I feel like there's something missing from The Outer Worlds

[feotakahari]

The central conflict of The Outer Worlds is that there isn't enough food to feed the people, and there aren't enough trained researchers to figure out how to grow more food. The Board wants to reduce the population to match the food supply. Phineas prefers to revive the frozen researchers on the lost colony ship, putting more minds to work on the problem of food production. What seems strange to me is that they both treat the greater mass of unskilled laborers as a problem to be worked around, rather than a resource to be tapped. Sure, they're ill-educated and heavily specialized, but they're still capable of creative problem-solving within their niche. And we've seen that the Board rewards corporate politics over actual talent, meaning the townships must be full of low-ranking but talented people whose aptitudes are going to waste. Real science is incremental, made from many small discoveries by many people, and the idea of a few great men and women arising to save and/or cleanse the masses feels oddly Randite.

Comments

[lb_lee]

Yeeeeah, it seems like it'd be easier to train someone you've already got, rather than go digging around in frozen wastes.

Besides, coming from a different background means more likely variety in thoughts and influences, so more likely you get a surprise discover! So you ask me, you want your researchers coming from a BUNCH of different backgrounds, to cover different possibilities and framing!

--Mori/Sneak