Hey aah, what happened to tanning and tan lines? I remember that you were able to tan in the previous builds.
All very good points. And super creepy. I suppose it could be worse though. They could go full totalitarian and try to control every aspect of people's lives (unlikely, as that would require them to care enough to exert the effort). Then again, whether that's worse is a matter of opinion. I'm sure there are those who would choose to sacrifice their freedoms if it meant safety, especially after the chaos that apparently occurred before the game starts. I wouldn't, but I'm saying that from a place of safety and comfort. Who knows, a constant state of fear of rape and murder may make me rethink my priorities.The government, interestingly enough, does have some dictatorial traits: They want to appear as the ones in charge, and the prevailing doctrine is that while life in the city is bad, everywhere else is far worse (though people aren't allowed to leave to check) and the city is surrounded by enemies (that no one ever saw) and they're the only ones keeping said enemies out of the city.
Similarly, the Institute isn't interested in policing the city (read: spending resources on something they have no return of investment in) but they do have the ability to enact a fair amount of force once something does involve itself in their business. In that, they are no different than Haven which also has its own security guards and enforcers and limited community infrastructure for its members.
Which leaves the city's general population in a position where laws exist, but there isn't really anyone to enforce them. Rape is illegal, murder is illegal, underage drinking is illegal, but no one ever does anything about these things because the government has its hands full paying clerks, teachers and heavily armed border guards and the organizations in power won't move if there's no clear benefit for them in doing so. If public order was their main concern the Institute could wipe out Haven in a couple of hours, but they don't because that would upset the balance of power in the city -- there's a reason they sent the MC to investigate, who isn't overtly connected to the Institute, and even then after having her appearance reworked: They simply do not want to get in a territorial dispute with Haven because it would not be advantageous to them. Even the Brothel Raid from the Slave (soft) bad end was only to retrieve their 'property' (Sammy's body), not to remove the brothel with all its implied forced prostitution from (the outskirts of) the city.
That's what the Institute 'made' Sammy for, a means to increase their sphere of influence without openly stepping on anyone's toes. Sammy is a trial run to see if it's viable to have more agents than just her in the future, that's likely why they put some rando kid in the new body. They paint themselves as the good guys while she helps them work out the kinks in the system, but in the end all she is to them is the asset that is her body. Sammy the person means nothing to them.
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It sounds anarchic, but if you were somehow to be able to flip between a failed state and actual anarchy at a whim you'd notice some important differences. In a failed state the government still has pretenses towards being a state, so they occasionally crack down and attempt to show they are still a state. This frequently actually fools many of the people living there. Consider birth control in the world of the Fixer. It's not actually hard to get, but I don't think any of the named female characters other than Sammy herself actually know that, they seem to simply assume that because it is illegal it is difficult to obtain. Meanwhile, prostitution is an ostensibly illegal activity which is harder for a failed state to throw their weight around to interfere with, because they can't disrupt the supply upstream. I suspect that guns in this setting would be about as hard to obtain as birth control, even if Sam_Tail thinks otherwise. Contrast that to how it would work in actual anarchy, if you wanted birth control, you could just pick it up from a store that would advertise openly, same with guns.Sure, in a failed state government technically exists, but without ability to enact any type of policy or control. For those living in it the difference between a state of nature and their daily lives would be negligible. "In a failed state the government isn't there to protect you, but also doesn't protect your attackers, and even if they are part of a larger armed group, you can probably get away with defending yourself with the utmost use of force." Your own words. Action without consequence beyond might makes right. Sounds pretty anarchic to me. They can't form their own government. I'll give you that. That makes a difference in people's daily existence how? They have larger problems, like surviving the day. And even the "legitimate" governments ability to stop people from operating as a de facto government and enforcing laws depends greatly on how far it has failed and how much power it can exert in a particular region. It's failing to see the forest because of all the trees in the way. Of course none of this matters because the town isn't a failed state.
"A government is really just a gang, they are just set apart by the perception of legitimacy." It's all perception, exactly. ISIL (despite what they thought of themselves) was an insurgent organization, not technically a state. Didn't make much difference to those under their domain though, did it? If they had held their territory longer, who knows, the world may have been forced to accept them as a state. In this game, The Institute isn't technically a state. It does, however, have ultimate authority over the town and according to the intro have more power than the national government (or at least it, in alliance with other companies controlling other towns they do). For the lives of people in that town, it is the state. It is the legitimate source of violence, recognized by both citizens within their territory and the controlling companies of other towns, and even the federal government can't and won't interfere. Sure, on paper they're not a state. But we all know what words on paper are worth.
Five pages on zip guns? Impressive. And the nature of value... I'll have to go find that. Thanks for letting me know.
