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Author Topic: WH40K discussion thread: [loading grimdark, please wait]  (Read 1049623 times)

spazyak

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Re: Warhammer 40K discussion thread: Damned Immateriums, how do they work?
« Reply #1410 on: July 31, 2015, 02:24:22 pm »

I dunno, I don't really mind it.
Once upon a time, Tau had a Sun Tzu. Let's call him Puretide.
He had three awesome disciple-students, and all was well, until Puretide died, and Tau were in a war.
Trying to use Puretide's tactical genius, they volunteered a bunch of their lieutenants and implanted them with a 'puretide chip' which would give them access to all of Puretide's strategic experience.
Unfortunately, this chip was an override, and the lieutenants ended up becoming unthinking automatons whose only purpose was to spout relevant strategic practices. Removal of the chips resulted in death (Butcher's Nails taught us well).
In addition, these 'Puretide copies' couldn't come up with new ideas or theories, so when they encountered something they were unused to fighting they completely ignored everything which wasn't in the experience of Puretide.
In a bit of a worry, the Tau decided to snap-freeze their awesome commander-protoge's, so that they could be useful later on for awesome strategy and whatnot.

Something Something Farsight.
Went to fight orcs.
Found Tau who weren't bound by Etherials. Went 'Ohmahgawsh we're a slave race'.
Is now a rebel. That's pretty cool.

I'd say that some of their lore is alright. The codex-lore specifically isn't that flat. Blame Black Library for only writing books about humans.
well their is that harlequin's book, how is that btw?
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Rolepgeek

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Re: Warhammer 40K discussion thread: Damned Immateriums, how do they work?
« Reply #1411 on: July 31, 2015, 02:37:55 pm »

Ah, I see.

You don't actually get the Tau at all, is what it is.

So, I really don't see how they're much different than the Dark Eldar in that respect. Yeah, they aren't a huge hulking menace to the galaxy like most every other faction. I disagree on a lot of those points. You may as well say any Space Marine chapter that isn't one of the big nine brings nothing to the table. Their guiding idea is actually more of a matter of manifest destiny. You know, what the Imperium had while it was on it's Great Crusade? They prefer to avoid a fight, sure, but that's mostly because they're literally the only faction that prefers to use diplomacy before death. Eldar manipulate, sure, but that's not really the same. They actually fight quite a lot. They do it when it's more desirable, and they go in prepared. They're boring because they aren't trying to murder everyone? Because I would think that the whole Damocles Crusade, and the tyranid invasions they've had to fend off, besides the WAAAGHs that have nearly killed them several times, oh and the mystery behind the Ethereals, and then there's all those various races they've assimilated that are fairly interesting, and in the more recent fluff they've gotten significantly darker, even if it's all shadows. Oh, nearly forgot the whole specialized castes thing and the hunting theme behind their tactics, not to mention the 'continually advancing technology' unlike every other faction but Tyranids (the out-adapting tyranids thing is still bullshit though, regardless of what factions I like). Or the reduced connection to the warp, the hints that maybe they might achieve real AI at some point and that might result in another iron men situation, or it might not because the Drones haven't gone crazy like that yet so there's that bit of what if, plus the suggestions that people bring up all the time about the issues they're gonna face and what they might have to change when they get bigger and absorb more human planets, and thus, psyker producing populations (personally I'm fairly sure they'll be okay after a few daemon-bumps, considering they've handled the Nicassar and Nagi just fine). Or the bit about their internal conflict, oh, but wait, that's obviously contrived and not interesting at all because reasons. Like, a lot of what you're saying, I'm just not getting. None of the problems? Problems of who? The Tyranids? The Necrons? All the problems those poor Chaos Daemons face on a daily basis? The Eldar face tough shit. The Imperium is the focus of the whole bloody setting and the whole point is how much pressure they're under and how many fronts they're fighting on. The Dark Eldar get fucked over every once in a while, even.

But really? You think they're neutral? Because they're supposed to be new and naive? See, no one's the good guy in 40k, you're right. But there are bad guys, and the Tau aren't one of them.

The Imperium has a million worlds to work with in which to produce interesting systems and stories. The Tau have maybe a hundred. I find that it manages to capture a lot of what grim dark is about; maintaining one's 'humanity' in the face of overwhelming odds, and suffering for it.

