Thread for Gamers VIII: Revenge of the Sh**

[Zanera]

I am interested in knowing the in game reason why the national guard or the army has not come in full force to deal with this cult considering based on the trailer they are actively rounding people up and harassing people at gun point.

Not like we have a highly-functioning government with well-equipped law enforcement and intelligence-gathering capabilities.

Only way I see them not knowing is the town being off the grid for the most part, or the cultists have everything severed or locked down. Also people being scared of getting killed for contacting authorities.

[Corrian]

I am interested in knowing the in game reason why the national guard or the army has not come in full force to deal with this cult considering based on the trailer they are actively rounding people up and harassing people at gun point.

I was kind of wondering that myself.

[Licana]

I am interested in knowing the in game reason why the national guard or the army has not come in full force to deal with this cult considering based on the trailer they are actively rounding people up and harassing people at gun point.

There won't be one.

[The Huskar Social Union]

I am interested in knowing the in game reason why the national guard or the army has not come in full force to deal with this cult considering based on the trailer they are actively rounding people up and harassing people at gun point.

There won't be one.

You know what that will probably be the case in the end.

[Sovaal]

I am interested in knowing the in game reason why the national guard or the army has not come in full force to deal with this cult considering based on the trailer they are actively rounding people up and harassing people at gun point.

Could be that the cult has cut off all contact with the outside world, but you would think that the state and federal goverment would egt suspicous about that,

[Corrian]

But, but...all the towers you'll inevitably have to climb! Someone's bound to make one of those work!

[Sovaal]

There won't be one.

You know what that will probably be the case in the end.

"So you're telling me that heavily armed cult harrassing and murdering people is enough to get some sort of response form the government nowadays?"

[Sovaal]

But, but...all the towers you'll inevitably have to climb! Someone's bound to make one of those work!

The ending of the game will just be the air national guard carpet bombing the whole place.

[Wisconsin9]

I am interested in knowing the in game reason why the national guard or the army has not come in full force to deal with this cult considering based on the trailer they are actively rounding people up and harassing people at gun point.

Not like we have a highly-functioning government with well-equipped law enforcement and intelligence-gathering capabilities.

Only way I see them not knowing is the town being off the grid for the most part, or the cultists have everything severed or locked down. Also people being scared of getting killed for contacting authorities.

I imagine the cult started out in that town by subverting the local authorities. Converting or replacing sheriffs, judges, mayors, that sort of thing. Might not even need to kill anybody, just win some elections, which probably wouldn't be too difficult for a seriously organized group to do in a small town. Once they were in control of the local government they could start moving openly. Scare the locals into compliance and that's probably about it, because, honestly, who pays attention to what's going on in Bumfuck, Montana?

[Zanera]

But, but...all the towers you'll inevitably have to climb! Someone's bound to make one of those work!

The entire game is based on you securing towers from the cultists.
The main quest, all the side quests, all the radiant quests.
All contributing to you killing a couple of cultists per tower and taking the tower over.

[Zanera]

Not like we have a highly-functioning government with well-equipped law enforcement and intelligence-gathering capabilities.

Only way I see them not knowing is the town being off the grid for the most part, or the cultists have everything severed or locked down. Also people being scared of getting killed for contacting authorities.

I imagine the cult started out in that town by subverting the local authorities. Converting or replacing sheriffs, judges, mayors, that sort of thing. Might not even need to kill anybody, just win some elections, which probably wouldn't be too difficult for a seriously organized group to do in a small town. Once they were in control of the local government they could start moving openly. Scare the locals into compliance and that's probably about it, because, honestly, who pays attention to what's going on in Bumfuck, Montana?

The state government. Montana doesn't have an incredible amount of people to tax, so they need everyone to pay that they can get.

[Sovaal]

I imagine the cult started out in that town by subverting the local authorities. Converting or replacing sheriffs, judges, mayors, that sort of thing. Might not even need to kill anybody, just win some elections, which probably wouldn't be too difficult for a seriously organized group to do in a small town. Once they were in control of the local government they could start moving openly. Scare the locals into compliance and that's probably about it, because, honestly, who pays attention to what's going on in Bumfuck, Montana?

