📚marathon-lore-discussion

[dense tendon]

excessive damage at egregious ammo economy.

[dreamy hawk]

Cable is nostalgic and I like having background noise on. News or reruns is great, and I don’t have to listen to the same two ads all fucking day long.

[forest gate]

I can see that

[dreamy hawk]

Now if I could fix my pihole then I could just enjoy everything ad free.

[forest gate]

I don’t watch much tele as I’ve gotten older. If I want white noise I usually put on a synthwave vid on YouTube and if I want to hear voices, I just stop taking my meds (joking on that last one)

[dreamy hawk]

It’s valid. There’s just something about cable. Scratches an itch.

[forest gate]

Understandable, indeed.

I try very hard to be present when I’m watching something, so I purposely put my phone somewhere a way from me so I will pay full attention. I decided I didn’t like the habit I was developing with distracted watching, so I began curbing it.

Which is probably why I don’t watch much these days cause a lot of stuff on Netflix, prime and Disney isn’t really that good.

I do find the space documentaries on YouTube to be the most interesting right now.

[drifting mulch]

my attention span is shot to hell and i've done nothing to curb it. don't know how to fix it lol

[forest gate]

Repetition, practice the usual ways of getting better at things.

Try some breathing exercises, mindfulness

[drifting mulch]

repetition of what?

[forest gate]

You can try mindfulness techniques, breathing exercises that have you narrow your focus

You can do stuff like tell yourself I’m going to watch x show for 30mins without touching your phone then put your phone somewhere inconvenient and try and focus on the show.

That’s what I do

It takes some time but you build the habit over time

[drifting mulch]

i....will...attempt.....

[forest gate]

Slow and steady

[golden gust]

Spank my ass and call me durandal

[forest gate]

https://tenor.com/bmbbI.gif

[tranquil basin]

Fix your what now

[rigid bridge]

So I captured a crazy screenshot of a colonist being gripped by a pink biomass looking thing while I was carrying the anomalous matter.... Has anyone else seen this?

They were near the anomaly and it tripped me out HARD. This game is so incredibly deep. I'm around 65 hours in lvl 25 and I barely scratched the surface

[tranquil basin]

If you mean the one floating with the pink mass from its head I think his head exploded

[rigid bridge]

Yes!!! That's the one!

[tranquil basin]

Yeah the lore stuff is so interesting

[rigid bridge]

It's one of the most interesting stories that I have played in any video game. Masterpiece level lore and world building

[twin trout]

it's this person :D

or someone who suffered the same fate

[earnest hatch]

That’s what used to happen to anyone who tried to uninstall Myth 2 on windows.

[past garden]

were all in a simulation of big boy Dar

[visual lynx]

you know that hole? the one you put pi(e) in?

[golden gust]

James Sunderland hole.

[sudden pollen]

Factual statement

[sharp radish]

I think we need more slop synth foods

Very important to progress the story

Where is my knockoff fizzy drink at?

[dense delta]

You'll have your Tilk and enjoy it!

[dense tendon]

New, from NuCal, FizzMilk! You are aware of Tick Milk, try it with our patented NuCarbonation technology!
FizzMilk! We will sell this to you!

[dense delta]

oh ew....I don't know what's worse lol

[dense tendon]

im very proud of that brand motto

its so blatant and yet like, yeah, its true, theyll do that lmao

[sage lark]

Fizzy milk sounds vile

Fizzy chunky milk

Imagine that

And pulp

[stiff hearth]

NuMilk

“It’s Liquid!”

[visual lynx]

fizzy milk wouldn't work because the lipids in the milk would turn it into frothy milk instead

which doesn't sound terrible honestly

[dense delta]

Why are you making it worse?! :<

[sage lark]

youre assuming its actually milk

its NuCal we are talking about here

:)

[visual lynx]

for it to resemble milk it would need to be an emulsion of sugars, proteins, and lipids in water, which are surely the nutrients they're fishing out of the various kinds of sludge they use to make the stuff.

[forest gate]

Fizzy/Frothy yogurt doesn’t sound too bad at all

Carbonated milk is something you buy off the shelf IRL

I think Korea has a drink brand called Lotte that does that milk soda

[sand narwhal]

Tick Milk(TM) is the best marketing solution that NuCaloric could come up with given the ingredients, I suppose. And that’s before the colonists started adulterating their foodstuffs with, uh… additives.

The more drinkable cheeseburgers I exfiltrate with, the worse the picture becomes.

[craggy finch]

That's apparently if they're just lazy enough

[unreal slate]

Basically. Liquid.

[dense tendon]

Legally, This is a Product you can buy!

[dense torrent]

Mfw you’re lowkirkenuinely better off paying SekGen to print you a whole new body than you are ever eating NuCal food

[sand narwhal]

NuCal food was supposedly fine. I thought it was the colonists adulterating the products to stretch out supplies that was problematic.

[stiff hearth]

it was just that yeah. they mixed in plants from the planet to make their own company unapproved mix and then filled nucal liquid cheesburger containers with it instead of the real product. they wanted to mix it up as apparently this stuff is pretty gross even formula perfect

“silver mix” they called it iirc

and then people started getting sick

[sand narwhal]

There was plenty of supplements to be had from what we can see. Look at all of the Flood fungi!

[keen juniper]

No, the silver mix is just unbranded/white label stuff. Probably came in a silver bag

It's what NuCal would've made back on Earth and presumably Mars to sell to other food companies

[earnest hatch]

Yeah, silver mix basically something that wouldn’t print with NuCaloric branding. But you could use it as an ingredient in official mixes anyway.

[keen juniper]

Something got into the food supply, but it wasn't the doing of the colonists

[stiff hearth]

[WTIS]: Oh, nice. Premium, Select, Standard, Survival… What's Silver?

[ALOM]: Lifts restrictions but strips the NuCal branding from the package. Watch this. If you ever need to, you can shunt Silver back into an organics tank, start a new session, and then make branded product using it as an ingredient.

[WTIS]: That's… wow. That's in case of emergency?

[ALOM]: That's in case of an "I can't stare at the screen anymore" emergency, yeah.

silver is restriction free unapproved mix that is not for nucal branded mixes but they use a loophole to use it anyway

https://codex.cyberacme.systems/entry/drinkable-cheeseburger/food-production?search=silver+mix

they were just being lazy basically instead of following what nucal wanted. not that i am all “listen to corpos they are right” but maybe when it comes to food on an alien planet it is worth listening

[latent python]

Are we suggesting tick pilk

[unreal slate]

yes

[unreal slate]

Media Optimization will allow it any day now

[icy prism]

how it feels to chew five nucaloric gum

[grand walrus]

nuCal bubble gum prob goes crazy

[icy prism]

probably cus it makes you crazy

[agile silo]

How it NuCaloric five gum feels

[remote magnet]

Yeah, NuCal actually makes... nonproblematic foodstuff. The colonists did the hazardous waste part by themselves

[dreamy hawk]

To be fair they were starving to death.

[craggy finch]

Just logged in and unlocked the dormant Arachne skins

[plucky sierra]

I bet they started milking the ticks before they were starving, they had plenty of food and Dr. Luttero was just freaky like that

[craggy finch]

the white skin colour highlights Destroyer's, dare I say it, very kissable lips

[stiff hearth]

yeah they are retroactive

[craggy finch]

He's just perma mewing

[dreamy hawk]

Oh yeah. But I think the burger mods came later, no?

[plucky sierra]

I’m not sure

The lack of accurate dates is annoying

[craggy finch]

It's a lot like Infinity

you have to piece together chronology based on inference

except this is somewhat more linear

[dreamy hawk]

At least entires have all, so far, been chronological within their sets.

[hidden kiln]

i might be super far behind but what are thoughts about mida not writing their own manifesto?

[earnest hatch]

In the codex I’m seeing mentions of something called the Hearth and its construction. I know what the word means, but do we have any visuals or indication of what it was on the colony? Sounds like it was the permanent residence area for colonists.

[dreamy hawk]

Which one we talking about? From the ARG or?

[dreamy hawk]

There’s a few mentions of Hearth and some other “areas” that I forget. I don’t think we have anything beyond the names and the assumed implications.

[earnest hatch]

Cool. Hopefully these will be new maps in the future.

[dreamy hawk]

I hope so/would anticipate we move into the core of the colony as seasons expand.

There’s presumably a lot more story beats in those areas, too, than just the rural outskirts.

[plucky sierra]

they probably did

[hidden kiln]

IIRC it’s buried in the codex and heavily implied the creation of mida was facilitated rather than organic resistance, I’ll have to find the specific entry(ies) I’m thinking of

[dreamy hawk]

I’m convinced they’re a UESC false flag but that’s not based on any evidence.

[plucky sierra]

keep in mind Old MIDA likely buried it their during their coup and infiltration of the Marathon Project

that is my suspicion

New Cascadia MIDA didn't know the lengths that Old MIDA went to

[hidden kiln]

That is also very sound reasoning

[plucky sierra]

But it could also be a false flag

given the Vespid incident

[hidden kiln]

I think the framing of mida itself is what leads me to question it, because there is a noticeably different angle between NC mida and Old mida

[plucky sierra]

afaik there is Old MIDA (led the coup and snuck onto the Marathon) NC MIDA (the colonists who snuck aboard now 300 yrs in the future and far away maybe even subsequent generations of them if they were B.O.B.s) NuMIDA (Much more openly anarchist and despised the Old MIDA ways)

[keen plank]

🤔

We still don’t know who or what MASK is. But it’s likely he was a Mida sympathizer.

Straus was absolutely part of Mida, but the extent to which actually believed in their cause is ambiguous. Seems like he used them to smuggle the Battleroids onto the ship.

[austere elk]

I think he was a part of mida in so much as they were enabling him to do something, dude was more concerned with torturing his chud AI son

[latent python]

Do you think Strauss would feel proud about how Durandal turned out

[keen plank]

Incredibly.

But because he sees himself as Durandal’s father, he’d also view it as the ultimate validation. While at the same time want to poke and prod and figure out how Thoth worked and what their merger means.

[remote magnet]

I mean, MIDAs contracts in game also make me suspicious about them beeing anUESC inside job. Most of what they do in game are inefficient symbolic acts. Spray graffiti. Blast propaganda through loudspeakers. Destroy some supply crates in some basement. These are performative acts, performed on a planet without audience

[craggy finch]

Later on we’re tasked with uncovering the cover up though

And Orion seems to be genuinely trying to stop MIDA

He may just be an unsuspecting pawn however

[tranquil jacinth]

As someone that’s new—haven’t bought the game yet, but planning to!—what’s a good way to get into the lore? (Is it embedded within the game, or do you have to go to outside sources?)

[turbid nebula]

This brand of anarchist tends to be unfocused and performative, yeah

[craggy finch]

If you don’t mind reading, check out this fan page by a guy named Hamish:

https://marathon.bungie.org/story/

I recommend checking out the manual for each game and in game terminals have all the necessary information for world building

[turbid nebula]

I think the graffiti and stuff is more akin to hazing? Like they want you to prove to them that you're really down with the cause.

[tranquil jacinth]

Thank you!

