#bitbot

I was reluctant at first to believe BitBot used generative ai in Ascendance. While replacing artists with "automated plagiarism machines" is worthy of condemnation, we must take care not to conduct witch hunts. Human error and sheer inexperience may occasionally produce results that resemble chatgpt. It was trained on human works, after all.

Furthermore, I'd found no evidence of generative images or text in BitBot's The Dead Shall Rise. That comic had a different set of problems.

I like to think I have a good eye for identifying generated images and text. I've spent my entire life writing and drawing. When generative content cast its ugly shadow across the already bot dominated web, I trained myself to identify the tell tale signs of robotic thievery.

Using a so-called "ai detector" is ill-advised. These are also LLMs and prone to error. Your own brain is superior. When it comes to judging writing, there are three major tells that signal you might be dealing with an inorganic:

It's not A, it's B

Excessive use of -- or ;

Lists of three (A, B, and C)

Recall that LLMs are trained on human writing. I've used all of these writing quirks in this very tumblr post to illustrate how diagnosing generative output requires more than identifying a list of symptoms. Additionally, the reader should perform a comprehensive vibe check. Does the text read like something a human being would write? How does sentence length and structure vary? Is the author communicating with the audience or merely talking at them? Are human errors present? Ect.

Armed with this knowledge, let's take a look at a selection of codices from Ascendance.

Not off to a great start, but there's reason for doubt! It's bad form to judge an entire body of work on a single paragraph.

There are human errors in sentence 4. The word "and" is over-used. It would be more correct to write "We have inscribed the lives of twice-dead kings, the annals of bloodless wars and ashless conflagrations." Does this sentence make sense? Yes! The author is simply illustrating that their Order has borne witness to impossible occurrences, events that seem inherently contradictory -- paradoxes! This sounds interesting.

While this codex has fewer tells, I find the last two sentences concerning. Chatgpt is known to take on a "corporate" tone. Her unrest is not merely passive sorrow. It is continuing action, reads like a hilariously out of touch post from r/linkedinlunatics. This one fails the vibe check.

No human fan would make the mistake of claiming that the Guardian of States oversees life, death, and all that lies between; this is Mortanius's domain, not that of Anarcrothe.

Since BO1 States has been associated with changing forms (represented by a werewolf where the Pillar's sigil would appear in later games) and states of matter relating to the physical world. Per Silicon Knights: "Anarcrothe the Alchemist is a tinkerer. He fools around with chemicals, alien substances and strange machinery. He concocts, explores, experiments, and dabbles with forces he only partially understands."

Although such brevity is uncharacteristic of chatgpt, we are standing on shaky ground. This codex may have been cut short as the output devolved into utter absurdity.

Now this is long-winded! Sentence length varies from 20 to 30 words. Absorbing a relentless string of winding sentences can strain your eyes and brain, so if you tried to read it you might be feeling a little exhausted.

Draw your attention to the first sentence. Vampires are not born, they are sired. If the intent of this passage is to inform an uninformed reader about the nature of vampires, it has already failed. Merriam-Webster defines "sired" as "beget, especially of domestic animals" or "originate, to bring into being." The former is more common, as "sire" refers to one's biological male parent.

We, the audience, know what "sire" and "siring" mean in regard to vampires because the term has been popularized in vampire media. Diegetically however, the character reading this might conclude that it means to say, Vampires are not born, they are fathered -- which is nonsense.

The authors of the codices are established in universe as the Eyes of Nosgoth. They are presented as a scholarly order of mystics. They presumably wrote the codices with the intent to record and inform, therefore precise language is necessary. Vampires are not born, they are artificially created by other vampires. The elder vampire is called the sire.

This seems pedantic, I know, but a professional writer would take note of these details. A professional writer would not write several protracted, bland sentences in a row to bore their audience.

This is the passage that broke me. Unlike the other codices, I immediately recognized this one as generative with no doubt in my mind.

You see, "it's not A, it's B" is more than mere sentence structure now: it's become a pattern of thought. No, but yes. No, but yes. Repeated. Look how the first sentence sets up an expectation and the next sentence denies that expectation. This goes on. Beat by beat, repeated. Even when it's not saying "B, not A" it still finds a way to say "B, not A." Like an electronic drum, the text is monotonous.

Generative ai is a poison that feeds on laziness and greed. If a writer used it once, you can be sure they've used it multiple times. Still, I hope you learned something new from suffering through my exhaustive case studies.