And really, that's actually a self-fulfilling prophecy. So are you saying the same is true of literally every other faction that doesn't have a story written from their perspective. I mean, when half GWs sales are Space Marines alone, not including all the other Imperium factions, are you trying to say that only the Space Marines are worth writing about? That it has nothing to do with who the setting is focused on or any bias on GW's part in terms of advertising? Really? They aren't in prep. They're in the very beginning of the Third Sphere Expansion. That's not a 'visible conflict' to you? Not enough worlds being Exterminatused?

So the themes of sacrificing oneself for a greater cause, orwellian society and propaganda machines, assimilation of other cultures, naivety, hope? These are all just ripped off, then? The stuff about believing other to be barbarians based on their cultural practices and colonial style imperialism, or the desire to win without having your men die? I mean, this is before the whole conflict between different cultures trying to work and live side by side, or between different Castes and the restrictions imposed by a society focused on the community rather than the individual. Are they timeless? Maybe not. But the Tau aren't timeless. They're new. Young. Are they interesting? I think so. I think they're worth exploring. Maybe you disagree.

And if you honestly think the Dark Eldar aren't supposed to contrast the normal Eldar, or that Chaos Marines and Space Marines aren't meant to contrast each other, well, I dunno what to say, man. I like most every faction in 40k because I can see what makes it interesting. There are some I like less, some I like more. If you only look at the surface, no, you're not gonna really see a faction as being even halfway interesting. On the surface, Imperium looks like it's just endless amounts of infighting, xenocide, witch hunts, red tape, and Exterminatus. Oh boy, mass murder. You have to look deeper. You seem to decide not to, with the Tau. You've made up your mind to dislike them and nothing anyone says will change your mind. That's fine, whatever.

Just don't be a dick about it. Because right now, what you're saying to me is: "the only reason you like them is because you think you're better than me/didn't want to be anyone else". It's basically you saying 'they suck and you suck for liking them'.

Seriously, nenjin. You don't have to fucking like the Tau. I'm not asking you to like them. I'm asking you not be a dick about it.
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nenjin

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Re: Warhammer 40K discussion thread: Damned Immateriums, how do they work?
« Reply #1412 on: July 31, 2015, 03:04:03 pm »

Quote
Seriously, nenjin. You don't have to fucking like the Tau. I'm not asking you to like them. I'm asking you not be a dick about it.

You waded in here asking for opinions. Don't get mad when you hear them. This is not the first time we've done this dance, where you go "why do people hate on the Tau so much" and then you resent when people tell you why.

And notice, I don't really care what you think about Space Marines and the Imperium, it has zero bearing on my enjoyment of them. Maybe you need to be a little less defensive about your favorite race. It's not like there haven't been dump trucks worth of ill will thrown at my favorite race for over a decade now, or anything.

Quote
but that's mostly because they're literally the only faction that prefers to use diplomacy before death.

When I think of cool racial traits and themes, "pragmatism" doesn't exactly get my blood pumping.

Quote
They're boring because they aren't trying to murder everyone?

In a setting based on total war?.........Yes?

Quote
Because I would think that the whole Damocles Crusade, and the tyranid invasions they've had to fend off, besides the WAAAGHs that have nearly killed them several times,

Which virutally ever faction has had to go through.

Quote
oh and the mystery behind the Ethereals

Who no one outside of faction would have reason to know or care about, as opposed to say the Chaos Gods or the Emperor, who very visibly define their factions without having to crack open to a codex to find out why you should care.

Quote
and then there's all those various races they've assimilated that are fairly interesting

More interesting than the parent culture, for sure.

Quote
Or the reduced connection to the warp

Which I find dumb considering almost all the other truly sentient races have to address the Warp on some level. But not the Tau! Because......I'm guessing being possessed by daemons and being mutated by the Warp didn't jive with the aesthetic GWS wanted to achieve. For the Tyranids I can accept that. For the Tau, it just seems like one more thing setting them apart from the universe they live, deliberately so.