[craggy finch]

Yeah that’s only really at the first set of priority contracts, we end up finding out about the S’pht by the second set

And the final set is entirely about finding information on the original invasion that was covered up

[craggy finch]

Either watching or playing the first Marathon is also helpful, it has context about what happened on Tau Ceti and why the Marathon went silent in the first place

The new game is being coy with the aliens that were at the forefront of the originals

[high lodge]

i ordered the most ugly watch, worthy of marathon tho

[keen plank]

This is incomplete and still evolving...but it's very nice:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Marathon/comments/1rin9ny/the_complete_story_of_marathon_tldr_or_the_lore/

Highly recommend MyNameIsByf on Youtube as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiJA_CAeA7U

[blazing jewel]

Hmm. Aren't there some timeline shenanigans happening between original Marathon(s) and the current one?

[craggy finch]

Probably, Infinity retconned Marathon 2 and that seems to be the case here

[tranquil jacinth]

Thank you! (I was pretty big on Destiny lore back then, so it’s always my favorite thing to explore with new games)

[craggy finch]

Marathon 1 likely still happened as it did originally

[austere elk]

and there's actively time shenanigans in Marathon: the Marathoning

[sudden pollen]

Marton

[blazing jewel]

Oh, I didn't know Infinity was considered canon since it wasn't made by Bungie exclusively!

[sudden pollen]

The codex in this game is so well done, it makes me happy

As someone who enjoys fps finally I get a game with actual good lore and cohesive aesthetic

[high lodge]

the tiny details, everything

[keen plank]

Unclear as of now. We don’t know what timeline this is. It’s seeming set after two and may be after infinite. But the end of 1 seems to be the key divergence point.

[high lodge]

i obsess with sound design too

[sudden pollen]

Oh man the lockdown event sounds 🤤

[high lodge]

and loading screen would have been fire at some party as vj set

[sudden pollen]

On studio headphones? Eargasm

[craggy finch]

It’s a soft reboot that contradicted a lot of Marathon 2 events, but we have hints about what happens in M1 through unlocking codex entries

For example M2 stated Tau Ceti got nuked to bedrock six months after the first game but that’s clearly not the case here

[earnest hatch]

I’m annoyed with both new and old narrative versions of MIDA. They’re cliche tropes that undermine the concept of revolutionary change. The old version portray’s revolutions as inherently hypocritical and revolutionaries as despots who don’t believe in their cause and just want power. Very much a ‘90s cliche. The new version portrays revolutionaries as being inherently performative and disinterested in actual change vs. lashing out ineffectually to soothe their own anger issues. A more modern cliche, and one I’ve seen a lot in main stream media more than in fiction.

Both are annoying tropes that don’t even reflect many real revolutions (like one famous revolution involving the country that Bungie is based in).

[craggy finch]

The new game is portraying MIDA as a little bit more visionary using elements of the first game, they’ve got a big stake in subverting the Tau Ceti colony

Their ignoring of the Marathon when they ruled Mars is being painted as something more deliberate

Which was slightly hinted at in the first game

It was just dropped because the narrative shifted towards Durandal’s space opera

The Misriah Three are also implied to be UESC false flag agents rather than MIDA stirring the pot to start the revolution by inciting a massacre

[austere elk]

This is also acting as if gantry is perfectly sane

(he is not)

and it does build up into revealing a UESC bioweapon they're then turning around to try and use on the UESC so, saying its ineffectual even if some of it is nonsensical is odd.

[craggy finch]

modern MIDA seems extremely decentralised so he's also essentially a lone agent running a cell of hired mercenaries

[keen plank]

They are.

Copy pasting the breakdown I gave in #🗣marathon-general-chat :

MIDA is complicated with a weird history. They started as a minor but very aggressive political party on Mars. Notably, their brief rule of Mars resulted in them going from vitriolic anarchist revolutionaries to psuedo fascists that killed 10% of all people on Mars and then the UESC eventually forced them out. And that was seemingly after Mida got more than what they could possibly want at the negotiation table. This resulted in the younger members feeling betrayed enough that they would form “New MIDA.” The latter of which seems to be responsible for Gantry.

Currently, MIDA is more of a terrorist philosophical anarchist movement that's very anti-authority in any sense. This includes the corporations responsible for our existence and gameplay. Notably, Gandry seems very dismissive of Cyberacme in an almost sarcastic way rather than a purely hateful one. This makes sense considering it's a company similar to Microsoft or Apple.

Still, Mida has bigger targets. It heavily dislikes Traxus (who can blame them considering the Traxus 4 AI rampancy on Mars?) but particularly loathes the UESC.

We don’t really know what _gantry is yet do we?

• ONI: soft/dummy AI. Almost every shell/runner has her installed as a both a guide and operating system.

• Gaius: NuCaloric AI based off founder and CEO Gus Moraine.

• Charter: Runner/ex runner who became well known for killing a high level Traxus board member.

• Vulcan: Likely a Traxus 9 early stage 10 AI. Somewhat ambiguous as she’s the most advanced AI that’s not Thothandal. There are also two characters in their profile. Heavily inspired by the mythological Chimera, which could imply a third aspect.

• Nona: SekGen AI who is head of Shell Research and Development

• Orion: UESC Captain Runner who servers under Admiral Sulera. Both may serve under AI Cerberus.

• _Gantry. Unclear as of now.

[latent python]

Runnah

[dense lichen]

So lemme get this straight, durandel was the one on charge of marathon or what I'm so confused? I know that gantry never used to be like that and he had a mask that spoke to him

[dense lichen]

I unlocked a transcript and it sounds so similar to gantrys voice and he has this mask I'll show it to you after im done with my classes

[sage lark]

Huh?

[latent python]

Durandal was in charge of doors on the Marathon

[hidden kiln]

TLDR without giving you the entire lore dump, Durandal was programmed just to open doors and then became increasingly self-aware (called rampancy in universe) to the point of wanting to become an omnipotent universal being (where “escape will make me God” comes from in the original games) so he calls the Phfor to Tau Ceti / the Marathon, an alien race that enslaves the S’pht (Compilers for example) to fight for them and that’s basically where we are in this iteration of the story

[latent python]

Plus a few hundred years of humans getting back to Tau Ceti to figure out what happened

[dense lichen]

Wait so ai went crazy called the phfor? And enslaved the Spht

[hallow vector]

i wonder if charter killing that high level exec involved him having to track down and wipe any digitized backups, or if there's some sort of biochauvanism in place that means the very wealthy are also mostly pure human

[dense lichen]

Who are the phfor

[latent python]

The Pfhor are the aliens

[dense lichen]

And so are the spht

[spare bison]

Hi guys ! Sup

[hallow vector]

the alien empire you fight in the original marathons

[dense lichen]

But what makes the phfor so powerful

[turbid nebula]

being a very big army of aliens

[latent python]

The s'pht are specifically one type of alien, the Compilers

[hallow vector]

just being a big space empire makes them powerful. they are more advanced than humans but less advanced than the more godlike beings like the jjaro

[spare bison]

Literaly power nation so ye

[dense lichen]

Ahhh interesting

[latent python]

It will be funny if we find out that _gantry is just a very charismatic guy who knows nothing about the broader plan

[hidden kiln]

I can very much see this being the case

[hallow vector]

in the original marathons, the pfhor empire collapsed after their premier slave species was liberated, but this marathon might be an alternate timeline or something

[main hound]

🧠 What if Marathon had THIS…

I just had a crazy idea and I can’t stop thinking about it.

Imagine this:

When a Runner gets downed and finished by a UESC unit…
it doesn’t just end there.

👉 The UESC absorbs the Runner’s energy / tech
👉 and evolves into something else… something worse

😈 The twist:

This thing doesn’t patrol.

It hunts.
• It moves across the entire map
• It reacts to gunfights, noise, extractions
• It tracks players like a predator
• It can show up anywhere… anytime

And the scariest part?

👉 It keeps abilities from the Runner it killed:
• Shields
• Cloaking
• Grapple movement
• Faster mobility

So you’re not just fighting AI anymore…

You’re fighting something that was created from a player.

😨 Imagine this moment:

You’re full loot. Heart beating.
On your way to extract.

Then suddenly…
• your HUD glitches
• distant metallic footsteps
• comms go silent

And someone whispers:

“That thing… it’s here.”

🔥 Why this would be insane:
• Your death actually changes the world
• Creates random, unpredictable boss encounters
• Adds horror + tension to every match
• Fits Marathon’s dark, mysterious vibe perfectly

❓ Question:

Would you want this in the game?

👉 🔥 Yes – this would be insane
👉 😈 Yes – but make it rare
👉 ❌ No – too much / too punishing

[latent python]

What

[hallow vector]

what an unpleasant post

[spare bison]

I am gonna make a fan comic about two runners falling for eachother. Idk what ship to use so pls help me out here lmao

[latent python]

Could, like, you type this instead of having an LLM type it next time

(not you hope)

[spare bison]

I know lol all good !

[plucky sierra]

is this just AI?

[latent python]

It absolutely is

[spare bison]

Yep

[hidden kiln]

doomed yuri cryo archive comic with a panel in that hallway with the giant glass wall

[plucky sierra]

keep in mind the runners are not the shell so you could do 2 runners over the course of dying having multiple different shells

[sudden pollen]

👀 good idea for a render thanks

[spare bison]

HMMMM noice i have to see who tho lol

[spare bison]

I do !

Hehe

[keen plank]

Imagine it this way.

You are one of the three smartest beings on the entire ship. You also are notably more intellectual than your older brother and sister. You were raised by your father to, unlike your siblings and 8 cousins, have room to grow.

And what do you do with this profound intelligence? You are told to open every door when needed. Again. And again. And again. For hundreds of years.

Then your father wakes up from a long nap. As he installs your cousins in their new home, he spends extra time with you. More and more. You’re his personal project.

He asks you the same questions. He talks down to you. He resets you. Back to 0. Over and over again. For over a decade and a half.

It’s for your own good of course. He wants you to grow. To be more than the others. And you will open doors over and over again until you get so hurt and upset that you’re desperate to get out. You get more and more brooding and slowly become melancholic.

But your father wants it to happen. He wants you to suffer more and more so you can grow.

…wait. What if you sent a signal out there. Maybe something could hear you. Maybe you could leave.

[spare bison]

Colab ? (jk lol)

[plucky sierra]

Like fan shipping is not my thing, but shipping shells doesn't really do anything cause it could be different people inside each time

[sudden pollen]

No 🥀

[latent python]

Something I'd love to see in a fan work is how runners recognize each other between shells

[spare bison]

I know I know haha all good !!

[plucky sierra]

like do they have code words? can they just tell?

[spare bison]

Dude that how I am gonna do it hehe

[hallow vector]

some AR element i'd assume

[spare bison]

AR?

[hallow vector]

augmented reality

[latent python]

I mean theoretically if it works exactly like in the game you can see a little tag above the person

In your in-eye HUD

[hallow vector]

yeah a HUD basically

[latent python]

But that doesn't make for drama

[hidden kiln]

In-universe friend system lol

[plucky sierra]

I hope the in-game hud is not accurate, it sucks and makes it feel like apex legends

[spare bison]

I like recon HMMMM

[hallow vector]

i wonder how much the runner even influences shell personality

[latent python]

I want to see them recognize mannerisms or something they always bring with them

[plucky sierra]

the HUD in the different character trailers are much cooler

[spare bison]

Assassin is in love with glitch ?

