Another probably meaningless question...

[brian333]

What's the point of the City 17 facade? By this I mean, the Half-life timeline (Hopefully you know which one I'm talking about) says the Combine's goal is to enslave the dominant species by turning some into Combine soldiers and the majority into slaves or stalkers. This seems to be the accepted view of most. But something doesn't make sense to me. The Combine had the resources to have already done this, especially when Gordon Freeman wasn't around raising hell. They seem to only turn the resistence and the ones at the wrong place at the wrong time into stalkers. They effectively had the citizens captured within the walls of City 17. Why they didn't just send troops after all the citizens and manipulated them into whatever they pleased is beyond me. The Combine could have avoided the whole Half-life 2 fiasco from the start. And allowing some to be Civil Protection without being altered really doesn't make sense. Is that really their ultimate goal for each planet? Wandering around City 17, they clearly allow them to live their lives, however crappy it may be, and for whatever reason as well. And if it is their goal, it seems they could have already completed it long ago... I'd love some opinions on this. I sure hope this is unveiled soon...

 

[Remus]

The only reason the Combine didn't immediately turn everybody into stalkers or brain washed soldiers is because Dr. Breen persuaded them into slowing down the assimilation proses. He did this by promising them the local teleportation technology.

 

[bbson john]

This question is similar to why Roman wanted to stretch out to other countries.

The only reason the Combine didn't immediately turn everybody into stalkers or brain washed soldiers is because Dr. Breen persuaded them into slowing down the assimilation proses. He did this by promising them the local teleportation technology.

As for the other reson: the Combine doesn't have such a great deal of resources.

 

[brian333]

Seems like they atleast had the ability to house the citizens as prisoners at the citadel until they had the capacity to manipulate them all to their likings. And I believe it was Breens plan all along to keep some scientists, like Eli, human to continue reasearch on various things like teleportation.

I guess my next question is... Why did Breen want to slow down the process then?

 

[bbson john]

Seems like they atleast had the ability to house the citizens as prisoners at the citadel until they had the capacity to manipulate them all to their likings. And I believe it was Breens plan all along to keep some scientists, like Eli, human to continue reasearch on various things like teleportation.

Breen didn't want Eli to continue his research. Breen'd just cash in on Eli so that he can get a higher chance to successfully persuade the rebels not to struggle and preserve his own standing. More than that, Eli is useless. Breen wants Judith only. So, Breen wanted to maintain his position as a ruler, not saving the humanity.

 

[Tyguy]

for humanity I assume.....he pretty much said "Ill convince everyone to accept this if you give me power"

 

[brian333]

I thought at the end of Half-life 2, Judith wanted to work with Eli on certain projects, I guess I'm wrong on that.

 

[bbson john]

I thought at the end of Half-life 2, Judith wanted to work with Eli on certain projects, I guess I'm wrong on that.

Judith wanted to work with Eli, correct. Actually, she didn't want Eli to die as Judith regards Eli as her "friend".

 

[brian333]

Well, thanks for the replies. I still dont quite have a firm understanding on why they didn't enslave humanity as quickly and efficiently as possible, especially after what happened on Xen. It also seems werid that, knowing the Combine absorbs as much knowledge as possible before destroying them, none of the planets they have previously visited would have developed local teleportation capabilities....But Earth of all places seems to have a good grasp on it at this point.

 

[bbson john]

Never overestimate the Combine. Human is, actually, already very intelligent. We are no worse than Combine so we can develop a teleportation technique even quicker than the Combine does.

As for the enslavement problem, well. Whatever, the Combine is not going to ensalve all the human because it takes too much effort and time. And that is pointless also. It will either eliminate us all, or, as it did, let human lives freely (of course under rules). The Combine didn't kill us all because, probably, Breen really did convinced the Combine that we can be useful in a certain extent. Though Breen is evil, he surely doesn't want to see the entire human race got destroyed.

 

[brian333]

You're probably right. The theory of full enslavement came from the half-life saga story guide, which seems to be the accepted theory by alot of people. So I kept wondering why they haven't done it already.

