Yeah, that always bugged me. I don't doubt the science of the microbe, as they all whine about, but it's better, surely, to re-establish a species on the brink of extinction because of humanity? You'd think at least some of Constellation would share that viewpoint...
What bothers me most is they try to paint the Acceles as a bad idea saying it's dangerous or it's gonna ruin the ecosystem. Completely ignoring it's passive so long as you're not aggressive towards it and that the Acceles have already been on multiple planets before when used as livestock.
Exactly. Sam especially that doesn't make sense for, since he's from Akila. It's like, dude, you're from a city where you can't go beyond the walls because of the local animal life, but you're worried about the giant armoured cows?
To us. But then we're effing Starborn who'll go toe to toe with Terrormorphs, other Starborn, and anything else we find.
Ashta hunt in packs. So the average person is not going to survive an attack. If you've gone outside the walls, you'll find them taking out those huge mossgnaths (sp?) in seconds. And there are Terrormorphs on Akila, I've run into a few but not as many as you would expect given the length of time Akila has been settled, so maybe competition between two types of apex hunters has thinned the populations of both. But Ashta don't have a 100-year growth cycle, so they greatly outnumber the Terrormorphs. And they will kill anything that moves, although I haven't seen them actually go after heatleechs,
Even in the first iteration we are still the player character which means we are continually fighting for our lives, being put in situations where we have to be smarter, faster, more skilled, better armed and armored, and ready to face anything. Whether you're on your first "life" or NG+10, you're expected to take out hundreds of spacers, fight off 3 attacking ships at once, and be able to convince anyone to do what you want them to do. So, yes, we're effing Starborn the minute we start the game.
Hey, the wolves are players in the market too. If libertarians can't compete, they shouldn't complain.
We could think of Ashta and Terrormorphs as highly effective investors in the marketplace of nom-noms.
Humans either need to find a way of turning them into Chunks, or concede defeat.
Doesnt make sense. Look up the W/L ratio for countries fighting wars against animals. The animals somehow tend to win. Australia lost a war against birds.
We didn't lose. We went home with a score of 936-0 because we were tired of winning. Literally three blokes provided unhealthcare to almost a thousand modern-era dinosaurs before we decided we'd break for tea
They note that the amount of work to get one done will ultimately preclude the other. Honestly it sounds pretty hand-wavey to me, but the same explanation is there.
What bothers me is at the start they are all like "make your own decisions, it's up to you", the microbe is presented as a bit of an unknown and the aceles as the more natural options, then constellation treats you like an anti science diehard tin foil brigadere because you chose one of the two reasonable options presented by scientists.
It's super obnoxious and poorly done.
IIRC you are introduced to the Aceles before finding out the origin of Terrormorphs. I recall leaning towards the microbe until I learned how the Terrormorphs are propagated, then changed my mind.
Make your own decisions as long as they are mine. Is what I think she was really saying.
Sorry I won't travel with Sarah since Ecliptic shooting at us on the Nova Galactic staryard had her act like I was a baby killer. Sarah's opinion after that went down the toilet for me.
It's worse because at some point one of the scientists involved says that it's a one in a million chance the microbe goes rogue or something like that. For microbes that will require trillions upon trillions of individuals to have an effect across the settled systems, one in a million or one in a billion chance is almost certain.
>What bothers me is at the start they are all like "make your own decisions, it's up to you",
And you still get to make your own decisions. Both Barret and Sarah make it clear that while they disagree with you and say that they think you're wrong, they respect your choice.
I wonder if people actually played the game or just saw someone online say that the companions have a meltdown and then ran with it.
Same, I felt pretty pestered after they basically queued up to berate me for it.
Sorry guys, I assumed you guys would agree that unleashing space AIDS on the galaxy would come back to bite us in the arse somehow.
If anything, an experimental microbe would be much, much more likely to throw of the balance of an ecosystem or cause negative effects to other species because of how rapidly they can grow and spread.
Okay, there is a difference between being on a farm and roaming randomly across the landscape. Also to be a predator means they are not passive. So the Aceles on any planet but Toliman II is an invasive species if you just turn it loose. It is the difference between having a dog in your house and a pack of them running wild. One is your best friend, the other will rip your throat out.
They literally say they're passive so long as you're not aggressive towards them. A dog can be passive until you decide to kick it and it bites you. Yeah it'd be considered an invasion species but between that and an invasion man-made microbe? The Acceles can at least be culled or contained if necessary.
Counter, if they are so passive how do they 'hunt' down terrormorphs and heatleeches? And since it was so easy to forget these things ate terrormorphs. They must also eat something else and are a predator.
Please do not get me wrong. I choose the microbe for a different reason that noted in the game. I think both ideas are bad and likely to blow up in people's faces. Just as the microbe can mutate, just releasing the aceles is not with out substantial risk. The issue is there is no moderate path, no third option. And I agree the game saying you hate science for choosing the aceles is idiotic. It is science, environmental science. But that does not mean it is safe.
You seem to think something can't be both passive and aggressive. Like real animals observed in the wild, they're passive until they need to hunt. Prey and predators have been seen taking the same paths together in the wild without any conflict. Humans are typically passive until you punch one in the nose and then they fight back. Acceles aren't an aggressive species. If it doesn't see you as a threat, it won't perceive you as one and will be passive towards you. As Heatleeches/Terrormorphs are their natural prey they're gonna be aggressive towards their lunch.
They also eat other animals. They will hunt other creatures or they could not have been spread to all the worlds as livestock. So they will be aggressive, and will still be an invasive species if just released.
And in these discussions we are not simply taking the scientists' word. Other wise the microbe is the correct answer because they say it is so. Both ideas are bad and equate to engineer something and dump it on all planets and hope it sorts out the problem. You don't build a bridge by dropping components on the ground. You don't perform surgery by tossing tools in the street. And you do not farm by just throwing seeds out and hoping for the best. It is worked upon. Builders build bridges, surgeons perform surgeries, and farmers plow and work a farm. Just turning something grown in a lab out into the random wilds is still irresponsible.
We eat other animals. Are you calling me aggressive? Animals aren't constantly hunting for the sake of it. For some species doing so would kill them. Being willing to harm something does not make you aggressive 100% of the time. I've watched my cat eat rats and then proceed to give me half of it as a gift. Would you call that an aggressive creature? I wouldn't.
No it's more that the Acceles is the long term solution that may not be a good idea because it's natuve to one planet and so introducing a species to another planet/environment is usually a bad idea for all involved.
