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PaperclipPerfector  4d ago (text post)   2251 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for July 24, 2026

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Video Game Thread

I haven't had much time for playing games this week, but I put a couple more hours into Deus Ex.

In a dialogue in the Hell's Kitchen bar, you run into Jock the pilot, who 'flies your brother Paul to Hong Kong.' After being bribed with a cold(!) beer, Jock talks about how Area 51 was turned into a secret base for Echelon IV, the United States' massive AI + surveillance system, when 'the government promised to stop spying on people'.

That's an interesting notion vis-à-vis what's actually happened IRL. This game was developed in the late nineties and released in year 2000. Which means there were rumors about 'Echelon' and mass surveillance even before 9/11 made it more 'necessary' and palatable to even start building such a project. And the writer assumed that when such a program was discovered by the public, the government would be forced to shut it down, at least ostensibly.

IRL, after 2011's Snowden reveal, we've seen new, enormous data centers for complete electronic surveillance of every citizen (and non-citizen) being built to expand the program. And most other developed countries have followed suit in undermining their citizens privacy and liberty.

The real world's human species is more docile and sheep-like in their surrender to government overreach than what the Deus Ex dystopia writer envisioned.

Edit: typo.

Aaaagh!!! I missed out on an augmentation canister (aqualung/env. resistance) in the second mission of game. I'm on the third mission now. Contemplating loading a save.

Edit: The canister is beneath Castle Clinton so I'd probably have to redo the entire 2nd mission to get it. Fuck it. I'll have to continue without it. Sigh. The perfectionist in me really hates this. But it's a good exercise to let good enough be good enough. I got the other aug canister and the upgrade canister.

Edit 2: Apparently the Smuggler/Ford Schick quest could only be done in the first visit to Hell's Kitchen...? When I entered Smuggler's on that occasion, Alex told me Paul's team ran into difficulties, so I figured the main quest had reached a failstate, so I loaded a save and went straight to the warehouse district, from which there was no way out. Wtf. This game is jankier than I remember.

@Corvos @KingOfTheBailey

I missed out on an augmentation canister (aqualung/env. resistance) in the second mission of game.

Pretty sure you can get that elsewhere, and pretty sure neither aug is that good.

Oh okay, cool.

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