Affinity Ideologies

[GoodSarmatian]

You're pretty much describing Supremacy which imho really shouldn't be as focused on military as it seems to be in the game. I hope there will be an expansion which adds multiple victory conditions for every affinity.

 

[KrikkitTwo]

To be honest, I'm not sure I'm entirely happy with any of the Affinities, and wouldn't really want to see humanity's future go down any of their paths. Presumably because of the demands of gameplay and to play off of science fiction archetypes, they all have their flaws and limitations -- particularly in their demand for conformity to their particular philosophies from all members of their societies.

For me, an ideal form of transhumanism would be the sort portrayed in Iain M. Banks' Culture, or the Golden Oecumene in John C. Wright's The Golden Age -- societies where people could freely chose what bodies or shapes they wanted to adopt. Whether one wanted to be a transhuman ubermensch, become integrated into an alien species, or have one's mind uploaded digitally and use a starship for a body, all were permitted and acceptable (even if individuals still had aesthetic preferences -- one of the characters in The Golden Age dislikes having to interact with individuals who adopt brutally geometric cyborg bodies, for example).

I suppose, in the end, I don't really associate "humanity" with possessing a particular physical shape or composition, but instead being a product of one's thoughts, beliefs, and actions. As such, I guess I trend most towards Supremacy, as I have no particular issue with someone who may want to become a cyborg or digitally upload themselves to puppet around a robot body. But at the same time, I couldn't really see making any such change mandatory, as the Emancipation victory would seem to apply. An ideal society would be one in which people could choose whichever body type they wanted, whether baseline human, cyborg, or alien hybrid, of their own volition without any coercion.

"The culture" would probably be available once you researched literally ALL the techs on the web... its not just that society stops you from following different paths, society doesn't know How to follow those paths.

(of course with all the techs on the web you would be at ~12+ in all affinities)

 

[Stigmatus]

There are certain benefits of Supermacy.

 

[DarkestOnion]

There are certain benefits of Supermacy.

Lazy robot should not be laying around on the floor

 

[gunther_nt]

Nah, we will have Harmony-based clone girls, genetically programmed to be submissive and immune to "private" diseases Robots are too clunky and can rebel 8)

 

[Lord of Harmony]

On the long run, semi scientificly speaking, the winning affinity would be Supremacy.
Any planet or biological entity is doomed eventually to die when his prime star runs out of fuel.
But transfer your consience into a machine like a spaceship or space probe it is an extra ensurance against the problems a solar system can throw at us.
Not only we could live on planets but also on the void of the space, how cool is that ?
On my point of view, Harmony and Purity have by desing the idea of get fixed on this new planet while Supremacy is the idea of spreading through the galaxy

Have you ever heard of the tardigrade? It is one of the most resilient organisms on earth. It can survive in the depths of space. It can survive for years without water. It can be bathed in radiation, frozen solid, then boiled alive. Home star goes extinct? Just set course for a new one in my photosynthetic semi-sentient star cruiser, then go into hibernation until it gets there.

 

[AlpsStranger]

Harmony, then, would be taking lemons and making lemonade.

Harmony would be modifying your tongue so that lemons taste like oranges, actually

 

[Umbral Reaver]

All of the affinities have the potential to be both wonderful and reprehensible, depending on their implementation. They could even be both in the same game, with different factions using the affinities to different ends!

Personally, I'm most inclined toward Supremacy. I dream of discarding this useless, crippled shell for something unfathomably more capable; I do not fear immortality. I want to be alive (or at least fully functional, if you can't call a machine alive) when humanity reaches the stars. To be an undying machine mind would allow me to survive the long journeys at sublight speeds. No need for generation or sleeper ships, when the crew can be made to last forever.