Legit question, why help EZIC?

[Ligma peanuts]

So I've played through the game and gotten all endings and achievements. I've noticed a lot of people consider Ending 19 the "best" Papers Please ending and I genuinely wonder why.

The thing is, we don't really know anything about these guys. The only thing their notes tell us is that they want to bring Arstotzka's corrupt government down and that they don't endorse the murder of civilians (although they have no problem murdering the border guards on day 31, guards that bear just as much guilt for the state of Arstotzka as, say, Sergiu).

We don't know their ideology or what they plan to do once they come into power. It could very well be that the EZIC revolution turns out exactly the way it did in Lucas Pope's other game "The Republia Times", where the rebels become indistinguishable from the totalitarian government once they come into power.

Even if they DID have good motivations, we have no idea how they plan on reforming the country. All we've seen so far is efforts to destabilize the nation and collapse its government. Their methods definitely aren't noble: they sabotage the Metro tunnel, which could have resulted in a lot of innocents dying. They kidnap the minister of finance or gas the government headquarters. They order you to compromise your and your family's safety and carry out assassinations on their behalf. They sabotage peace negotiations and actively strengthen the tensions between country that just ended a brutal military conflict. They blow open the border wall, flooding the city not only with immigrants the already strained job market and housing situation can't afford to take care of, but also criminals, drug dealers, human traffickers, and Kolechian extremists we've seen try to get through the border time and time again.

And let's not forget, Ending 19 isn't EZIC overthrowing the government. At best, they've ceased Grestin, and at worst, all they've done is pierced the border and "grown strong", whatever that means. They still have a revolution to complete, and, seeing their methods so far, I wouldn't be surprised if they end up dragging Arstotzka into a brutal civil war that's gonna end up far more dangerous for the Inspector's family than the harsh, but definitely manageable bills they have to pay.

[Brittimus]

Because you want to. Most of those points are double edged anyway. The government isn't great either, and as you said you don't actually know much about EZIC. Maybe they're amazing and will usher in a new era of peace and prosperity. It's also possible that in order to ensure the security and continuing stability, Arstotzka will be reorganized into the first Galactic Empire! For a safe and secure society. Glory to Arstotzka.

[Ligma peanuts]

Originally posted by bratliff121:

Because you want to. Most of those points are double edged anyway. The government isn't great either, and as you said you don't actually know much about EZIC. Maybe they're amazing and will usher in a new era of peace and prosperity. It's also possible that in order to ensure the security and continuing stability, Arstotzka will be reorganized into the first Galactic Empire! For a safe and secure society. Glory to Arstotzka.

Well, yeah, EZIC being amazing is definitely a valid possibility. I was wondering if I've missed some sort of evidence indicating this to be the case. Something I've missed perhaps. Because if it were a real life scenario, I wouldn't risk my or my family's safety to support a rebel group without at least some indication that they genuinely turn Arstotzka into a better place.

[Brittimus]

Originally posted by Ligma peanuts:

Well, yeah, EZIC being amazing is definitely a valid possibility. I was wondering if I've missed some sort of evidence indicating this to be the case. Something I've missed perhaps. Because if it were a real life scenario, I wouldn't risk my or my family's safety to support a rebel group without at least some indication that they genuinely turn Arstotzka into a better place.

You haven’t missed anything. It’s a grey area for sure. Realistically though, if this game were real life, you’d know a lot more about a lot of things. Quite a bit is implied in this game (as in all games) so your conclusions are fair but certainly not the only valid approach. I think the biggest indication of good guys or bad guys is simply for you to decide if you think the government is good or bad. If it’s bad then EZIC becomes the default good guys (to an extent) and if you think it’s good then EZIC is bad. There isn’t a right or wrong answer. It’s fun to play out all the different endings and then decide for yourself if you were right or wrong.

[Brady]

it's like star wars. yeah the rebels did a lot of... morally dubious things, but that was for the greater good of defeating the empire.

[Vunjak]

You can either stay in a state of misery or overthrow the government in hopes they will be more benevolent. It's not so much that you know they will be better but doing nothing would keep you in this cycle so it's worth a shot.

That said if Republia Times, another game made by the same creator, is anything to go by then an overthrow of the government may yield little difference. Really it's all just on chance it might be better, nothing is sure in this world.

[White Shadow]

I think this is one of the great things about this game. Many things aren't black and white, but rather just shades of grey, and it's our own morality that decides which is the lesser evil - the tyrannical and corrupt incumbent government or the unknown motives of the new one that may turn out to be better or worse. As some above mentioned already, it all boils down to how bad you feel things are in Arstotzka already and whether taking a chance with another government is worth it or not.

[76561199222741890]

Bro this man wrote a whole presentation about helping EZIC, lol.

[Zombits]

My opinion is that EZIC would represent a group of desperate spies and ''terrorists' from west germany ( East/west Grestin border yeah?) Berlin in the cold war.

Our worker is under communism severe control, without liberty. Almost starving and can't feed his family.

A good ending for you and family would be to help EZIC , or not ,but still manage to escape the country

[themonsterofthenet]

Judging by the way they handled the conflict with Kolechia, EZIC will probably be even worse than the current regime. They might go to war again.

[Vzzdak]

Originally posted by Ligma peanuts:

And let's not forget, Ending 19 isn't EZIC overthrowing the government. At best, they've ceased Grestin, and at worst, all they've done is pierced the border and "grown strong", whatever that means. They still have a revolution to complete, and, seeing their methods so far, I wouldn't be surprised if they end up dragging Arstotzka into a brutal civil war that's gonna end up far more dangerous for the Inspector's family than the harsh, but definitely manageable bills they have to pay.

The following logic might be plausible:

1. Per the ending where you escape the country, you know that other countries are in rough shape.
2. Per the ending where you do your job and nothing changes, you know that doing nothing means ongoing hardships.

But (1) and (2) are meta knowledge.
3. Being a citizen, let us assume that you inherently understand (1) and (2), and know that nowhere is currently safe or thriving.
Or to put another way, you know bad state of your country, and news reports show other countries likewise bad.
Best case is there is at least ONE other country that is good, but your news media would never admit it.

4. By initially helping EZIC, they give you significant money, which proves they are non-trivial, and working towards a common cause.
They money *could* be counterfeit, but that's besides the point, since it is still a bribe that you have the option of using.
The point is that EZIC does not appear to be a common smuggling operation.
Worst case, EZIC is revealed to be a common smuggling operation, which you can disavow if this proves to be the case.

5. So by aiding EZIC, you help bring about change, and the game ends without elaborating.
However, you are now one of their agents.
They state that they need agents, which implies an intent to "bring down" all the other authoritarian countries, with the hope that something grander will result.

[baiits]

Yeah that's literally what happens in 1984 with Ingsoc

[45]

the best ending is the one where you escape with your family...

piecing together the ezic clues is fun but they mostly solve themselves anyway

[TheRussianSpy]

I gives u money