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The popular YouTube channel The Game Theorists have created a fan theory centered around Fallout 4 that claims that, rather than eradicating irradiated monsters or simply starting a new government and making a go of things, the best course of action is… Improving mental health.

The theory points out that, from the time of the nuclear event that destroyed modern society, over 210 years have passed within the story’s canon. This prompts the question- Why hasn’t society fixed itself yet? In addition to providing examples of real-world growth and expansion in shorter time frames, it is also pointed out that many pockets of pre-war technology still exist. Even the remnants of the United States government, known in the Fallout franchise as the Enclave, continue to follow contingency plans created before the nuclear event. Eventually, the theory asserts that society can’t yet rebuild itself simply because the residents of the world’s wastelands cannot cooperate with one another. The reason given for this inability to cooperate is severely poor mental health, with “wastelanders” suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and schizophrenia, aggravated by radiation exposure.

So if all the efforts made by these fictional groups, such as the Brotherhood of Steel, the New California Republic, the Institute, the Commonwealth Minutemen, and many others besides, are doomed to fail, then what is the solution to rebuilding society? Self-medication, in order to make the minds of people living within the wasteland healthy again.

The theory draws several of its conclusions all the way back to a concept known as the “social contract,” a relationship between governments and citizens that has been explained by thinkers such as John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The social contract implies that citizens voluntarily give up some personal freedoms to a larger governing body, which then organizes and protects the citizens. It is the fact that governments require citizens to voluntarily concede rights that then jeopardizes the post-nuclear society, as individuals or small groups no longer trust any larger governing body enough to make decisions on their behalf. The theory calls to attention the effects of surviving disasters, and specifically nuclear disasters: Not only are 25-75% of disaster victims able to be affected by PTSD, radiation exposure, such as the case with the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, makes victims up to five times more likely to suffer from schizophrenia due to learning and memory impairment.

The theory states that ingame factions cannot adequately rebuild society because each faction focuses on larger, more unsustainable courses of action, genocide of unstable wasteland humans and creatures a particularly nefarious example. What should be focused on instead should be assisting the residents of the wasteland to become more mentally stable, particularly through usage of antidepressant and antipsychotic medication. While it may seem a strange and rather clinical view, the theory proposes that fixing “people on the micro scale” rather than “society on the macro scale” is the best course of action for rebuilding society, whether fictional or, even scarier, nonfictional, is to reestablish the mental health of individuals following the end of the world.
Watch the theory for yourself:

 

Gaming

Larian Reveals Baldur’s Gate 3’s Mildest Multiclass Builds

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Since the excellent Baldur’s Gate 3 has been out in the wild for a while, interesting data can be gleaned, such as how players choose to play an innovative new RPG from home. Stats from developer Larian Studios and posted on the PlayStation Blog show that most people want to play as a stealthy archer like in Skyrim when given nearly limitless options.

According to a fascinating graph, Rogue/Ranger is the most popular multiclass build, with over 175,000 players using it to snipe unsuspecting enemies from range. The next two builds reveal similarly. 150,000 played Barbarian/Fighter because they loved pummeling things, and 109,00 played Barbarian/Paladin, which lets players talk to their victims before beatings.

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More sense emerges as you descend. If the Paladin/Warlock/Sorcerer/Bard has high Charisma, any combination can be interesting. Charisma helps these classes cast spells and abilities and interact with NPCs outside of combat.

Playing a single class through Baldur’s Gate 3 feels great, which is what most players do. A pure Fighter or Wizard becomes so powerful by game’s end that we don’t blame you for not mixing things up!

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Play as a Tiefling Oathbreaker Paladin, Dark Urge Origin (which you must resist), or Bard for real moral dilemmas. You could also play pseudo-Aragorn again.

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Gaming

Techland Shows Durable Dying Light 2 Content Roadmap

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Techland is continuing to release Dying Light 2 content as part of its long-term support. This is surprising since the meaty Good Night, Good Luck update was released a few months ago. It’s nice to know what’s coming, but no timeline was given.

IGN-exclusive roadmap trailers reveal more co-op missions, board quests, a tower raid, and replayable GRE anomalies. Executions and finishers may be added to the April Gut Feeling update, which overhauled melee mechanics. Graphical options, weapon repair, gear, and mod dismantling are always welcome.

Knives, polearms, and more enemy variants are coming, including a Nightmare difficulty. Changes to NG+ include firearms. Players can finally dress to their hearts’ content with new cosmetic options.

Has Techland’s Dying Light 2 support lured you back? Would you rather focus on something new?

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Gaming

Epic to Globalize V-Buck Price Hike

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Epic Games expanded the Fortnite V-Buck “pricing alignment” after laying off almost 900 employees, citing “inflation and currency fluctuations”. Fortnite’s premium currency will rise in international markets, including the largest.

Epic Games will raise the price of V-Bucks and real money content packs in the Czech Republic, Denmark, Eurozone countries, Hungary, Japan, Norway, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Turkey, and the US (including all US Dollar storefronts) on October 27.

Raising the price of this fictitious currency was successful when the company trialed it in the UK, Canada, and Mexico, so it was decided to announce it worldwide now. These USD increases range from $1 (1000 V-Bucks, previous $7.99) to $10 (13,500 V-Bucks, previous $79.99).

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How do you view Epic’s timing and pricing increase?

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