EDIT: The government in this setting doesn't have the capacity to be totalitarian, even if they aspire to it, they haven't even been demonstrated to be able to collect taxes. Sam_Tail has said there are two groups of guards in the city, one guarding the train station that is drawn from the remnants of the military, and the gate guards, who are drawn from the remnants of the police. Neither of them are very numerous, and they have their hands full just guarding the two ways into the city.
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Yeah, I thought that's what relaxing in the sand was for, but apparently not. I suppose it added too many extra images. Especially with different levels of tanning. Unless you could apply it at runtime as a layer on top of the images already used I suppose. Even that would mean making a tanning layer (if not multiple) for every scene, pose, and state of pregnancy. Would be cool to have, but if I had to choose between having it or the different plotlines moving forward I'm more than happy to choose plot. Of course, this is all assumption on my part.Hey aah, what happened to tanning and tan lines? I remember that you were able to tan in the previous builds.
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Yeah, I thought that's what relaxing in the sand was for, but apparently not. I suppose it added too many extra images. Especially with different levels of tanning. Unless you could apply it at runtime as a layer on top of the images already used I suppose. Even that would mean making a tanning layer (if not multiple) for every scene, pose, and state of pregnancy. Would be cool to have, but if I had to choose between having it or the different plotlines moving forward I'm more than happy to choose plot. Of course, this is all assumption on my part.
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I agree, a government crackdown would make a difference, but that requires the state to have enough power in the region, or the interest, to do so. With larger issues at hand it could simply be left as an autonomous region, too much to handle presently and only dealt with if their chaos spilled out into other areas. This doesn't even require societal/governmental collapse. If you're familiar with 'The Wheel of Time' (the books, not the bastardized streaming show) there is a good example of this. Fiction, I know, but bear with me. In it, the Two Rivers region technically exists within the nation of Caemlyn. The crown claims it and expects its residents to acknowledge royal authority. Other nations recognize this. This is news to the population of Two Rivers, who have effectively been neglected by the national government for so many generations that they have no idea they fall under any authority but their own. They have their own government and laws that they apply themselves. It's only when residents leave the region that they find out the rest of the world has other ideas.It sounds anarchic, but if you were somehow to be able to flip between a failed state and actual anarchy at a whim you'd notice some important differences. In a failed state the government still has pretenses towards being a state, so they occasionally crack down and attempt to show they are still a state. This frequently actually fools many of the people living there. Consider birth control in the world of the Fixer. It's not actually hard to get, but I don't think any of the named female characters other than Sammy herself actually know that, they seem to simply assume that because it is illegal it is difficult to obtain. Meanwhile, prostitution is an ostensibly illegal activity which is harder for a failed state to throw their weight around to interfere with, because they can't disrupt the supply upstream. I suspect that guns in this setting would be about as hard to obtain as birth control, even if Sam_Tail thinks otherwise. Contrast that to how it would work in actual anarchy, if you wanted birth control, you could just pick it up from a store that would advertise openly, same with guns.
EDIT: The government in this setting doesn't have the capacity to be totalitarian, even if they aspire to it, they haven't even been demonstrated to be able to collect taxes. Sam_Tail has said there are two groups of guards in the city, one guarding the train station that is drawn from the remnants of the military, and the gate guards, who are drawn from the remnants of the police. Neither of them are very numerous, and they have their hands full just guarding the two ways into the city.
For a real world example closer to the game, look at La Rinconada in Peru. Sure, it falls under Peruvian authority, but its remote location (highest permanent human settlement) means that the national government has no actual presence there. The only power is the Corporación Ananea mining company, and they only care that the gold supply isn't disrupted. Sure, Peruvian law applies, but there are no police/military forces to apply it (or even sewage or running water - there are 3 communal showers for roughly 30,000 people - not including seasonal workers), so effectively it is an autonomous, and - unless mining operations are impeded - effectively lawless frontier town. Theft, rape, and murder are commonplace, and while the population is free to make their own local government (again, so long as mining operations are unimpeded), their time is consumed with simply surviving in one of the most harsh environments on the planet, so it doesn't happen. If you can defend yourself, good for you. If you can't, that's just too bad. If people decide to help you, great. If they decide to join in against you, also fine. Everything is permitted. The gold must flow.
I find the birth control situation interesting. You're right, most characters don't seem to know how easily it is obtained, but I have had NPCs abort pregnancies in my playthroughs. Admittedly, not often, but it does happen. Obtaining a gun I think could go either way. It would depend on how saturated the environment was before the collapse. If this is the UK, as the money symbol would imply, then I agree it would probably be hard. If the location were instead relocated to the US (or really anywhere in the Americas outside of maybe Canada) and the symbol is just a generic for money, then I'm going to go with guns being pretty easy to obtain, if potentially carrying severe consequence for actually using. As for taxes, isn't a reason Sammy was able to get an apartment was because The Institute gave Oskar subsidies for rent? I thought that implied taxation on organizations at least if not on people. Still, if it means they are incapable of transitioning to totalitarianism, I'll run with it.
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