georgio

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video game producer, terminal lurker. maybe cohost will unleash the peast (posting beast)


austin
@austin
johnnemann
@johnnemann asked:

I just reached the point in the Earthsea Shelved by Genre where you find LeGuin in the dedication for Bioshock 2.

That's me, baby. At least, indirectly.

So, when we were beginning to make that game, the creative director gave presentations to the team on what was going on with it, and one Big Idea was that the villain, Dr. Lamb, was a utilitarian. A sort of mirror of Ryan being an objectivist, this was supposed to be "hey look, if you try to optimize for the greatest good you can end up in a monstrous place".

It's been over a decade since I played it or worked on it, so I don't remember how well that translated to the final version. But anyway, upon hearing that, I talked to the creative director a bit and being an insufferable philosophy major I was like, "hey, there's a short story that's often taught as a critique of utilitarianism, and it sounds kind of similar to what you have in mind, have you read Omelas?"

And then he read it, and as a result LeGuin is in the dedication.

Oh this is great to know! ALSO: Insufferable philosophy major solidarity


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in reply to @austin's post:

Huh, I beat that game three times and I never actually realized that Eleanor Lamb is supposed to be the literal interpretation of the Omelas child.

I actually love the story of that game a lot, but it’s funny that it’s also an “I would save the child, tho” power fantasy.