 

[Asknoone]

The Half-life saga guide is somewhat misguiding. It has since been proved the Combine were not on Xen.

 

[Ludah]

I wouldn't say Breen is evil. Egotistical, misguided, perhaps twisted. But he seemed to sincerely believe that assimilation into the Universal Union was of the utmost benefit to humanity.

 

[bbson john]

I wouldn't say Breen is evil. Egotistical, misguided, perhaps twisted. But he seemed to sincerely believe that assimilation into the Universal Union was of the utmost benefit to humanity.

At least he got a balance between the survival of human and his own position.

 

[99.vikram]

"It's me you should be concerned about!" = Breen is evil and selfish.

 

[bbson john]

"It's me you should be concerned about!" = Breen is evil and selfish.

If you are going to be killed, you will say that too, won't you? Breen is a poor guy, actually...

 

[Ludah]

"It's me you should be concerned about!" = Breen is evil and selfish.

Selfish. Evil is a stretch, in my opinion. An evil person is somebody who knows full well and embraces that his intentions and actions are abonimable, immoral, and harmful to others. Breen is more twisted than anything.

And that comment in particular, while carrying selfish overtones, can easily be grounded in something else. He is, after all, the one trying to persuade the Combine of humanity's usefulness, and they're finding his words to become "increasingly hollow". Without Breen, there is no negotiated surrender, and the alternative seems to be annihilation.

 

[Asknoone]

Breen is selfish, but he is far, far from evil.

 

[Llama]

As for the other reson: the Combine doesn't have such a great deal of resources.

Sorry, i'm just going to have to hit you for that, . The Combine have more than the resources needed to enslave everyone, Dr. Breen simply bought us time.

 

[Asknoone]

As for the other reson: the Combine doesn't have such a great deal of resources.

Were dealing with a race that has so many arms to attack with, so many branches to utilize that they crushed us in a mere 7 hours. They have plenty of resources.

 

[Langolier]

I wouldn't say Breen is evil. Egotistical, misguided, perhaps twisted. But he seemed to sincerely believe that assimilation into the Universal Union was of the utmost benefit to humanity.

Hitler sincerely believed that wiping out the Jews, Gypsies, Gays, and Handicapped as well as enslaving everyone else was for the benefit of humanity. He wasn't evil? My nineth grade English teacher told me that the road to Hell was paved with good intentions. It's a good saying. Breen is unquestionably a rotten old bastard and anyone doubting that is likely just falling vitcim to his propaganda.

 

[Remus]

My nineth grade English teacher told me that the road to Hell was paved with good intentions.

That's one of my favorite sayings.

Were dealing with a race that has so many arms to attack with, so many branches to utilize that they crushed us in a mere 7 hours. They have plenty of resources.

It doesn't matter how many resources they have, how big they guns are, how unbelievably advanced they are(they are about 100 years ahead of us tech wise), the only thing that matters is that we are the good guys and well kick their sorry asses:cheese: .

 

[bbson john]

Sorry, i'm just going to have to hit you for that, . The Combine have more than the resources needed to enslave everyone, Dr. Breen simply bought us time.

I used the wrong words. I mean they would not intend to waste the resources, even though they have so much to waste. It is unnecessary to enslave all since it has little difference with killing all. The combine wouldn't bother to use a lot extra-resources on this meaningless practice. Killing all is simple,and which can achieve the same goal as well.

Were dealing with a race that has so many arms to attack with, so many branches to utilize that they crushed us in a mere 7 hours. They have plenty of resources.

Humans are not as weak as you thought. We have lost in the Seven Hours War because they spawned, which our lines of defence seemed to be unhelpful. Normally, we fight in a three-dimensions space which we know how to guard ourselves. But in the war against the Combine, we are talking about four-dimensions of space. Like enemies is aeroplanes while we are using swords. We lost shortly even all countries upon the world united together. At this point, resources and technology seemed to be unrelated. We lost in our strategy.