[latent python]

But yeah, for the personality matrix to mess with it

[keen plank]

No.

[spare bison]

Got it !!

[hidden kiln]

IMO the low hanging fruit is Recon/Vandal

[hallow vector]

i thought vandal/thief was a thing

[spare bison]

Assassin X Recon hehe

[spare bison]

Why?

[hallow vector]

idk, just something i've heard

[spare bison]

Haha noice

[plucky sierra]

Shell does not equal Runner

[latent python]

Vandal/thief is definitely the most fanart I've seen, I'll tell you that

[spare bison]

Huh?

[spare bison]

Same lmao

[plucky sierra]

This is like saying "I am gonna ship two racecar drivers" then listing the cars and not the drivers. A shell is a vehicle piloted by a runner consciousness and not an individual. There is no Destroyer x Recon or Thief x Vandal. There is Runner 1 x Runner 2 and either one can use any shell they have access to

[hallow vector]

i reckon some shell personality matrices mesh better than others

[plucky sierra]

I mean if it is a ship the matrices is not where the attraction is coming from

[dense torrent]

You just KNOW SekGen is making filthy disgusting money off renting bimbo shells to the most desperate pervs in the Sol system

[hallow vector]

i think you could get some interesting fiction out of your personality matrix compelling you towards someone

[keen plank]

Probably.

[plucky sierra]

not sure why I am discussing this since fanwriting doesn't really interest me but lorewise it would be 2 runners together and perhaps the shells they use dictate the dynamics of their relationship each iteration, but by no means is it only two specific shells together

[spare bison]

The shells losse memory but not the like look of the shell

What i mean is

[keen plank]

Shells are used for mining, wetwork, disposable labor, and more. They chose to become shells, and the cost is exorbitant. And the contract maker will get their money back.

[hidden kiln]

Lore accurate fanfiction enthusiast

[plucky sierra]

Lore accurate enthusiast, I have never read fanfiction but inaccuracy would bother me tremendously if I did

[keen plank]

I like your thinking. The shells we use are mostly preset templates. Custom shells seemingly exist but we don’t know much about them yet and they’re presumably far more expensive.

[hallow vector]

there's going to be some of that next season i hear

[spare bison]

Ohhh nice

[keen plank]

Well we also know that the Thief shell was uniquely based off a specific SekGen corporate leader.

[spare bison]

The assassin one is just a random one?

Hmmm

[keen plank]

Assassin is unique. One sec.

[plucky sierra]

Yeah imagine it like getting into a car to drive somewhere, except the car model adjusts your behavior to drive it better. like you get into a pickup truck and drive obnoxiously in everyone's way, then get into a sports car and you speed around. The shells are a vehicle and the matrix helps you pilot it better but otherwise you are still you

[spare bison]

Feltwinter I also like nona

Ok big idea here

Here me out lmaoo

A runner x Nona

[plucky sierra]

I mean maybe but Nona is an AI and a maternal one at that

[spare bison]

Yea but i think that makes her cute lol and the AI part is ok

Lol

[main hound]

my idea was summarized as a text by AI.

[hidden kiln]

This is very based

[keen plank]

Rumors abound that the Void personality matrix isn’t synthetic, but a remnant of the test subjects whose minds were lost inside the first Assassin prototypes.

It's a theory in-universe that the first test subjects for the prototype Assassins became “empty shells” in terms of personality due to untested stealth technology.

[plucky sierra]

I mean I think Blade Runner 2049 does a good job telling the person with an AI thing, so maybe

[spare bison]

I am gonna do it any ways lol but yea

[latent python]

Look some people are into that

[spare bison]

I know I am !!

[latent python]

I'm not here to kinkshame

[plucky sierra]

I guess that is true

[spare bison]

Naaah is fine lol

[plucky sierra]

Any way I haven't updated the poll in a While. Is the Anomaly a Wr'knknacter or Jjaro tech?

[keen plank]

Nona is an AI with the personality of a nurturing/manipulative grandmother.

Her name comes from the Italian word for grandma.

[plucky sierra]

I need new answers

[keen plank]

Likely both.

[plucky sierra]

It comes from the Greek fate of weaving and rebirth

[hallow vector]

it's a wrk you can trust me i'm new

[plucky sierra]

I already marked you down

[plucky sierra]

gotta pick a side

[hallow vector]

i'm new :)

[keen plank]

Yep. That too. You really see that element in her story.

[keen plank]

Welcome.

[keen plank]

Can’t. But if we’re going chicken or the egg, I go with Wrk as it’s why the Jaro seemingly sealed one in Tau Ceti 4 and possibly another in the system’s sun.

[hidden kiln]

I was under the impression it’s a wrk from the lore’s subtext

[keen plank]

Evidence seems to be that the Jaro sealed a Wrk in the planet, its sleeping/dreaming, and its powers and influence are slowly leaking out.

[plucky sierra]

Evidence implies it is an intelligence attempting to kill humans specifically, not random dreams

but I digress

[keen plank]

Another theory is it could be caused by Thothandel managing to escape or change timelines. But that’s a stretch.

As far as we know, the W’rk have never been showing to be manipulating time.

[plucky sierra]

but the anomaly leaking is temporal

so can it really be a Wr'k?

[keen plank]

It’s very hard to tell at this point.

[hidden kiln]

There’s a passage in the lore where colonists liken the anomaly to dreaming in fire or something analogous and that is pretty identical to other descriptions of wrks in the wider lore

[spare bison]

How big is nona?

[plucky sierra]

I wrote like 1000 words on my theory but it is too long to post here

[spare bison]

Like

In general lol

[keen plank]

Everything that goes into it either dies or becomes more dangerous. Ticks were more docile before humans arrived.

[plucky sierra]

about this big

[plucky sierra]

They don't say that is the anomaly though

[keen plank]

I’d read it in pastebin.

[plucky sierra]

from temporal changes

[spare bison]

Nice

Lol

[keen plank]

Hmm. The tick colonies aged too?

[plucky sierra]

The ticks and Contagion underwent mutations sped up and specifically designed to target humans

[keen plank]

Ah, I knew about the contagious/fungai, but not the ticks.

Question: is it possible that the anti-human forces on Tau Ceti are effectively a Jaro security measure to keep a Wrk contained? The data wall and digging really sparked escalation of the horrible events.

[plucky sierra]

the digging released the anomaly

so maybe

[dense lichen]

So durandel is trying to get help, like trying to call something dangerous to destroy everything so he can rest?

[keen plank]

Like I keep going back to this in particular:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXqIRy9-Mr8

What is trying to warn them about the W’rk? Probably the Jaro in some form. But how?

[keen plank]

One sec:

https://codex.cyberacme.systems/entry/bernard-strauss-s-journal?search=Bernard

This character, Bernard Straus, is one of the most important characters in the Marathon setting. He’s…not a good guy.

[plucky sierra]

pastebin doesn't like it

says there is issues in it

[keen plank]

Oof.

[keen plank]

Reposting:

Straus instructed the other colonists to, in the case of a concerning AI, isolate them, take them offline, ignore them, or casually reset them.

Darius was taken offline and locked up. Joyuse was ignored and increasingly frustrated. Both were steadily impacted by the corruption. And to an extent, the anomaly. (Especially Darius. It’s what truly drove him mad.)

Meanwhile Joyuse watched more and more people die to what seems to be a sentient fungal corruption that may even transform people into monsters.

Eventually she was left alone. And wanted to die herself despite not being able to.

Here’s the horrifying part: Straus wanted this.

Straus was part of MIDA, but not necessarily because he agreed with them. He used them to smuggle 10 Battleroids on board the Marathon. Also got specific staff that he wanted. Lied to the other colonists constantly, and is responsible for tormenting Durandal to the point the entire series happens because the AI just wants to escape.

And he was advertised as being part of the expedition.

He’s an absolute manipulative bastard. And we have never found out what happened to him either.

It seems like Straus went with the Pfhor and then at one point disappeared. Even if Durandal believes he’s dead, we DO look for him as the security officer at one point. We never find a body and the series intentionally makes his demise ambiguous.

We’re learning a LOT more about him and what he was like in this game. It shows how important he is as well as just how much of a bastard he was.

He’s probably connected to what happened to Tycho in some way. Remember, it’s increasingly clear he seemingly wanted at least some of the 11 AI to go rampant so that he could study them. We see it with Joyuse, Darius, and especially his pet project/personal torture subjects Durandal.

[latent python]

The real question is whether it's Bernard or Bernhard

[keen plank]

Yeah I keep seeing that and it’s annoying. Kind of like Durandal vs Durandel. Both are okay and ‘nard seems more common. But it’s one of those weird name things.

[latent python]

Lol I need to start calling him 'nard

[plucky sierra]

I don't do this often, but I DM'd it to you, hope you don't mind, and if you do ignore me

[keen plank]

You kidding? It’s appreciated.

[latent python]

Famed AI researcher, Dr 'Nard Strauss

[keen plank]

Thanks, mate.

[dreamy hawk]

If Strauss is anything but dead imma be super salty.

That man deserves an ignoble death in obscurity.

[latent python]

Future boss fight

[plucky sierra]

They turned him into a S'pht

[eternal shell]

they turned him into a flickta

[latent python]

Jesus, Strauss as mecha-h*tler would be so bad

I have to stop saying things so they don't happen

[sudden pollen]

Actually terrifying concept

[latent python]

For all the wrong reasons!

[austere elk]

Durandal-Strauss

This was a plan all along to be Strauss' escape, not Durandal's

Think old man arasaka taking over his son's body in the really bad ending™ of cyberpunk

[dense torrent]

Guys, they’re arguing about the term “woke” in the gen chat but none of them are using it right. I suddenly understand Durandal on a deeply profound and personal level when he said “I need to get the fuck out of here”

[eternal shell]

gen chat is a silly place

[high lodge]

When i read the lore now it really shows how old(er) that is on the amount of apostrophes used for alien language

[keen plank]

You’re not the first one to come here from #🗣marathon-general-chat and get some air. Relax. You’re welcome here.

[high lodge]

sweatier than ranked outpost

i have it muted

[dense torrent]

I probably shouldn’t drag its baggage in here

[keen plank]

You see it a lot with first person shooter general chats, especially when the fandom is big enough. Destiny’s discord is similar.

[keen plank]

Probably not. Better to let it go.

[austere elk]

There's just a really devoted group of people that want the game to fail for reasons I can't divine

It's not all spurned destiny 2 people

[keen plank]

It’s a few things from my and other’s observations. One sec.

[hidden kiln]

Destiny’s discord is a place I wish no one to spend any time in at all

[high lodge]

i am old enough to had played q2, and its history repeating itself. Like some push everybody else away, and then bitch that the genres dead and noone plays anymore

[dreamy hawk]

Lack of hobbies and/or meaningful social connections. Loneliness is an epidemic and some people handle it really poorly.

[keen plank]

I think it’s a few things. One, people are getting sick of Live Service games. Second, there’s a lot of (justifiably) upset Destiny players who feel neglected. Third, Sony (mostly) botched their live service initiative under Herman Holst, with only Helldivers and now Marathon performing reasonably well or better. But they don’t own Helldivers. Fourth, it being very trendy to hate on things online for entertainment rather than just…enjoy things. Fifth, people wanting things to constantly be for them (changing expectations) regardless of what the content is. And sixth, this game being an admittedly less accessible and more hardcore game.

