Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri- Miriam Godwinson Quotes

[@icetroll00]

"The Morgans fear what may not be purchased, for a trader cannot comprehend a thing that is priceless."
brilliant!

[@LumpyBumpyAcidFish]

its a great slight against jews

[@spartanx9293]

@@LumpyBumpyAcidFish morgan is nigerian

[@LumpyBumpyAcidFish]

@@spartanx9293 you're not much of a reader I take it

[@spartanx9293]

@@LumpyBumpyAcidFish the jews were often traders and bankers not of choice but because that was their only viable occupation

[@LumpyBumpyAcidFish]

@@spartanx9293 cool that doesn't allow you to escape from the fact you have zero reading comprehension SHEEEEESH

[@ATEG8374]

When the fundamentalist preacher turns out to be the most sane leader in the roster

[@avae5343]

Miriam’s writing and her AI were unpolished to say the least. Unreasonably aggressive and a crude caricature of spiritualism.

[@NameNotAlreadyTaken2]

"when the most insane person who's insane turns out to the best most sane" wut?

[@avae5343]

@@Bogotrazitelj. The great irony is that Miriam was actually one of the more reasonable characters considering how much worse society became as technology progressed.

[@Xazamas]

Gameplay and Story difference...
This is basically hearsay (or was it outright fan theory) but allegedly the game originally had a religion/culture victory condition. When it got axed, Miriam suffered a lot and was possibly pigeonholed into zealot who you cannot co-exist with.
One minor clue (in the game itself) to Miriam and her faction having undergone changes relatively late,, can be found in the original intro cinematic: Narrator cites "Conclave Bible" with Conclave standing for what was eventually named "Lord's Believer's" using similar naming convention to "Hive" or "University" where single word for institution or the like is used to describe the faction. While this concept has appeal, I can understand them dropping it or we would have presumably ended up with factions like "Garden" and Corporation."

[@kevinbrown2438]

....but it was never the streets that were evil.
God I love this writing & delivery.

[@cypressz]

She's no amateur. She's an extraordinarily skilled Psychologist, and knows her way around scientific theorems perfectly well, based on several of her more technically-involved quotes. She at least has a solid understanding of the fundamentals of physics and chemistry, but none of the crew understand how to manipulate the minds of others as well as she does.

[@RickAucoin]

Every developer at Firaxis who was responsible for Beyond Earth being this vanilla, soulless, blah, THING... should be forced to actually listen to these voice overs. Understand that with only text, a still low-rez image, and some inspired low-cost voice actors, Firaxis produced actual menace and emotion and feeling across the factions, made them *real* to the player who was their opponent or rival.
If you had Sister Miriam as a neighbor, you learned not only *what* she would do, but *why* as well.
Brilliant.
It's almost impossible to believe the Civilization Beyond Earth pablum was produced by the same company at all. Or CivV for that matter.

[@moonasha]

Rick Aucoin I'm betting they were rushed or something. Biggest disappointment of the decade so far for me.

[@RickAucoin]

moonasha Eh... I don't see "rushed" so much as "did not intend or plan to include this sort of thing from the start".
After all, what does this sort of thing add to someone's PvP game? And the PvP element is what the entire game was designed around, because that's what was the primary concern with Civ5.
You see the same thing in MMO's these days. "Doesn't add to your DPS? Why would anyone give a damn about it? What does player housing have to do with someone's PVP ranking? Forget it, leave it out! Lore? Bah, people care about PvP, not lore!"

[@leomiles1]

+Rick Aucoin Perfect point, my good sir. There was NO personality, NO charisma and NO background within CiV: BE factions, not to mention any decent relations or story among them. And game itself is worth a little more than a mod. Now they are releasing expansion, which, may be good, but will cost money. Essential part of the game is added year later for full price. I am disgusted by firaxis, and of course, this time I'll just pirate it and buy it later during some sale.

[@squaregarden5631]

+Rick Aucoin There's a lot more personality there now in Rising Tides.

