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[Neonivek]

The only reason I didn't like the tutorial is because the people giving your soldiers orders has NO BUISNESS giving soldiers orders.

[Wrex]

"Approach the armed man clearly out of his mind! Don't clear the building, just do it!"

[Neonivek]

"Approach the armed man clearly out of his mind! Don't clear the building, just do it!"

Now don't you DARE overwatch and cover your flanks. Yes now all of you bunch together, make sure you have as little line of sight as possible! PERFECT!

Honestly if they said the Sectoid commander was secretly giving those orders I would have believed it.

[Johnfalcon99977]

Sadly even in a game like this there is a story and gameplay segregation.

Well, not really, since its seems to have been pretty well-establish that: 1. You can only <ind control one person at a time, and 2. You can only Mind control people near you.

Not to forget that you can also resist Mind control if you have a high enough mental defense!

You are forgetting the length of the mind control.

What does this have to do with how long the Mind Control lasts?

[USEC_OFFICER]

Sadly even in a game like this there is a story and gameplay segregation.

Well, not really, since its seems to have been pretty well-establish that: 1. You can only <ind control one person at a time, and 2. You can only Mind control people near you.

Not to forget that you can also resist Mind control if you have a high enough mental defense!

You are forgetting the length of the mind control.

What does this have to do with how long the Mind Control lasts?

Well, obviously you need to wait three turns for it to recharge.

[GlyphGryph]

I think the tutorial mission was a case of the alien commander wanting to "see things for himself" before starting doing things properly. This requires a few basic tests, obviously - how do Chrysalids do in combat against these humans? Does the reproductive system still work out properly? Are they susceptible to mind control? To the point where they can be forced into killing their species-mates?

It was a test. An early probe while we were still unaware of their abilities, and thus unlikely to mount effective countermeasures. And they learned we were absolutely retarded, and decided that simply sending their weakest units would be /more/ than enough to handle anything we could muster up.

And for those who said it earlier - yes, the outsiders are not actually "real". They are essentially Avatars for sectoid commanders to ride along without having to risk themselves personally. They can still command the mission and whatnot. They might or might not be an actual "race", instead of just a robot, but their most important asset is their susceptibility to mind control, such that they can be mind-controlled over long distances - no more, no less.

[Neonivek]

I think the tutorial mission was a case of the alien commander wanting to "see things for himself" before starting doing things properly.

Actually judging by the end of the game there is a lot you could question about even that.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The Tutorial mission could have been them specifically trying to call out the Xcom and make their presence known so the Xcom would get their rears in gear.

And for those who said it earlier - yes, the outsiders are not actually "real". They are essentially Avatars for sectoid commanders to ride along without having to risk themselves personally.

Then they would still exist.

It is their disapearance that is VERY questionable (I gave two reasonings as to why they no longer appear. A Mechanical one in that they are a victim of a cut section of the game... and a story one)

The Mechanical and story reasoning is as follows (Note these are mutually exclusive)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

1) Mechanically they never appear again because they only built one base assault mission. So they had to cut them out after one was captured

2) Storywise they never appear again because they were actually a plant in order for you to obtain the hyperspace beacon so you would develop your psionic potential through hardship and all that...

You can sort of see why I think the story is a bit silly...

[GlyphGryph]

Or because they actually started including commanders at that point?

The question isn't "why did they stop sending outsiders?", it's "why did they start sending commanders", no?

I mean, obviously they would never want to send both, that would be stupid.

Meanwhile:
Felt sort of bad because I 'save-scummed' twice today. Though mostly about the first one, since it was a double-interface thing, with a guy going to the wrong place (well, actually the game refused to let me NOT move him, and I just wanted to shoot, or switch to someone else, but nooo) and the "extraction confirmation" screen popped up just as I was clicking someone else and boom - entire squad lost due to retreat. It was stupid and cheap in the most terrible way. So, alt-tab, ctr-alt-del, and wooh! It doesn't happen!

Only 2 of 5 people survive and we DO end up retreating, but it was legitimate, you know?

The other is a... does anyone else get the problem where it's one of your people's turn, and the turn /starts/ with, say, an overwatch query, but you click confirm, then you can't ever switch away from them and it remains waiting for your order?

[Neonivek]

Or because they actually started including commanders at that point?

The question isn't "why did they stop sending outsiders?", it's "why did they start sending commanders", no?

I mean, obviously they would never want to send both, that would be stupid.

Well the problem is they give you the reason

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

It is because they need to escalate the danger for you so that you develop even greater psionic potential.

In otherwords you could boil the entire Xcom game as a Alien Training Montage for humans.

The loss of Outsiders don't make sense. Also remember that Outsiders are not psionic constructs they are energy constructs. The "They are psionic beings" comes from a weird confusion between two VERY similar things in the game that are non-the-less seperate.

[GlyphGryph]

I don't understand what you mean "doesn't make sense" - they ONLY served as stand-ins. They had literally no reason to show up again after that. IF we had seen them again, that would have been the confusing part.

And I didn't say they were psionic constructs, I just said they were psionic conduits.

[Neonivek]

It doesn't make sense if they were only stand ins because they would still be useful as stand ins.

Also they are not psionic conduits. They work by a very scientific process involving vibration. Which the game points out.

While they likely can be controlled from a distance, it is doubtful they are so dirrectly lead given what happens upon their death.

[GlyphGryph]

...what?

That can apply to each of your three statements. I do not understand what you are trying to say, I think.

[alway]

He says they are highly advanced, remote controlled alien vibrators.
...
Which neatly wraps up why the ethereals never mention them. Because really, you just don't talk about those things when a guest comes to your home/spaceship for the first time.


On a side note: did anyone notice the humorous comment when you find the 'alien entertainment device?'

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Head engineer: "So this must be what they do for fun. Well, at least they don't *slight pause* play video games."

[krisslanza]

I have to say I don't get the hate some people have for those who don't play Ironman. I thought about it, but considering the camera is really wonky inside UFOs with multiple floors, the risk of an accident misclick possibly resulting in a total team wipe is kiiind of crazy.

[Neonivek]

I have to say I don't get the hate some people have for those who don't play Ironman. I thought about it, but considering the camera is really wonky inside UFOs with multiple floors, the risk of an accident misclick possibly resulting in a total team wipe is kiiind of crazy.

Well that and the sheer number of risks you cannot take in Ironman often slows down the game.

I've done perfect runs before and noticed a pattern. I either got fantastically lucky or I took absolutely no risk.