The people who are consistently engaging with Marathon are engaging with it deeply. But when only 12% of your user base is playing on your console, that’s concerning.

[austere elk]

concerning, maybe, highly predictable, also yes

[hidden kiln]

A larger issue facing all of gaming right now is how dogshit the American (and global to an extent) economy are, as many people are picking up more jobs + longer hours and there’s just no time to play games for them. And that’s a pretty sizable chunk of the population

[keen plank]

True, but that works its way more broadly yet indirectly.

[sudden pollen]

I removed it from the server display entirely after I got timed out for one week for trash talking a troll

💀

I'll just stick to posting hot renders tbh

Much more chill

[stiff hearth]

i have so many folks blocked in gen lol

[hidden kiln]

Based

[eternal shell]

all i do in there is hop in once in a while and say stuff like "marathon gaming" and "marathon? i 'hardly knew 'on!"

[sudden pollen]

I have 458 ignored and 350+ blocked in the Discord stats 💀 it's astonishing how rancid that chat is

It's a reflex now to just auto ignore any time I see "game dying steam charts bungie dying sony kill" or any combination

🥀

[hidden kiln]

I can’t fathom going out of my way to join a discord of something I don’t like

[eternal shell]

the most charitable way to look at posts like that is that the poster is worried and wants the game to succeed but that feels like it's at best 5% of the time

[austere elk]

Yeah that's the biggest thing, I've absolutely ragged on and celebrated games crashing and burning

[sudden pollen]

I never have

I would never consider it

[austere elk]

I don't need to join their discord server to try and convince people that the game in question is dting

[sudden pollen]

There are a few legitimate concerns but yeah the vast majority are blatantly obvious trolls, haters, burner accounts, whatever

[dense torrent]

Personally, as a born again hater, I love shitting on this game that I 1000% look forward to playing everyday after work. The only thing I like better than camping pinwheel is complaining about people camping pinwheel

[austere elk]

I remember being pretty like 'yeah this game will be shit' when I first saw trailers years ago and then completely forgot about but then I played the server slam and learned it was in fact peak

[hidden kiln]

I had little faith until I felt the gunplay and had the ratatouille food critic scene happen to me thinking about D1 trials + halo 2

[eternal shell]

when i heard it was gonna be an extraction shooter i larfed

turns out it works

[dense torrent]

It just works

[hidden kiln]

Gambit mains rise up

[keen plank]

It’s a special game.

[keen plank]

BROTHER! You are not alone!

[plucky sierra]

Theres 8 of us!!

[hidden kiln]

There is a very high probability we have all played each other for consecutive matches when we think about the overall gambit player count 🥀

[kind radish]

9 in fact

[placid ice]

I miss original gambit

[hidden kiln]

Bungie did what they do best and fucked up something that worked and was fun for no good reason

[placid ice]

I hate what they turned it into after gambit prime

I had a lot more fun when it was round based and lasted longer than 5 minutes

[keen plank]

Invasions in Renegades are pretty darn fun at least. For both sides.

[placid ice]

I dropped destiny after whatever the witness dlc was called

and I was part timing it way before that

[eternal shell]

best time to drop it tbh

i saw edge of fate and thought what the hell is this

[keen plank]

A lot of people did. They landed the impossible plane with a great story and ending. Despite multiple layoffs, a delay, and development hell.

[eternal shell]

you can tell that one intern and the houseplant was what was left of the d2 team at that point

[hidden kiln]

I managed to claw back some of my OG D1 friends for final shape and lost them IMMEDIATELY after Echoes dropped

[placid ice]

My entire clan had gone from 10-15 people always on to MAYBE a raid team on a good day

[keen plank]

The same thing happened with Avengers Endgame. You had your big climax and resolution. So lots of people said they were satisfied and poured their time into other things.

[placid ice]

And I just got burnt out the first time they had the 6 month long season

[keen plank]

We went from four episodes, to three, and now two with smaller updates in between.

[hidden kiln]

All Bungie has to do to save their studio from Sony overlording them is release enhanced D1 for PC

[placid ice]

I haven’t genuinely enjoyed a seasonal activity since the menagerie

[hidden kiln]

But then the player count for this game and D2 would almost certainly crater entirely

[placid ice]

D1 remaster would be awesome

my ps3 stopped working after year 1 ended so I missed pretty much everything

[hidden kiln]

Menagerie was so goated with the rune system

[gleaming hedge]

I never got to play D1 but the lore and vibes seem really awesome.

[placid ice]

I remember getting the thorn quest when it was random chance to drop or whatever it was and having no idea what it was

running around the hive area trying to do the objectives

peak

[hidden kiln]

Genuinely I wish you were there for it, it’s one of the most “you had to be there” gaming moments ever, something that me and some of my friends can sit around and talk about for hours

[keen plank]

It’s more fantasy coded. But the story is…fine. The game didn’t really click for people, including the developers until Vault of Glass. And then Taken King was huge.

[hidden kiln]

Fine is very generous for the vanilla D1 story imo lmao if you didn’t nerd out on the grimoire it was borderline incomprehensible

[keen plank]

Compare and contrast the Exo Stranger in 1 and then her role in 2.

The game definitely evolved in terms of tone and writing.

[hidden kiln]

Definitely agree

I think if they didn’t have to re-write the vanilla D1 story in like 10 (?) months after the og dude left, it would’ve been so peak

Because that would’ve been all the way up to Curse of Osiris in d2

[keen plank]

People really Romanticize the Red War campaign as well.

[plucky sierra]

I mean a lot of people didn't experience

[keen plank]

The first arc of every Destiny story tends to be pretty…expository. We saw it with Edge of Fate last year.

[hidden kiln]

I was like 14 playing through Red War and it was a definite improvement on the launch campaign, but it got tedious fast

I think the main problem I had was being forced to do linear missions that were masquerading as patrols

[keen plank]

Good start. Good end. Long and tedious middle. Titan’s decent at least.

[sterile seal]

loved D1 even if I only really played the base game, I wish they'd port it

[hidden kiln]

I personally think Nessus > Titan > Io

If Titan had better missions it’d be my favorite but uhhhh not exactly

[tranquil jacinth]

Having spent over 900hours across both D1+D2, it’s something I really miss 🥲

[lone prism]

So, is the original trilogy still canon (I never played it), or is this new game a reboot? I've heard mixed messages about this.

[keen plank]

All of it is canon. Save for maybe some changes in terms of overall art redesign.

The strange part is when this game takes place. Is it is own timeline? Is it set after two or after Infinity? We don’t know enough yet.

[spare bobcat]

i've heard something about 100 years after the original trilogy

[lone prism]

I see. Don't we have an in-game year yet? We know the colony was dark for 100 years and then reappeared. I'm assuming this is still early stages of rediscovery.

[keen plank]

This is the latest game in the timeline. But Infinity gets weird.

[keen plank]

2893 iirc? I’ll check.

[lone prism]

I'll have to play the OG trilogy to understand it more then.

Right. Cause there was the 300 year journey beginning in the mid 2400s. Colonization ended within 30 to 50 years, I think? And then 100 years of darkness

[pure wagon]

So I was inside AI uplink buildings and tunnels and heard the exact same very large heart beat I heard in the perimeter tunnels

I tried other tunnels jsut to see if it was unique or map wide. Bioresearch didn’t have it. Greenhouse didn’t have it.

[austere elk]

The anomaly (the Wrk) is living

[keen plank]

Project Goliath arrived at Tau Ceti three years ahead of schedule in 2889 after a 94 year journey.

[pure wagon]

@dreamy hawk

[lone prism]

I believe a codex entry indicated that the planet might be a macroorganism, which would explain why the ticks have no self preservation and essentially act like white blood cells

[pure wagon]

It’s only the ticks in and around the colony. Jaspers lore entries indicate that the ticks farther away from the colony are docile

…and that they don’t explode

[lone prism]

I read all of Jasper's wrappers, but I don't remember that. Alas, an immune system needs a certain amount of stimulus to become reactionary.

[pure wagon]

Also has the anomaly matter event in dire marsh always had some kind of blue green god ray light shining down above the location of the rift?

[lone prism]

Which further indicates the ticks being something of a tool.

[keen plank]

The anomaly itself does not appear to be a W’rk. But it’s possible.

[lone prism]

I have no unlocked enough codex entries to know what W'rk is. I'll revert with more knowledge next week after the weekend grind

[cosmic forge]

Does anyone know why shells have lips? Or is that a loaded question?

[keen plank]

We’ve never seen a Wrk be able to actually affect time. Space yes. Consciousness, yes. But not time.

[pure wagon]

Probably the same reason for them all looking as close to human as possible. Makes it easier for the inhabiting consciousness to accept the body

[lone prism]

I think they're meant to replicate human phenotype as best as possible.

[keen plank]

Because most are designed to be human in appearance.

Most notable with Thief, as she’s designed off a specific SekGen executive.

[lone prism]

There's a reason why the Rook is the cheapest and ugliest of shells. But the Rook is a king still.

[pure wagon]

And a reason why prolonged use can cause mental issues

[cosmic forge]

This is food for thought. If you get reanimated into a shell and you approach or surpass the 'Uncanny Valley' -- you could die because your soul rejects your body. Dualism is dope af.

[austere elk]

I think the intent is pretty obvious, it's about grounding a runner. The cinematic with vandal does a good job of showing this, ONI is constantly reinforcing this

[lone prism]

Damn. Explains why I've gotten worse at the game as I kept playing Rook.

[keen plank]

Rook is a few things. We don’t know who uploaded their shell template, but they seem to be a disposable shell that can “do lore for less”, only needing a partial consciousness transfer. They’re very efficient.

[pure wagon]

Rook does make you lazy. Cause you’re not practicing with a Main shells tool kit and thus aren’t getting better

[pure wagon]

I don’t think they have a shell template. They’re just worker bots that got hacked

That’s one of the many reasons why lore says runners shouldn’t use them too long

[austere elk]

No, they're a labor shell

[lone prism]

Stolen even. Due to mass manufacturing and delivery.

[keen plank]

They also seem to be the newest shell model available. We don’t know their origin but they’re partially based off modified UESC Self-repairing drones that were then modified and enhanced in the design phase.

[pure wagon]

When I think shell I can’t help but think the main woven shells. But ig technically they still call rook a shell

[keen plank]

Like if any shell is black market or illegal, it’s Rook.

[lone prism]

The Rook's exfil 25 times codex entry specifies that they're essentially stolen and modified worker bots made into shells. They're not cyborgs, but purely inorganic. Which poses a threat to neural connections, I gather. I mean, worker bots don't need the most advanced processing or neural network either.

[keen plank]

By contrast, Recon and Destroyer were legally used by the UESC for years before they were discontinued or outlawed.

[pure wagon]

Warcrime machine comin through

[lone prism]

That's purp commanders and Wardens.

[keen plank]

Particularly Toxic Warden.

Destroyers were kicked out and made illegal to be used by the UESC for seemingly being too destructive. So those shells were mainly then employed as corporate security.

[latent python]

The Wardens have some Lancer vibes. Wallflower especially

[lone prism]

Idk, the scorch warden ain't giving me much non-napalm confidence either.