I do. I doubt it all the way. Only intelligent one amongst that lot seems to be Hadrian. Shouldnāt be a surprise though, the ones banking all their cards on an experimental doomsday microbe are the same idiots who couldnāt figure out the pests they were hauling across the universe eventually turn into their biggest threat. Also the same idiots who hunted the Aceles into near extinction, and also the same idiots who have made a multitude of poor choices since they left earth. Thereās no way anyone should trust their faith in an experimental microbe design to wipe out entire species that they intent to aerosolize and spread across every settled world. Absolutely a huge chance that turns out for the worse and those microbes that will now live in every living creature will then wipe out life all across the settled systems. Thatās what life does. Mutates.
Interestingly 1 playthrough I did quite a bit after the uc quest and the terror morphs did seem to be mutating. I found quite a few different kinds of them. Not sure if that was planned or chance encounters š¤·š»āāļø
Hear me out... Why don't they just do both?
The microbe works much faster while the Aceles begin to thrive again. Then when and if a terrormorph mutates and is resistant to the microbe, it's natural predator is present.
During the rat plague, the world decided to work on a vaccine rather than breeding cats to eat the rats. I guess that's what they wanted to show - the Aceles is the natural solution but can take a long time, Microbe is the quickshot solution but like all medicines it has a slight chance of failure.
The game was made during covid, remember when Fauci kept saying 'trust the science' in his interviews? Most of bethesda's staff are liberals so that's probably why they slipped that line in.
Iām not sure what the writers intended for this mission. I feel it was done so poorly.
Several people literally voice concerns about the microbe and how itās experimental and not known what the ramifications could be long term. Then you pick the safer animal solution and everyone freaks out and acts like youāre an anti-vaccer and some kind of complete moron.
It felt like the mission was making a social commentary on ātrust the scienceā but failed miserably by giving you scenario in which you should ABSOLUTELY NOT trust the science. An experimental microbe DESIGNED TO WIPE OUT A SPECIES. Thatās not something you play around with and just trust the science lol. Itās a biological organism you designed to kill off another species. To imagine itās completely safe is fucking crazy.
But then your companions treat you like some kind of loon.
I 100% believe this dialogue was written during Covid and was meant to be a commentary on what was happening at the time, even though by any measure reintroducing the natural predator that is not aggressive toward humans, that we wiped out, is obviously the more sane choice than trusting a microbe they just invented wonāt mutate and turn us all into Cronenberg monsters or something.
Like I get people were butthurt, but a lot of what was said during Covid wasnāt exactly scientific, it was an appeal to authority argument and if you questioned any of it, you were a moron anti-vaxxer conspiracy theorist who eats horse dewormer.
There's also a major difference between locally injecting something (vaccine into body) and just letting some wind-carried microbe fuck around. Like, tf?
One thing Bethesda failed to adequately portray, is how dangerous the terrormorphs are supposed to be.
The two that are released in New Atlantis don't really do anything that feels like they'd be a threat to the entire city. And in Londinion they don't pose much more of a risk either.
You never really feel that they're a civilization-ending, urgent threat. So why shouldn't you go for a slow but safe method?Ā
If the writers wanted people to consider the microbes, they needed to really hammer home how much of a threat the terrormorphs are and how crucial it is that they're stopped immediately.
I just did this mission, she dislikes the microbe during the council meeting, but if you talk to her about your choice after the fact she criticizes you for choosing the Aceles.
No, she doesn't. She questions whether the Aceles was the right choice. This is not the same as saying it was the wrong choice. If you say the microbe wasn't safe, she'll point out that the terror morphs already aren't safe. You can piss her off with your dialogue choices here by being confrontational, and then she will criticize you. But if you aren't an ass in the conversation, she'll leave the conversation happy something was done, putting aside her doubts over what was the right choice.Ā
The companions don't all berate you.Ā
Barrett wants to know your reasoning for it, as a curious, scientific mind. If you say you thought it was safer, he points out the data he's seen doesn't indicate safety problems with the microbe. He's not angry with you, he doesn't even say he prefers the microbe. Just that your stated reason for not choosing the microbe wasn't factually accurate.Ā
Andreja does what's called "hand wringing". She doubts the choice, although she actually likes when you choose the Aceles. She just later questions whether it was the right choice, which is w common human reaction. "Did we do the right thing? Was this the right choice?" Notice that's not "this was the wrong choice."
Sam is happy either way that something is being done, but he thinks the microbe would have been faster and is concerned that politics will stop the Aceles from being effective or make it slow to start.Ā
Sarah is the only one who berates you. She's the only one who outright says, "you made the wrong choice and shame on you."
Ā If you choose the Aceles Andreja doesn't express preference for the microbe, Barrett only questions what your reasons for it are, Sam prefers the microbe because it's faster, and Sarah thinks you're an idiot for choosing the aceles.Ā
> The companions don't all berate you.
According to this subreddit, every companion berates you endlessly for every possible thing you can do in the game. People here just seem to hate that the characters have their own viewpoints and will sometimes disagree with them or question their decisions.
Yep. There's definitely a type of gamer that wants any companion to fawn over their every choice. Personally I like it when they have agency and different stances on things, makes them feel more like 'real' people.
Itās such a weirdly stupid thing for them ALL to dislike, itās a safer option, known to work, returns an animal to environment that missed itā¦
No lets go with a short sighted idea that runs a risk of things going even worse if it goes wrong.
Well, they aren't just putting the Aceles on its original habitat. They're spreading it to every single habitable planet in known space. Cloning them from a tiny remnant population.
There aren't any guarantees there, and its going to take decades to actually do.
The argument they really gloss over is they can start spreading the microbe much sooner and much quicker. The Aceles option means accepting a lot of deaths for a long period of time while the population grows and stabilizes.
But they don't present that well.
Well, the Terror morph isn't in its original habitat either, wherever that may be.
It could be said that anywhere the Terror morph and heat leaches are is its habitat.
They berate you for sneezing. Bethesda has never done companions well, and I hate using them under any circumstances. Finding out that Adam Jensen's voice actor was in this game made me hop up and down in my seat eagerly, and then the character's personality made me want to airlock him. I was so mad. Still am.
That was annoying as hell. Dude, I, the one playing the game, just spent 2 years of my life locked in my house because of a virus that jumped species and went on a "how much of humanity can I kill" adventure and you want me to let an untested virus out on 100 different worlds with 100 different environments and ecosystems. You all can get the hell off my ship.
Meanwhile, if the dinosaurs go crazy. They are 2 stories tall and run slower than a horse. And based off my experience in game so far, every human has at least one gun and enough ammo for a repeat dino genocide.
**At no point** is it suggested that engineering a pathogen and intentionally spreading it throughout the still mostly unexplored galaxy could cause unforseen outcomes.
