Ward vs Noontide (spoilers)

[Elder Drake]

SPOILER ALERT!


In the mid-to-end game, I find myself questioning some moral quandaries. Ward is a hard-core military oppressor. Noontides are idealists. The game presents, in my opinion, Noontide as the better moral pick but are they?

Duty, although harsh and ruffian in nature, is determined to impose control of a chaotic and possible world-altering science. Noontide is in 'hippy mode,' where I feel their ideology does not meet reality. I would rather see a force controlling an unknown, chaotic phenomenon than a group that does not question it and wants to spread it. Cool to be a rebel, but what are you fighting for? It's hard to side with jack-boot jerks, but do you think they are there for fun or money? One side wants stability and control, the other freedom in the face of dangerous outcomes.

I was all about Spark, but now I have restarted with the recent updates, and I am choosing Duty. To me, it is the equivalent of police versus protestors. Both have good hearts, but in the end, who do you think has your and society's best interest at heart?

[trappist713]

Stalker 2 is just a game, and unfortunately, like almost every game nowadays, it is based on two typical narrative patterns or clichés:

1) Good rebels fight against bad military forces. In real life, things are much more complicated, and rebels are often no better than the power they are fighting.
2) Evil scientists try to destroy the world. This one is especially stupid since our world still exists only because of science. At least this is my opinion.

Anyway, what I am trying to say - just play the game and do not try to project yourself into a real life. It will not work.

[Elder Drake]

Originally posted by trappist713:

Stalker 2 is just a game, and unfortunately, like almost every game nowadays, it is based on two typical narrative patterns or clichés:

1) Good rebels fight against bad military forces. In real life, things are much more complicated, and rebels are often no better than the power they are fighting.
2) Evil scientists try to destroy the world. This one is especially stupid since our world still exists only because of science. At least this is my opinion.

Anyway, what I am trying to say - just play the game and do not try to project yourself into a real life. It will not work.

I play between grad final research papers so this was simply a thought excercise, meant more to see reactions about a game. Turns out I took a 3rd road I did not see coming and it makes sense so far.

Great game and a nice break between hard papers.

[Hauken]

Duty and warden, even though i've be told so much wardens are bad. Wardens goal is to feed of the sphere or whatever to further humanity tech e.t.c reminded me of interstellar that we cant just go on with our business until earth dies and is depleted of resources. I didnt feel like helping noontide destroy that idea, i was very unsure after picking them because when you told about the noontide attack which was imminent i felt like skif and Agatha was like James Bond crooks laughing in evil :D

[Elder Drake]

Originally posted by Hauken:

Duty and warden, even though i've be told so much wardens are bad. Wardens goal is to feed of the sphere or whatever to further humanity tech e.t.c reminded me of interstellar that we cant just go on with our business until earth dies and is depleted of resources. I didnt feel like helping noontide destroy that idea, i was very unsure after picking them because when you told about the noontide attack which was imminent i felt like skif and Agatha was like James Bond crooks laughing in evil :D

So siding with Duty seemed to play out Evil or messed up?

[Hauken]

TBH i wasnt able to start any duty quests in the factory so i just went onto main story. But im using it as my primary holdout and, i killed a ex duty kingpin and took hes pda with some intel i thought duty would be interested in but nope.

[BUCK]

don't the wards hate stalkers? they don't want us in the zone. but WE.ARE.STALKERS.

[Elder Drake]

Originally posted by BUCK:

don't the wards hate stalkers? they don't want us in the zone. but WE.ARE.STALKERS.

Wait till you are farther into the game; it gets trippy. I see Stalkers as opportunists out to make a buck stealing artifacts that are dangerous. In the game, I love it; stick it to the man. I will say, though, that the story has been getting a lot more...interesting...as I progress. Things are....complicated is all I will say and maybe not what you think.

[Hauken]

As far as skif is concerned hes house got bombed and hes mad about it, dunno if he cares about stalker business.

Someones gotta pay for the damage :D

[OGPG]

Originally posted by Elder Drake:

SPOILER ALERT!


In the mid-to-end game, I find myself questioning some moral quandaries. Ward is a hard-core military oppressor. Noontides are idealists. The game presents, in my opinion, Noontide as the better moral pick but are they?

Duty, although harsh and ruffian in nature, is determined to impose control of a chaotic and possible world-altering science. Noontide is in 'hippy mode,' where I feel their ideology does not meet reality. I would rather see a force controlling an unknown, chaotic phenomenon than a group that does not question it and wants to spread it. Cool to be a rebel, but what are you fighting for? It's hard to side with jack-boot jerks, but do you think they are there for fun or money? One side wants stability and control, the other freedom in the face of dangerous outcomes.

I was all about Spark, but now I have restarted with the recent updates, and I am choosing Duty. To me, it is the equivalent of police versus protestors. Both have good hearts, but in the end, who do you think has your and society's best interest at heart?

Don't forget, Noontide sent a exo goon to kill you after you got rid of the controller for them.

[Elder Drake]

Originally posted by Hauken:

As far as skif is concerned hes house got bombed and hes mad about it, dunno if he cares about stalker business.

Someones gotta pay for the damage :D

lmao, it almost is like a spin on John Wick. They blew up my laundry room. My clean clothes. Kill them all, and let god sort them out!

[ImHelping]

CoP accidentally having a more meaningful plot in spite of the overall main plot being a glorified sidequest. And you are a government goon the whole way through on the job for them main plot wise.

You can bypass the duty vs freedom slapfight in CoP and arrange peace. Hardly anyone does that because it costs you unique armor and means one of the vendors never sells faction specific specialty weapons/ammo.

Stalker 2 throws out the main reason people go to the zone with "Oh by the way, artifacts just stop working quickly out of the zone now" (CoP endings remind you Railguns worked out of the zone with shards of artifacts boosting the ammo! it was shelved because that is turbo expensive, not because they stopped working!)

And YET. The whole plot of CoP being "Why don't you just use a chopper to bypass ♥♥♥♥ in the zone, idiot-OH NO!... Okay we solved it, the end" is still intact in stalker 2. Complete with watching a chopper fly by on the way to the slag heap after I have a very nice conversation at The Plant and in no way premediated my violence for once.