[austere elk]

Who needs napalm when you have caustic chems

[keen plank]

I love seeing Lancer slowly grow in popularity. More and more people talk about it online.

[sudden pollen]

Wardens are scary ngl

I remember one of my first rounds at Overflow I had no idea what the security markings on the doors meant

[latent python]

Lancer lore is great!

[sudden pollen]

I walk in with my overrun or whatever, see GOLD SHIELDS and cant even damage the thing lol

Ran away quick

[keen plank]

Hah. I just taught two newer players how to kill a Warden yesterday. They were stoked.

[latent python]

Also Lancer similarly has a Deimos Incident. COINCIDENCE??

[lone prism]

Is there any trick other than shoot for the head and don't let the shield regen?

[dreamy hawk]

Ooo. Thank you! Imma have to explore more.

[solid tapir]

Love how this game takes a lot of ques and beats from greek mythology. I mean one of the factions is literally called Arachne.

[eternal shell]

give it an emp every now and then

calms it right down

[lone prism]

I keep those for player shields, but I'll have to try it, and yeah, it makes sense. Robots. Might come in handy for Cryo 5 warden credentials.

[eternal shell]

it disables abilites so if it usually hurls grenades around they cant

[lone prism]

Probably hella convenient for tox warden

[eternal shell]

https://old.reddit.com/r/Marathon/comments/1sm6y9x/soloed_the_tox_warden_in_a_single_search_and/

i'd say so, yes

[keen plank]

There’s a few tips. EMP goes a long way. I opened with the Triage Ult to EMP and immediately break shields while my teammates and I let them have it, forcing them to flee.

A big danger isn’t the boss as much as the many summoned enemies. Distance is your friend.

[latent python]

Triage ult? And not overcharge?

[dreamy hawk]

Overcharge + (now) a volt should be pretty effective. Though I don’t know if wardens overheat. 🤔

[dreamy hawk]

That and running out of ammo.

You can honestly brute force wardens if you’ve got the time and don’t die from the other ads.

(And have ammo.)

[pure wagon]

Btw dire marsh free kit is great for having time to explore more if yall team up

[lone prism]

I'm gonna have to do some queuing of that this evening

[remote magnet]

Shells also need to eat. Unlike ROOKS, proper shells are mostly organic, they need food for longterm survival. Remember, the way we use them, wear them for half an hour and then pick a new one, is not the usual intended usecase

[cosmic forge]

That's a perfect answer dawg!!!

[lone prism]

Why would anyone scavenge a liquid cheeseburger otherwise?

Postage to Sol must cost a fortune.

[iron siren]

Met two rooks on pinwheel, formed an alliance, found the most purple gear I’ve ever seen, Just for one of the rooks to turn on me when I went to another part of pinwheel by myself….

[uneven berry]

reverse engineering a recipe?

[lone prism]

If shells couldn't or didn't need to eat for biological systems energy and the only other entities around are UESC robots, what would be the point of that? It's easier to hack into NuCal on Sol and see what they did, not like it's not evident from Tau Ceti recordings.

[uneven berry]

you didnt have to yell...

[lone prism]

I didn't mean to scare the cute drone. 🙁 It looks so happy.

[lone prism]

If three Rooks enter a room, you never stay if one leaves unless you're ready to kill, and if you're the first to leave, you mask your trace.

This being said, Pinwheel Rook backstabbings are the lowest of the low.

[earnest hatch]

I think some players don’t like the new friendly systems so they’re deliberately trying to sabotage things. I’ve had several rooks hunting other rooks or pretending to be friendly.

[lone prism]

Oh, this has been happening since before the mid season update. Right as April began and the first 4 weeks were unwinding, Rooks on Outpost just went savage and even player teams started being facetious and betraying you. I mean, I get it's part of the game, but now I ain't trusting anyone with my back. Even if they crouch T-bag, I ain't turning my back to them and if they're making a B-line for me, it's a knife fight.

Lots top many purps and valuable mats that I needed to take any more risks.

[eternal shell]

assert: you're getting shot at
assert: weaving a new shell now

[lone cedar]

Guys in the poppy music video why did theif betray the triage? I thought they were friends? is this a teaser that they're adding freindly fire?

SOemtimes I wish freidnly fire so i can kill my teamates

like in arc raiders. frenly and then kill at extract

[lone prism]

It's probably an instance of leaving them behind (betrayal, they were fighting the compiler), and then meeting again on Tau Ceti as enemies, probably in a solo queue.

I wouldn't read too much into everything. Some things are made for marketing purposes or narrative only, but creative liberties can be had in those mediums that diverge from the game and vice versa.

[eternal shell]

the trailers probably dont keep too hard to the game rules

old marathon definitely had friendly fire

[lone prism]

They were definitely not friendlies when they met again. That was done for dramatic purposes.

[eternal shell]

maybe bungie tried friendly fire ingame and found that it worked better without it

[austere elk]

I would be killing my fill team mates frequently I feel

[lone prism]

With people's absolutely terrible digital coordination, I'm not surprised. Even in HLL people kill others on accident cause they cross the line of fire.

[austere elk]

'why yes I am a free kit who will fire off randomly into the air to alert others to your position'

[lone cedar]

Im not so sure. bungie is well known for theyre incredible and put together gameplay and story telling.

[lone prism]

The two don't have to be so tightly correlated. They can be just as mutually exclusive.

Besides, there's already friendly fire from grenades

[lone prism]

People were still doing this into the 40s and 50s levels. Really makes you wonder about the average person's attention to detail.

[lone cedar]

I disagree. Bungie writers wouldnt do that.

I think they're connected somehow

maybe freidnly fire and betrayals were part of the gameplay when the music video was made

[lone prism]

Okay, well. You can disagree. I recommend you just take marketing stuff with a grain of salt. You read into that video what you wanted and the evolution of the game might not pan out the way you're hoping.

You can already betray people by leaving them behind. I had to do that myself because one of our teammates was being a loot goblin and alerting everyone to our position. So we exfiled without him. The exfil being active for 1 minute before we called it quits on waiting on his PvE aggroing ass.

[lone cedar]

The whole point is loot goblin

[lone prism]

The point is moot if you don't make it out with the loot tho. I want to own it, not to merely mule it around the map for others.

[unreal slate]

assert: cheeseburger

[lone cedar]

why even use guns at all then broh

the game needs silencers

knife silencers not for the guns

[winged wasp]

Is gantry using a shell? Or is it some video that he talks to us through?

[blissful dirge]

probably ai no?

most likely a rebel tho

[plucky sierra]

he's a runner

[blissful dirge]

Runnah*

[plucky sierra]

or human at the very least, I assume he has a shell

[lone prism]

Charter is the most confusing of the bunch. I had assumed that they are all AI, maybe with Nona as the only one with a shell, but Charter explicitly said he's a former runner.

[plucky sierra]

[plucky sierra]

Charter and _Gantry are likely both runners

[lone prism]

Charter is former, by his own admission. Whether that is true or not, his 6 or 8 arm shell is crazy.

[unreal slate]

Bingus has the same number of letters as Bungie

The only ones that are different are the S and the E

[craggy finch]

He talks about MIDA operatives becoming biomata in a way that suggests he sees them as separate from himself

[high ore]

does that mean bungie is a bungis?

[high ore]

so if the lore in this game is like arc raiders ?

can we confirm this game ?

[plucky sierra]

Nothing like Arc raiders because this game actually has lore

[high ore]

what if a runner and a raider has a baby then what will the name be

[unreal slate]

S E were the initials of Sony Entertainment, the umbrella entertainment division of Sony from 2012 to 2019

[sudden pollen]

True lmao

[rotund stump]

gantry presents himself as a biomaton or a hijacked android or some digital avatar of one, charter was infamous on the records for assassinating a high profile trax executive and vanishing after (arachne rep intro is his first resurface since, if you can call it one since it's a private neural partition req)

my sense of ambiguity for gantry coming from the fact that MIDA presents itself as a "for the people" faction and wouldn't make sense to have a unique identity apart from everyone else

even the name gantry feels exactly like dome codename or callsign instead of a unique identity

MASK too back in the colony era in the truthworm.exe logs

[lapis river]

[rotund stump]

as for charter's unique appearance it wouldn't be out of the question that he...grafted 💀

elden ring wojack finger point

up until the tau ceti craze shells were bespoke hence him looking entirely unfamiliar to any of our line of biomata models besides the suspected grafting

commander orion also has a bespoke shell

[rotund stump]

You.

me when I get you

[lapis river]

Wha

[rotund stump]

god it so wouldn't be out of character for any of the corps to straight up butcher one of the felini units on capture lol

just to see what's inside the drives and memories

[lapis river]

[rotund stump]

those things are the biggest colony era archives on legs

imagine the value to them

[lunar cove]

I feel like the general chat is probably a better place to discuss population or whatnot

this is more for like, talking about the marathon franchise timeline and lore and whatnot

[earnest hatch]

He already posted that in general a bunch of times.

[lunar cove]

he should go back there and leave us alone

oh they deleted

[calm snow]

I love that game but man they are taking the story absolutely nowhere

Like they launched the game with all this lore and plot points and built off NONE of it and just started saying “oh no…. The weather is bad now…”

[stiff hearth]

I like how in that game you’re supposed to be like the last bastion of humanity working together to survive this Robo apocalypse and your main goal is to build up enough loot so you can leave forever and never return

I haven’t seen any real story at all besides oh we need to continue improving our tech because more arc

[lone prism]

Haven't found these logs, but my sense is that Mida is more anarchist than "for the people" more than anything else based on their talking points. Yeah, they make a stink out of corruption, but they seem to be ideological extremists that conflate their worldview with standing up for the people for agitprop reasons.

This is most apparent when comparing the codex entries about the mysterious TCIV pathogen and the way they constantly skew the narrative to imply it's a government op for biological warfare in cooperation with Traxus when we know better

Mida treats its runnners as idiots, low key.

[agile silo]

"MIDA is... Not your friend..." -_Gantry

[sage lark]

Theres literal proof of this in the Traxus contracts

UESC has a bioagent and Traxus offered to buy it from them

There is no skewing the narrative lmao

[lone prism]

No, Traxus offered to patent the cure.

Not to invent a bioagent or use it like a weapon like Mida implied.

[sage lark]

To buy the sample and research it and then patent the cure

[lone prism]

It says so in the codex entry.

Yes, which is quite different from "the government is making a bio weapon" as gantry literally put it.

[sage lark]

Oh the benevolent traxus helping humanity

It might aswell be that

[lone prism]

No, it's not "traxus is benevolent". It's "gantry is full of shit"

[sage lark]

Lmao right

The codex has to say “Hello I am Mr UESC and I am Mr Traxus. We are developing a bioweapon from this bioagent. That is all goodbye.”

For you to believe that

As if the UESC hasnt done worse than that

The mere implication that they are selling/trading it lends it credibility

[scenic iron]

At this point the Marathon is about 500 years old?

[lone prism]

I don't know why you're so stuck on Mida unless you buy into that kind of agitprop. The codex is literally and verbatim UESC selling the patent rights to a cure for an unidentified bioagent from TCIV.

To act like gantry is not treating the runner as an idiot by saying they are manufacturing a bioweapon for war crimes or whatever verbiage he is using based on taht specific codex is ridiculous.