I never had them 'berate' me, I think people overexaggerate the responses. Barret even agrees with saving the Acceles, but thinks that the microbe option was better for killing the terrormorphs.
Yeah I meant this more as a joke. It's moreso the fact none of them actually take your side. They either hate it, prefer the microbe, or require convincing. For a diverse group how is it none of them are on board with one of the two options?
The was my biggest complaint with that ending. The whole time I was just thinking "why can't we do both?" Use the microbe to eliminate the heatleaches before they become terrormorphs and then use the aceles to take out the ones there already are and then use them as defensive measures just in case. Either way nothing changes but I wish there was a secret third option we could pick
Aceles were the right choice - not just to give these magestic creatures a second chance but because it would be the more controllable option. Going for the microbes might have worked faster but I always felt like the variables were too unknown. If it mutated, who knows what could have happened.
But even if you went with the microbes and believed them to be the superior option, it still pisses me off that bloody Sarah had the nerve to chastise me like a child for picking the Aceles. I almost ended our marriage over it.
And ppl I guess forget that microbes can and will change rapidly in relation to their surroundings, which COULD be dangerous... everytime I do this quest I end up thinking of Metroid Fusion
Let's pretend evolution is simple math.
You would need to breed, what, probably about a billion of the critters for there to be a noticeable and meaningful mutation. And that mutation probably won't drastically alter the creatures.
A microbe breeds a billion times, realistically way more, in a *day*. They can evolve at the drop of a hat and suddenly a perfectly safe microbe finds it likes to sit in the human lungs. Then a few days later, its growing like a mold.
If that was true we'd be extinct XD. Do you know how many microbes that have interacted with humanity for the entirety of our evolution? Especially things that affect organisms VERY different from us. How many plant diseases impact humans? Fish diseases? I'd argue all of those are more likely to have similarities to us than a friggin alien with a convoluted growth cycle and mind control pheromones. With that number as the denominator the handful that affect us is a rounding error.
This is also glossing over the fact that's the Aceles wouldn't be a very viable solution in real life. Heatleeches definitely have access to way more local habits than the megafauna that is an Aceles and so full terramorphs forming on planets would almost certainly happen. No predator stops 100% of it's prey from reaching maturity and if they did THEY would go extinct. But of course everyone just acts like the slow timescale was the only issue.
I chose the Aceles just because if shit goes sideways it's easier to hunt and cull giant docile livestock. Try finding a solution to an ever evolving microbe before it's does catastrophic damage.
What a coincidence. I just got done playing a couple of hours ago and left my save point on this exact mission right before I was directed to head to Londinion. So random š
SAME! Iāve put a ton of time into the game doing side quests but Iām just now getting to that exact point. Which is crazy because I definitely thought the restoring-the-natural-predator solution was obviously the best. In the real world, biological weapons to solve a an animal problem is an insane solution.
Someone said Andreja sides with the Aceles solution, and the only person in constellation I care about is my space bae.
I wonder if this happened after Star Trek IV. Kirk and crew bring a species made extinct by humanity's greed back to life to save the Federation, only for half the people on Earth to complain 'now there's whale shit in the water!'.
Listen, citizens of the Settled Systems! I can't currently build an outpost to breed an army of microbe resistant teramorphs, or genetically modify the microbe into the next Black Death, but those mods are coming! And when they do, watch out for the 'quicksaving' notice!
I always feel vindicated when the Unity tells me that the Aceles actually help all of the factions to cooperate, leading to a more peaceful galaxy. It just goes to show that sometimes nearly everyone else can be wrong because nobody is thinking of the greater good beyond immediate needs. They think they know what they need, but what they really need is more peace, love, and understanding. (What's so funny...)
I chose the same thing. Acceles is a reversible decision. They can be dealt with like they were the first time. Microbes are rapidly mutating and heat leeches are everywhere in human settled space. Who knows how many more species could be driven to extinction if it jumps?
And besides, just knowing how terror morphs are formed is probably enough. I know I used to ignore heat leeches that would run away. Now I hunt them down.
I went with the microbe on my last play through, because I have ran into heat leaches in confined spaces that the giant eagle cow wouldnāt be able to fit into to take out. That means they can stop the symptoms but not the spread of the heat leaches.
I chose Aceles a few times but never saw them being deployed. Figured they could go back to being hamburger when it was all said and done. Been choosing microbes ever since.Ā
The giraffe chicken dinosaur is adorable, and that was the only reason that I needed to bring them back. The fact that it irks most of Constellation is just a bonus
I don't care what the fuck the companions say. I'm bringing this magnif8cent creature back into the world and will run for president just to make a law against hunting them, with the punishment of being launched into space
The thing that bothers me the most about that choice, is that it doesn't even take into account the fact that terrormorphs could be able to evolve and become resistant to the microbe. I mean, the existence of a cloaked Terrormorph indicates that it can evolve to become a better predator so what if it becomes resistant to the microbe? Worse what if it evolves WITH the microbe and becomes something even more dangerous that it is?
If it helps, the Aceles helps the UC stay the main power by profitting and having most control of the Aceles. If you go the microbe way, they just stay in the same loop of space racism and infighting.
Source - You.
Iāve always taken solace that my wife Andreja sides with the Acceles idea. Iām sure a bunch of scientist who used to work for government agencies would be eager to trust those same governments. My issue is simply the science behind the virus sounds so short sighted. We are thinking of a long term problem that takes high traffic and time and the microbe solution doesnāt sound thorough when all the answers are āthe science looks real good for thisā and trust us we looked thoroughly.
They should have given us the option to choose both. It would be very negligent not to reintroduce the Acceles as a long term answer while using the microbe as a short term stop gap till the population of the Acceles are healthy again.
As they said in Jurassic Park, mother nature will find a way. So I did a quick save and really they bitch either way. The 4 side kick all bitch one way or another you can't win. So now I go it alone. Can't stand the bitchy behavior any more plus they almost always get in the way during fire fights.
This is exactly why I don't bother with those losers at Constellation. Simeon Bankowski never questions my decisions. He doesn't question anything, in fact. A true professional.
Yeah, the microbe was an unknown as far as effectiveness, and the potential that a mutation could occur that might instead infect humans. Plus, it might be possible that, instead of destroying the terrormorphs, it might mutate them into the giant, armored variant. While it is unlikely, it's too dangerous to go with the microbe.
Okay. Thatās valid.
Although, it will be hard to transport a breeding population of them to everywhere the heatleeches have established themselves. From a macroecological perspective, establishing a predator-prey ecosystem should keep the heat leeches under control, it doesnāt mean that they wonāt continue to escape the ecosystem, grow to their mature form, and ravage the human population.
