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[Empiricist]

Yes but they all have variety in how they work.

There arguably is variety. Mission 1 was a misunderstanding (the humans didn't realize that cutting the power to the defenses would have slaughtered an entire race, or that the entire race was even there in life support until it was too late). Mission 3 was due to incompatible perspectives (humans had no idea the ear worm was desperate to escape its captors, the ear worm had no idea how humans functioned). Mission 8 was sheer dumb luck (the genetically engineered microbes weren't even sentient, they just built stuff and by chance, their emissions drove humans to kill each other).

[kj1225]

Not really, especially the last two. The first one is in the 'humans fucked up' category which is unrelated most of the time. The other two are mostly the same from the description.

[Yoink]

You sure like complaining about the setting, huh?

[kj1225]

What?

[Empiricist]

Not really, especially the last two. The first one is in the 'humans fucked up' category which is unrelated most of the time. The other two are mostly the same from the description.

What you must understand is that in the first case, humans are the murderous eldritch abominations. You could argue that the third case is that 'aliens fucked up' seeing as it is comparable to how greenhouse emissions fuck up other lifeforms on earth. The second case is the only one where incompatible perspectives was even a factor, since in Mission 1 the alien inscriptions could actually be interpreted into a form understandable by humans and in Mission 8 it was impossible to really do anything about the microbes that just happened to kill people by sheer chance. There was actually intent in Mission 3, an intent to escape, even when people died, likely due to it not understanding human mortality.

I would also like to point out that something as drastic as killing is what makes them noticeable in the first place. It is far easier to interact incorrectly than correctly, hence eldritch entities that interact are more likely to do so in a manner that proves unfavorable to humans. That being said, it is also quite likely for no interaction to happen. For all we know, everyone could be infected with eighty different earworms, surrounded by a hundred different kinds of genetically engineered alien microbes and pass by five alien life support systems every day. But as long as none of them interact in a way humans perceive to be meaningful, they would fail to even acknowledge their existence.

Supposed the Mission 3 earworm did indeed manage to peacefully influence the researchers to release it back. What would have happened? Nothing. They probably wouldn't have even noticed it. No one would have died and the HMRC would have never been sent in. We would have never even heard about it. What if the Mission 8 microbes didn't coincidentally induce murderboners? Well, they would have found weird structures, found fuck all and just sealed it off before moving on with their lives. The HMRC would have never been sent in. Suppose in Mission 1, the HMRC deciphered those inscriptions correctly, realized that the life support systems would be shut down if they performed that action and decided not to. They could have done nothing for those crystals and would have just left them there for until it reached a certain criteria centuries down the line for them to be released. The crystals may have not even noticed the existence of humans.

My point is, when they interact, it is more likely for them to do so in a negative manner, if they do not interact, they won't get noticed. It is just like how we know about dictators and mass murderers but not people who lived out their lives peacefully and died in anonymity. I would not refer to it as a cliche as much as just a mere statistical phenomena.

[kj1225]

You could write a book about the second one.

Also, I will point out that you forgot the group of people who lived their lives peacefully and now everyone knows about them. Monks for example. And, Buddha probably didn't think his life was to odd and practically everyone knows about him.

[Empiricist]

Because they had something remarkable about them. What about ordinary people who didn't murder anyone who did nothing remarkable and did nothing of historical importance? We know a disproportionate amount about people who killed and a few who were morally righteous. We know little to nothing about the others.

Go outside. Look around. Virtually everyone you see will die and be left forgotten by history books. Look at medical research, we focus on things such as ebola, bubonic plague, pneumonia, anthrax, influenza. Things that harm. Things that kill. Not so much about what we neither see a use in nor what we see a threat in.

[kj1225]

You can't really be completely unimportant though. But that's a conversation for butterfly effect type stuff.

Okay, so what about Dodo birds? Or penguins. They don't directly affect us so why do some many people know about them?

[Empiricist]

Dodo birds they tasted good. Penguins because some people find them cute. They are of use, not any practical use but of use nevertheless.

[kj1225]

Dodo birds don't matter now though.

[tryrar]

So...we're blaming the dead guys now?

[Empiricist]

Dodo birds don't matter now though.

Nor do the murderous eldritch entities we faced in the past either. They mattered at some point and there is hence more information on them than things that never were relevant.

[Xantalos]

"Um... Denzel."

((Don't slander me!!! Though really, nobody was.))

Well, slandering the dead guy is better than 'well, we assumed that the mentally unstable egomaniac abomination and Stacy wouldn't do something horrible by combining their powers'.

[piecewise]

Statistical likely hood or not, it's a cliche.

What I'm hearing here is that Things aren't alien enough for you. That simple apathy toward your existence with a sprinkling off unintentional violence isn't enough. You'd like, perhaps something more Constructive? Something that isn't just a genocidal alien beast? Something that has a nice set of goals it is working for that aren't just murder and fear, though such things might happen in the furthering of its plans.

Ok.

Next time you see Lars, tell him to look at your body with that amp of his, for something that isn't right. It might be hard so point him toward your sternum and then an inch or so to the left.

Tell him to look for the cells that aren't yours.

[tryrar]

...you gave the GM ideas. NEVER GIVE THE GM IDEAS