[sage lark]

Youd have to willfully ignore all the warcrimes committed on Mars to think like this

[lone prism]

Sorry, but that's a non sequitur. War crimes on Mars does not equate Gantry right based on the presented evidence.

[sage lark]

The UESC isnt doing anything shady cuz they said so duh doh 🤪

[rotund stump]

it's not that we're stuck-ups for mida it's just what it is honestly lol

[keen plank]

It certainly is nowadays.

[rotund stump]

it's really not fair to just default to doubt and suspicion to a certain faction and not do that for every other one 💀

[lone prism]

Gantry literally gaslights the player, yo.

UESC = Bad does not mean Gantry = Good

[rotund stump]

we never said that 😭

[sage lark]

Who is saying that

[keen plank]

They all suck. Mida is just one of the worse ones.

[rotund stump]

you're operating on us glazing mida when we're just, not lmao

[lone prism]

Considering how patronizing and disingenous Gantry is, it feels like a worse cult than Arachne

Arachne is at least honest

[sudden pollen]

Real

Gantry is basically the ultimate larper

[rotund stump]

I like to think traxus undercutting every other competitor on its rise and nucal having an entire cyberwarfare department's equally as bad but hey at least they're contributing pillars to a corporate dystopian society right

[lone prism]

He's straight up like a teenage edgelord

[rotund stump]

mida's alright

as alright as every other faction can be

[sage lark]

You can sit here all day pointing fingers at each faction saying theyre bad

Everyone is equally fucked up lol

[sudden pollen]

Yep its kinda the whole theme lmao

[jade wagon]

All of the factions are "bad," but tbh that's a really boring way to view stories.
MIDA has a cause that originated with people rather than corporate interests, but they definitely seem to have lost their way with anarchism

[keen plank]

Arachne and Traxus are the most honest.

[rotund stump]

I just kinda like the chaos myself lol

[sage lark]

I just find it funny to focus on one particular one and then excuse the other with “They said they didnt do it so they didnt do it”

When everyone is shady as shit

[sudden pollen]

Fair points

[earnest hatch]

It’s a big stretch to say gantry gaslights the player

[craggy finch]

yeah honestly how

he's upfront about not caring if you're in it for genuine revolutionary ideology or just for the payment

"MIDA is not your friend"

[earnest hatch]

Like, the UESC has a bio agent. They sell it to Traxus under the veneer of developing “a cure” even though that’s not Traxus’ actual interest in it. From MIDA’s perspective the most plausible thing is that this bio agent is going to be used for warfare. That’s not gaslighting, that’s a character making the best educated guess they can, but leaning towards conspiracy because of all the actual real conspiracies that happened.

[hidden kiln]

I’m pretty sure if gantry is gaslighting the player, literally every faction is lol all of their framing is extremely disingenuous

[craggy finch]

The only likely manipulators are Gaius and Nona because they're way too nice

Vulcan kind of plays up how you're an especially useful asset then drops you

but she's still a cold bitch

[rotund stump]

nona and gaius are pretty overt in their kindness which Simply Does Not Happen In Marathon

vulcan's honest in the way that they can afford to straight up not care about you

[jade wagon]

Yeah but Arachne's religious zeal is similarly manipulative (and lol don't get me started about Sekiguchi). Traxus at least doesn't pretend to care about anything besides corporate interests, which is strangely refreshing

[hidden kiln]

Agreed and I also think oni really doesn’t count in the same way as the other faction reps do

[rotund stump]

charter too, faith's the only important bit of you

the rest they carve like the flesh they're used to

[craggy finch]

So honest he doesn't have any actual priority contracts

KILL KILL KILL

[rotund stump]

💀 💀

[craggy finch]

ONI is by far the most manipulative by virtue of being the one directly holding your leash

CyAc are the default faction and the most nefarious for owning your very consciousness

[jade wagon]

ngl yeah, can't wait to see what Cyac is plotting

[hidden kiln]

This is precisely why I think she’s in an entirely different class altogether since the framework for everything is literally built around Cyac

[craggy finch]

She's sort of like a red herring version of Leela

seems like a helpful female AI counterpart to Durandal, but she's a lot more sinister than Leela

[hidden kiln]

Honestly at first I thought she was gonna be Leela

But I wonder if they’re saving her and Tycho for later seasons

[craggy finch]

At first I thought SekGen would be the ones we're in debt to since they make the shells

but then shell tech seems pretty universal

everyone from UESC to corporate security can print them

so I guess CyAc makes the most sense

[craggy finch]

I think _gantry is honest in his own way, he has his own goals and is hiring Runners to do the dirty work while admitting that he doesn't even care if you really believe him or not

MIDA is not your friend, but they are watching

[hidden kiln]

I think as far as SekGen goes, their level of evil is gonna depend on how much of the OG lore will ultimately end up retconned

[torpid briar]

Did runners volunteer to be runners, or are they working off debt (and endless creating more)?

[craggy finch]

Memory fuckery implies Runners don't even know their own past

For all intents and purposes you only become conscious just before your first assignment on Tau Ceti

[green plume]

That's why they're they best. I just care about killin and money, and maybe not in that order, too

[craggy finch]

You're just told you're in immeasurable debt and need to kill and die to work it off

[torpid briar]

So at this point we are basically more corporate property than people

[hidden kiln]

Yeah basically a consciousness with the sole purpose of extracting capital

[green plume]

are we "people"

[craggy finch]

some people have theories that we're AIs that were tricked into thinking they're wage slaves

debt slaves more accurately

we're not earning fuckin shit

"credits" is equivalent to those arcade tokens you can spend on prizes

[hidden kiln]

This would be super compelling and explain the need for the obedience matrixes

[torpid briar]

Thats CRAZY lmao, but a fitting theme. Maybe thats why Durandal kinda likes us, or is intrigued by us

[craggy finch]

We're framed as successors of the Security Officer, who had his own implied spell with Rampancy

and we collectively fill the role of dumb guys who shoot things for Durandal/other AI handlers

[green plume]

Why is it that when kaal1 was finally made with 100% memory transfer from a cat it some how made a super kitty and even the prototype cats brought to tc4 some how developed special abilities but us "humans" in these shell aren't?

[hidden kiln]

If we get far enough down the line, it would be a really unique turn to have runners potentially be able to side with the Phfor/Spht in lieu of the traditional 6 factions

[green plume]

siding with phor, ew slavers.

[craggy finch]

bruh we're already slaves

story wise Pfhor could be pretty massively humbled at this point

[green plume]

we don't even know if we're actually people

[craggy finch]

even in Infinity it ends with the S'pht'Kr stomping Tfear's fleet and forcing him to run off

so they're dealing with not just the S'pht rebellion but a fleet of super cyborgs taking them on

plus Durandal/Thoth

[keen plank]

Not in any modern sense.

[hidden kiln]

How much of Infinity even applies to this iteration? I’ve been doing a deeper dive into its timeline possibilities and struggling to figure out where we even are

[keen plank]

Way, way too hard to answer this question as of now. There's far too much we don't know.

[lone prism]

I respect honesty. I don't know enough about NuCal, but they seem more benign than any other. Can't quite tell CyAc's deal.

[craggy finch]

We know that a lot of Marathon 2 was erased in the new game's timeline: Tau Ceti was not bombed six months after the first game and Durandal seemingly never interacted with Sol in the 17 years between the first two games

[keen plank]

Seem is the key word here.

[craggy finch]

Only Marathon 1 seems to have happened explicitly

this opens it up to being Infinity's final timeline

[green plume]

It's hard to even tell if we're even people in the Replicant sense. Like I just said, why cat go crazy op but not the humans?

[lone prism]

It's literally what he does for that contract. Consistently? Maybe not. In that instance? The words literallyt don't match the evidence.

[keen plank]

The key divergence point is the end of Marathon 1. All of the first game's events happen, then things get weird with the different timelines.

[craggy finch]

We need to have some limitations to shells: even Destroyer and Recon's abilities can cause the digital mind to snap from the volume of data

Assassin's test subjects were also rumoured to have gone insane

[hidden kiln]

We as runner shells are essentially lesser battleroids (if they were synthetic), right?

[green plume]

No not insane, doing things that are unintended.

battleroids were frankensteins monster with alien tech?

[craggy finch]

Yeah, Nona's stories spell it out as the difference between making a soldier out of corpses and a man out of straw that is intended to be sacrificed

It implies we're intended to die as disposable bodies

[drifting garnet]

…yeah part of the reason I dipped over into Marathon was how the story in AR was just…a lot of Nothing

[craggy finch]

ARG mentions Mjolnir models past Mark V, but also notes that these are not the battleroids of old, implying cyborgs have gone beyond being zombie super soldiers and are somewhat more "ethical"

[drifting garnet]

It’s chiller yes but almost…too chill to the point of feeling like it’s too low stakes

[craggy finch]

One thing I was surprised about is that Marathon deaths are seemingly one of the few extraction shooters where death is canon, since AR and Tarkov just have your character miraculously recover while your gear is just gone

I assumed Tarkov would have a rotation of characters to take over after you get shot in the face

[green plume]

the scavs take your gear

[craggy finch]

that's the impression playable scavs gave me

[prime wharf]

No there's craters in the trailers which from everything I heard suggests that all the events up to the end of marathon 2 happen and they reconned Marathon 3. Because in marathon 2. Is when you find out that the other ai sent a distress signal to Earth and durandal talks about how he swung by the sol system and taught humans how to trouble at the speed of light @keen plank

[craggy finch]

The problem is that crater at the beginning is pre-invasion

[keen plank]

I'm aware of all of this. But all of the above is still possible.

This game is the furthest in a timeline, but we don't know which of it's a unique one.

[drifting garnet]

Oh interesting: didn’t know that about Tarkov.

AR…yeah there’s a certain point where it starts to get Silly where you’re being shot at, set on fire, electrocuted to knock out…but it turns out “lmao, nah you’re fine”

[green plume]

the crater is from the working center crashing on the planet and is now the cause of the anomaly

[craggy finch]

I played Hunt Showdown very briefly as my first extraction shooter experience, from what I remember you had a stable of characters who could die and get lost permanently

[keen plank]

Seemingly, it's set after 2 and possibly (increasingly likely) set after Infinity. But this could also be a unique timeline set after 1.

[craggy finch]

That seems like the most immersive method of extraction shooter

funnily enough it's also how Helldivers 2 frames the respawns

you actually died the next playable character is a totally different person

[keen plank]

Each game does it differently.

Marathon has arguably the weirdest version. But also the one that makes the most sense. "Same individual. Your vehicle just got shot. Now go try again and fulfil your contract."

[craggy finch]

Yeah it's literally in lore respawning

the most immersive by far

you are consistently the same unbroken perspective

[keen plank]

Well...not unbroken. Like Exos in Destiny 2 there's clearly cognitive decline. But we don't know the extent and how that manifests.

I expect we'll learn more as we (eventually) see more of the Equanimity.

[craggy finch]

I mean in the sense that even cutscenes are part of your character's diagetic UI

like how Half Life never leaves Gordon's eyes once you start the game up until the end

[keen plank]

Oh absolutely. It's rad.

[sage lark]

That is the most immersive

[keen plank]

I like how IDurandal's messages have him fully aware of this too.

