Alternate Ending?

[Bandit LOAF]

I mean, Wing Commander has never really been science-fiction - the first three games were just plain World War II in space, and the fourth was the civil war in space, plus a few Nazis.

I don't think WC4 was the Civil War in space -- the allegory dies beyond the names and flight suit colors.

I'm not sure how all of this would make continuing Prophecy the *worst* possible thing for WIng Commander. I've always personally felt that FMV was a bad idea for the series -- but I'm not going around telling everyone that we're doomed if they bring Mark Hamill back...

 

[LeHah]

I don't have anything as such against the *human* side of the story, but it often felt like the bugs didn't add anything.

When The Matrix Reloaded came out, I remember a lot of my friends complaining about it, calling it "half-assed". I said in the movie's defense is that we only saw the first half of the story and to wait to see where it went.

We don't seem to have that luck with Prophecy. It was obviously just a "passing of the torch" set-up for additional games - but since those games never came, we're left with just Prophecy. That being said - we can't really judge the intentions or outcome if it remains unfinished.

you know, the usual Star Trek-eqsue mysterious race of aliens that has been around forever and secretly influenced other civilisations

As opposed to the alien race that wants to destroy / enslave humanity?

Additionally, I'm not a big fan of the notion that the Kilrathi became what they are because of external influence - I felt that the previous games had explained well enough how the Kilrathi had evolved without resorting to alien influence.

I think that as it's made out to be - I agree. But I have no doubt that games following Prophecy would've expanded upon this and probably brought more detail and levity than simply that simple idea.

 

[Bandit LOAF]

You could even build a Cold War allegory out of the Prophecy setting -- the Kilrathi are defeated, and now the Confederation and the Aligned Peoples as the two post-war superpowers... but instead of a giant all out war that would devestate both, they fight their battles through these Nephilim space-hole flashpoints.

There's infinite possibilities.

 

[KoN21]

Okay, you guys have made good points for the prophecy.

Let's assume it's the real deal.

Are we better off in the current post-war ConFed or were we better off with the military machine that Tolwyn had envisioned?

To be fair, the less militarized ConFed has faired seemingly well against the bugs with a lot less- namely its megacarrier and quick strike carrier. Also, considering that cloaking and the flash-pak are either useless or likely to be useless against our new foes, was the Black Lance technology really something that would've helped us progress enough to be prepared for the bugs in the post-war years?

 

[NinjaLA]

its an impossible question.. for all you know in your hypothetical, the aligned people think of genetic engineering and militaristic buildups of the type Tolwyn was advocating as the highest crime a civilization can produce.. maybe if they fear humanity as more than just a pledge-for-membership civilization, then they might just wipe us out entirely.

without a sequal there is NO way to answer that question.

 

[Ijuin]

Another thought on the Nephilim, if they were a technologically advanced spacefaring race way back in the days of the ancient Kilrathi empire, shouldn't their ships and technology be a whole lot more advanced than that of the humans - who have been exploring the stars for much less time? Seems odd that their fighters and ours would be roughly a pound for pound match.

From what we see, the Nephilim are a hive society. Such societies doubtlessly discourage independant thought quite heavily, and stifle innovation. Also, until they met a civilization advaced enough AND large enough to fight them off (i.e. comparable to Confed), they would have little incentive to improve their technology. Read about The Race in Harry Turtledove's "Worldwar" series to see a species that took fifty thousand years to cover the same span of advancement that humans covered in eight hundred years from the 13th-20th centuries.

 

[ELTEE]

I think as easily as it is to see our "species" as superior, it can be easy to fall into the trap of always assuming that we are either inferior or at best equal in the discovery and utilization of new technology as compared to other races. In my mind, we are as likely to progress faster than another race in a similar time span as we are to progress slower.

 

[Mace]

Likely the "bugs" were bred to fight, and expendable.

i saw kilrathi retreat, but the bugs kept on attacking, nomatter what.

there is no such thing as a defensive weapon.

 

[Delance]

sure, there had been Steltek before, but they were never meant to play a big role in the series

Yeah, I never liked the Steltek much, I think they could've used a more mudane plot device to make the story go forward. The more interesting thing about Privateer is not the treasure hunting.