Quote
Or the bit about their internal conflict, oh, but wait, that's obviously contrived and not interesting at all because reasons

Every bit of lore seems fascinating to the person who has spent hours reading it. That said, I've found plenty to enjoy in the representations of pretty much every other race in 40k, without having to read their codices to find context to make that shit interesting. Tau are the only one I've ever come across who have left me bored by every portrayal I've seen. If I have to pick up a Codex to find out why a race is interesting, it's not an interesting race.

Quote
None of the problems?

They get to be in the exception in a universe filled besieged, dying races. And instead of really seizing that opportunity and being a force in the universe, they exist in a corner of the galaxy which honestly should already be excreted Tyranid bio-shit, subverting humanity and having an elaborate culture few know about and even fewer care about.

Quote
But there are bad guys, and the Tau aren't one of them.

I didn't say they were. Look, the Tau to me are like token alien races in Star Trek with a funny nose bridge, silly robes and overly formal dialog. They show up for the sake of being different, not because they're motivated by good ideas and execution. Not like the Klingons. Not like the Romulans. The effort invested in the Tau feels like throwaway work compared to themes in the other races that are apparent just by looking at them.

I'll finish this post later.

« Last Edit: July 31, 2015, 04:04:48 pm by nenjin »
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Rolepgeek

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Re: Warhammer 40K discussion thread: Damned Immateriums, how do they work?
« Reply #1413 on: July 31, 2015, 04:49:36 pm »

You know what? This discussion is going nowhere. You're obviously not going to stop doing what you're doing. So, I'll leave off with just this:

What I resent, is when people are saying things like "the only people who like them are such-and-such." I didn't ask why people hated on them. I said I didn't understand why people hated them. Being uninteresting makes sense to dislike. Hatred is a different matter.

To attempt to steer the discussion towards something resembling 'on-track', how long do you guys think Games Workshop will last in it's current state before it either actually adjusts it's business model or dies?
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Urist McScoopbeard

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Re: Warhammer 40K discussion thread: Damned Immateriums, how do they work?
« Reply #1414 on: August 01, 2015, 02:39:58 am »

I will take this opportunity to point out that a.) Tau are pretty cool, especially with the gue'vesa and that b.) the 40k video games are the best things to happen to the IP in recent history. DoW1 is amazing, DoW2 is okay, and Space Marine is good albeit unintuitive. Of course there's a lot of these smaller production value 40k games coming out recently that are shit, but I believe that is GWS shitty handling of the IP once again. Grant SEGA some fucking rights, they'll do it up right.

EDIT: *More rights to GWS IPs anyways, lets see how CA handles Total War: Warhammer
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Kot

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Re: Warhammer 40K discussion thread: Damned Immateriums, how do they work?
« Reply #1415 on: August 01, 2015, 02:53:09 am »

I am going to respond to this here, as people didin't like this discussion in CM thread and this guy is apparently here too.
@Kot:

They actually don't. One of the Ciaphas Cain novels is titled The Greater Good, and involves the Tau. So they don't get nommed quite yet, actually, if Ciaphas Cain novels are canon.
Oh, they do. Events in those books aren't taking place after 41st millenium (well, almost all of it), they're just Ciaphas memories published some time after (well, not really as inquisiton locked them up) by Inquisitor Amberly Veil, with some references to other in-universe books from 42nd millenium. Nothing of this confirms what really happened, other than that the Inqusiton still exists (and Imperium as well, apparently) The last chronologically book, Cain's Last Stand takes place during 13th Black Crusade, and the one in question, The Greater Good is taking place BEFORE it. And it's basically about Tyranids nomming Tau.

I mean, hell, there's so much overpowered ridiculousness and so much weird shit and last-minute asspull saves as it is, it's not really a stretch to think that might happen as it is. Maybe the Eldar come in and save the Golden Throne because they know if they don't the galaxy is extra-fucked, and them along with it. Maybe they just set shit into motion to do it. Maybe all the Tomb Worlds get woken up and so no new ones start popping up. Maybe reborn Emperor isn't a literal fucking god, being weakened by his time on the Golden Throne, or, you know, having to rebuild it real quick and sit back down, just able to start reforming the Imperium at the worst possible time. Gain Emperor, lose organization.
Emperor never was a "literal fucking god" to begin with, though he might become one since that's possible in 40k. By the way, Eldar know that if the Emperor survives, Galaxy is fucked, because Chaos will win in longer run anyway, it would be the total destruction of humanity what would defeat Chaos. Though, on the other hand they might have a different opinion on that since Nids appeared and the only thing that might be capable of defeating them (and reasoning with, opposed to Necrons) is Imperium reborn. Also, IIRC, it's stated that there are tons more of Necron worlds, and even if there is no more of them, they still have weapons that SHOOT FUCKING STARS.
Failbaddon will fail again, tho'.