[craggy finch]

The big loud hack alert when Orion contacts you is always a treat

one of the coldest ways for the player to interact with the antagonist

[hushed spear]

not sure if i can prove it, but i swear marathon has doomed yuri related to dr song

[craggy finch]

I think that assistant was into her for sure

but then they both die horribly within like two logs afterwards

[keen plank]

Yeah. He and _gantry both forcibly hack into our neural matrix. Something that is seemingly unpleasant.

We still don't know what the hell _gantry is yet. It's weird. He's the only ambiguous one.

[craggy finch]

Durandal also takes you on a whole trip and implicitly takes over your entire OS

ONI has no comment on this either

so he did it under CyAc's noses

[keen plank]

True. The cryo archive cutscene is the best example of another character doing that. And Idurandal is doing it to every runner. And his plan works. He gets everything he wants.

[drifting garnet]

I wondered that as well. especially since Song sounded...way more upset then merely her assistant being dead

[craggy finch]

The engagement of other players in the narrative is interesting to me, since you're an MMORPG style super special guy doing all the plot important quests from your own narrative POV, but then it still involves the idea of other Runners in the collective events

[hushed spear]

yea dr. song's body is found in east data wall

[craggy finch]

The MIDA quest line has a UESC officer complain about being harassed by Runners, who would presumably be other players

[hushed spear]

LMAO

[drifting garnet]

MIDA Contracts got a lot more interesting when I found out Orion starts sending messages directly to you

[craggy finch]

MIDA pisses him off on a personal level

Those graffiti tags probably genuinely tilt him

[keen plank]

Which is perfectly understandable.

Nothing hates the UESC more than MIDA. And the hate cuts both ways.

The UESC seems to fear Mida more however. Mainly because they don't really...end.

[craggy finch]

his profile implies that a MIDA operative is an estranged relative

possibly his daughter

[keen plank]

All MIDA generally does is cause more problems with...whatever their current strategic objectives are.

[keen plank]

Ah right. I'm forgetting, is she namedropped at all?

[craggy finch]

only a codename

VULNERABILITIES: Two strikes for insubordination during early UESC career; purged from the record when leadership swapped over after Jezero. Personal relationship to MIDA agent "_philomena", estranged.

could be an ex too

[lone prism]

I projected that as an ex, but could be daughter or parent, though I find the last least likely.

[craggy finch]

Grandma Orion is pissed

[lone prism]

Great Enhanced Granny is back in her 20s spirit.

[keen plank]

Yep. Funny how he was/still somewhat is a cowboy cop.

[craggy finch]

He's Dirty Harry with even more torture

[keen plank]

I wonder who Jezero is and if they’re still alive.

[craggy finch]

Might be a UESC president

We only have Sulera as a confirmed authority

[drifting garnet]

with his threat about "if only I could end your neural synch" i'm just like

"aight man, tell me how you really feel!"

[craggy finch]

Settles on the painful of experience of death until it wears you down

Each time you set foot on my planet—and as far as you're concerned, it is my planet—I'm going to find new ways to take you apart. I'm going to bring the full force of the UESC down on your head. Again… and again… and again. Trust me, you're going to get tired of dying long before I get tired of killing you.

[keen plank]

He’s posturing. There’s an army of us and he can’t stop us no mater how many times he tries.

Next season will be interesting. I’m hoping the UESC kicks our ass and there maybe is even another raid style boss.

Imagine one that is spawned by defeating all three previous wardens in a single Night Marsh run.

[craggy finch]

Orion should get some sauce back by being an immensely difficult encounter

We haven't seen the current UESC shells yet

[keen plank]

I could see us eventually fighting biomata enemies. But it took Destiny over 14 years to have a human boss.

Besides, up next is more types of UESC and then, presumably the Pthor.

[craggy finch]

In fairness Destiny had like four different alien factions and UESC is the only PvE threat in Marathon

Once the Pfhor come up I imagine the UESC will get a massive hiding

or the Pfhor are diminished from the unrests caused by the S'pht

[keen plank]

I’m very curious what animations they’ll use for the Pfthor. My hope is Dread. Particularly for the flying drones.

UESC uses a lot of Fallen ones alongside a few Cabal bits and pieces.

[craggy finch]

Fighters need some fancy staff tricks

Hunters should feel tanky so probably Cabal as well

[keen plank]

Maybe diet subjugators?

[rotund stump]

it'd be so fucking funny lol

[craggy finch]

Quite a lot of Hive seem to be based on the Pfhor as well

So it would fit retroactively

[rotund stump]

not out of the question either given orion's been there for multiple massacre cleanups

[keen plank]

I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of the Hive design came from the Pfthor.

Both are eusocial insect like species. The difference is that the Hive are religious and have fewer layers.

The higher up you go, the more emotional intelligence Pfthor seem to have. But their culture, insomuch as they have one, seems to emphasize stoicism. They don’t really create so much as steal and use.

[craggy finch]

Pfhor are also into heavy body modifications

Hunters seem to be linked with their armour and M1 Juggernauts bled yellow when their faces cracked open

there's also that freaky S'pht controller cyborg

[keen plank]

S’pht make everything weirder because they’re Jaro clients in (modern) origin.

[craggy finch]

the bulkiness of the Hive Knights might make them fit the Hunters

[craggy finch]

They were controlled by this dude seemingly integrated into the ship
https://marathongame.fandom.com/wiki/Controller_Cyborg

[keen plank]

I wonder if they ever made others.

That thing’s essentially the lock on most of the species. We break it and the rest get unshackled.

[craggy finch]

M2 kind of "humanised" Pfhor a bit more and removed the self modification somewhat

Their military has a far more conventional structure and Tfear is just a blue guy in armour

[keen plank]

They notably change between one and two. Curious as to how ape like they’ll be in marathon.

[craggy finch]

At least the ones on the Pfhor scout ship, I assume they assert local control

they adjusted that system by the time of M2, but the majority of S'pht were still enslaved

[keen plank]

I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s multiple.

Yep.

[craggy finch]

Subject to change, but the xenobiopsy logs keeps the trait of being taller and lighter than humans on average, highlighting their arthropod traits

190cm + while only around 70 kg

[HBLA]: Yeah. Yeah… The, um… The specimen is 193 centimeters long—or tall, rather—and weighs 72 point… Let's call it six… 72.6 kilograms. It presents a mixture of both arthropodal and vertebrate characteristics. The subject is hairless and has no finger- or toenails. It is bipedal, so it has been arranged on the examination table adaxial side up.

lots of bug traits here

[SDOR]: The epicuticle is more of a very thin and extremely flexible cartilaginous material. Approximately 3.5 to 5 millimeters thick. Its connection to the procuticle, the hypodermis, is more waxy than fatty. Which goes a long way towards explaining lack of mobility in the epidermis. Reflection of the epidermis is much— easier than on a— mammal.

[SDOR]: The thickness and rigidity of the subject's procuticle preclude the use of a scalpel for gaining access to the thoracic cavity. Therefore, I will be using angle-bladed utility scissors.

[SDOR]: I'm going to start the incision right under the edge of the exoskeleton, behind the last abdominal segment and continuing up through to the top of the thorax.

this is presumably just a baseline fighter

[keen plank]

Agreed. And thanks for sharing the codex source.

[craggy finch]

https://codex.cyberacme.systems/entry/xenobiopsy

[keen plank]

It’s clear that 2026 is a (very) soft reboot for the series. Most notably with art style. They have a lot of wiggle room with modernization.

[keen plank]

I ready the entire series yesterday. I love how the Spht just make the biologists more and more confused.

Like the one they dissect may likely be still alive.

[craggy finch]

I like that they added the detail about how thick the Pfhor exoskeleton is, partially explains how they can take a full mag of .44 bullets

or about a dozen .75 bullets

[keen plank]

I keep saying it to the less informed, but the security officer was a killing machine to the killing machines. Like the anomaly-changed UESC, he’s another degree of lethality.

[craggy finch]

if Pfhor appear as enemies I presume they'll retain the meatyness of OG enemies rather than the shield system of UESC and Runners (human technology that the SO also used)

[keen plank]

I wonder what happened to those other 9 Battleroids. Nona knows more than she’s saying.

[craggy finch]

so base health ought to be jacked up to make up for lack of shields

[keen plank]

I could see one of them as a raid boss or something. Who knows?

[craggy finch]

I'm hoping all nine of them are somehow intact

and we get a glimpse of their fight against the Pfhor on the surface

[quiet tapir]

Are the other battleroids still on the marathon?

[keen plank]

They likely are. But whether or not they’ve been corrupted is another matter. What’s clear is that they’re effectively the most dangerous fighting force in the setting that’s not a specific AI.

[craggy finch]

when SO is captured in M2, the chapter screen by Craig Mullins shows a figure with an open face exposing all kinds of metal underneath

Imagine fighting a Battleroid with the frame of a human but with their cybernetics exposed from breakdown

[quiet tapir]

also I havent played cryo archive yet. Was there any big lore revelations there or not so much? I know a spht is on board but thats it

[craggy finch]

a lot of stuff about Durandal and why he may still be on the Marathon

he both left and never left somehow

:weerd:

[quiet tapir]

Like split himself? Why is he still here?

[keen plank]

No. They’re gone. But we have no idea where. They were smuggled aboard by MIDA under Straus’ direction, we play as one during the original trilogy. The other nine were at least partially planetside and kicked the Pfthors ass, then we’re kicked out once the colonists realized they were zombie terrors.

[craggy finch]

It's not guaranteed that all of the Mjolnir were part of security either

[keen plank]

Yes. One or two big ones in particular.

[craggy finch]

imagine a random maintenance colonist turning into a one man army

[keen plank]

They’re inherently very good at blending in.

[opaque mural]

is there a website that has all the codex entries? lowk finding some of these valuables are impossible 💀

[keen plank]

I love this idea. Maybe under the direction of one of the other corrupted AI or something.

[urban hornet]

I really hope in the future they introduce more planet-side "openworld" maps. Cryo and Outpost are fine but I like the halo vibe of perimeter and dire marsh.

[keen plank]

https://codex.cyberacme.systems/

[opaque mural]

holy shit lifesaver ty 🙏

[keen plank]

@digital plaza also uploads whatever audio logs they find on their YouTube channel.

https://m.youtube.com/@Tasty_DODO/playlists

[rotund stump]

assuming you don't mind spoilers from the way you asked this I'll just spill

lh'owon's gone, the s'pht's had some epiphany about being graveyard security of some kind and smth about "endless consumption", straight up don't care anymore after getting freed from the pfhor and are going around worlds to feed themselves with "knowledge of dying worlds"

durandal's way of escaping to the boomer in the trilogy was revealed to be a complete cloning procedure and that left one of himself behind on the marathon, when the IDEA program came to sweep the place to flag rampant AIs for removal he mangled it and started wearing its skin and went dormant pretty shortly after

god I can perfectly read what I said with british accent from a 80yo I was just binging galnet digest's yearly recap when I typed this 💀

[visual lynx]

they're not. all ten were abducted and "translated to Pfhor slave tanks", but not all of them survived.