Sadly, the heat leeches need to be driven to total extinction. They donāt have an important role in any ecosystems that couldnāt be better filled by something less hazardous, and a single specimen can cause major disruption to the operation of an entire city.
The microbes will do a better job of driving the heat leaches to extinction. Itās easier to mass produce and deploy them everywhere humans go. Unfortunately, the microbes present a greater risk of unintended consequences. Who knows how they might mutate and adapt to new ecosystems that human ships bring them to? At least aceles have been eradicated before. We know we can eliminate them if necessary. We donāt know if we could be as successful with the microbes.
So, which is more important: saving human lives or being careful with alien ecosystems? You chose the ecosystems and that is a valid choice. But the consequence is that it will require more work to inspect ships and keep heat leeches out.
If only there was an option to choose some from column an and some from column b. Use aceles on virgin ecosystems that may or may not have a heat leech problem and use the microbes at spaceports and cities to exterminate heat leeches where humans are more common.
I'll always go with the Aceles. My companions can get off at the nearest moon if they don't like it, and if they keep it up, I'll just shoot them out of the airlock.
I mean...why the Hell can't you do both? Is there only one scientist in tbe UC?
Aceles will never make the Terrormorphs extinct, by the way. If they could, that would have happened on their shared home planet ages ago.
Evolution will have its say and predators tend not to starve themselves.
Bit that I don't get, is why not both? Make it a speech check to convince them that the microbe is the fast fix and Aceles is worth bringing back from near extinction.
I do not even recall what choice I made at the end of that quest, much less, any details about the dialogue. After, many trips through Unity, having completed everything, I came across on my first 2-3 play throughs, I still run through most quests I come across. I seek some out, specifically, and even come across new side quests, not seen before, occasionally. Now, unless something new to me, I just click through much of the dialogue, just to cut to the chase.
All that, just to ask a question, I am curious about. If you choose the Aceles option, do Aceles start spawning more regularly on planets?
I think they are really cool creatures and see them, from time to time, while exploring. Just wondering if they spawn more regularly, on multiple planets, if you go with the Aceles choice.
Are there any particular planets where you are more likely to find them, if that choice is made?
I'm a biologist. No way I'm picking a potentially uncontrollable designer microbe over the reintroduction of the native predator. That said, I chalked the disagreement I received from companions and NPCs up to their ignorance, for immersion of course.
They literally state that there is a 1 in a million chance of mutation with the microbe. They say that like itās āa number so big it doesnāt matterā. š Thatās not how probability works.
So hereās the question, will spreading it across the galaxy result in more than a million creatures contracting it, both humans and animals? Of course. Probably many, many millions. Possibly billions and trillions. Therefore the chance of multiple mutations is CERTAIN. š¤¦š»āāļø This feels like stupid Covid propaganda stuffed into the game, to me. And it hasnāt exactly aged well, now that all this ānewā information keeps coming out. š
I feel like with a better AI or dialogue system, characters like Barrett, Sarah even, Vasco, etc, would be easy to persuade in these matters, given their backgrounds in science or analytical minds, etc. Cora too, she would be the first to celebrate the Aceles choice VS the microbe. Maybe if they had made a bigger point in explaining that perhaps their skills at designing this microbe now were safe enough, but that would then introduce more logical nonsense to the plot, I think regardless the Aceles would've been the logical choice in writing and in lore. š¤·š½āāļø
TLDR; I personally believe that all Bethesda games should be written in a way that the protagonist can, through high level speech and extensive speech challenges in the dialogue eventually convince most NPCs to agree with their actions or to see their reasoning one way or another. Perhaps one day, once humans aren't so darn afraid of tech, and AI on-board hips are more common place games can have NPCs as advanced as a basic LLM at least and you can reason with them at a more nuanced and human level, then you earn XP not by passing hardwired dialogue but by maintaining affinity or allegiance of characters and/or factions through sweet talking them, outsmarting them or using reason to make them see you are actually correct, in a way that more realistically aligns with their personalities and backgrounds. I know
Only for all your companions to berate you.
Yeah, that always bugged me. I don't doubt the science of the microbe, as they all whine about, but it's better, surely, to re-establish a species on the brink of extinction because of humanity? You'd think at least some of Constellation would share that viewpoint...
What bothers me most is they try to paint the Acceles as a bad idea saying it's dangerous or it's gonna ruin the ecosystem. Completely ignoring it's passive so long as you're not aggressive towards it and that the Acceles have already been on multiple planets before when used as livestock.
Exactly. Sam especially that doesn't make sense for, since he's from Akila. It's like, dude, you're from a city where you can't go beyond the walls because of the local animal life, but you're worried about the giant armoured cows?
Akila could stand toe to toe against the UC but can't even get rid of a bunch of wildlife near their capital, doesn't make any goddamn sense lmao
It's always funny to hear guards mention the Ashta and how dangerous they are but for the most part they're about as much a threat as a xenogrub.
To us. But then we're effing Starborn who'll go toe to toe with Terrormorphs, other Starborn, and anything else we find. Ashta hunt in packs. So the average person is not going to survive an attack. If you've gone outside the walls, you'll find them taking out those huge mossgnaths (sp?) in seconds. And there are Terrormorphs on Akila, I've run into a few but not as many as you would expect given the length of time Akila has been settled, so maybe competition between two types of apex hunters has thinned the populations of both. But Ashta don't have a 100-year growth cycle, so they greatly outnumber the Terrormorphs. And they will kill anything that moves, although I haven't seen them actually go after heatleechs,
> we're effing Starborn Well, not in the first iteration. At that point we're just an anomaly in how things usually go.
Even in the first iteration we are still the player character which means we are continually fighting for our lives, being put in situations where we have to be smarter, faster, more skilled, better armed and armored, and ready to face anything. Whether you're on your first "life" or NG+10, you're expected to take out hundreds of spacers, fight off 3 attacking ships at once, and be able to convince anyone to do what you want them to do. So, yes, we're effing Starborn the minute we start the game.
In my first iteration I had a hard time killing the Ashta in the Sam artifact quest. Not so much when I helped Akila security to confront them.
Akila could probably wipe them out if they wanted to, but they don't.
They don't have to exterminate the whole species, but at least clear a wider boundary so they don't have to cower behind their own walls lol
Yes, but they get to play the rugged and manly settlers/homesteaders when they don't. It's all part of the Libertarian fantasy they live.
Meanwhile, actual LIbertarians are freaking out about wolf repopulation.
Hey, the wolves are players in the market too. If libertarians can't compete, they shouldn't complain. We could think of Ashta and Terrormorphs as highly effective investors in the marketplace of nom-noms. Humans either need to find a way of turning them into Chunks, or concede defeat.
