Yeah, but we've got kids now. Human kids, right now. They have needs too, and there's a hell of a lot more of them then him.
Think about the message that sends. That those kids are plainly not as valuable as one AI. An AI that knows how broken he is. You want overblown egos and a distorted view on the value of individual life for future AIs? Do you want them to think an AI will always be more important then any human? Because that's a sure way to do it. Erehwon isn't the first anyway. He's the first of his exact type, but as you even pointed out there's rampant EVAs and CABAL, and while we probably don't know about it, LEGION. Erehwon is different, but he's not special. Not in that way.
I'm not saying he shouldn't be saved. But doing something that's good for him should not come at the expense of everyone else. If we can work saving him into plans that continue to improve the lives of the people of Earth, then good! I'm for it, I would be sad to see him die. But I'll be far, far more sad and very upset that he lived because resources that could've saved many others went to him.
We always have kids to worry about.
There are kids in the Yellow Zones now, and elderly people, and the vulnerable. And still we have political demands for Blue Zone Arcologies and Consumer Goods instead of maximizing refugee retrieval.
Part of our job is to weigh the risks and to keep an eye on not just immediate issues but longterm possibilities.
Purely pragmatically? AI is both threat and opportunity.
Happy, loyal AI are potentially a force multiplier for GDI's efforts at combating Tiberium or Nod. Malcontent, competent AI is an existential threat to any society they are gestated in. GDI has a surfeit of existential threats as it stands; forestalling the creation of a new one would seem to be a judicious choice.
Broadly speaking, it depends. If we want two phases of Fortress Towns to support the large gains we hope to make with the current offensive (or to give our troops positions to fall back on if Nod turns the tide), then we probably can't/shouldn't afford to try much with Suborbital Shuttles this turn.
If we're only trying for one phase of Fortress towns with no real effort to achieve a second in 2060Q2, then things are different. Personally, I think the Infrastructure department's priority should continue to be supporting the offensive and making sure GDI is able to retain any territory it captures, so my lineup will probably be:
Infrastructure 6/6 Dice 110 R
-[] Yellow Zone Fortress Towns (Phase 4+5) 232/550 (4 Dice, 80 R) (72% chance of Phase 5)
-[] Rail Network Construction Campaigns (Phase 3) 159/300 (2 Dice, 30 R) (84% chance; one die would not be enough)
Because realistically we need at least three dice and 90 R to do even the first phase of Suborbital Shuttles. That's not in the budget unless we spend Free dice on Infrastructure and give up any reasonably good chance of getting Fortress Towns Phase 5. And I want that second phase.
I agree that we do not want to short Fortress Towns.
Nevertheless, I think its important for narrative purposes as well as mechanical ones, to invest in building out
Suborbital Shuttle transport capabilities this coming turn. Reduce our logistic vulnerability to attack on the sea lanes by establishing an additional modality for shipping priority cargo and people FAST.
Mitigating the Himalayas is also important, since I dont think its reasonable to expect them to go without when GDI is not at total wartime mobilization.
If my math is correct:
2 Infra dice on Suborbital Shuttles is a roughly 35% chance of completion.
2 Infra dice + 1 Admin Assistance is 74.8% chance of completion
2 Infra dice + 2 Admin Assistance is 92.85% chance of completion
While I'd rather have AA dice on Fusion, this is important enough that I would make an exception.
If we prioritize North Boston Phase 5 this turn, you're probably right. If we prioritize Nuuk Phase 3, I disagree, we should spend at least one and preferably two Heavy Industry dice on fusion power this turn.
Because Nuuk Phase 3 will eat through most of our remaining Energy reserve all by itself, and we could lose some Energy production capacity to Nod raids at any time. This is too important to entrust to Administrative Assistance. I want the certainty (and probable significant rollover) that comes with actual Heavy Industry dice.
Also, Bureaucracy is frankly due for its security review, so giving it a turn of downtime sounds like a good idea.
...
Also, let me point something else out to you. You are perhaps the thread's most outspoken opponent of tiberium energy. You have made no bones about the fact that you want nothing to do with tiberium energy, ever, if there is any way to avoid being forced to accept it. You think it is a terrible idea on many levels.
With this being the case, let me tell you, you do NOT want to put us in a situation where we are in danger of hitting +1 Energy or less due to completing an Energy-hungry factory and failing to complete the corresponding fusion reactors.
Not in the middle of a shooting war, one where Nod may or may not be about to unleash psychic commandoes and literal cyborg Godzilla on our asses.
Because that is the kind of situation where an avalanche of voters start piling in on tiberium energy plans out of desperation.
????
Are we on the same page? I am literally saying
add the Bureaucracy dice to whatever HI dice is already allocated to Fusion so that we can get Energy faster, and build a cushion against unforseen requirements. I have not proposed building anything particularly Energy hungry. Suborbital Shuttles does not require Energy. So where is this coming from?
As for scanning Bureaucracy, our scans are the equivalent of suspenders and belt on top of InOps routine vigilance.
The QM made a point of telling us a couple pages ago that the consequences of missed scans arent particularly significant without compounding external factors. This is something that, IMO, can be put off for a turn or two while we focus on building up our power supply so we dont run short of power in the middle of a war.
PS
We might want to consider
Tarberry in Agriculture
Yeah, that's my view on it to.
In my opinion, the best plan for keeping our little AI buddy alive would be to take advantage of the boost the reroll gave in time until death, and rtush through Nuuk stage 3 to get the cap goods to cover military usages, then start pumping HI dice into North Boston to get to stage 5 if we can, with fusion/tib power covering the rest. Hopefully by the time we get low on cap goods, which can be extended with the macrospinner and semiconductors, we'll be getting the influx from Boston stage 4.
I have no problem with finishing Nuuk 3 before pivoting to Boston 5; it should be a turn to finish, and I think Lightwhispers bought us at least that much time.
This seems dangerously dismissive of the alien super rock that we've seen mutating into how many different strains by this point? Moreover, Venus is objective proof that high pressure and low light levels aren't all that limiting. Especially when you factor in ion storms reduce the ambient light levels around major Tiberium concentrations further…
There's just way too much we don't know, so saying 'oh yeah man, the Marianas get all the way down to 34 degrees Fahrenheit- 1 degree Celsius, there's no way Tiberium is devouring our planet down there too!' Is just asking for us to get screwed over. If Tiberium can grow on Venus, then at a bare minimum every seafloor at 1 km or less depth is at risk, the lack of heat is a laughable non factor considering much colder places only slow down Tiberium somewhat. The lack of light is the only potential obstacle, and considering Tiberium generates massive amounts of cloud cover- I'm skeptical it's much of an obstacle.
No its not. IMO.
Venus is a planet with zero mining and abatement activity, high temperature and a period of seeding thats anything from half the age of Earth's Tiberium to two times its age. Despite all those advantages, coverage is only 16%. That seems to indicate that the pressure and light levels seem to be having an effect on the growth of crystalline Tib thats only mitigated by the temperature.
If further evidence presents, lemme know.
I mean, the Tib farmers didnt seed cold, dark Titan.
Or dense, hot Jupiter. Or Mars. Or Mercury.
They came all this way to seed two bodies: Venus and Earth.
The vore rock is made of hunger, hate and death, but it does seem to have limitations.
