#bridge event

(also, sorry if you've answered this before)

my second largest criticism of them as a whole come from them using generative ai. the first is their treatment of their LGBTQ+ characters, but if people ask me if rogue trader is good, i have the complicated stance of:

“the company that made it is full of morons, but it is also a game i’ve dumped 1k+ hours into, and wrote a huge guide for.” which is… awkward.

as a whole, i am extremely critical of them for it.

to reject the joy of searching for things creatively during the research phase, to not want to organically search and define things via your own interpretation, to be unable to make a fucking mood board or mind map, something i was doing as a middle schooler, so you have to turn to ai to do this? fucking what?

it is genuinely moronic, and use of ai shows a fundamental rot of the soul. it’s partly why I won’t be doing any portrait/art analysis, and have been much harsher on dark heresy, even in its alpha state. i even fucking hate the idea that latter dlcs for rogue trader could have potentially been influenced or produced via dogshit neural networks that exist to feed the egos of sycophants and mentally dim morons, which is their only user base.

before you come and try to go “but some ai is good! blanket hating ai is awful!” yes, no shit, but i hate generative ai, which the controversy started from:

“neural networks and machine learning.” so you just want to steal, and be lazy? your games already launch as broken, buggy messes, and now you want to be even lazier? you want to take the artistically slop way of doing things? you want to kowtow and use ai in the cRPG genre, a genre that is built off tabletop role playing games, a creative form of human connection?

it’s fucking revolting.

i try to be positive on this blog, because i love warhammer, in all its forms! but warhammer is such a creative hobby, in general. the whole point is doing things with your hands, to create and to build, to view and analyze and put your own spin on your little grey dudes, so the fact that it runs rampant on the subreddits and nexusmods via god awful “ai generated portrait packs.” is so disgusting, and is partly why i avoid browsing either (amongst other reasons)

there is so much visual history, and love, and care put into warhammer as well. we have so many beautiful and talented artists that have contributed to the artistic history of this fandom/community/capitalistic venture, so i simply don’t see the use of ai as needed. so much of it is there, waiting to be found and analyzed and to help contribute itself to a project… why is it suddenly so difficult that you can’t do basic research for a game? why would i trust you to launch a working product if you can’t do something literal mentally ill middle schoolers do on tumblr? or, hell, what i do, as a severely mentally ill woman doing this as a side hobby from her 9-5?

i talked about laarthyrs portrait being unfinished, and i find it cute in relation to him, but why is it unfinished? if you are “speeding up internal processes” surely that must mean you are completing more and more and being able to give content to your commissioned artists faster? aren’t you saving money? doesn’t this mean you can commission more art for the game?

why did saros have generic art from rogue trader in the alpha? why are so many npcs, even prominent ones, lacking even basic portraits?

i want an exact breakdown of how this is speeding up internal processes, and what this means we should expect from the game. surely you’re tracking productivity increases?

i am equally harsh on other games that use it, this isn’t me “punching down” on the little guys. Owlcat, Larian, Sandfall, whoever the fuck made Arc Raiders, all of them have lost major amounts of respect from me, and i simply don’t want to recommend their games to anyone because of the use of generative ai, and i will be much more harsher discussing their games, because these had better be 10/10 experiences.

simply put, it is disgusting, and shows they have the backbone of tissue paper. generative ai is fucking beloathed on this blog, and there is a statement on the increments guide that generative ai was never used, and for any guide, or post, or anything, no “neural networks” or “machine learning” or generative ai will ever be used by me. block me, and get the fuck off my blog if you like it, i don’t want you reading or interacting with my shit.

“why do you produce content for it if you have such a strong stance against it?” because… well, i love warhammer, and i know not everyone at owlcat can be slop loving morons, and i have to hope they’re being honest about none of the content in game being created by generative ai.

heinrix kneeling, chokes on his words, and only manages a far too forceful please while holding his now melted-into-a-ring rosette.

abelard, introduce me! and do things! ↓

yes, it’s crazy to me how the game just kinda goes yeah, but, i mean, getting your home and sanctuary broken into, being interrogated by the one person who could absolutely harm and disappear you + someone you’re potentially romancing betraying you isn’t really a big deal. it just happens. i guess there’s something about xavier being in the trial during act 3, but it felt less like a trauma response and more like, well, he fits here, so. especially since theodora also appears, and the player may only have an inking that they didn’t get along. brother, some rts would be shaking and sobbing by the end of that interrogation.

but, awh, he’s going to feel fucking horrible.

he would like to stay, very badly, and hold them, even non-sexually, especially if they, the rogue trader, look at him with a pitiful, on the verge of tears expression. he almost does, his body tenses, and he smothers an urge to step forward and hold them. it’s not right, but he almost doesn’t care. almost.

but as soon as xavier places an arm on his shoulder, heinrix just allows himself to be steered away. this is proper. this is better. he really doesn’t have any place comforting them, does he? no, no, not at all.

he helped orchestrate this traumatic, or at the minimum upsetting, event. it was because he fed xavier information through reports, because he followed the rogue trader around so diligently, because he refused to write down anything but the truth, and what they did. this is, really, mostly he fault. he may not have executed them, but he sharpened the blade before handing it off.

and he is deeply unsettled. he has done this before with xavier, brought him information and presented a plan for confrontation before they both decided to pay a visit, so why does this one hurt so badly? why does he feel hot under the collar, furious at being forced to do this? why does he want to snap at his mentor, the man who gave him everything, and expects so little in return?