That's not even in question.
Dunno, GW seems to be bent on making him competent for once.
I said I didn't understand why people hated them. Being uninteresting makes sense to dislike. Hatred is a different matter.
They're Xenos. Xenos should be hated. It's that simple.
To attempt to steer the discussion towards something resembling 'on-track', how long do you guys think Games Workshop will last in it's current state before it either actually adjusts it's business model or dies?
Long time, since they're actually making profit.

By the way, the Tau are as evil as everyone else, they just try to cover that up.

I will take this opportunity to point out that a.) Tau are pretty cool, especially with the gue'vesa and that b.) the 40k video games are the best things to happen to the IP in recent history. DoW1 is amazing, DoW2 is okay, and Space Marine is good albeit unintuitive. Of course there's a lot of these smaller production value 40k games coming out recently that are shit, but I believe that is GWS shitty handling of the IP once again. Grant SEGA some fucking rights, they'll do it up right.

EDIT: *More rights to GWS IPs anyways, lets see how CA handles Total War: Warhammer
I consider recent situation in WH40k vidya pretty... okay. I mean there are tons of shitty games that are bad, but on the other hand things like Deathwing (also known as Space Mariachi Simulator), Regicide, Batlefleet Gothic : Armada, etc. seems to come up, so I consider it a fair trade.
« Last Edit: August 01, 2015, 06:03:22 am by Kot »
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Re: Warhammer 40K discussion thread: Damned Immateriums, how do they work?
« Reply #1416 on: August 01, 2015, 05:29:54 am »

Quote from: Kot
They're Xenos. Xenos should be hated. It's that simple.

Is that a joke, or...?
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Re: Warhammer 40K discussion thread: Damned Immateriums, how do they work?
« Reply #1417 on: August 01, 2015, 06:04:45 am »

Quote from: Kot
They're Xenos. Xenos should be hated. It's that simple.

Is that a joke, or...?
It is as much of a joke as saying that heretics should be purged.
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Re: Warhammer 40K discussion thread: Damned Immateriums, how do they work?
« Reply #1418 on: August 01, 2015, 06:35:31 am »

When I think of cool racial traits and themes, "pragmatism" doesn't exactly get my blood pumping.

Does mine.
If I were to play Space Mahreens (Which I'm not, IG all the way. Something about a bloated and inefficient monster wracked by corruption and in-fighting appeals to me.)
... Ahem.
If I were to play SM, I'd play the Raptors chapter. Noted because they paint their armor varying camo's to fit in with whatever theater they're fighting, and they have very reasonable and pragmatic attitudes towards warfare.
Then there's the Iron Warriors, who are probably the end-scale of pragmatism, who are also one of the most liked Chaos Factions.
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Knit tie

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Re: Warhammer 40K discussion thread: Damned Immateriums, how do they work?
« Reply #1419 on: August 01, 2015, 06:53:34 am »

Jesus Holy Christ, is that what politics discussions look like to neutral observers?
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Re: Warhammer 40K discussion thread: Damned Immateriums, how do they work?
« Reply #1420 on: August 01, 2015, 10:06:07 am »

Jesus Holy Christ, is that what politics discussions look like to neutral observers?

