Evolve is a bad word to use
Geekavenger
Join Date: 2012-08-31 Member: 157117Members, Reinforced - Shadow
Join Date: 2012-08-31 Member: 157117Members, Reinforced - Shadow
<div class="IPBDescription">Sorry, this is a pet peeve of mine</div>Okay, so. A common misconception about evolution is that is happens on the level of the individual. It doesn't, the scale is much greater at the population and even biome level. I realize it is probably too late to change the terminology since the community is already using it pretty heavily and it has been that way since the beginning.
My primary problem is that this misconception is one of the things people who don't "believe" in evolution fall back on in their heads. It is absurd to think that one creature can become completely different one, or that single mutations happening linearly over one line of decedents can create a new creature. This narrow scope is very easy to dismiss as unrealistic. It all goes back to that misunderstanding and looking at it on an individual level. It isn't the single family line that leads to the new creature it is the hundreds or thousands of "families" succeeding and failing and breeding and mixing all simultaneously that leads to the genetic variation that brings forth new species.
Beyond all that, the behavior in the game is less about evolution and more about metamorphism. This is a more accurate term for what is happening in the game. The skulk is in an earlier stage of the life-cycle. This mechanism is both a more accurate term and has the added benefit of not diluting the waters of understanding.
The upgrades, like carapace and bile bomb could be called mutations/adaptations, that fits pretty neatly into the model, since it demonstrates variation within the population.
I know this is kind of a minor problem, I have a B.S. in Cell Biology and this is one of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to sci-fi in general but video games in particular is the misrepresentation of scientific concepts. I get that plot devices/game mechanics are required but I feel like this change could be a small step towards avoiding confusing people.
My primary problem is that this misconception is one of the things people who don't "believe" in evolution fall back on in their heads. It is absurd to think that one creature can become completely different one, or that single mutations happening linearly over one line of decedents can create a new creature. This narrow scope is very easy to dismiss as unrealistic. It all goes back to that misunderstanding and looking at it on an individual level. It isn't the single family line that leads to the new creature it is the hundreds or thousands of "families" succeeding and failing and breeding and mixing all simultaneously that leads to the genetic variation that brings forth new species.
Beyond all that, the behavior in the game is less about evolution and more about metamorphism. This is a more accurate term for what is happening in the game. The skulk is in an earlier stage of the life-cycle. This mechanism is both a more accurate term and has the added benefit of not diluting the waters of understanding.
The upgrades, like carapace and bile bomb could be called mutations/adaptations, that fits pretty neatly into the model, since it demonstrates variation within the population.
I know this is kind of a minor problem, I have a B.S. in Cell Biology and this is one of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to sci-fi in general but video games in particular is the misrepresentation of scientific concepts. I get that plot devices/game mechanics are required but I feel like this change could be a small step towards avoiding confusing people.
Comments
Verb:
Develop gradually, esp. from a simple to a more complex form.
the world evolve existed before the theory of evolution did.
While you have a point it's kind of moot because of the fact that 1) They're aliens. 2) It's fictional. 3) By all means, say metamorphose but when people ask why you say it just don't respond because by responding you're just wasting the screenspace/more important voice commands from people <b>trying to play</b> instead of be lectured. No offense, real world biology is great; when you nitpick about fiction though, it's just a waste of time...
That is fair, and I agree that game mechanics take priority over scientific accuracy. I don't think they are mutually exclusive though. I realize I am too late with my suggestion to make a actual change. This would best have been tackled in NS1 a decade ago.
Fiction and Aliens are not really excuses though. Sci-fi in particular has always been about expanding on what we know to it's extremes not ignoring what we know (except in the case of plot devices, see FTL travel and Transporters). One of the things that make game universes like Halo, Mass Effect, Star Wars, and the like last is the complex and interesting world building they put into their games. It gives a texture and feeling to the games and movies that make it feel more real. Now will changing the word evolve add to this? I doubt it. But don't toss the baby out with the bath water, world building will help a game get stuck in your head... or at least in mine.
Verb:
Develop gradually, esp. from a simple to a more complex form.
the world evolve existed before the theory of evolution did.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
True, I think while the term is still technically accurate, it adds to the greater misconceptions about the meaning for biology. Not a battle a video game is responsible for waging, which is fair enough.
The other side of this arguement, though, is that language is always a mutable thing, and while species evolution is not principly expressed in individuals, I think it important to point out that in Natural Selection, individual aliens <i>do</i> become completely different creatures when they change lifeforms.
Metamorphism would be an accurate description of the change between lifeforms, but only if you're right in that skulks represent an early stage of an ongoing life-cycle. But I don't think that's necessarily the case in the context of the game as each lifeform seems to be an adequate "end" stage for the given creature. While we tend to refer to the lifeforms in the context of "higher" or "lower", the reality is that each is distinct and seperate from the other. The skulk does not change into the Fade by first becoming a gorge, and then a lerk, it simply becomes the other creature, as doing so better suites its purpose.
So yes, the term mutation or adaptation does seem to fit better for the various upgrades, and metamorphosis seems to better fit the process of changing lifeforms, but I'm not sure you can't describe either action as one of evolution either. Of course we can only get away with this in the context of this fictional game world, but in this context I think the current vernacular may be more appropriate than you give it credit.
Edit: Also, props for attempting to engage the board in an intellectual discussion.
Technically would be more accurate since according to the Lore the Aliens are all just representations of a mass bacterium.
Yeah that would work too
Just call me Don Quixote!
I agree it is probably moot at this point, and yeah it can probably be explained in the context of the fictional world, through vernacular or something. But I figured if I have the opportunity to voice my concerns I best not waste it.
The word Evolve doesn't seem to fit. Don't quite remember the terms but maybe the word mutation or metamorphose would work. Or maybe UWE could invent a new word for that. But I think there must be a proper biological term =)
<img src="http://www.animatormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/morph2.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
In seriousness though, I prefer the word "Evolve". It sounds more empowered, and particularly alien that a being is capable of directing its own evolution. No, evolve is definitively the best word.
Edit: Scientifically Metamorphosis is probably the correct word, to address what the above poster said.
Well, that's not really a problem. If our offspring were to evolve into some simple, rat-like creature, it would still be evolution. Evolution isn't necessary change from simple to complex organisms. The problem is the way aliens in this game evolve into other lifeforms which has more to do with Pokemon than real life.
But I don't really think it's a problem. Games use terms in incorrect ways, nothing new about that. Changing the terms at this point would only be extra work and cause confusion without any real benefit.