[@orubicon50]

I've played them all, and I don't think they have topped SMAC. It is thought and imagination provoking. I like its successors, but SMAC was a masterwork.

[@TheVuDuDeChile]

1:26
"Some would ask how could a perfect god create a universe filled with so much that is evil? They have missed a greater conundrum . . . why would a perfect a god create a universe at all?"
-Sister Miriam Godwinson, 'But for the Grace of God'

[@st.aniel.]

i wonder what she meant

[@jamiecameron4564]

My interpretation: "Why would god create a universe at all?" - is a rhetorical question. God would not create a universe. The universe exists because God *is* the universe.
I'm an atheist but that's how I see it, and it is something to chew on

[@Ulkarnium]

She never really comes off as anti-technology so much as she does genre savvy. A lot of the technologies, base facilities, weapons etc sound genuinely depraved and there's this undercurrent throughout the game that all of the factions have this alarmingly amoral streak to them.
Morganites are hedonistic, capitalistic and decadent. Morgan himself gives a speech in which he basically says "Fuck the future generations, let's use all the resources now" in one of the economic projects.
The Hive is a brutal communist dictatorship with zero compunctions about effectively enslaving its own people. Yang is a total sociopath, he's got no scruples. In the recycling tanks section he openly advocates melting down and eating the dead.
The Spartans are creepy, militaristic fascists. They're cruel, brutal and unnecessarily violent. Santiago gives a spiel that's clearly a case for eugenics, only cloning the best, most loyal people. It isn't about survival, they're obsessed with power.
Deidre is, by far, the scariest. She's twisted. Depraved in a deep, terrifying level. Her soft spoken words, her reverence for nature, contempt for the material, her nebulous, flowery talk... And her army of worms, that paralyze people and burrow into their brains. She's the kind of villain Brad Dourif would play if she was male.
Lal is the only one who isn't a maniac. He's a limp-wristed bureaucrat from an organization that doesn't exist anymore and who wants to clone his dead wife so he can bone her again.
Then look at what they're doing. They're building research hospitals that cause public panic when it's discovered what's going on inside, punishment spheres, mind-worm armies, they're nerve-stapling and nerve gassing and unleashing Locusts of Chiron on each other. Now look back at Miriam. She believes in God, and she doesn't want to do this to her people. That's her "fault".

[@xUrsusxXX]

Haven't played the game. You make it sound like all the possible outcomes are disastrous.

[@G0d2good]

thickterranarmor The university is implied to have conducted retroviral engineering in the alien crossfire expansion. Not to mention they are the only faction that generates additional drones, likely a cause of how society is run there. This is just speculation but it is likely that if you do not have incredibly high intellect you are automatically resigned to an existence akin to slavery, or maybe your just used as test subjects, who knows. The retroviral engineering quote is the only quote that really seems to show the university's lack of ethics.

[@TheMightyNaryar]

+Ulkarnium Nah, Myriam's insane. Bound to an oldschool, 2000 year old belief where she is unwilling to adapt to the present, extremely aggressive, selfrighteous, unwilling to tolerate other ideals, and very willing to go to war and send some of her men to certain death over a simple moral quandry.
And yet with all that she still calls herself righteous.
The road to hell is paved from good intentions, they say...

[@TheMightyNaryar]

+thickterranarmor It's not as she is even a sensible, modern Christian.
But no, technology is EVIL and i must kill it BECAUSE IT IS THE WILL OF GOD.

[@DancerVeiled]

She advocates some technologies and condemns others.
One should be careful their reach does not exceed their grasp.

[@Baleur]

The very first quote. She literally (well, figuratively, but we like to over-use the word literally) says it isnt technology that is evil, suggesting it's its use by people that is the evil.

