pillars of the first game. Truly. How could such a removal occur, especially when you take into consideration that player choice is of a considerable premium for the developers of this game as seen in their catalogue of past work relating to OBSIDIAN and beyond? Now, this is just speculation, but if it happened, and it could, it would be due to two main factors. The first is that, from what can be gleaned from the loudest and most visible voices surrounding the game, only a scant number of fans would really mind not having a chance to side with the corporations. Just take a gander at how the lion's share of reviewers and essayists regarding The Outer Worlds barely entertain the idea of siding with the corporations; at how video walkthroughs label the resolutions of missions and even the endings of the game as "Good" or "Bad" they are in lieu of listing affiliates. Some gamers probably did give it a try, they might've even min-maxed reputation like I did for the complete Mass Effect 3 final choice experience, but I can say with confidence that this is likely a rather untrodden road. The second is that the developers don't seem to like making Pro-Board narrative assets, let alone paths. I'd go so far as to infer that they never really wanted to seriously make any to begin with. And no, I don't think OBSIDIAN being bought out by Microsoft back in 2018 is going to encourage them to do so. Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky have had axes to grind against big vidya since their Interplay days, and the rest of OBSIDIAN's break-up with Bethesda has made them kindred to that kind of animosity. These experiences with actual, existing shifty corporations made crafting the members of the Board almost effortless. Brutal Military-Industrial Complex? Here's the UDL. Pharmaceutical Companies that underdeliver and overprice? Say hello to Auntie Cleo's. Unhealthy Food Manufacturers? Rizzo's has got you covered. And for all those cheap, off-brand, bulk goods, it might not be the best choice, but it's Spacer's Choice! You can practically smell how much they despise each and every member of the Mickey Moon Club, depicting them as vapid as they are villainous. Forgot having fun with the bad guy or having them inspire awe, OBSIDIAN wanted the player to hate this cabal of bourgeois nitwits. And there's nothing wrong with that; crafting a monolithic, pitiless collection of skyscrapers to act as the protagonist's punching bag's been a valid way to put a well-supplied and very present antagonistic force into a story. Umbrella Corporation, ROXXON, Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated, Arasaka, and even DC Comics recently established the Magistrate as their new - if bland - overarching villainous entity for their Infinite Frontier initiative…which probably seemed a lot more bold to them before they got bought up by the Discovery Channel just two months after. But this rather obvious hatred presented an inconvenient challenge to the team, as given the reputation of the company and the links to first-person RPGs like Fallout: New Vegas that they were actively taking both heavy inspiration from and would use relentlessly in their future marketing, the clear and present existence of the Board and its components as factions brought up the question as to whether the player could ally with any of them. The answer was, of course, yes. Albeit, a very terse and reluctant "yes". Evidence of just how aggravating that "yes" was to say can be found in the way the Pro-Board route is rendered in The Outer Worlds. Past the unenviable and murky feud over the Edgewater territory between a polite yet stuffily factory manager with no nutritional aptitude and an extremely vengeful quasi-cannibal crone, the larger conflicts at play lean towards the moral binary by default. You might have to do perform some dubious maneuvers to fight the Board until you can revive your fellow Hope colonists to magically fix all the star system's problems with their superior citizen know-how (which is, in a way, oddly classist), but you're going to have to do even worse if you support the Board. If you want Akande to give you a high-five, you're going to have to - among other dirty deeds - abruptly betray the man who saved you from being a people popsicle, become complicit in the execution of lottery retirees, potentially kill off an entire town, assassinate a cartographer even if you don't destroy the town whose existence she was ordered to redact from her maps, and ultimately execute every other person on the Hope for the sake of the drastic and shortsighted Lifetime Employment Program. Adding to this divide is how information that could add texture or nuance to the conflict such as how the Groundbreaker is a surveillance state oligarchy or the fact that Phineas only revived your player character as an expendable stooge is either waved away quickly or outright buried in computer terminal memos; removed far enough so it doesn't compromise an otherwise straightforward good vs. evil plot whilst being close at hand to shush potential naysayers that would accuse the story of being simplistic. To OBSIDIAN's credit, allying your player character with the faction that possesses most of the money does grant tangible benefits: early access to Byzantium, big discounts on Board gear, extra quests, a chance to teach Felix that he shouldn't travel with strangers, occasions where you get to resolve conflicts with the bold and accurate claim that your boss could beat up whatever corporate stormtrooper is giving you grief's boss, the unique ability to have the Mardets and UDL goons fight side-by-side against rioting prisoners, and a hauntingly raw and emotional performance by Pitor Michael as a defeated yet dangerously deranged Phineas Vernon Welles on Tartarus. If The Outer Worlds had just gone quiet after the end of the main story until the announcement of its sequel, I would've confidently assumed that a Pro-Board route would exist in it as well given the amount of meat on this bone. And then the DLCs happened. Put aside how Peril on Gorgon revealed that the Marauders were accidentally created by Spacer's Choice - rendering the malnutrition born from biological incompatibilities with Halcyon's ecosystems as the one malady plaguing the colony that the Board is not directly responsible for. File away the practically buck naked metaphor presented by the Slugs of how beyond the way the Board controls Halcyon financially and politically, Rizzo's seems poised to chain them in body and mind as well. Then regard what happens (and doesn't happen) if you side with Ludovico.

None of the people wandering around significantly change after you blast them with a fine mist of parasitic organisms.