logically, he knows because he has begun to adore the rogue trader, and care for them past a normal, average protecting a key figure of the expanse way. but that is… unacceptable. he is undeserving of those things, like how he never deserves to comfort them, and especially so with the lord captain. if he craves touch so badly, if he is so weak, he can find a fling with someone less important, a less valued target.

xavier squeezes his shoulder, and heinrix hallucinates a sob. surely, just a hallucination. it has been a very long night indeed.

d'aww, this is cute, lol. i actually thought about it way back when the game first came out.

obviously, abelard is volunteering to take care of them. he already does that, really, and he has experience with kids. so, yes, he's ready and willing to pick up the lord captain when they raise their arms up to him in a clear pick me up motion.

i also think argenta is really enamored with them, especially if the rogue trader is a bit shy. argenta is really kind to children in game, right? if the rt asks for a bedtime story, argenta is more than happy to dump dozens of stories of saints into their eager mind. she volunteers.

cassia is… struggling. children are so delicate, and often say rude things, though, that’s dependent on the rogue trader. and what it they stare at her like she’s some freak? or scream and run away? oh, but, cassia sitting and painting while the child rt (depending on their age) fingerpaints/uses crayons or markers at her feet, both of them quiet and serene? so cute! not volunteering, but, she’ll suffer through it.

heinrix is awkward. not bad! but he doesn’t really grasp the idea of playing anymore, and probably just sits the rt under his watchful eye with an age appropriate novel or object to occupy their attention. definitely cringes from giving them a hug if they start crying, because, well, i only think he becomes a good, if overprotective, parent when he has kids with the rt. doesn’t volunteer, and really doesn’t want to do it.

idira is fun, but a little risky. not intentionally! she doesn’t want anything bad to happen to the little rt at all, and would be beside herself with guilt if something happened, but she is cheeky. she might tell them they can order all the sweets they want, and the adults have to listen. or maybe she answers “adult” questions with a bit too much honesty (not, like, a gross way) and teasing. doesn’t volunteer, but rises to the challenge.

jae is pleased as punch. such a cutiepie, and she can charm children like it’s nothing. why yes, she is a princess! and she has so many fun stories to tell them about beautiful princesses, daring rogues, and the treasures they both claim. it probably ends with the rt asleep in their bed, jae utterly assured that she has just scored major bonus points. boo-yeah! volunteers eagerly.

kibellah is bad. not hurtful, or mean, but she’s scary as hell, man. she keeps the domin very close, and refuses to let them play anywhere dangerous. total helicopter guardian, way worse than abelard and his grumbling and strictness. they probably go to pick up a stuffed animal and she sticks a needle through it to be sure it isn’t trapped with something. also, doesn’t know how to soothe them if they cry, because nobody did that for her. she doesn’t need to volunteer, she will bully and threaten her way into being their guardian.

marazhai- no.

pasqal is okay! he probably hands them a puzzle box, and sits them in his workshop with explicit orders not to touch anything. he’s probably one of the only members of the crew who can deal with the annoying way kids constantly go “why?” and how they ask questions about literally everything, and he answers while adjusting something incredibly dangerous, and that he should be focusing his full attention on-! might volunteer if he has no experience with the rts age group, for the quest of knowledge after all.

solomorne is great with kids. he canonly adopts three, so he clearly wants to be a dad (at least, when he’s romanced, but, let’s assume those parental instincts activate now) so he lets them hold his hand while he guides them very carefully through the ship. it’s pretty scary, and loud, huh? don’t worry, nothing bad will ever happen with him and his trusty companion by your side, don’t worry one bit. the rt gets a very important lesson about doing what’s right, too, even if they are a little angel. gotta start them young. he might not volunteer, because he would defer guardianship to abelard, but will perform is requested.

ulfar is dumb fun. he gets to scare them with spooky tales of ghosts on fenris, of monsters that snatch little girls with hoods off beaten trails before they’re rescued by wolves, of giant krakens sinking ships, and the icy wonders of his homeworld. he probably enjoys getting to tell so many sagas, and watching them try and draw some of the monsters he’s describing. he volunteers, chuffed at the chance.

I think heinrix absolutely blows in the kitchen but makes a passable recaf

everyone on this ship is dying of food poisoning.

AHAHAHAHAHA absolutely!!

i have pictured conversations between even the inner circle where the rt gushes to jae or idira about how "sweet" and "lovely" and "gentlemanly" and dare they say "cute" heinrix is and all jae and idira can remember is two watches ago when heinrix gripped a man by the throat and boiled him alive from the inside out without even an eyebrow twitch.

and they go "you sure about that, shereen?" / "uh, yeah, whatever you say, lord captain." but they also don't see when heinrix presses his face into the rts chest, and then looks up at them with a pleading sort of puppy dog eyes when they suggest that they really do have to get back to the bridge...

it's kind of cute (and silly) to picture theodora forcing the rt, into heinrixs lap essentially, to manipulate heinrix (but both of them catch feelings, duuuuh!) and just giving xavier an cruel little smirk.

so xavier just drags heinrix by the ear (not literally, but that's a hilarious image) and tells him to go along with it, for the mission and to benefit the inquisition, of course.

definitely not to get back at that bitch.

like, almost an arranged marriage or courtship. two very annoying authority figures manipulating their heirs into seducing each other, which then totally backfires on both of them when the traumatized wet dog interrogator falls for the heir of a dynasty.