What exactly Emancipation is is kept rather vague, though the text comes off as propaganda to me.
Transcendance text is quite clearly a hive mind in the text, though it wouldn't be hard to change that.
Agreed that Virtual Utopia would not need to be a hive mind at all.
I agree it comes off as propaganda, but the bonus of propaganda is it could be true.
So if I like the idea of allowing everyone on Earth to have the choice of a robot body, it works (of course in 150 years some meatbags will be complaining about the "War of Interstellar Aggression")
The other bonus of propaganda is it could be not true so if I feel like playing obliteration of humanity, I can do that. (just like I can imagine I'm importing earthlings into my mass Promised Land Work camps for the glory of my 'utopia')
I'm adamant in my belief that the hybrids can stand on equal footing with the cores when it comes to gameplay. I think that if we needed to "commit" to an affinity in the mid-game, that it would promote the hybrids and make them feel more like they have their "own solutions" that they devs insisted the hybrids had. They talked up that point a lot but didn't come through with the delivery.
I definitely agree with a mid-game commitment, to individualize them (hence my affinity virtues having hybrids as unique)
However, I think victorywise, the hybrids solutions are going to be either
1. derivative of the 3 core victories (use Earth-send stuff there to control it, use Planet-get control of it, use Earth+Planet-bring stuff from there here) OR not sensible as a Victory condition*
2. Dilute them... Promised Land should require Terraforming as that is a key part of Purity..changing the planet. by splitting up those ideas you lose the ability to have them combined into one Better victory condition. (one could make the same argument about Supremacy and Virtual Eden... you need something to upload 10+billion minds into)
*To be sensible as a victory condition the Victory needs to 'conceptually' grant you some big boost in power over the other factions, that the game wouldn't model well without getting silly (space victory, diplo victory, culture victory all work in BNW for that)
in BE you are getting total control of the resources of Earth/Planet or some super tech aliens.
Virtual Eden/Utopia doesn't do that..at best its a Wonder so all your people are happy all the time but they build nothing (maybe their bodies are remotely controlled by AIs to do the work of society)..it doesn't have anything that stops another civ from steamrolling you (even conceptually)
You could possibly add an actual 'spaceship' victory, but I think that's what the contact one is like.