Does this mean that all of Ascendance was ai generated? I don't believe so, though I am feeling more skeptical. The pixel art ranges from charming to visually striking and the dialogue flows naturally, at least some of the time. When the writing is cheesy it feels cheesy in a human way, as if the writer is trying too hard. LLMs never put in effort. They are incapable.

Now, do I find it extremely telling that BitBot used generative ai specifically to add lore to their collectibles? Well...

It's said that artists in favor of generative ai only use it for the parts of art they find tedious. Don't like shading? Let the ai do it. Don't like editing? Let the ai do it. Don't like writing lore? Let the ai do it.

Legacy of Kain's lore is one of its most vital aspects. Lore has sustained passionate debate and conversation and inspired fan artists and writers for over 20 years while the series languished at the edge of a cliff. The Defiance Remaster is oozing with love and curiosity for the world of Nosgoth, crafted by a small comradery of fans who literally dedicated their lives to preserving Legacy of Kain, first on the web and now in the form of an official remaster. On the other hand, BitBot has presented us with consistently rushed and lazy work that both misunderstands and disrespects what made the series special in the first place.

A full itemized list of physical rewards from The Dead Shall Rise Kickstarter.

With 33 tiers of rewards resulting in 8836 backers and $1,496,557 USD raised let us see how this adds up.

This will not include any additional optional rewards backers may or may not have added on as there is a way to see outside of your own pledges as far as I know.

First of all let's get all the reward tiers laid out in the order of: # of Backers - Reward(s) - Cost

266 - Digital PDF - $15

465 - SALE Deluxe Digital PDF - $16

693 - Deluxe Digital PDF - $20

1127 - SALE Hardcover Rapoza Cover + Digital PDF - $40

1664 - Hardcover Rapoza Cover + Digital PDF - $45

365 - Hardcover Therrien Variant + Deluxe Digital PDF - $75

500 - Picture Disc Vinyl - Signed + Digital Album + Hardcover Rapoza Cover + Digital PDF - $85

999 - SALE Deluxe Signed Hardcover Lovett +Digital PDF - $90

1401 - Deluxe Signed Hardcover Lovett +Digital PDF - $95

187 - SALE Raziel Mask + Hardcover Rapoza Cover + Digital PDF - $150

22 - SALE Kain Mask + Hardcover Rapoza Cover + Digital PDF - $150

318 - Raziel Mask + Hardcover Rapoza Cover + Digital PDF - $160

41 - Kain Mask + Hardcover Rapoza Cover + Digital PDF - $160

100 - Hardcover Collection (Hardcover Rapoza + Hardcover Therrien Variant + Deluxe Signed Hardcover Lovett Variant w/Slip Case) +Deluxe Digital PDF - $200 (a whopping $15 saved)

13 - Art Print Set 1 - Crystal Dynamics (10 11x17 prints from the Legacy of Kain archive) + Hardcover Rapoza Cover + Digital PDF - $200

20 - Art Print Set 2 - Limited Edition + COA (15 art prints from the Legacy of Kain archive and Certificate of Authenticity from Crystal Dynamics) + Hardcover Rapoza Cover + Digital PDF - $300

13 - Art Print Set 3 - Bit Bot Collection (15 11x17 prints of art commissioned specifically for The Dead Shall Rise project) - $250

22 - Skate Deck - Signed + Hardcover Rapoza Cover + Digital PDF - $200

4 - Signed 18x24 giclée print by Dave Rapoza + Hardcover Rapoza Cover + Digital PDF - $300

9 - Signed 18x24 giclée print by Aaron Lovett + Hardcover Rapoza Cover + Digital PDF - $300

4 - Signed 18x24 giclée print by Matthew Therrien + Hardcover Rapoza Cover + Digital PDF - $300

250 - SALE - Reaver Replica + Hardcover Rapoza Cover + Digital PDF - $375

205 - Reaver Replica + Hardcover Rapoza Cover + Digital PDF - $400

1 - Asevedo Original Pencil Art + Hardcover Rapoza Cover + Digital PDF - $500

1 - Therrien Original Pencil Art + Hardcover Rapoza Cover + Digital PDF - $500

10 - Reaver Replica Sapphire Variant + Hardcover Rapoza Cover + Digital PDF - $400

0 - Reaver Replica Crimson Variant + Hardcover Rapoza Cover + Digital PDF - $400

2 - Apparel Bundle - (15 shirts, 2 hoodies, 2 hats) - $825

5 - Apparel Bundle - (15 shirts, 2 hoodies, 2 hats) + Hardcover Rapoza Cover + Digital PDF - $825 ???!!