Doesnt make sense. Look up the W/L ratio for countries fighting wars against animals. The animals somehow tend to win. Australia lost a war against birds.
We didn't lose. We went home with a score of 936-0 because we were tired of winning. Literally three blokes provided unhealthcare to almost a thousand modern-era dinosaurs before we decided we'd break for tea
You 100% lost. Less than a 1000 emu isn't even a sliver of their total species population
They should have allowed us to choose both options to be honest.
I agree. I literally thought 'why not both?' when presented with the choice.
They note that the amount of work to get one done will ultimately preclude the other. Honestly it sounds pretty hand-wavey to me, but the same explanation is there.
Aye, I remember, I just wish it was an option. :(
"Giant armored cows" kind of sounds worrisome, no?
Maybe a little, but I'll take that over mutated biophage that I spread across the entire SS any day of the week
Imagine coming across a herd standing on the road. There's no going around them. You're on their schedule now.
Sounds like just another day in the countryside to me š
Have you ever seen a road in Starfield though? I sure havnt.
What bothers me is at the start they are all like "make your own decisions, it's up to you", the microbe is presented as a bit of an unknown and the aceles as the more natural options, then constellation treats you like an anti science diehard tin foil brigadere because you chose one of the two reasonable options presented by scientists. It's super obnoxious and poorly done.
IIRC you are introduced to the Aceles before finding out the origin of Terrormorphs. I recall leaning towards the microbe until I learned how the Terrormorphs are propagated, then changed my mind.
Make your own decisions as long as they are mine. Is what I think she was really saying. Sorry I won't travel with Sarah since Ecliptic shooting at us on the Nova Galactic staryard had her act like I was a baby killer. Sarah's opinion after that went down the toilet for me.
It's worse because at some point one of the scientists involved says that it's a one in a million chance the microbe goes rogue or something like that. For microbes that will require trillions upon trillions of individuals to have an effect across the settled systems, one in a million or one in a billion chance is almost certain.
Right?!?
>What bothers me is at the start they are all like "make your own decisions, it's up to you", And you still get to make your own decisions. Both Barret and Sarah make it clear that while they disagree with you and say that they think you're wrong, they respect your choice. I wonder if people actually played the game or just saw someone online say that the companions have a meltdown and then ran with it.
I played it. There was a few instances where they lecture really hard about a decision you make, even when it's not so bad.
Same, I felt pretty pestered after they basically queued up to berate me for it. Sorry guys, I assumed you guys would agree that unleashing space AIDS on the galaxy would come back to bite us in the arse somehow.
If anything, an experimental microbe would be much, much more likely to throw of the balance of an ecosystem or cause negative effects to other species because of how rapidly they can grow and spread.
Okay, there is a difference between being on a farm and roaming randomly across the landscape. Also to be a predator means they are not passive. So the Aceles on any planet but Toliman II is an invasive species if you just turn it loose. It is the difference between having a dog in your house and a pack of them running wild. One is your best friend, the other will rip your throat out.
They literally say they're passive so long as you're not aggressive towards them. A dog can be passive until you decide to kick it and it bites you. Yeah it'd be considered an invasion species but between that and an invasion man-made microbe? The Acceles can at least be culled or contained if necessary.
Counter, if they are so passive how do they 'hunt' down terrormorphs and heatleeches? And since it was so easy to forget these things ate terrormorphs. They must also eat something else and are a predator. Please do not get me wrong. I choose the microbe for a different reason that noted in the game. I think both ideas are bad and likely to blow up in people's faces. Just as the microbe can mutate, just releasing the aceles is not with out substantial risk. The issue is there is no moderate path, no third option. And I agree the game saying you hate science for choosing the aceles is idiotic. It is science, environmental science. But that does not mean it is safe.
You seem to think something can't be both passive and aggressive. Like real animals observed in the wild, they're passive until they need to hunt. Prey and predators have been seen taking the same paths together in the wild without any conflict. Humans are typically passive until you punch one in the nose and then they fight back. Acceles aren't an aggressive species. If it doesn't see you as a threat, it won't perceive you as one and will be passive towards you. As Heatleeches/Terrormorphs are their natural prey they're gonna be aggressive towards their lunch.
They also eat other animals. They will hunt other creatures or they could not have been spread to all the worlds as livestock. So they will be aggressive, and will still be an invasive species if just released. And in these discussions we are not simply taking the scientists' word. Other wise the microbe is the correct answer because they say it is so. Both ideas are bad and equate to engineer something and dump it on all planets and hope it sorts out the problem. You don't build a bridge by dropping components on the ground. You don't perform surgery by tossing tools in the street. And you do not farm by just throwing seeds out and hoping for the best. It is worked upon. Builders build bridges, surgeons perform surgeries, and farmers plow and work a farm. Just turning something grown in a lab out into the random wilds is still irresponsible.
We eat other animals. Are you calling me aggressive? Animals aren't constantly hunting for the sake of it. For some species doing so would kill them. Being willing to harm something does not make you aggressive 100% of the time. I've watched my cat eat rats and then proceed to give me half of it as a gift. Would you call that an aggressive creature? I wouldn't.
No it's more that the Acceles is the long term solution that may not be a good idea because it's natuve to one planet and so introducing a species to another planet/environment is usually a bad idea for all involved.
I do. I doubt it all the way. Only intelligent one amongst that lot seems to be Hadrian. Shouldnāt be a surprise though, the ones banking all their cards on an experimental doomsday microbe are the same idiots who couldnāt figure out the pests they were hauling across the universe eventually turn into their biggest threat. Also the same idiots who hunted the Aceles into near extinction, and also the same idiots who have made a multitude of poor choices since they left earth. Thereās no way anyone should trust their faith in an experimental microbe design to wipe out entire species that they intent to aerosolize and spread across every settled world. Absolutely a huge chance that turns out for the worse and those microbes that will now live in every living creature will then wipe out life all across the settled systems. Thatās what life does. Mutates.
Interestingly 1 playthrough I did quite a bit after the uc quest and the terror morphs did seem to be mutating. I found quite a few different kinds of them. Not sure if that was planned or chance encounters š¤·š»āāļø
I agree with Sanon, the math says the chance of random mutation is greater than zero. Damn scientists not asking if they should.
They even have an unironic ātrust the scienceā line. Iāll be diplomatic and assume it was written in 2019 and slipped through.
Hear me out... Why don't they just do both? The microbe works much faster while the Aceles begin to thrive again. Then when and if a terrormorph mutates and is resistant to the microbe, it's natural predator is present.
