Mind Control

[Bertilak]

Which of the original seven faction's citizens and military units do you think are flavorfully the most likely to be immune to enemy mind control?

[Yitzi]

The Believers, as religious fanaticism is hard to work through.

The Gaians, being fairly laid-back, are likely to be fairly easy, at least early on; once they really get a connection to Planet, that could change things.  (Easiest way to do this mechanically would be to give all native life forms polymorphic encryption; it won't actually affect the cost to subvert them, since that's impossible, but would affect any base they're in.)

Similar for the Peacekeepers (except the part about getting a connection to Planet.)

Morganites would likely be fairly easy as well, being pragmatists.

University are a possibility (infiltrating their networks to get access is easy, reflected in-game by a low cost to mind control, but the mind control itself would likely be on the harder side), but a scientific approach tends not to have as strong an effect on the human mind as religious belief.

Spartans would be the second best choice, but survivalism still is weaker in this regard than religion.

Hive is an interesting case: The elite (Yang and his followers) are even more likely to be immune than the Believers, but the masses will be pathetically easy.

[Geo]

I think I go with the Spartans as most resilient units, and Believers as most resilient citizens.
I read canon certain parts of Spartan Citizenry are pretty much discarded, and in the case of Believer soldiers, zealotry often doesn't survive the harsh reality of a hostile environment (in this case combat being the environment) when you're not totally convinced of the validity of your core beliefs.

[Kirov]

Believers, for obvious reasons. They are described as 'fanatics', and those people have impenetrable logic, very impervious to facts.

[Linamints]

I find believers to be both sides of the coin honestly. A lot of the time the fanatics are themselves brainwashed, so it stands to reason they certainly can be susceptible to mind control, however it seems once they are brainwashed they're pretty hard to untrain.

Going strictly off of in-game personalities though I'd have to say Gains because of their close work with native life forms. Unless I've completely misunderstood Mind worms, a lot of their threat IS the fact that they have so much force over the human mind.
The faction working closest with the native life forms would have to train people with stronger minds that are more resistant to mental control. And from what I've gathered that would hands down be the Gains.

[Geo]

Going strictly off of in-game personalities though I'd have to say Gains because of their close work with native life forms. Unless I've completely misunderstood Mind worms, a lot of their threat IS the fact that they have so much force over the human mind.
The faction working closest with the native life forms would have to train people with stronger minds that are more resistant to mental control. And from what I've gathered that would hands down be the Gains.

The 'native' power over humans are illusions and empathy. That's IMO another take then brainwashing through propaganda.

[Nexii]

Believers

Mind Control might be a bit of a stretch the way its described.  I saw it more like probe teams convincing the citizenry to join another cause (i.e. factor) than complete brainwashing.  More like energy credits spent on propaganda...but I guess that's similar

[Bertilak]

Okay, it appears as though most of the respondents would give the mindcontrol bonus to the Believer's. With that in mind, who do you think should recieve a Social Probe bonus?

[Geo]

Okay, it appears as though most of the respondents would give the mindcontrol bonus to the Believer's. With that in mind, who do you think should recieve a Social Probe bonus?

Positive, negative, or both?

[Bertilak]

Okay, it appears as though most of the respondents would give the mindcontrol bonus to the Believer's. With that in mind, who do you think should recieve a Social Probe bonus?

Positive, negative, or both?

I am wondering who you think should get the postive probe bonus because it partially overlaps with the mind control immunity bonus.

[Geo]

Besides the Data Angels (which aren't polled I suppose) I'd maintain my stance on Spartan units.

[JarlWolf]

My stance on mind control:

It comes down to three factors.


1. The skill of performing mind control and related.
This is a mixture of both propaganda, indoctrination and technology here and how said faction can perform process.

2.The resistance to mind control of said faction.
Like 1 but the resistance to said things, and how stalwart/stubborn they are to their faction and ideal.

3. The resources needed to perform said mind control and the technologies needed for it.


My vote goes for the Believers because of this:

For each point-

1. The Believers are fundamentalists, a theocratic regime using religion as its binding tool to control the masses. Religion is powerful, dogmatic and instills hardwired faith and loyalty in its followers. And organized religion is one of the most effective examples of social engineering and assimilation in history: The fact that religions, in particular big ones like the Catholic Church, Buddhism, Islam (both Sunni and Shia), Christian protestants and now Mormonism have all spread across continents and the entire world like wildfire and converted masses upon masses of people, through preaching, missionaries, religious indoctrinated schools and communities, brainwashing, threats, and political bargaining proves religion is one of the most successful political assimilator in human history.

The Believers got the entire span of human history as their experience and skill. I don't need to say much more on that.

2. And while religions can also convert people en mass, they are also known for having fanatical followers willing to wage wars for them, willing to die for them, willing to live their lives according to a code set by said religion, some people to an exact. And while this has caused many conflicts the sheer fact is religion inspires loyalty. Faith is a concept of religion in itself, and religious people do literally have the most faith; faith in the sense of loyalty to their religion. And while the faith people have of other ideologies and the faith they have of their respective ideals could potentially match the Believers and their religion, the sheer fact is that religion breeds that sort of behaviour amongst people. Very hard to shake, and some people even when the odds or evidence against their case is stacked against them they still won't waver.

3. This is the only snag when it comes to the Believers, but only in part; fundamentalists and reactionaries aren't known for technological advancement. If anything, the opposite. However, in this point they still have a bonus: religions are known for their followers support, almost to an infamous extent. Charities and tithe's, sacrifices, tributes, whole cathedrals and temples and massive amounts of resources are pooled towards religious groups from all walks of society. Religion is one of the biggest forms of a, for lack of a better word, pyramid schemes there is in human history. I am not saying that (all) religious groups are scams; nor am I trying to bash religions or any sort of thing. But religions do commandeer resources from their followers on a massive scale, and that demand is met almost on a whim. Of course this very reason was why the Catholic church in particular lost support and resulted in the Martin Luther reformation and split off, but that is another subject.

While the Believers may not have the technology on their side, they have the resources, the skill and the fierce loyalty to ensure they are the best faction at social indoctrination- and its a double edged sword.



And while dear old  would like to claim he is a master social engineer, the sheer fact religion has such a grip on human history and civilization is undeniable, and it is hard to kill such an element. Judiasm was one of the most spurned and marginalized religions in the history of mankind- yet despite not having a nation to call their own for thousands of year, the Jewish faith still managed to survive such persecution. And that point alone could justify 2.