The state government. Montana doesn't have an incredible amount of people to tax, so they need everyone to pay that they can get.

Eh, just invade and annex Idaho

[Licana]

I am interested in knowing the in game reason why the national guard or the army has not come in full force to deal with this cult considering based on the trailer they are actively rounding people up and harassing people at gun point.

Not like we have a highly-functioning government with well-equipped law enforcement and intelligence-gathering capabilities.

Only way I see them not knowing is the town being off the grid for the most part, or the cultists have everything severed or locked down. Also people being scared of getting killed for contacting authorities.

Judging from the trucks and the weapons featured in the trailers, this is modern day America. As such, there's not really such a thing as "off the grid" anymore, not for a town of any notable size (like the one featured in these same trailers).

Scare the locals into compliance and that's probably about it, because, honestly, who pays attention to what's going on in Bumfuck, Montana?

When a militarized group with armed technicals start openly driving around and rounding people up, there will be a lot of people paying attention to Bumfuck, Montana.

[Corrian]

It would already be a news story on the Internet and posted to NationStates.

[Zanera]

The state government. Montana doesn't have an incredible amount of people to tax, so they need everyone to pay that they can get.

Eh, just invade and annex Idaho

Then Montana can inherit it's potato economy!

Not like we have a highly-functioning government with well-equipped law enforcement and intelligence-gathering capabilities.

Only way I see them not knowing is the town being off the grid for the most part, or the cultists have everything severed or locked down. Also people being scared of getting killed for contacting authorities.

Judging from the trucks and the weapons featured in the trailers, this is modern day America. As such, there's not really such a thing as "off the grid" anymore, not for a town of any notable size (like the one featured in these same trailers).

Scare the locals into compliance and that's probably about it, because, honestly, who pays attention to what's going on in Bumfuck, Montana?

When a militarized group with armed technicals start openly driving around and rounding people up, there will be a lot of people paying attention to Bumfuck, Montana.

Hmmm...maybe they can bring in satellite imagery now that I think about it...

"Is that why I think it is?"
"I think so."
"We should send in a team to investigate, then we can..."
*five days later*

[Wisconsin9]

Not like we have a highly-functioning government with well-equipped law enforcement and intelligence-gathering capabilities.

Only way I see them not knowing is the town being off the grid for the most part, or the cultists have everything severed or locked down. Also people being scared of getting killed for contacting authorities.

Judging from the trucks and the weapons featured in the trailers, this is modern day America. As such, there's not really such a thing as "off the grid" anymore, not for a town of any notable size (like the one featured in these same trailers).

Scare the locals into compliance and that's probably about it, because, honestly, who pays attention to what's going on in Bumfuck, Montana?

When a militarized group with armed technicals start openly driving around and rounding people up, there will be a lot of people paying attention to Bumfuck, Montana.

I'm making the assumption here that they didn't start in on those things until after bringing in a decent chunk of the local population. Once you're in the church you're probably not going to report them, and if most of the town is involved social pressure could be used to keep outsiders from causing trouble. If you even needed to go that far. If you're in control of the local government, if you have most of the population onboard, and if you're clever, I doubt it would be difficult to keep people quiet.

[Sovaal]

Judging from the trucks and the weapons featured in the trailers, this is modern day America. As such, there's not really such a thing as "off the grid" anymore, not for a town of any notable size (like the one featured in these same trailers).



When a militarized group with armed technicals start openly driving around and rounding people up, there will be a lot of people paying attention to Bumfuck, Montana.

I'm making the assumption here that they didn't start in on those things until after bringing in a decent chunk of the local population. Once you're in the church you're probably not going to report them, and if most of the town is involved social pressure could be used to keep outsiders from causing trouble. If you even needed to go that far. If you're in control of the local government, if you have most of the population onboard, and if you're clever, I doubt it would be difficult to keep people quiet.

All it takes is one person reporting them to the ATF.

[Abserdia]

So, because I'm a big dumb idiot who can't see large glowing orange spheres on the ground, I had to do the secret boss fight again. It was much easier.
I think I accidentally cheesed him.

Oh well. Got 3 new weapons in NieR: Automata today. I need to get the rest tomorrow so I can beat the secret SECRET boss.

