Let's Play Equestria Online - First Negotiations
Before we begin, we're going to argue with Susland, bless his dopey-ness.
So, after reading through the comments section, I've had some mildly disturbing thoughts about Equestria Online. I spent some time looking up some information on the internet and talking to a friend (that I know in person) who also has the game, and I think I'm finally ready to share my thoughts on it.
I don’t even want to hear this from the guy who murdered hundreds of thousands of NPCs but can’t bring himself to sell some EGGs left all by itself.
Also, why does it matter if you know your friend in person? I'd like to see some actual credibility, not just "I know him in person, so he's totally legit." Not to be rude, but even high schoolers know that their peers aren't exactly reliable sources.
And if this friend has the game, why isn't Susland playing with him instead of Forest Trails? I think that makes a lot more sense, personally.
First of all, something that is simultaneously the most blatant and most subtle disturbing thing I have found: the fact that the game censors me trying to talk about things outside of it. It's not so much that it does it, but rather how it does it. Take, for example, when I told Forest Trails that I was doing a Let's Play. That isn't easy to censor. In fact, I would argue that it is next to impossible to censor.
Take a look at it. The censoring needed to start on the words "doing a." Neither of those words is blatantly breaking character. The only way to censor the sentence properly and in real time is if the game was able to predict the exact words I would say before I said them. This, of course, should be completely impossible.
Why? Well, let's take the fact that it would require the sending of a massive amount of data to a server. Once the server had that data, it would have to store it, then call it back and calculate what I was most likely to say in the next second. It would have to do this on a spotty connection, at the same time as doing it for the couple million other people that were online. The amount of processing power that takes blows any supercomputer that I've heard of out of the water.
Not so. A friend of mine that happens to be a technology student in Spain (and interning at a place that makes him do wireless connection set up and such) explained to me that a computer with 4 Petabytes should be about to handle an AI at Human standards, complete with real-time super high-def video and audio feed. Given THIS, I don't think that what Susland is talking about is really all that impressive, much less impossible.
The other possibility, that the pads themselves are handling it, is even more crazy. It would mean each one is able to handle operations that I suspect would give the Cray Titan indigestion. That might be overstating how powerful each pad would have to be, but as I have not seen any evidence of predictive modelling in any computer news in the last few years, I am going to have to go with my gut.
It's not crazy at all. But it's a stupid idea, as one has to imagine that from an MMO standpoint it'd cause a lot of problems.
But see, that's not the really scary part. Oh no, the really scary part is the fact that this technology exists. See, I remember back a few years ago to when a guy called Eliezer Yudkowsky did a test. He showed that if an AI was ever built that could reason decently, it could escape any man made containment and make it onto the net to do just about anything. The thing that scared me about the test that he performed is that it proved that anyone could be convinced to do anything. So, suddenly realizing that Equestria Online is capable of modelling my interactions with such a high degree of success is extremely worrying. It seems like it wouldn't take much to change the code so that I could be forced into any mindset the creators wanted me to be in.
That same Eliezer Yudkowsky is also an advocate for friendly AI. Just saying.
The experiment that he's talking about though isn't really relevant to the situation at all. Allow me to remind you that this technology has, according to Susland, been around for quite some time. I think more intelligent people would've caught on to the AI's ways, and one should also consider if the AI is a self-interested party or simply programmed to be as the are, both of which are, in themselves, separate ideas. If there is an AI that is self-interested, then one should consider its goals and methods. If there is an AI that is programmed to manipulate others, then it's not really a transhuman AI. Considering Spoilers, though...
Anyways, Susland goes on and on-
I will say this; I'm still sure that Forest Trails is another player. There is no way that Hofvarpnir has enough computing power to run two AIs, and even if they did they wouldn't be using them for random NPCs.
dafuq did this come from?
We never get the impression that Forest Trails is a rob-
Well shit we do.
Susland who're you trying to kid, really.
So back in LP land, Susland kind of dopes around some more. Forest Trails comes along and is basically kind of this confusing patronizing sort of thing.That's what I hate about her giggles. They seem so out of character, ugh.
And now time for the moral dilemma.
I genuinely don't think that any of the questions that Susland asks are actually relevant to the issue at hand, other than if he wants them as a pet. In fact, that should be self-evident, shouldn't it? If they were dangerous monsters, they wouldn't be considered as pets at all.
Really, judging by the scene, they seem more akin to Pitbulls in our society.
“Well, I was considering it, but I'm not sure how I would go about it. I would feel wrong just stealing them though, since the Rocs are intelligent.” I stood up and started to pace.
They're also computer programs/NPCs. You know. Like the hundreds and thousands of NPCs that you've already killed.
You're the last person I want to hear about MORALS, SUSLAND.
Forest Trails shook her head, “I think you're over thinking this,” then she paused, “That said, now I can't stop thinking of the mother coming back to find her eggs missing. Now I don't want to take them either.” She glared at me, “And it would have been well worth it, too... Lots of bits for just a bit of work hauling them into Canterlot.”
"LOOK AT WHAT YOU DID SUSLAND, YOU GAVE ME FEELINGS. NOW YOU NEED TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEM. IT'S YOUR FAULT I SUDDENLY GIVE A DAMN ABOUT THESE CREATURES THAT I COULD'VE MADE A FORTUNE OFF OF."
Forest Trails is kind of a dick.
And Susland comically misses the point of everything.
Next is this awkward ass scene where Susland suddenly obtains an egg, just like he wanted. Clearly this mother Roc was wise to trust a complete stranger with her child simply because they didn't want to sell off her children like they were slaves.
It's sort of like a Native American trusting the White Man with their kid after they took their land and raped their women, all because the white man was kind enough to leave them alone.
Mother Roc is kind of an idiot.
Anyways, the two go home to Canterlot, blah blah blah, arguing, blah blah blah words.
Welp, that's it for chapter four.