Seriously?! The had two of the same tier for the same price but one comes with the book?! 2 people unfortunately didn't see that.

4 - Reaver Replica Gold+ Hardcover Rapoza Cover + Digital PDF + Original Sketch by Aaron Lovett - $1500

10 - Get Drawn Into the Comic - Hardcover Rapoza Cover + Digital PDF - $1500

47 - Ultimate Fan Package (limited to 125) - $500 Savings!

Signed Deluxe Hardcover/Slip-Case Edition, Limited Therrien HC Variant Cover, Rapoza HC Cover, Signed Celldweller Picture Disc Vinyl, Crimson Vinyl, Sapphire Vinyl, Audiophile Black Vinyl, Raziel Mask, Kain Mask, Traditional Reaver Replica Sword, 30 11x17 Prints, 14 T-Shirts, 2 Hats, 2 Hoodies, 3 Giclée Prints, 2 Flags, Map Wall Scroll, Signed Script, Skate Deck + Digital PDF - $2500

1 - Preston Asevedo Original Painting - Hardcover Rapoza Cover + Digital PDF - $2500

SO

I threw this all into an excel sheet because why tf not. It'll be easier to drudge through this in the long run.

With all of these Tiers and Rewards itemized, we get a total of $895,795. Short $600,762 in optional add-ons from the grand total $1,496,557 USD Raised.

There is also 8769 in the rewards list, shy 67 from 8836 which I assume these are late pledges.

Part: | 1 | - | 2 |

THE STORY

We join Elaleth as she's transported into a new era, that of Nosgoth after the destruction of the Hylden Gate (post-BO2). Ky implies that Elaleth has been here before, however, he seems to be speaking about where whether than when. That or it's another error from Joshua Viola, who struggles to keep even his own story straight. You'll see what I mean in a moment.

Elaleth remarks that something feels different. Ky explains that because Moebius is dead in this era his curse no longer binds her. She will no longer tumble through time. This angers Elaleth. Without a way to return to the past she cannot resurrect Mathias, forcing her to seek Kain's favor.

"And if he refuses?" asks Ky.

"Then I will kill him."

Whatever you say, lady.

The white feathered raven watches from atop the ruined Energy Pillar as Elaleth approaches Kain's throne, which he has for some reason built despite not yet holding any claim to Nosgoth's territories. They say dress for the job you want, not the one you have.

Kain gasps, hisses, and snarls through his dialogue. I can only blame the voice director. I know Templeman can still do the voice, but in Ascendance his inflection sounds almost as unnatural as G-Man. After an exchange of banal banter and cheesy quips, Elaleth finally asks how to unwrite Mathias's death. "It is said you have the power to weave fate's tapestry according to your whims."

Ky, perhaps hoping to get Elaleth killed, urges her to lie that it was Vorador who sent her. Sadly, this plan fails. In this timeline Vorador has somehow forgiven Kain for murdering his daughter, abandoning his sire to the demon realm, and striking the blow that incited Nosgoth's most successful vampire genocide. Because if there's one thing we know about Vorador, it's that he's forgiving.

We suffer through more of the worst dialogue ever written by a human being. Finally, Kain asks Elaleth what she wants in exchange for information on paradoxes.

Instead of killing her where she stands, Kain calmly but snarkily refuses her offer of "gratitude." He goes on to stand there quietly while Elaleth and Ky have a lengthy conversation through Elaleth's pendant during which Ky suggests Elaleth tell Kain the location of the Sarafan Tomb.

Normally, I would save commentary for a different section of my post. Not this time.

Anyone who played SR1 knows that the Sarafan Tomb is not far from the Pillars. It's practically in Kain's backyard. Furthermore, given that the Neo-Sarafan have been in power for centuries at this point, it's probable that they've been hunting Sarafan relics and venerating their holy sites to legitimize their rule. Indeed, in the very next level we discover the path to the tomb heavily guarded by Neo-Sarafan remnants. There is absolutely no reason why the tomb's location or contents should be unknown to Kain. For him this information should be worse than useless. It should be an insult.

Elaleth is reluctant to offer Kain this so-called insight, but Ky convinces her by suggesting Raziel's resurrection may grant her a second chance at vengeance. However, Kain dismisses her.

Perhaps Kain is still brain damaged from his 200 year coma after the Battle of Meridian. Regardless, he needs to be convinced to raise his six sons. Elaleth suggests Kain raise them as "servants." Remember this word choice.