Your crew doesn't react too strongly to you killing Ruth. Although, given that you travelled to Eridanos under the assumption that Halcyon Helen was totally dead, maybe they were in the right head space to not mind so much.

Even if you loot the formula for the anti-parasitic from Ruth's corpse, you can't make it and take it to get one over on Ludovico.

You still have to fight Morale Improvement victims in the factory despite allying with Rizzo's.

Identical boss intro cutscene for the Slug Queen.

Because you burn bridges with SubLight Underground and the slugs you unleashed didn't turn anyone into a happy host, SLUG (no relation) not only hates you, but so do all their guests. You effectively exile yourself from Eridanos unless you want a level-sized version of a post-MSI victory Amber Heights to blast through.

The game's ending easily sidesteps the implications of your insane treasonous action via either Hope scientist ingenuity or Byzantium biology being so toxic from constant substance abuse that the slugs can't fully take over the capital.

And you lose access to the fancy Penthouse.

One could chalk how emaciated the route is up to time and resource constraints - having to comb over all the characters on Eridanos and tweaking their models to include a neck passenger and a freakish grin would be tough for any team of programmers. One could imagine the headaches that the mere implication of the Unplanned Variable having the cure to the parasites whilst unleashing them anyway would bring. One could do that, if not for the way that the dialogue implicitly addresses why someone would typically side with Rizzo's in this scenario. Namely, that the player (not the protagonist) wanted to see how it would turn out due to reckless, morbid curiosity. The Pro-Board role-player is acknowledged, their psychology inferred, and they are ultimately provided with the bare minimum. So why have a Pro-Board route in the first place if it would be heavily caricatured and downsized anyway? Ask yourself this, what other 3D RPGs promising high player agency were in development at the same time as the Outer Worlds? The ones that would come out immediately before and after the premiere of The Outer Worlds? Bioware's Mass Effect: Andromeda. Bethesda's Fallout 76. And looming over them all since 2011, Cyberpunk 2077. Laugh at this list and the anticipation it used to inspire if you like and as much as you want. I know I do. But these future titles with their gunplay, their loot, their big worlds, and their armloads of quests seemed to be on the precipice of doing what OBSIDIAN had been hoping to do but backed with hundred-million dollar budgets. In contrast, OBSIDIAN had to go to kickstarter just to fund the isometric Pillars of Eternity. Backs against the wall, and a late release or two from having The Outer Worlds be rendered quaint in comparison to its A-list peers, they decided to pull out as many stops as they could with the shoestring budget they had available, playing to the strengths of their more modular game world while only lightly dipping their toes in the waters where the above titles would've presumably reigned supreme. Crisis solution variety, graphical detail, and complex combat were streamlined in favor of mass murder routes, pacifist routes, oodles of crew mate banter, wide colorful vistas, strong character creation archetypes, and even speed running. Can you be a lone wolf? Yes, you can. Can you work with smugglers? Yes, you can. Can you be a corporate commando? You'd become a reprehensible sell-out in the process, but yes you can. That was before Andromeda, 76, and 2077 crashed and burned though, leaving The Outer Worlds as the critical hit king perched high above a battlefield of squandered and mismanaged potential. Plus, with Deus Ex still dormant thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, OBSIDIAN remains practically uncontested as one of the finest provider of player-choice-and-consequence games. Most importantly, their product got the best Stupendium song. With this trophy in hand and first-party Microsoft developer money in their budgets, don't be surprised if they choose to narrow the gameplay and story focus to add depth to the remaining choices. Gameplay features would likewise benefit, providing customers a chance to really give the corporations a right thrashing albeit in a way that does not directly insult OBSIDIAN's new monetary benefactor or the economic model with which they sell games to acquire more money to make games. In this way, they'd be able to address a common criticism levied against the Outer Worlds by diehard RPG veterans while excising a narrative feature that was simultaneously a daring power move and as a courtesy to their company's previous repute that they weren't much in love with. Think Borderlands but with better character interactions and nicer clothes. But Tim, Leonard, and company left Pro-Board players with one last gift. Unintentionally made yet organically grown from their doppelgänger detective yarn. It was an experience you could only really get in the Pro-Rizzo/Ludovico/Board route. You might have glimpsed it on the promotional poster. It might have briefly glided across your subconscious when you discovered that the Discrepancy Amplifier could shoot live ammunition as an emergency offensive measure. It was such a sublime moment of deliciously unique irony that I just had to make it real. And then, with the help of Sha-Y, I wrote a short comic about it.

[phantom-kiwi]

group picture time on the unreliable

[5un5yst]

Colored ! My cap is they/them :)! Lil transfemmy rights

[ebenaceae]

The Outer Worlds commission for @hayleys-posts of their Captain and Vicar Max!! get yourself a squad like this

(com info in bio!)

[incorrectouterworldsquotes]

I’m not asking you to do much. Just turn a blind eye while I rob this place stupid.

-The Unplanned Variable when the shroud fails.

[yeehawfolk]

I wrote a short fic with Hiram and Sven! It’s just domestic fluff, but I wrote it because dear lord I could not get it out of my head. So I guess if y’all want to read, check it out here

Also, @nyokaacore you seemed to really like Sven and Hiram, so I hope you don’t mind that I tagged you in this!

[silasai]

The Stranger eating their Rizzo’s™ Purpleberry Lunch™   while watching their companions eat Mock Apples™ and remembering what real apples tasted like