As of now, it just seems "stupid" to not mutilate your body, messed with your own head or turn into mechanical assholes. There should be something that can help people who just want to stay pure and not take any of the "ascension" paths.
Maybe add a "Purity Path" that can give species who want to stay pure some advantages?
- Thread starter Vampiresoap
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I like that a lot. Would be great with xenophobic empires to. I'm having a hard time to imagine a xenophobic empires willing to become machine or change their bodies into a new species (and thus becoming xenos).
"Purity-like path" is basicly what humans did in Grey Goo video game universe. No cybernetics, immortality only by advanced gene therapy, 100% harmony with it's AI.
You make an interesting suggestion, but how can you "level up," if you are staying the same? To become more powerful as a species, you inherently must acquire new power from somewhere.
Also, I think the biological ascension path makes a great deal of sense for xenophobic or "purity" focused empires. Most human xenophobic/purist organizations (which are of course, the basis for our consideration of these ideas in the first place) believe in their superiority, but not necessarily without room for improvement.
Genetic modification making the faction's primary race stronger, smarter, more long-lived, etc. are all improvements that don't even necessarily impact phenotype, much less do they imply full speciation. Even modifications for survival in a foreign biome wouldn't necessarily lead to speciation. I mean, it could, obviously, and the game certainly tags that biome change as speciation, but I would argue the very mechanics of population control and manipulation require them to be differentiated. The fact that members of the same starting race then become "different species" is just an unfortunate labeling side-effect. And a vehicle for political strife/game-play.
Anyway. What alternative path to "ascension" can you envision?
Also, I think the biological ascension path makes a great deal of sense for xenophobic or "purity" focused empires. Most human xenophobic/purist organizations (which are of course, the basis for our consideration of these ideas in the first place) believe in their superiority, but not necessarily without room for improvement.
Genetic modification making the faction's primary race stronger, smarter, more long-lived, etc. are all improvements that don't even necessarily impact phenotype, much less do they imply full speciation. Even modifications for survival in a foreign biome wouldn't necessarily lead to speciation. I mean, it could, obviously, and the game certainly tags that biome change as speciation, but I would argue the very mechanics of population control and manipulation require them to be differentiated. The fact that members of the same starting race then become "different species" is just an unfortunate labeling side-effect. And a vehicle for political strife/game-play.
Anyway. What alternative path to "ascension" can you envision?
Discipline and unity. Plus all the traits that a fascist population would exhibit, due to their fanatical belief in their own superiority over all mutants and xenos.