[@jessep3571]

It's really odd. In the official Journey To Centauri prologue by Firaxis she is by far one of the most at peace characters in the story. Basically, a tiny comet smashed into the unity wiping out one of the colony pods and nearly destabilizing the ship. Santiago basically joined the mission with about 100 soldiers with the intent of capturing a colony pod and would destroy the ship if her demands are not met. The rest of the command crew (Morgan is technically a secret passenger no one knew about) try to salvage the situation but it becomes clear that the ship is splitting into factions. It comes down to a vote to split the crew into 7 pods and only she and Lal vote to stay together. When the ship is finally entering the atmosphere she is trying to flee to a safe pod (deliberately avoiding Zhakarov's pod fearing what would happen to her) and ends up in "the dead bay" where the meteor hit. She becomes surrounded by the dead and manages to discover a surviving group of colonists who survived the impact but are slowly dying of radiation sickness and poising. It is at this point she views it as her divine mission to save these lost souls.
What is even more peculiar about her relationship to Zhakarov is that in the prologue he is extremely hostile to Miriam without being provoked. She tries to tell him that there is more to his life than pure scientific inquiry and he literally assumes he is just atoms that only exist to discover knowledge. He is portrayed as being incredibly amoral with many of the crew joining him being in utter fear of him. By the late game Miriam is the only one who seems to have a moral conscience apart from Lal, and it is really a shame that her descent to Planet drove her to crusaderism.

[@KennyHazy97]

+Jesse P In defence of her actions on Planet, she was facing a situation she couldn't have predicted. On the Unity, there was Garland, a united crew and a shared code of ethics and laws. But then the crew split to wage a seven-way ideological duel to the death, with the winner controlling the fate of the entire human race known to still be alive. Her former crewmates-turned-rivals weren't going to spare her and her 'flock', so they had to develop a bite to survive.

[@jessep3571]

Aaron Hazelton The trouble is with that, is that she only turned rivals with Lal after hitting planetfall. In the prologue she was trying to reach his pod and got separated. I don't think Lal wanted to fight her either, and it is reflected by those two being the only two with some memory of ethics by the end of Alpha Centauri.

[@Krysnha]

Can i ask i have the game ad yes love the intro, but question there is a prolog i read the intermissions, but there is more or something else

[@jessep3571]

Krysnha www.gamefaqs.com/mac/576147-sid-meiers-alpha-centauri/faqs/7985
Go nuts. Here is the prologue.

[@Tarik360]

Jesse P
That moment when my alliance with Lal as Miriam is more accurate to the story than I thought!

[@akigreus9595]

Why would a Perfect God create a universe at all is such an eye opening question about ones place in the universe.

[@calew2470]

That was my favorite quote of hers. Second was the one about homonculi.

[@Baleur]

Who said its a perfect God? And who's to say the universe itself, isnt god itself? Why would there need to be any seperation?

[@AleksanderDrako]

Even in genesis book we can assume that God is not perfect. From very own pride he created people as his equals - so they would enjoy his wondrous creation and worship him.
Satan proved him, that even living in perfect conditions, in form that knows no pain, no hunger, can still strive for more, you just need to plan a rot of doubt.
Which is entire point of Satan through the Bible, similarly in Book of Job were God was lending his powers to Satan, just so he could prove his point.
Satan proved God that universe he created is not perfect, and what is to be given - must be earn.
Can we based at this describe God? A being, not bond to limitation of all living creatures? I say it's not withing our power.

[@ilikememes1402]

​@@AleksanderDrakothank you for such an interesting thought

[@user-qi6pv9jh7o]

​@@AleksanderDrakoif God really was perfect, story won't ever happed

[@Tolgron34]

Come on, annoying in-game behaviour aside, Miriam isn't a thick-skulled fool. It's quite obvious that she's engaged in the sciences herself to some extent (if only as an amateur), and a lot of the things she says do actually have a point. It's important to realise that Miriam is NOT anti-science, but rather anti-inappropriate and arrogant use of science. Reflect carefully on her first quote.

[@callithasmed8468]

Exactly! She is anything but a book-thumping fundamentalism; rather, she echoes ideas not just of conservatism but classic thought; a reservation against the perception that "progress" is wholly beneficial and benign.

[@kinsmart7294]

@@callithasmed8468 Yeah, she is one of the few who doesn't just ask if they can do something, she also asks "Should we?"

