Curses

[Dragonz]

Domina is a good Goddess right? and Oracus is bad? Well if this is the case, and you are a pilgrim for Domina, then shouldn't she be able to curse you if you do bad things? Like slave trade, or you destroy a friendly station, then she should be able to give you some consequences. Like make it so all future armour you install can only be repaired to 50% hp, or your shields operate at 50% power or use twice as much fuel, or all weapons misfire at different intervals. Then, if you do something really bad, she will put a marker on your ship that tells enemies in the system, "Hey! Look over here! I am free meat! Come and get me!" or something to that effect so you can never have a 'peaceful' period.

[Atarlost]

Domina is the Blue* Goddess. Oracus is the Orange* Goddess. Both are evil by human standards, but Domina is better at hiding her genocidal intent.

* see Blue and Orange Morality on tvtropes; link omitted for your sanity

[JohnBWatson]

As I understand it, the hyperintelligences need to channel their power through consenting sentient beings for it to take effect, thus why all of the Domina powers utilize either you directly or your ship and the area around it in a shockwave or shield, and why Oracus's harass power can only operate within a radius of his temples filled with devoted followers, rather than, say, right next to your ship the moment you spawn in Eridani. Such a mechanic also explains why a power that makes your ship invulnerable is a basic ability available to any pilgrim, yet one that does so automatically, without directly requesting it, is among the upper echelon of powers. Only someone who willingly accepts or calls upon divine powers will be a possible deployment point for them, and even saving one's life without their directly asking for it requires an incredibly strong connection.

[Dragonz]

Domina is the Blue* Goddess. Oracus is the Orange* Goddess. Both are evil by human standards, but Domina is better at hiding her genocidal intent.

* see Blue and Orange Morality on tvtropes; link omitted for your sanity

What link is that? I've never heard them referred to this way. I knew Oracus was bad, but Domina too?

[Aury]

Some of the later plots reveal... things...

Just kill sung fortresses and do the missions in Heretic to potentially learn what he means

[JohnBWatson]

Some of the later plots reveal... things...

Just kill sung fortresses and do the missions in Heretic to potentially learn what he means

Spoiler: Sung fortresses

[Atarlost]

The Iocrym AI is really clear and explicit on the matter, but absurdly hard to hack.

[JohnBWatson]

The Iocrym AI is really clear and explicit on the matter, but absurdly hard to hack.

Is the AI trustworthy? I think I remember the Iocrym being fairly low on the scale of ancient races, as well as a thread in which George seemed to support a theory that not all descriptions of Domina by in game factions are right, or at least that they may not be describing the same entity.

[Atarlost]

There is no reason for the AI to have information the Iocrym believe to be false.

[JohnBWatson]

There is no reason for the AI to have information the Iocrym believe to be false.

That's right, but it doesn't mean it's true for certain. As I understand it, the Iocrym are described as a purpose - bred race of sentinels for the ancient races, meaning they're the cosmic equivalent to attack dogs, and, if those could speak, their understanding of a war would be somewhat different than the reality. Here's a link to the thread I saw.

[Dragonz]

Hmm, that is all interesting...

[Atarlost]

There is no reason for the AI to have information the Iocrym believe to be false.

That's right, but it doesn't mean it's true for certain. As I understand it, the Iocrym are described as a purpose - bred race of sentinels for the ancient races, meaning they're the cosmic equivalent to attack dogs, and, if those could speak, their understanding of a war would be somewhat different than the reality. Here's a link to the thread I saw.

The Iocrym are sophonts, not dumb animals. The Iocrym leadership pretty much has to be involved in the decision making process in at least a nonvoting observer role. If they were docile enough to accept not having even the possibility of having their voice heard directly they wouldn't be aggressive enough to do their job. Having an observer in the decision making process means knowing where the suggestions came from unless they're anonomized, in which case the AI wouldn't know.

[JohnBWatson]

The Iocrym are sophonts, not dumb animals. The Iocrym leadership pretty much has to be involved in the decision making process in at least a nonvoting observer role. If they were docile enough to accept not having even the possibility of having their voice heard directly they wouldn't be aggressive enough to do their job. Having an observer in the decision making process means knowing where the suggestions came from unless they're anonomized, in which case the AI wouldn't know.

The Iocrym are said to abhor chaos, and are bred for serving as the perfect guardians. Both of these would make it highly unlikely for them to be curious or willful about their task(indeed, even modern human armies are rarely allowed a seat at the political table). There's also the fact that the core minds are several orders of magnitude greater than the Iocrym, and that the Ares have also been called upon by an entity that claims to be Domina.

I'm certainly not an expert in this area, so if anything I've said has been proven untrue I'd like a link. I've been looking through all the lore I could find but I'm sure I haven't yet seen all of it.

[sun1404]

I think the Ares being called by Domina isn't that weird, if they ever were. I can't remember exactly. Still, Domina wouldn't care much about human wars, to the core minds humans would appear as one race, and when they want one, they shouldn't have any reason to choose a specific faction.

And the Ares aren't exactly bad. They just reject Commonwealth's rule. So, the bad guy in the Commonwealth and it's allies' eyes, but not really immoral.

[shanejfilomena]

LOL

I once tried to fill in some story line on the subject and learned alot ( the forums carry alot of that information )

However you are all " correct " ( and so are the people in the game ) : Domina and Oracus, like any of that sort of entity is seen, viewed or believed in the manner of the individual or breed of being can accept them best.

( eq (My Santa has an Italian Accent) )

In the game you get information from different sources : HOWEVER ; to stay your course, you need only to take lessons from the Sisters.

No, the Sisters are not as Virginal as you might think : I once raided a destroyed station ; and when I saw all the Ammo I was so shocked I actually said " Sisters! what is really on your mind!"

and the answer is : exactly what you were told : WAR.

As for " other Pilgrims " : such as Ares, etc.. I do believe that Domina and Oracus would not discriminate , Believers are Believers and Believing is all you have to do to make yourself worth something more then you were worth the day before because you have a purpose.

The AI does in fact Mislead the Player because it is a stagnant database. it has not updated with the expansion and evolution of the Transcendence Universe, it's information is very outdated and does not properly express the situation in modern perception.

(eq ( Cain & Abel ) )

the AI was set up so long ago and it is not maintained. You just have to run with the core beliefs, I am sure there is another Archive or base to Hack into along the way to the Core with more accurate expressions of the Modern universe.