"Tell me then, where is this tomb?" Kain asks.

"Hiding in plain sight," answers Elaleth, somehow not dead yet. She gives him directions to the tomb as one would give directions to the gas station down the street.

But much like Elaleth herself, Kain has no intention of fulfilling his end of this bargain. He draws the Soul Reaver, criticizing her for her insolence and ignorance. Why should she be worthy of this precious, secret knowledge?

Just when you think Elaleth is finally about to be reduced to a stain on the Pillars' dais, Ariel manifests in front of the Balance Pillar. Elaleth's body odor intrigues her.

Ariel demands a game. She will describe each of the corrupted Pillar Guardians (in the form of rhyme) and Elaleth must guess the name of their Pillar until all the Nine have been spoken.

If you guess correctly, Ariel will reveal the Guardian's fate. If you guess incorrectly, Kain offers you another hint in the form of torturous poetry. If you fail a third time, Kain roasts you in a lowbrow fashion. (Videos here and here.) These are the only times Kain speaks during Ariel's game. He says nothing as Ariel blames him for cruelly murdering her fellow Guardians, the very task she sat him upon in the first place.

Ariel senses a strange presence within Elaleth's pendant. She asks her to silence it for the duration of the game show. No cheating! Elaleth whispers into her necklace, telling Ky to remain silent. This is how we learn how Ky has been speaking to her. Half-way through the game.

If Elaleth answers her questions correctly Ariel will deem her worthy of... whatever it is she believes Elaleth is destined for, we don't find out. As if Elaleth's knowledge of history is some kind of purity test. The Pillars fell only 500 years ago, well within living memory for an elder vampire, which Elaleth appears to be.

Elaleth demands Kain give her the answers she requires as if Ariel still holds any authority over him. Kain recounts the story of William the Just and the paradox that altered history when their blades struck through the overwrought purple prose of a C- English student.

Elaleth struggles to make sense of Kain's post on r/im14andthisisdeep. Angered by her downvote, Kain draws the Soul Reaver and raises it to strike her down at last.

The Soul Reaver halts mid-swing as if caught by the hand of god (or the hand of the writer). Kain and Elaleth are equally shocked by this development. Only Kain suspects what the Reaver's refusal portends. "You may be bound to my fate in ways neither of us yet grasp," he says.

As an experiment, he offers Elaleth the Soul Reaver in payment for the location of the Sarafan Tomb. Elaleth reaches for the sword.

Kain thanks her for the information and departs for the Sarafan Tomb.

DIVERGENCE FROM THE COMIC

Elaleth is shown at the Pillars when Mortanius confronts Kain. This scene occurs after Moebius's death, meaning she should have been freed of Moebius's curse right here. Ascendance avoids this continuity error.

There is no quiz show in the comic. Ariel does not appear.

Ky does not prompt Elaleth to lie to Kain or to tell him the location of the Sarafan Tomb. Selling her brother's soul to Kain is solely her idea.

ERRORS & FUCK UPS

Minor stuff first:

The age of Janos Audron lasted between the War of the Ancients and the decline of the Sarafan. Kain first encountered Janos in BO2. He did not recognize him as an ancient vampire, let alone the vampire of legend he first learned of in BO1, so this phrasing feels odd. Odder still is that Kain suspects Elaleth to be a member of Vorador's cabal. Vorador's surviving children would all be under 500 years old, most much younger due to mass casualties sustained during the war, too young to have shed their vestigial human appearance.

Ariel is not a prophet. If she could sense the weight of Elaleth's destiny she certainly would have recognized Raziel for who he is many times over.

This is not how paradoxes work. The Reaver never resisted striking William or Raziel. Back when TDSR released some of us on discord thought this was Raziel resisting striking his sister, but the spirit inside the Reaver is too ravenous and deranged for that.

Ascendance's bonus collectables, the codices, speak of an organization called the Eyes of Nosgoth. This organization has kept watch over Nosgoth's history for thousands of years and claim to have witnessed paradoxes, even studied them. In TDSR Ky teaches Elaleth about the existence of paradoxes, implying he may be a member. Personally, I think the whole concept lessens the importance of paradoxes in the series.

Nosgoth exists on a singular timeline. When history is altered the time stream reshuffles itself, taking the path of least resistance, and this process erases the previous timeline from existence. So for example, if Kain was to open a history book in Nosgoth's current timeline he would find no mention of the Nemesis, only of William the Just, because William died before he could become a tyrant. But Kain does remember the Nemesis. Why? Because he was the one who caused the paradox. This pattern holds true in SR2, except this time it's only Raziel who retains his memories of the previous timeline (Kain's memories "bloom and die", implying he lost as well as gained memories, whereas Raziel did not appear to gain any). Standing near the epicenter of a paradox affords insight, it seems.