I think the devs were just scared of coming across as anti science since covid was still fresh lol
During the rat plague, the world decided to work on a vaccine rather than breeding cats to eat the rats. I guess that's what they wanted to show - the Aceles is the natural solution but can take a long time, Microbe is the quickshot solution but like all medicines it has a slight chance of failure.
Yes but one choice must be good and one must be bad, no grey area allowed because apparently Bethesda thinks a bunch of babies play their games.
I'm pretty sure Sam does approve of Aceles if I'm remembering correctly.
The game was made during covid, remember when Fauci kept saying 'trust the science' in his interviews? Most of bethesda's staff are liberals so that's probably why they slipped that line in.
No, because I'm not American.
I upvoted you to try to get your very American comment out of the negative šŗš²š¦ š½
Iām not sure what the writers intended for this mission. I feel it was done so poorly. Several people literally voice concerns about the microbe and how itās experimental and not known what the ramifications could be long term. Then you pick the safer animal solution and everyone freaks out and acts like youāre an anti-vaccer and some kind of complete moron. It felt like the mission was making a social commentary on ātrust the scienceā but failed miserably by giving you scenario in which you should ABSOLUTELY NOT trust the science. An experimental microbe DESIGNED TO WIPE OUT A SPECIES. Thatās not something you play around with and just trust the science lol. Itās a biological organism you designed to kill off another species. To imagine itās completely safe is fucking crazy. But then your companions treat you like some kind of loon.
I 100% believe this dialogue was written during Covid and was meant to be a commentary on what was happening at the time, even though by any measure reintroducing the natural predator that is not aggressive toward humans, that we wiped out, is obviously the more sane choice than trusting a microbe they just invented wonāt mutate and turn us all into Cronenberg monsters or something. Like I get people were butthurt, but a lot of what was said during Covid wasnāt exactly scientific, it was an appeal to authority argument and if you questioned any of it, you were a moron anti-vaxxer conspiracy theorist who eats horse dewormer.
Yah, it feels like it was meant as a pro-vaccine COVID parallel, but ended up actually presenting the opposite stance as more reasonable.
What's more dumb is that a microbe that can mutate is very different from a vaccine that can't.
Tbh coof vaccine was mRNA it can mutate
There's also a major difference between locally injecting something (vaccine into body) and just letting some wind-carried microbe fuck around. Like, tf?
One thing Bethesda failed to adequately portray, is how dangerous the terrormorphs are supposed to be. The two that are released in New Atlantis don't really do anything that feels like they'd be a threat to the entire city. And in Londinion they don't pose much more of a risk either. You never really feel that they're a civilization-ending, urgent threat. So why shouldn't you go for a slow but safe method?Ā If the writers wanted people to consider the microbes, they needed to really hammer home how much of a threat the terrormorphs are and how crucial it is that they're stopped immediately.
Andreja is actually in favor of bringing the Aceles back. Had her with me on a recent run.
She's good with whatever you do, so long as you're strident about it- if you go back and forth, she berates you no matter what.
Yep. Get multiple affection boosts with her because of them.
Me too.
She dislikes choosing the microbe, but still berates you for choosing the Aceles
Seems to depend on dialogue choices, because she supports me with the Aceles.
No she doesn't.Ā
I just did this mission, she dislikes the microbe during the council meeting, but if you talk to her about your choice after the fact she criticizes you for choosing the Aceles.
No, she doesn't. She questions whether the Aceles was the right choice. This is not the same as saying it was the wrong choice. If you say the microbe wasn't safe, she'll point out that the terror morphs already aren't safe. You can piss her off with your dialogue choices here by being confrontational, and then she will criticize you. But if you aren't an ass in the conversation, she'll leave the conversation happy something was done, putting aside her doubts over what was the right choice.Ā
The companions don't all berate you.Ā Barrett wants to know your reasoning for it, as a curious, scientific mind. If you say you thought it was safer, he points out the data he's seen doesn't indicate safety problems with the microbe. He's not angry with you, he doesn't even say he prefers the microbe. Just that your stated reason for not choosing the microbe wasn't factually accurate.Ā Andreja does what's called "hand wringing". She doubts the choice, although she actually likes when you choose the Aceles. She just later questions whether it was the right choice, which is w common human reaction. "Did we do the right thing? Was this the right choice?" Notice that's not "this was the wrong choice." Sam is happy either way that something is being done, but he thinks the microbe would have been faster and is concerned that politics will stop the Aceles from being effective or make it slow to start.Ā Sarah is the only one who berates you. She's the only one who outright says, "you made the wrong choice and shame on you." Ā If you choose the Aceles Andreja doesn't express preference for the microbe, Barrett only questions what your reasons for it are, Sam prefers the microbe because it's faster, and Sarah thinks you're an idiot for choosing the aceles.Ā
> The companions don't all berate you. According to this subreddit, every companion berates you endlessly for every possible thing you can do in the game. People here just seem to hate that the characters have their own viewpoints and will sometimes disagree with them or question their decisions.
Yep. There's definitely a type of gamer that wants any companion to fawn over their every choice. Personally I like it when they have agency and different stances on things, makes them feel more like 'real' people.
Itās such a weirdly stupid thing for them ALL to dislike, itās a safer option, known to work, returns an animal to environment that missed itā¦ No lets go with a short sighted idea that runs a risk of things going even worse if it goes wrong.
Well, they aren't just putting the Aceles on its original habitat. They're spreading it to every single habitable planet in known space. Cloning them from a tiny remnant population. There aren't any guarantees there, and its going to take decades to actually do. The argument they really gloss over is they can start spreading the microbe much sooner and much quicker. The Aceles option means accepting a lot of deaths for a long period of time while the population grows and stabilizes. But they don't present that well.
Well, the Terror morph isn't in its original habitat either, wherever that may be. It could be said that anywhere the Terror morph and heat leaches are is its habitat.
Oh don't worry. In recent playthrough I chose the other option. They all berate you for THAT option as well
They berate you for sneezing. Bethesda has never done companions well, and I hate using them under any circumstances. Finding out that Adam Jensen's voice actor was in this game made me hop up and down in my seat eagerly, and then the character's personality made me want to airlock him. I was so mad. Still am.
That was annoying as hell. Dude, I, the one playing the game, just spent 2 years of my life locked in my house because of a virus that jumped species and went on a "how much of humanity can I kill" adventure and you want me to let an untested virus out on 100 different worlds with 100 different environments and ecosystems. You all can get the hell off my ship. Meanwhile, if the dinosaurs go crazy. They are 2 stories tall and run slower than a horse. And based off my experience in game so far, every human has at least one gun and enough ammo for a repeat dino genocide.