[@radityapamarta5360]

this is what tvtropes called gameplay and story segregation

[@ilikememes1402]

​@@kinsmart7294ikr... considering today's science-climate. Everything seems to be fueled by both corporal greed and the Curiosity of cats, destined to ruin all of us.
I don't want to blame said-researchers but BRUH. 99% of the world's problems could be fixed when 2 of these things are disciplined... but no, we were never disciplined beings to begin-with-we are no better than rabid dogs waiting for the next thing to ruin.

[@user-qi6pv9jh7o]

​@@kinsmart7294 ofc should
Send more low-tech cannon fodder on me, I dare you

[@VillageOaf]

We must dissent.

[@st.aniel.]

We must dissent.

[@FallenEpic]

We must dissent.

[@jeronimovasquez5877]

we must dissent

[@richardc.mongler2122]

We must dissent.

[@corkus]

We must dissent.

[@JCDentonCZ]

WE MUST DISSENT. That remains ingrained in me for many years now. Especially the Self Aware Colony video was scary and makes Miriam's point way more true.
I do end up in wars against her about 9 out of 10 times unless I am far above her powers. Its fun to play as Miriam though as I really enjoy the names of the cities and the bigger challenge.

[@FurirMorot]

I always hate her as well, but in the end of the game, where you start to build shadier and shadier projects, I sort of end up agreeing with some of her ideas.

[@TauEpsilon]

Ironically, Self-Aware Colony is one of the very few quotes where I might agree with her.

[@geojones7]

I enjoyed huge marathons of AC play back in the day. Sister Miriam was by far the most memorable faction leader to me. It seemed like she always was setup near me, and would double cross any deals, or just flat out attack me at will. After awhile, I would make it a point to attack her first, wherever I found her - knowing how aggressive she is.In the clip above I love 2 segments. The sermonizing "Beware Ye who seek first and final principles."... then referencing the "angry" God. hehe. Second, I love her more relaxed, but condescending remarks about scientists who find that God is "quite a bit more clever than they thought". I have several Christian friends, and that type of statement is something you really do hear from time to time. Scientists are fallible and sometimes their research leads to dead ends, so inevitably there are moments when they seem foolish - which fuels the type of remark Sister Miriam makes here.Great game, great character. We MUST dissent!

[@MarcDufresneosorusrex]

which faction is/are her natural allies? i could never be sure

[@JustOneMoreChild]

... I play Miriam... It's not necessary to play her as a conqueror you know. I manged to pull off a few transcendence victories with her.

[@FangsOfTheNidhogg]

We'd desperately need a 25 year graphical re-release of SMAC. Keep all the original audio and just update the graphics and AI. Don't touch anything else.

[@tkloumo]

The one she says when the Self Aware Colony is built is not on here. I love that one also.

[@WhooptyDoo]

ʷᵉ ᵐᵘˢᵗ ᵈᶦˢˢᵉᶰᵗ

[@noaccount4]

And here I am almost exclusively playing as believers.

[@fubaralakbar6800]

Oh, and Juilanne Moore would make a fabulous Miriam.

[@tabinekoman]

If only her book are real.

[@GabiN64]

I would love to read a lot of these fictional books titled in the quotes. I suppose an advanced LLM in the near future could do a great job deducing how the books would be. Especially since they are fed massive amount of book data in the first place.

[@TK-nn8jd]

"Deus Vult!"
-Sister Miriam (Apocryphal)

[@Sekainoowaride]

The Preacher of the alien planet...May the Lord be with you....oh and "We must dissent"

[@TauEpsilon]

She is not bad when subjugated. Give her some tech, the right to retain her beliefs and she rolls over your enemies.

[@user-qi6pv9jh7o]

"Okay... But burn her afterwards"
(From a joke.
Old Inquisitor: "I can see she's a witch. Burn her!"
Novice inquisitors: "but she's young, pretty and looks so innocent..."
Inquisitor: "Okay... But burn her afterwards")

[@trent3836]

She definitely has a point with the self-aware-colony and such, though that doesn't excuse making demands and attacking me when I haven't built that. The exception, I suppose, is the Dream Twister, but that's only used in combat, so besides either mind worm targets or a few unfortunate test subjects, it's not really a problem since normal methods of war are horrible anyway. It's still really creepy, though.

