[SEASON 2] Stalkers RPG General Chat Thread (The Secret Clubhouse!)

[VeloJello]

Next turn, I mean. I know they've all moved.

Also, as we may have been lucky enough to find a Stalker early on (though I would be hesitant to say we've nailed the suspect down; this was basically investigating an obvious source, followed by searching one place with one perk, and then cross-referencing), a question must now arise: Do we go through with assassination, try to hold out to find the Exorcist tutor, or try for the Sin Purge Ritual?

Either of the latter two, preferably the last, for sure. The last thing we need is to have the Stalkers' hosts suffer needlessly. I can't stop anyone from killing Stalkers, but as it serves no practical purpose (most likely doesn't slow the Doom Counter, etc) and does more harm than good - especially since we might hit a wrong target - I'm staunchly opposed to assassination.

[Noblejanobii]

I can kill them now if you're all too weak to. I understand, your first kill is never easy. Let the professional handle it.

[LKWayvern]

Not killing isn't weak, Madder! In fact, sometimes it's rather admirable! And besides, what if someone IS trying to deflect blame from themself and onto Nairek? If we kill the wrong Pokemon, the Doom Tracker goes up, just like if a Stalker had committed the murder! If we get this wrong, we only help the Stalkers!

[The Nonexistent Tazz]

I'd suggest interviewing Dominique (and the Martacus) for this precise reason, just to dead-on confirm (though we don't want to directly talk to the Martacus about this). Who knows? We may be dealing with an odd, hithero unknown variety of botanical nightmare grown by a non-grass Pokemon to frame up the Martacus.

Then again, we may be giving the Enthrallers far too much credit for their own good. They may be too, well, insane. Who knows? The unconscious Pokemon in the locker might be the Exorcism tutor. Or something.

[EmeraldSky]

I wholeheartedly agree on not killing anyone ourselves unless there is no other option--it's just too risky.

[Neo Emolga]

Either of the latter two, preferably the last, for sure. The last thing we need is to have the Stalkers' hosts suffer needlessly. I can't stop anyone from killing Stalkers, but as it serves no practical purpose (most likely doesn't slow the Doom Counter, etc) and does more harm than good - especially since we might hit a wrong target - I'm staunchly opposed to assassination.

I do have to say that unlike Round 1 where Stalker kills were kind of just random and out of the blue, this installment has it changed where eliminating Stalkers WILL slow down the Doom Counter and reduce the chance a civilian is killed when the RNG event triggers at the end of the Night Cycle. As a result, it will keep the innocent NPCs on the suspect list alive if there are fewer and fewer Stalkers to attack the innocent civilians. This in turn keeps the Skill Teachers alive, the Side Mission NPCs alive, and other VIP NPCs (police officers, private investigators, etc) alive. This time around, these decisions to act or not to act are a lot more important.

[Noblejanobii]

Not killing isn't weak, Madder! In fact, sometimes it's rather admirable! And besides, what if someone IS trying to deflect blame from themself and onto Nairek? If we kill the wrong Pokemon, the Doom Tracker goes up, just like if a Stalker had committed the murder! If we get this wrong, we only help the Stalkers!

It very much is. As the Emolga just pointed out, the decision to not act could cost us tutors, missions, and VIP NPCs. I was not saying we kill them now, I was saying if we can confirm it, I could do the kill because all of you seem too chicken to do so. I don't know about you but I recognize that this list of pokemon and list of places to search is too large for us to search entirely. By keeping this one individual alive and waiting for a tutor to come along, we could lose way more NPCs than if we had to knocked them off in the first place. Imagine if the RNG hits a police officer or an exorcist tutor, we've just lost a chance to find more stalkers and save more NPCs because you were too weak to make the move when you had the chance. Remember, inaction can be and is just as guilty in action in many cases.

Yeah you can't compare this to Kopis's case. There are different, much more risky circumstances in this case. We need only look to our world's current news to see how much crap people get for not making the move when they had the chance. So you can't say not killing is weak, especially when it's the right move to make.

[LKWayvern]

...
I never said that 'not killing is weak'. I did say that 'not killing isn't weak'. There is a line between cautious and weak, you would be wise to realize, and that cautiousness is a good thing to have.
We made it through Aryia without killing anyone... I'd like to make it through Valdyne without doing so either. I am perfectly aware of the stakes. And I would like to point out that the murders will not slow or stop if there are any Stalkers at all left.
And besides. It's been confirmed that there are 11 Stalkers this time, right? There are 20 of us. I'm certain that if we found the identities of all 11 Stalkers, we could assassinate all of them in one fell swoop if it came to it, with or without Excorcisms or the Sin Purge Ritual.

[VeloJello]

That's... not great. These Stalkers really are operating differently.


Right now, though, it's a moot point. We don't know the identities of any Stalkers right now. I say that our best bet is hunting for the Exorcism teacher like there's no beeping tomorrow, and then tagging Stalkers with that as we find them or until we can perform the Sin Purge Ritual.

EDIT: Also, tomorrow I'm gonna interview Dominique, unless someone with a better rapport wants to, or thinks I should go and visit that Security Door instead.

[Noblejanobii]

...
I never said that 'not killing is weak'. I did say that 'not killing isn't weak'. There is a line between cautious and weak, you would be wise to realize, and that cautiousness is a good thing to have.
We made it through Aryia without killing anyone... I'd like to make it through Valdyne without doing so either. I am perfectly aware of the stakes. And I would like to point out that the murders will not slow or stop if there are any Stalkers at all left.
And besides. It's been confirmed that there are 11 Stalkers this time, right? There are 20 of us. I'm certain that if we found the identities of all 11 Stalkers, we could assassinate all of them in one fell swoop if it came to it, with or without Excorcisms or the Sin Purge Ritual.

That's the thing though, we did kill people because we weren't quick enough to solve the problem. We didn't kill Koax so we lost three members of that town we could have saved. Everything has been raised on the stakes. There's 128 pokemon to interview this time, not 60. There were only six stalkers last time and we don't know how many this time, at least not according to the first post. And we still lost three pokemon even with the ability to act immediately after our first action was answered. Now we're constrained to one action per cycle with double the places to search, double the pokemon to interview, an unknown amount of stalkers, and side missions to carry out. It's a much more complex system than last time.

Plus I don't need your permission to assassinate anyone, I only require the Shaymin's permission. And if I'm wrong then I'm just one step closer to being knocked out from the game. You can't do anything to stop me. You're refusing to acknowledge any of the points we bring up either. I did not say you said killing is weak, I say not killing when we have the chance to save more lives is weak. As a returner you need to recognize that these guys have wised up and we need to make our move when we can. I already stated I'm not just going to kill willy nilly, but if I judge it fit, then I'll deal the blow when the rest of you are too frozen in this perfectionist's utopia of this clubhouse.