As a neutral observer of both, yep, pretty much.
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Re: Warhammer 40K discussion thread: Damned Immateriums, how do they work?
« Reply #1421 on: August 01, 2015, 12:53:23 pm »

I couldn't answer it, I'm biased in this one.
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Re: Warhammer 40K discussion thread: Damned Immateriums, how do they work?
« Reply #1422 on: August 01, 2015, 01:58:01 pm »

Jesus Holy Christ, is that what politics discussions look like to neutral observers?
Welcome to colorful world of fandoms, where people are capable of wishing death to someone and their family just for considering that their opinion on minor fanfiction may not be right.
It's better than that most of time though, but still you won't understand why they're doing that.
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Re: Warhammer 40K discussion thread: Damned Immateriums, how do they work?
« Reply #1423 on: August 06, 2015, 05:55:03 pm »

Annoyed with my faction getting trash-talked all the time. >.> I mean, if you wanna talk about weeaboo, Imperium has it's whole obsession with giant mecha and there're the Living Saints and obsession with honor and melee combat for Space Marines.
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On the topic of power creep, though, there's been power creep most certainly, but usually it's just a matter of new models that are more powerful, then nerfing them over time while other ones take the fore so you feel like you need to buy different/more stuff.
Yeah nah the moment apocalypse units started rolling into skirmishes was kinda obvious power creep. APOCALYPSE units. Do you know what your little skirmish needs? BANEBLEHDS.


In regards to Tau, I like mine grimderp. Gib Orwellian Tau now, gib Kroot barbeque now. Quite frankly they're utterly insignificant (the Entire Tau Empire could disappear within a single Imperial system like Ultramar, a handful of hive worlds contain more humans than there are Tau in the entire Tau species) and their greater good isn't 2spooky enough for my liking. If you ask me the Tau could be interesting by virtue of their xenophilia, their faction is a great opportunity to insert a gorillion billion other xenos, and high tech nippon insanity (it is absolutely disgusting just how often it is forgotten that the Tau and Spess Marines fought a massive battle underwater). Ultimately I think their defining characteristic is not pragmatism. No faction in the galaxy is without pragmatism. The Imperium has pragmatists, the Newcrons have pragmatists, Chaos has pragamatists, DE have fetishistic pragmatists (when they're not high), Eldar have pragmatists and Orks have enough common sense to occasionally work with humies to get teef shekels or better fighting.
Nah, I'll argue that the defining characteristic - the one thing that sets Tau apart from everything else in the 40k Universe is their separation from the warp. Since a lot of the Pariah fluff got fucked by Ward with Newcrons the Tau are really the only chunk of lore peeps with a disconnect from the warp. Sure this means their Empire is very tiny (VERY TINY) since they can't warp spam like the Imperium, but this also makes for some interesting possibilities.

Who cares about pragmatic Tau when you can have a story about a pragmatic space elf, space human, space ork or space spooky metal skellington? But what about instead, a story where you have a Tau soldier in his Hindu/Orwellian/Nippon society trying to grasp his head around warp spookiness? Some of the best Blueberry stories I've read have had more potential than quality, but the potential has been limitless. Like that one story where the Tau diplomat realizes what the Warp is and how close to it humans are, rendering him insane in the manner of a Lovecraftian revelation of (FUCK MY LIFE). Or that one where the Kroot, Tau and Imperials sit around having bants and eating brains blissfully unaware that one of the humies is possessed, where shenanigens ensue? Or one of my favourite - one where some blueberries roll on in and their krootbros nom on some cultists. The tau officer in charge sees terrible damage in one of the Tau colonies, and the survivors tell only of some terrible General known as Slaanesh as having been there. The Tau officer gets all patriotic and reserves himself to kill the great Slaanesh in revenge, running down and setting up a great big ambush as his pathfinders see the enemy approach. Hilarity ensues when the Kroot that nommed the cultists join the Slaaneshi and the Tau officer mistakes a Noisy marine for Slaanesh and proudly declares he has killed the great Slaanesh and the planet is confirmed as cursed after the fighting, as you don't leave after fighting that many tentacles with an unscarred mental state.

Best example of all has to be in Dark Crusade, I believe it is, where one of the Chaos bros does warp fuckery to get inside his enemies' heads and taunt them. He does that with the Blueberry commander and the Blueberry commander just begins irritatingly telling whoever it is making that static to turn off their microphone. Fucking hilarious. The Tau detachment from the warp is something the humans only have with Pariahs, only the Tau have it without being social pariahs.

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Re: Warhammer 40K discussion thread: Damned Immateriums, how do they work?
« Reply #1424 on: August 06, 2015, 06:06:13 pm »

Those examples are hilarious/interesting enough that I think I've moved from indifference to actually liking the Tau. Where might one find those stories?
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