 

[Asknoone]

Humans are not as weak as you thought. We have lost in the Seven Hours War because they spawned, which our lines of defence seemed to be unhelpful. Normally, we fight in a three-dimensions space which we know how to guard ourselves. But in the war against the Combine, we are talking about four-dimensions of space. Like enemies is aeroplanes while we are using swords. We lost shortly even all countries upon the world united together. At this point, resources and technology seemed to be unrelated. We lost in our strategy.

We lost because they appeared in the centre of several cities which we were defending from the inside. We'd already had at least a week of portal storms. Humanities numbers were low, and the Combine attacked with a far superior force. We couldn't have beaten them no matter how hard we tried. They didn't attack with Overwatch soldiers because they weren't around - they attacked us with Synths and whatever else their war machines churn out. They have so many arms to attack with.

In HL2 we won because we were simply fighting Overwatch forces - augmented humans. We won that fight but when the Citadel portals on Earth are back online they are going to be sending in something which I'm pretty sure we aren't going to be able to respond too well...

 

[bbson john]

We lost because they appeared in the centre of several cities which we were defending from the inside. We'd already had at least a week of portal storms. Humanities numbers were low, and the Combine attacked with a far superior force. We couldn't have beaten them no matter how hard we tried. They didn't attack with Overwatch soldiers because they weren't around - they attacked us with Synths and whatever else their war machines churn out. They have so many arms to attack with.

In HL2 we won because we were simply fighting Overwatch forces - augmented humans. We won that fight but when the Citadel portals on Earth are back online they are going to be sending in something which I'm pretty sure we aren't going to be able to respond too well...

It takes only a few RPGs to take down striders and gunships.

Of course they should have something stronger, more powerful. Still, all their synths must obey the laws of physics and will be taken down by any kind of the human's weapons. The cannot build synths which are invincible. Because no substances in the world can form an invulnerable object, we can always stand a chacne to fight them. Even how over number it had been, we should be able to at least withstand for more than seven hours. The primary reason we lost is that they spawned at everywhere they wished to, breaking all our defence lines, which we have no possible chance to construct a concrete line of engagement. As for the pre-event, the portal storms. I don't know whether the storms and the invasion of the Combine happened together, or not.

 

[Asknoone]

It takes only a few RPGs to take down striders and gunships.

Yes, because they attacked only with Striders and Gunships.

 

[bbson john]

Yes, because they attacked only with Striders and Gunships.

I expect something stronger, stranger and cooler in EP:2.

p.s. Is the hydra still developing?

 

[99.vikram]

p.s. Is the hydra still developing?

Nope. May she rest in peace.

 

[bbson john]

Nope. May she rest in peace.

Nooooooooooooooooooooo

 

[Asknoone]

I expect something stronger, stranger and cooler in EP:2.

What, Combine? We'll see the Hunters thats for sure...I don't know about anything else - the portals will still be down.

 

[MorganFreeman911]

Hunter is about the size of my Mortal Enemy at school (When school was still in)

 

[Remus]

Hunters? Puah... I can take those buggers out with my trusty crowbar .

 

[bbson john]

Hunters? Puah... I can take those buggers out with my trusty crowbar .

I attempted to crowbar Nihilanth. Even though Nihilanth could be damaged by crowbar, I couldn't kill it. It took gunshot as a final stroke. However, I remembered that I crowbared Nihilanth so much and it took merely a single pistol shot, as a final stroke, to dispatch it at last.

 

[99.vikram]

I attempted to crowbar Nihilanth. Even though Nihilanth could be damaged by crowbar, I couldn't kill it. It took gunshot as a final stroke. However, I remembered that I crowbared Nihilanth so much and it took merely a single pistol shot, as a final stroke, to dispatch it at last.

I shotgun'd him till his head opened up. Then I jumped into it and crowbarred him to oblivion :sniper:

You lose health if you stay inside his head for too long, I think.

 

[bbson john]

You lose health if you stay inside his head for too long, I think.

No, you will not. Just can't kill it with crowbar only.