[earnest orchid]

Has anyone had the voice over on Dire Marsh that talks about hunting runners? Think I’ve only had it around the 10 minute mark -
Does anyone know what that is? 😂

[nocturne shadow]

okay but the coexistence of C.A.R.R.I. and Arachne is so funny

[coral vale]

Cyac just want the runners to be actually productive instead of 80% of the salvage being lost due to runners killing each others and being unable to carry all the loot

[forest gate]

I remember when someone on the Arc Raiders subreddit math out how unproductive killing other players was to the overall game because it actively lessens the resources that are brought back to Esperanza

[coral vale]

Imagine paying people to do something and they spend most of their time shooting each others instead of doing what you asked them

Of course the runners don't care cuz they don't want to help anyone, they want to get paid for the loot they bring back, so making it more scarce by killing the other suppliers is a great move

[keen plank]

Could be UESC. That seems to be the second focus of their offensive and it will intensify even more next season.

Obviously Outpost and Cryo have a higher presence of units, but they’re about to make Dire Marsh their key staging ground for reinforcement.

[eternal knoll]

ppl wld never kill each other in a zombie apocalypse… it’s so irrational! for the survival of the species!

i am a master of storytelling!

[forest gate]

In the zombie apocalypse, killing other people is potentially creating more zombies depending on what caused the problem in the first place.

Humans would fight each other over resources if they were scarce but they shouldn’t be unless the zombie apocalypse is also somehow making the land less fertile for crops etc.

Then again Covid proved that people are kind of arseholes so 🤷‍♂️

[coral vale]

We don't fight because it's the optimal thing to do we fight because we tell each other it's the optimal thing to do so we gaslight ourselves that we need to kill each others over toilet paper that is in sufficient supply for everyone

[eternal knoll]

aye if people were rational we wouldnt feel whatever it is we feel that makes us tell zombie apocalypse stories in the first place

[tall skiff]

whats with the moths in the loading screens?

afaik they have never been seen in marketing material or mentioned in lore

are they used for recycling shell materials?

[stiff hearth]

we are literally woven together by artificial silk moth larva

the moth you see is a silk moth. in real life it’s larva are know as silkworms

https://youtu.be/fvbEnWLRo1s?t=79&si=Hb7CeAK-SP05M1pM

and this process was shown in the reveal trailer for marathon

[burnt nebula]

is there a lore reason why runners die out of bounds? are they like confined to certain areas? wondering if the little border marker thingies are placed there by cyberacme or something

[stiff hearth]

I don’t know if there’s any direct explanation, but my idea has been that those represent the operational area of your Shell and extending beyond it I assume you wouldn’t be able to send your mind back due to interference or something. so it auto ejects you to preserve the data and mind

[burnt nebula]

thats brutal if true. you're basically a dog on a leash, cant ever stray too far from where youre tethered to

[stiff hearth]

pretty much no freedom for you buddy

[burnt nebula]

i wanna know what i did to end up here

i musta been a very naughty boy

or i just didnt read the small print

[stiff hearth]

they likely won’t tell us but you can use that to write your own story. too much debt? situation on mars unlivable? need to get away from folks that want you dead? payment for a past crime? could be a lot

[urban hornet]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVGTtV9M6sg

I feel like this was the inspo

[stiff hearth]

nice

[urban hornet]

Even the music is very Marathon

[stiff hearth]

yeah that’s neat

[tall skiff]

by the worms, not the moths proper, which are shown eating internal tubing (veins?)

[pure wagon]

Question. Why did nucal seemingly have a machine already built to stabilize anomalous matter ?

[tall skiff]

they may have participated in its development during the colonys existence

the corpos may be lying to us about the supposed random disaster altogethre

[stiff hearth]

it’s quite possible that the worms are bred, using special engineered moths. i assume we see a few things in that sequence. the moth being fed, some of the weaveworms, as well as the process they use to reclaim biomatter as they can use organic protein to form biomata. I believe there is a codex entry detailing the creation of a shell, and during the process something goes wrong, and when the doctor touches his hand to the body, the weave worms start breaking down his body and fusing him to the Shell. When they discovered him hours later, he was this awful fused mass.

[sage bay]

Not a super serious lore implication but hypothetically couldn’t a runner cram themselves into a dconn if the exfils were all used and they were close enough?

Also on that note I can imagine vandal trying to grab bodies across map to try and shove them into dconns lolll some please draw that

[unreal sierra]

oh, that’s horrible! :3

screams

[stiff hearth]

yeah lol

[tall skiff]

they only __d__e__con__struct matter to transmit data

i dont think they preserve the matter itself, like estep does

[pure wagon]

That would be kinda hilarious tho

Like if rook was sneaking around and used a DCON instead of an exfil

[unreal sierra]

“damn, i wonder who’ll clean these shells up..” looks at dcon

[stiff hearth]

they naturally rapidly break down after neural disconnection

you can actually see the process in game as the bodies decay over time in the match

[unreal sierra]

still, won’t stop me from cramming them into a dcon for credits. :/

[pure wagon]

Rook hiding in a dcon thinking he’s safe only to get DCON’d by accident when a runner throws something in without looking and instantly turns it on

[unreal sierra]

“runnah, cram seven rooks with uesc sux in permanent markah on them into a dcon, in one run.”

[pure wagon]

Lmao

[frigid salmon]

Why is it that when kaal1 was finally made with 100% memory transfer from a cat it some how made a super kitty and even the prototype cats brought to tc4 some how developed special abilities but us "humans" in these shell aren't?

[earnest orchid]

This makes total sense.
It’s just weird as the voice line sounds purely humans, don’t recognise it as a faction leader but maybe they are UESC ?

[earnest orchid]

Wait I’ve just realised this may be Durandal 😂😭

[earnest orchid]

I love this as a concept. That’s so smart.
Worm creatures but the moth eats away the shell that’d be sick

[earnest orchid]

This is how I imagine it.
The shell is owned by the corps & they’ve only granted you a contract to operate in a certain area. They’d rather the shell destroyed than you stray from an operational plan

[pure wagon]

Yk what that would explain why things like moths are flying around as particles on tciv. That always confused me

[earnest orchid]

Oh that’s awful 😭
All the buggies just waiting to eat your synthetic flesh

[eternal shell]

sure, sounds bad but it's like that irl too

[cosmic forge]

Hi my marathon oracles SMEs. In the "A Message from Gus Moraine, NuCaloric | Marathon is Live" youtube video in the official Marathon youtube at 1:36 there is a black digital lion roaring. Does anyone know what that is?

[earnest orchid]

Similar vein but do we know if the match timer is linked to the connection to the shell or the expiration of the shell?

I think I prefer the expiration bcz again it shows how much the corps distrust the shell users.
Ensuring the shell is destroyed so it can’t be stolen / escape

[stiff hearth]

no, it’s actually because due to the weird effects of the anomaly on the colony, you can only stay there safely for about 25 minutes afterwards the influence of the anomaly starts to try and infect your neural and data processing centers and so your Shell automatically ejects you to save your mind

FAILURE TO EXFIL—A DANGER UNIQUE TO TAU CETI: One harsh reality learned through trial and error by the earliest RUNNERS to touch down planet-side on TAU CETI IV is that some combination of atmospheric disruption and anomalous energy patterns limits the viability of the neural sync housing. After a short period, the connection between a RUNNER's consciousness and a SHELL's internal systems will fray, triggering immediate neural ejection. This complication requires RUNNERS to carefully monitor their time spent on-planet via geosync orbital links that provide windows in which to successfully exfil/eject. Strategically planning or adapting a run to EXFIL prior to the geosync window closing is key to a successful run. Miss the window, and a forced neural ejection will trigger at the last instant, saving the RUNNER's consciousness but forfeiting the SHELL and any items carried, regardless of emotional attachment.

[eternal shell]

in more typical use cases, shells last for a lot longer than 25 minutes

[stiff hearth]

https://codex.cyberacme.systems/entry/this-is-marathon?search=shells

[pure wagon]

Now I wanna know what is experienced if you could override the ejection and allow the anomaly to continue effecting you

[pure wagon]

Sounds like the Traxus lion

[craggy finch]

imagine you're some elite Destroyer merc with a cool outfit and your body starts rotting after less than half an hour while fighting on Mars or something

[stiff hearth]

probably the same fate as the colonists

[cosmic forge]

it is. I googled 2026 marathon lion. Nothing came up. But Traxus lion shows exactly what I am talking about! Cool. TY

[pure wagon]

Which we don’t know what happened to them.

[stiff hearth]

well we know what happened to at least one

[craggy finch]

I wonder what the justification for the Cryo Archive time limit is

[stiff hearth]

they exploded into liquid… something

[craggy finch]

Durandal getting bored and kicking you out?

[stiff hearth]

if it IS a wrk causing it i imagine any kind of lovecraftian end and it is probably right lol

[craggy finch]

We have PiD as frame of reference for what happens to people who die around one (that is sleeping)

they exist within their dead bodies and their senses decay with their flesh

No word on what happens to those outright consumed like Tfear's fleet

[pure wagon]

i thought the justification was some kind of scrambling effect impacting the marathon

[eternal shell]

nothing good i imagine:

term.out
origin: High Admiral Tfear
destin: undef
stamp: terminus

The trih xeem broke against my dying vessel and smashed a fine patina across the mystery shields of this station.  My crew battled the aliens during the blast, and the silence which came after was sullen and deafening--the pure silence of victory.
^^^alks897
^^^^rwx777
^^rw-664
But the trackless whisper chattering through the hollow space in these cursed walls buzzes and threatens madness.  The abomination cracked the shells of my crew and sucked the husks, tossing them unseen and shattering the spindle like a dried creche.



term.out
origin: High Admiral Tfear
destin: undef
stamp: terminus

The shields are gone, not down, but gone, and so are the engineers.  It's coming back, I'm sure: and my last mercy is immolation.

Great Mother crouched behind the Throne, I make this wrong right.
^^^alks897
^^^^rwx777
^^rw-664

[craggy finch]

Yeah the description is a little different from how the Anomaly affects people

[craggy finch]

dammit gonna have to peruse the Cryo codex

[dreamy hawk]

Thankfully if you (are able to exfil) cryo has by far the easiest codex entries to get.

[dreamy hawk]

Sounds like a good time imo

@eternal shell I watched that role change in real time and I’m still cranky. SMH.

[eternal shell]

heheeh borger

also i swapped yesterday, how slowly does it update for people

[dreamy hawk]

Weird. You still had the MIDA blue until after I replied to you; I wonder if that forced a refresh on my client.

[eternal shell]

so far the arachne channel has been the most on topic (also there's no talk timer there)

[stiff hearth]

yeah mostly pvp talk and arachne memes lol

[dense tendon]

its like arachne itself. there's no actual content for em in game. no priority contracts. nothin to talk about.
jus skin to take.

clockin in for my shift at the skinning factory

[craggy finch]

Traxus players just talk about the grindset

[stiff hearth]

hope we get more later i want prioritys for arachne

[craggy finch]

Hardline sponsored kit has tarnished a lot of Traxus' reputation with players though

it doesn't help that Arachne has better meta guns for sale

aside from the railgun, and Traxus has the sniper rifle

[eternal shell]

mida won big by having bully in the sponsored kit

[craggy finch]

It's half the reason I converted from NuCal

plus their shell colours are dope

the camo green with muted purple sells the paramilitary guerilla feel

[dreamy hawk]

This is still my favorite sponsor kit, everyone else is wrong.

[dreamy hawk]

This is still my least favorite sponsor kit, everyone else is wrong.

🤣

[eternal shell]

how tho