[Wisconsin9]

I'm making the assumption here that they didn't start in on those things until after bringing in a decent chunk of the local population. Once you're in the church you're probably not going to report them, and if most of the town is involved social pressure could be used to keep outsiders from causing trouble. If you even needed to go that far. If you're in control of the local government, if you have most of the population onboard, and if you're clever, I doubt it would be difficult to keep people quiet.

All it takes is one person reporting them to the ATF.

Which would make that person, as well as their friends and family, targets. It's also worth noting that this did, probably, eventually happen—the PC is a newly-arrived cop of some flavor.

[Licana]

I'm making the assumption here that they didn't start in on those things until after bringing in a decent chunk of the local population. Once you're in the church you're probably not going to report them, and if most of the town is involved social pressure could be used to keep outsiders from causing trouble. If you even needed to go that far. If you're in control of the local government, if you have most of the population onboard, and if you're clever, I doubt it would be difficult to keep people quiet.

The problem comes from keeping people silent in the context of modern America, where even if you could cut off or otherwise take over an entire town without anyone else noticing (good luck) this all crumbles because some survivalist with a smartphone captures all of this on video/camera, grabs his compass and rifle, and then walks through the woods towards the nearest town until he gets a 3G signal. This is all discounting the fact that one of the "resistance" contacts is a pilot with a functional aircraft (yeah, good luck containing that).

If they had done this pre-2000s, or if they went with a less openly militarized enemy, this kind of thing might have been possible, but I don't really see a viable way this kind of setting can come about without suffering from some form of government retaliation.

[Zeinbrad]

The answer is clear guys.

True Christian Magic (tm)

[Ameriganastan]

Was he streaming when you killed him?

Yup.

[Wisconsin9]

I'm making the assumption here that they didn't start in on those things until after bringing in a decent chunk of the local population. Once you're in the church you're probably not going to report them, and if most of the town is involved social pressure could be used to keep outsiders from causing trouble. If you even needed to go that far. If you're in control of the local government, if you have most of the population onboard, and if you're clever, I doubt it would be difficult to keep people quiet.

The problem comes from keeping people silent in the context of modern America, where even if you could cut off or otherwise take over an entire town without anyone else noticing (good luck) this all crumbles because some survivalist with a smartphone captures all of this on video/camera, grabs his compass and rifle, and then walks through the woods towards the nearest town until he gets a 3G signal. This is all discounting the fact that one of the "resistance" contacts is a pilot with a functional aircraft (yeah, good luck containing that).

If they had done this pre-2000s, or if they went with a less openly militarized enemy, this kind of thing might have been possible, but I don't really see a viable way this kind of setting can come about without suffering from some form of government retaliation.

It's a doomsday cult. It's not unlikely that the survivalists would be in on it. It's also not really clear how militarized they are—yes, we see them riding around in pickups with their logo on it, but that's about it, and there's nothing strange about that in modern America. Frankly, the weirdest thing about those trucks is that they aren't plastered with bumper stickers. Yes, having an armed plane is weird, but it's not something you'd break out for just any occasion. And, ultimately, there is government retaliation—you.

I'm not trying to argue that it's likely. I don't think there are towns out in Montana or Nebraska or the Dakotas run by openly murderous doomsayers. But it's a far cry from inconceivable.

[Licana]

It's a doomsday cult. It's not unlikely that the survivalists would be in on it. It's also not really clear how militarized they are—yes, we see them riding around in pickups with their logo on it, but that's about it and there's nothing strange about that in modern America

Oh yeah, trucks with their logos on it. That's it. Ignore the belt-fed machine gun mounted on the roll bar, that's just a prop. There's nothing strange about that.

and, ultimately, there is government retaliation—you.

Unless the game is set to end about an hour after starting, this is unreasonable.

But it's a far cry from inconceivable.

In the context of this setting, it actually kind of is.

[The first Galactic Republic]

I didn't know that cuckoo birds were hot, blue, and one of the first races to reach space.

They trick members of other species into raising their offspring; it's leaching off of the other species.

Another problem with this is that Asari do raise their children and in fact usually end up doing most of the parenting in inter-species relationships because their partner dies before their offspring are fully grown.

They aren't brood parasites. This would be a symbiotic relationship of sorts.