Who would you join?

[Jethro83]

Makes the Spartans sound terrible. In fact as bad, if not worse than the namesake ancient Greek city.

That definition of weak though, ironically makes the Spartans weak themselves (on the inside anyway). Lacking compassion, and regard for life, however frail is weak. Lacking tolerance for said beings, also weak. Under their belief system, shouldn't they too deserve to die? After all, inner strength is more important than outer strength (although outer still has some small extent of importance).

I guess that enlightening post by Marid Audran bumps the Spartans behind the Hive, Gaians and University in my preferences as to who I'd join.

[Frankychan]

I think most people don't like Yang cause in the game, he's one tough mofo to beat. That and his diplomacy is very isolationist.

Of course, since I am a Hive player, I don't have any problems!

[Playa del Carmen]

Spartans are my favorite to play, so I'd pick them.

[waab]

Why do everybody hate/disgust Yang? If you look how the AI plays it seems that he is the only one to be abel to rule an empire.

Back to the capitalism vs communism (by the way Yang is not a true communism, I don't think that he want to kill the goverment):

Why do we, in the capitalist states of the west, live better then the east europe and south part of this planet?

1, Imperialism, we are living on the poor bastards in the south.

2, There is to way to keep yourself in power.
2.1, Military power (police state)
2.2, Giving the people many things to make them week, and afraid to loose the "good" things in life as computer TV and so on.

And do you actuly think that Morgans rape of planet will go on for ever? Look at earth, if every one on this planet would live as good as we do in the west, then we need one more planet.

A planned green economy is the only way. Thats why I vote on Yang.

[Jethro83]

Originally posted by waab
Why do everybody hate/disgust Yang? If you look how the AI plays it seems that he is the only one to be abel to rule an empire.

Simple answer: ENVY!!! The other factions are somewhat threatened by Yang's benevolent rule over his faction. It is in human nature to break the guy next to you to get ahead, rather than work harder to surpass him. If the drones of each faction knew the truth about Yang's communal utopia, and could disregard the lies and misinformation spread by the spindoctors of those factions, they would defect from their energy-fattened masters to join the Hive (if not the Free Drones in the case of SMAX factions counting in this). Exception being the Gaians, since they are also opposed to capitalism, and there's no energy-fattened masters to defect from.

[Sprayber]

Originally posted by waab
A planned green economy is the only way. Thats why I vote on Yang.

As a theory it sounds nice, but in practice those at the top are the only ones that get anything from a society like that. Leaders of societies like that talk a good game, but in practice only pain and suffering comes from them.

If done right the Spartan way would be best, but like Yangs utopia I don't think it could go too long without turning into a tryanny. Don't forget these leaders aren't likely to be replaced for hundreds of years. As much as I hate to admit it, I'd be heading for Lal's pod if I knew the other leaders at all.

[Jac de Molay]

I go with gaians. Eventually the green society, due to the persistence of technological progress, becomes viable in a capitalistic framework. Clean sources of energy are plentiful, and economies revolve around efficiency rather than competition for limited resources. Plus Greens just my favorite color
Dave

[Frankychan]

I like the eloquence of waab's and LordAzreal's words. They have captured my thinking almost to a 't'. Yang built his cities underground to protect his people from mindworms. Yang uses materials created to enhance the society as a whole, instead of hoarding them for himself (although leading the faction, he should gain some perks with the position). Other factions see the Hive's lack of materialism and see this as tyrannical and evil. But cut away all that unnecessary bull in real-life and you make life more simple and enjoyable.

I think the Believers are the WORST faction ever!!! But, I have to hand it to Firaxis because they created something that evokes strong emotion in players and I think that they did an excellent job in creating them.

I think Yang has the best intentions of his society in mind (even though it is skewed). But if I couldn't get into Yang's pod, I'd probably go with Deidre *mrow!* cause they like planet---I like planet......but I was wondering, do they use deoderant or go without like some hippie people I know?

[Mr. President]

Do they use deoderant or go without like some hippie people I know?

In Morgan Industries, you can buy all the deodorant you need with the income you get from your high-paying job!

Your interpretation of the Hive is valid. There is nothing that says the Hive has to be a Stalinist dictatorship (other than that Genejack Factory blurb ). In fact, I hear a popular interpretation of Chairman Yang's agenda is the isolationist utopia.

I like the Gaians very much, but they sometimes make me uncomfortable because they remind me too much of Greenpeace. So Morgan all the way for me.

[Jethro83]

Originally posted by Mr. President




In Morgan Industries, you can buy all the deodorant you need with the income you get from your high-paying job!

Provided that you HAVE a high-paying job, which most of Morgan's faction probably won't. The gap between rich and poor ever-widens.

[aaglo]

In morgan faction, the only well-paying job is CEO... because the leader gets ALL the money.

[Jethro83]

Don't forget Morgan's board of directors. But apart from the CEO and the BoD, there's no good-paying jobs, and even board members definitely aren't paid the same as the CEO.

[Anodyne]

First:
- Peacekeepers. I'm a pacifist and liberalist, and the Peacekeepers also value arts and culture. Really the only truly right choice for me.

Second (all good):
- University. It's ok. Nice toys to play with and all.
- Morganites. Decadence. Yes, sweet decadence! I like it.
- Gaians. Well, who wouldn't like running nekkid through the woods.

Not a choice in hell:
- The Hive. Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, etc... Yang's next in line.
- Spartans. Like I said, I'm a pacifist. Survival is ok, but I wouldn't have a place in their society.
- Believers. The worst bigots and fanatics of all.

[LodeRunner]

I'm usually just a lurker on this board, but after reading some of the posts on Morgan, I felt I had to respond. When I first played the game, I choose Morgan primarily because of his ideology. To me, he was more like John Galt than Bill Gates. I don't necessarily agree that all of Morgan's people want to live in luxury all the time. The way I see it, you are directly rewarded for your skill, intelligence, and hard work in a free, capitalistic society. I also do not agree that 95% of the population is poor in a Morgan run society. I believe that a strong middle class would evolve. Morgan would never be able to exploit all his followers so that they are all poor. They would just simply go to another faction, or he would be overthrown.

About the communism vs. capitalism thing, I believe the main difference simply comes down to choices. Yea, sure, in a communist society you get lots of "free" stuff. Well, not really - the money used to build that house must come from somewhere. So you pay 50% in taxes. Your still paying for all those "free" things. The difference is, with capitalism, you get a choice on what to spend your money on. You decide what house you want.

I myself live in a somewhat spartan apartment. I have no great ambitions. I just want to watch hockey, play computer games, listen to music, and read. I hate work and I try to avoid it all costs. But, I know my place. I don't expect anything from anybody so that when I do work for something that I want, I know that I earned it. And that's why I would be able to live in anything but a free society.

[Neutrino]

Ah, my first post

I'd join the Gaians. Since the beginning of the existence of the human species, we have unbalanced and destroyed ecosystems.
Nature is a sea of knowledge waiting to be explored and perhaps even tinkered with. I like their holistic way of thinking, rather than the short-sightedness so typical of humans.

I also like the Peacekeepers' and University's agendas.

While we have the "gift" of non-instinctive thought, we still preserve a selfish instinct. To deprive us completely of certain instincts takes away from our humanity. So, Yang and Spartans are out of the question since they suppress individuality and comfort, respectively.

Morgan is too materialistic for my liking, and he views everything as a source of profit and not necesarily knowledge.

Miriam is a bane to humanity, representing a step backwards in human social evolution.