[@sarsmask]

HONESTLY A MOOD

[@drkinferno72]

I can’t play a single campaign without her declaring vendetta 😂

[@Khaz8969]

the only ginger with a soul xD

[@maxumusjesus]

What do you mean, she declares war on everyone

[@Khaz8969]

true dat

[@theresnooneleft1169]

Her soul was just trying to save theirs. Tough love. :)

[@Acesahn]

We never said she had her OWN soul...

[@corkus]

My favourite faction. xD

[@cruelangel7737]

Why would a perfect human being play games at all?

[@user-yl9qw5ur3y]

we must dissent

[@maestromanifesto7697]

What that Myriam? You want my Planet Buster technology? No problem it's coming, look out your window.

[@Enkarashaddam]

Lol when you get pro MLG with SMAC you can outfit rockets with drop pod special ability. Which means instantaneous death to abyone anywhere on the map.

[@hypervoreian827]

@@Enkarashaddam Not if you have a lot of orbital pods ,they will most likely intercept them.

[@ManualReplica]

Miriam transcendence victory?
Oh that's just irony at it's finest.

[@ME-hm7zm]

I'm not sure I follow you; wasn't it Miram who does the voice over for the Transcendence video? Or was that Skye?

[@Baleur]

1:33 to 1:41
Holy shit.. That's a good one.

[@napoleon182]

Yeah prob Doctor Crusher with the red hair and blue clothes

[@echothebm]

Always kill first

[@drkinferno72]

It's a little late but she always attacks first and gets butthurt I refuse to make peace 😂

[@Whitecroc]

Conversely, why not? The distinction seems academical at best.

[@cypressz]

Actually no. He's good at controlling people and establishing Order, not manipulating or controlling them in the same way. He's heavily based on the Legalist Philosopher Shang Yang. Read up on how he died. Yang probably had a similar end at the hands of Domai.

[@JustOneMoreChild]

It's hard, but far from impossible. And it's all the better once others realize that you've somehow pulled ahead of them in tech research! Probe teams? Pfft

[@Tolgron34]

Well, except Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang maybe.

[@Skythikon]

What's the music used here, if you don't mind me asking?

[@RabbiHerschel]

She did nothing wrong.

[@dustinjones7458]

If you view her through a narrow focus, she seems like your basic religious fundamentalist 'opposing progress' in the wiz-bang scifi future. But if you pull back and see what exactly human 'progress' entails over the course of the game, you realize she had a point.

[@TauEpsilon]

Fanaticism is a cool fantasy - the feeling that you do, in fact, have a clear path before you and that nothing will stop you because the Almighty is with you.
Now, the problem is, some people do that irl.

[@fubaralakbar6800]

I always play as Zakarov, so Miriam's a natural enemy to me. But if they ever make a SMAC movie, it would be cool if it has a hot Miriam. Julianne Moore would be excellent for the role.

[@michaelmclaughlin261]

I always play as Santiago.
I love her.

[@marshmallowbudgie]

Kim Davis + 180 IQ = ???

[@srbrant5391]

Ugh, that haircut and those beady little eyes of her. Those enough are worthy of the punishment sphere.

[@frankostanjsek3391]

Are there any Miriam players out there? ANY at all? I always hated her....

[@SEMPERPERFIDUS]

Exclusively Lords Believers here, yes.

[@nessunday]

If you've read the books it's Miriam's blind faith and aggression that actually leads to humanities extinction

[@SEMPERPERFIDUS]

The books were shite and did injustice to the actual lore. The prologue short story was ironically better than all of them.

[@Vaerenn]

Would be the perfect faction if she was Catholic and also a man.

[@st.aniel.]

why

[@Tarik360]

Jordan Peterson with a bit too much conscientiousness.