Aside from our two protagonists, only Moebius and the Elder God seem aware of alterations to the time stream. This makes sense.

Vorador would only be aware that history changed if Kain admitted to falling for one of Moebius's tricks, which I don't believe he would do, and indeed, Vorador shows no awareness of this in SR2, Defiance, or BO2. Truth is muddy, knowledge often comes at a steep price -- these are among the central themes of Legacy of Kain.

With all of this in mind, one thing becomes clear. The moment Elaleth mentioned changing history to Kain, he should have treated her as a potential threat. This is not common knowledge. Even during the Empire, when Kain is deified, only his closest sons know the truth about what happened when Kain confronted William.

ANALYSIS

Elaleth's meeting with Kain is the most reviled segment of both game and comic. It stands as proof that Joshua Viola is unequipped to handle the intricacies of Legacy of Kain and its characters.

Ariel emphasizes Kain's lust for violence when elucidating the fate of her fellow Guardians. While such delusions are not out of character, Kain never points out that it was she who sent him after the corrupted Circle as her personal attack dog, a glaring omission that suggests the writer is pushing the narrative that Kain is indeed the monster Ariel makes him out to be.

Since BO1 Ariel has displayed contempt for vampires. She allied herself with Raziel only because they shared a common foe, much as she did when she made herself Kain's benefactor. At other times she calls Raziel a demon, a fiend. She speaks of the genocide carried about by Moebius's mob with a note of satisfaction. Elaleth is both vampire and hylden -- worse, she's come seeking to profit from Kain's wisdom, so Ariel has no reason to view her positively.

Kain's relationship with Ariel as depicted in Ascendance is contradictory. When she manifests he barks, "I did not summon you!" as if he holds dominion over her. Yet he plays along with her little game, has even prepared hints in rhyme for their contestant, and holds his tongue while Ariel slanders him as if he fears her. She ought to be no more than a nuisance.

Now about Kain's knowledge of paradoxes. Kain spent the first 200 years of his life fighting for control over Nosgoth with the help of Vorador and his offspring. Then came the Battle of Meridian. Sebastian, one of Kain's strongest lieutenants, turned traitor and organized an ambush that nearly cost Kain his life and put the Soul Reaver into the hands of the Neo-Sarafan Lord. After that Kain spent another 200 years in a coma, losing most of his memories and abilities in the process. He would go on to slay the Neo-Sarafan Lord and reclaim the Soul Reaver, though at the cost of burning bridges with Vorador. By the end of BO2 he still does not know how to create his own vampires. Presumably, this was his primary objective for the next 100 years.

At what point in all of this did Kain have time to learn the secret of creating a paradox? Sure, he might have suspected that the clash of two Soul Reavers had something to do with it, but he might have just as well assumed that changing history required nothing more complex than traveling back in time.

These are deep secrets. Even Raziel, who had heard the story of William before, had no idea that history was changed because of the Reaver until Kain explained it. He wasn't aware of the physical pull of history's current until he experienced it first hand.

So why would Kain have this knowledge so early in life? Why would he be searching for the secret to altering history when his first priority was raising an army of fanatical sons? Well, he wouldn't be. This is a misunderstanding of Kain's priorities, an overestimation of Kain's genius from a writer who assumed that Kain's wisdom was granted from birth rather than hard earned.

Assuming Kain had somehow worked out the Reaver's significance by now, that knowledge is not worth the information Elaleth provides. Kain was aware of the Sarafan Tomb before Elaleth arrived. One of the game's codices states that he had ventured inside multiple times but turned around. He would have discovered the Sarafan bodies eventually. Kain would not trade history's greatest secret for mundane knowledge.

Now let's consider Elaleth's motive. She spent two chapters seeking vengeance on her brother. Now she's offering up Raziel's body to Kain, her parents' murder and (as we shall learn) the root cause of Mathais's death. It may be Ky's idea, but she accepts it without protest. This isn't an attempt to teach Raziel the benefits of the Dark Gift, this isn't about spite. Ky suggests a second chance at vengeance but Elaleth will not commit. She offers her brother because the writer knows Kain needs to raise Raziel and this was the best way he could think of to shove his half-baked OC into the canon.