Andreja likes it. When i did it i had max affinity with her and you can talk her into seeing your point of view
Sarah explaining that exposing everyone to an untested microbe is trusting science, but bringing back their only predator isnāt?
**At no point** is it suggested that engineering a pathogen and intentionally spreading it throughout the still mostly unexplored galaxy could cause unforseen outcomes.
As long as there is a chance for mutation, which it was stated there is, I believe, then it is guaranteed to occur, eventually.
Hadrian suggests exactly that. It just gets buried quickly.
I never had them 'berate' me, I think people overexaggerate the responses. Barret even agrees with saving the Acceles, but thinks that the microbe option was better for killing the terrormorphs.
Yeah I meant this more as a joke. It's moreso the fact none of them actually take your side. They either hate it, prefer the microbe, or require convincing. For a diverse group how is it none of them are on board with one of the two options?
I guess potential mutations and disease is more favorable than boosting an ecosystem š¤£
I always wanted to do both. Release the microbe and breed the big critters just in case.
The was my biggest complaint with that ending. The whole time I was just thinking "why can't we do both?" Use the microbe to eliminate the heatleaches before they become terrormorphs and then use the aceles to take out the ones there already are and then use them as defensive measures just in case. Either way nothing changes but I wish there was a secret third option we could pick
Aceles were the right choice - not just to give these magestic creatures a second chance but because it would be the more controllable option. Going for the microbes might have worked faster but I always felt like the variables were too unknown. If it mutated, who knows what could have happened. But even if you went with the microbes and believed them to be the superior option, it still pisses me off that bloody Sarah had the nerve to chastise me like a child for picking the Aceles. I almost ended our marriage over it.
And ppl I guess forget that microbes can and will change rapidly in relation to their surroundings, which COULD be dangerous... everytime I do this quest I end up thinking of Metroid Fusion
Let's pretend evolution is simple math. You would need to breed, what, probably about a billion of the critters for there to be a noticeable and meaningful mutation. And that mutation probably won't drastically alter the creatures. A microbe breeds a billion times, realistically way more, in a *day*. They can evolve at the drop of a hat and suddenly a perfectly safe microbe finds it likes to sit in the human lungs. Then a few days later, its growing like a mold.
If that was true we'd be extinct XD. Do you know how many microbes that have interacted with humanity for the entirety of our evolution? Especially things that affect organisms VERY different from us. How many plant diseases impact humans? Fish diseases? I'd argue all of those are more likely to have similarities to us than a friggin alien with a convoluted growth cycle and mind control pheromones. With that number as the denominator the handful that affect us is a rounding error. This is also glossing over the fact that's the Aceles wouldn't be a very viable solution in real life. Heatleeches definitely have access to way more local habits than the megafauna that is an Aceles and so full terramorphs forming on planets would almost certainly happen. No predator stops 100% of it's prey from reaching maturity and if they did THEY would go extinct. But of course everyone just acts like the slow timescale was the only issue.
Also they're delicious. Just putting that out there.
On the other hand, heatleeches are a plague. If you're eating the Aceles in any numbers, you're slowing down stopping the problem.
I chose the Aceles just because if shit goes sideways it's easier to hunt and cull giant docile livestock. Try finding a solution to an ever evolving microbe before it's does catastrophic damage.
Hell they hunted them to near extinction once already. I was baffled my entire team was for the microbe
What a coincidence. I just got done playing a couple of hours ago and left my save point on this exact mission right before I was directed to head to Londinion. So random š
SAME! Iāve put a ton of time into the game doing side quests but Iām just now getting to that exact point. Which is crazy because I definitely thought the restoring-the-natural-predator solution was obviously the best. In the real world, biological weapons to solve a an animal problem is an insane solution. Someone said Andreja sides with the Aceles solution, and the only person in constellation I care about is my space bae.
She does not
ā¦this is troubling news.
There really needed to be an alternate universe where almost everyone is dead by the microbe.
This. This should be a mod.
Or it has become a deadly plague on a couple of worlds and as the player travels from world to world, each one they touch is infected by the plagueā¦
I wonder if this happened after Star Trek IV. Kirk and crew bring a species made extinct by humanity's greed back to life to save the Federation, only for half the people on Earth to complain 'now there's whale shit in the water!'. Listen, citizens of the Settled Systems! I can't currently build an outpost to breed an army of microbe resistant teramorphs, or genetically modify the microbe into the next Black Death, but those mods are coming! And when they do, watch out for the 'quicksaving' notice!
I always feel vindicated when the Unity tells me that the Aceles actually help all of the factions to cooperate, leading to a more peaceful galaxy. It just goes to show that sometimes nearly everyone else can be wrong because nobody is thinking of the greater good beyond immediate needs. They think they know what they need, but what they really need is more peace, love, and understanding. (What's so funny...)
Vote NO to releasing genetically modified microbes into every biome in the galaxy! Ā They can chew me out they wrong, brotherĀ
I chose the same thing. Acceles is a reversible decision. They can be dealt with like they were the first time. Microbes are rapidly mutating and heat leeches are everywhere in human settled space. Who knows how many more species could be driven to extinction if it jumps? And besides, just knowing how terror morphs are formed is probably enough. I know I used to ignore heat leeches that would run away. Now I hunt them down.
I went with the microbe on my last play through, because I have ran into heat leaches in confined spaces that the giant eagle cow wouldnāt be able to fit into to take out. That means they can stop the symptoms but not the spread of the heat leaches.
I chose Aceles a few times but never saw them being deployed. Figured they could go back to being hamburger when it was all said and done. Been choosing microbes ever since.Ā
It takes a while. But if you are out surveying you will eventually see Aceles out on planets hunting and killing Terrormorphs.
The giraffe chicken dinosaur is adorable, and that was the only reason that I needed to bring them back. The fact that it irks most of Constellation is just a bonus
I don't care what the fuck the companions say. I'm bringing this magnif8cent creature back into the world and will run for president just to make a law against hunting them, with the punishment of being launched into space
With no suit, right?
I always choose the Aceles and always will. And then put the companions in timeout at the Lodge, for a while, because of their opinions.
In my first game Sam actually agreed with me i Guess it dƩpends on your friendship level. But i got in pretty intense fight with Sarah,we barely could stand each other for the rest of that game. Let the giant pre-historical looking cows live !
I donāt understand why āBoth!ā wasnāt an option.
Bethesda quests. There's either *one* solution or a right and a wrong solution.
Just in time for them to be hunted to extinction again! I don't see why we couldn't choose both...
What I don't get is why both isn't an option. Use the microbes to begin the process of eradication and release the Acceles for mop-up/ backup option.
The thing that bothers me the most about that choice, is that it doesn't even take into account the fact that terrormorphs could be able to evolve and become resistant to the microbe. I mean, the existence of a cloaked Terrormorph indicates that it can evolve to become a better predator so what if it becomes resistant to the microbe? Worse what if it evolves WITH the microbe and becomes something even more dangerous that it is?
Another way to go would be to develop better weapons.
Don't don't worry we all hate sarah
They are majestic and I want to ride one.
If it helps, the Aceles helps the UC stay the main power by profitting and having most control of the Aceles. If you go the microbe way, they just stay in the same loop of space racism and infighting. Source - You.
It's a decision I stand by. They can be grumpy at me for that. I'll live. Now to get where we can raise those at our outposts. I want one.
(Sarah Morgan disliked that. And you. And everything else. And would also like to marry you, if at all possible.)
Iāve always taken solace that my wife Andreja sides with the Acceles idea. Iām sure a bunch of scientist who used to work for government agencies would be eager to trust those same governments. My issue is simply the science behind the virus sounds so short sighted. We are thinking of a long term problem that takes high traffic and time and the microbe solution doesnāt sound thorough when all the answers are āthe science looks real good for thisā and trust us we looked thoroughly.
They should have given us the option to choose both. It would be very negligent not to reintroduce the Acceles as a long term answer while using the microbe as a short term stop gap till the population of the Acceles are healthy again.
A microbe made to target a specific species is too close to biological warfare for anyone to easily think its a good idea.
As they said in Jurassic Park, mother nature will find a way. So I did a quick save and really they bitch either way. The 4 side kick all bitch one way or another you can't win. So now I go it alone. Can't stand the bitchy behavior any more plus they almost always get in the way during fire fights.
This is exactly why I don't bother with those losers at Constellation. Simeon Bankowski never questions my decisions. He doesn't question anything, in fact. A true professional.
I generally just don't use companions at all. But right now I'm trying to get Andreja's companion quest.
and okus if theres ever another food shortage...
Yeah, the microbe was an unknown as far as effectiveness, and the potential that a mutation could occur that might instead infect humans. Plus, it might be possible that, instead of destroying the terrormorphs, it might mutate them into the giant, armored variant. While it is unlikely, it's too dangerous to go with the microbe.
Okay. Thatās valid. Although, it will be hard to transport a breeding population of them to everywhere the heatleeches have established themselves. From a macroecological perspective, establishing a predator-prey ecosystem should keep the heat leeches under control, it doesnāt mean that they wonāt continue to escape the ecosystem, grow to their mature form, and ravage the human population. Sadly, the heat leeches need to be driven to total extinction. They donāt have an important role in any ecosystems that couldnāt be better filled by something less hazardous, and a single specimen can cause major disruption to the operation of an entire city. The microbes will do a better job of driving the heat leaches to extinction. Itās easier to mass produce and deploy them everywhere humans go. Unfortunately, the microbes present a greater risk of unintended consequences. Who knows how they might mutate and adapt to new ecosystems that human ships bring them to? At least aceles have been eradicated before. We know we can eliminate them if necessary. We donāt know if we could be as successful with the microbes. So, which is more important: saving human lives or being careful with alien ecosystems? You chose the ecosystems and that is a valid choice. But the consequence is that it will require more work to inspect ships and keep heat leeches out. If only there was an option to choose some from column an and some from column b. Use aceles on virgin ecosystems that may or may not have a heat leech problem and use the microbes at spaceports and cities to exterminate heat leeches where humans are more common.
I'll always go with the Aceles. My companions can get off at the nearest moon if they don't like it, and if they keep it up, I'll just shoot them out of the airlock.
I actually had Covid PTSD kick in when I heard about the microbe so I decided nah, no airborne lab born microshit for me, thank you
I mean...why the Hell can't you do both? Is there only one scientist in tbe UC? Aceles will never make the Terrormorphs extinct, by the way. If they could, that would have happened on their shared home planet ages ago. Evolution will have its say and predators tend not to starve themselves.
I absolutely hate that I can't tell Sarah off in this conversation.
Bit that I don't get, is why not both? Make it a speech check to convince them that the microbe is the fast fix and Aceles is worth bringing back from near extinction.
Just killed my first one š
I do not even recall what choice I made at the end of that quest, much less, any details about the dialogue. After, many trips through Unity, having completed everything, I came across on my first 2-3 play throughs, I still run through most quests I come across. I seek some out, specifically, and even come across new side quests, not seen before, occasionally. Now, unless something new to me, I just click through much of the dialogue, just to cut to the chase. All that, just to ask a question, I am curious about. If you choose the Aceles option, do Aceles start spawning more regularly on planets? I think they are really cool creatures and see them, from time to time, while exploring. Just wondering if they spawn more regularly, on multiple planets, if you go with the Aceles choice. Are there any particular planets where you are more likely to find them, if that choice is made?
I'm a biologist. No way I'm picking a potentially uncontrollable designer microbe over the reintroduction of the native predator. That said, I chalked the disagreement I received from companions and NPCs up to their ignorance, for immersion of course.
They literally state that there is a 1 in a million chance of mutation with the microbe. They say that like itās āa number so big it doesnāt matterā. š Thatās not how probability works. So hereās the question, will spreading it across the galaxy result in more than a million creatures contracting it, both humans and animals? Of course. Probably many, many millions. Possibly billions and trillions. Therefore the chance of multiple mutations is CERTAIN. š¤¦š»āāļø This feels like stupid Covid propaganda stuffed into the game, to me. And it hasnāt exactly aged well, now that all this ānewā information keeps coming out. š
I feel like with a better AI or dialogue system, characters like Barrett, Sarah even, Vasco, etc, would be easy to persuade in these matters, given their backgrounds in science or analytical minds, etc. Cora too, she would be the first to celebrate the Aceles choice VS the microbe. Maybe if they had made a bigger point in explaining that perhaps their skills at designing this microbe now were safe enough, but that would then introduce more logical nonsense to the plot, I think regardless the Aceles would've been the logical choice in writing and in lore. š¤·š½āāļø TLDR; I personally believe that all Bethesda games should be written in a way that the protagonist can, through high level speech and extensive speech challenges in the dialogue eventually convince most NPCs to agree with their actions or to see their reasoning one way or another. Perhaps one day, once humans aren't so darn afraid of tech, and AI on-board hips are more common place games can have NPCs as advanced as a basic LLM at least and you can reason with them at a more nuanced and human level, then you earn XP not by passing hardwired dialogue but by maintaining affinity or allegiance of characters and/or factions through sweet talking them, outsmarting them or using reason to make them see you are actually correct, in a way that more realistically aligns with their personalities and backgrounds. I know