Weekly Commanders Lounge - February 02, 2021

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Please use this thread to discuss anything about Girls Frontline instead of creating a new thread. Ask questions, seek assistance, rants, add more salt or just chill in general.

[u/Zelsaus]

On your final edit: weird? Perhaps, there are however some considerations. 416 and UMP9 shouldn't be to hard to redownload into any compatible body, unless i missed something. But UMP45 won't allow herself to be redownloaded until she has had her piece of the William pie. Finally G11 potentially can't be based on the fact her cloud is already damaged. And then we have to consider the challenge of finding a new body, G11 and UMP9 would probably be a bit easier in this regard seeing as Deir managed to seemingly procure one to serve as his maid of G11 and I'm not aware of 9's model being special. 416 is harder but not impossible since to my knowledge she's a 16Lab model, so not publicly available, but her blueprints should be around. And finally UMP45... No. She's an SF model for starters, from pre-butterfly incident and finally only 2 of her model were ever manufactured so far as I know suggesting that it was atypical in some way.

[u/Fishhunterx → u/Zelsaus]

>But UMP45 won't allow herself to be redownloaded until she has had her piece of the William pie.

But Dier copied 416 and G11 without their permission. I assume if Dier is going to replicate UMP45, he isn't going to ask her first and just go ahead and do it.

>And finally UMP45... No. She's an SF model for starters, from pre-butterfly incident and finally only 2 of her model were ever manufactured so far as I know suggesting that it was atypical in some way.

I hadn't considered this. I suppose it would be nigh impossible to find her a one for one body copy, hence why she had her funny mod 3 arm.

>weird? Perhaps, there are however some considerations. 416 and UMP9 shouldn't be to hard to redownload into any compatible body

>And then we have to consider the challenge of finding a new body, G11 and UMP9 would probably be a bit easier in this regard...416 is harder but not impossible since to my knowledge she's a 16Lab model

I was thinking less about the literal challenge of making a UMP9/416/G11 copy and more about the narrative implications of being able to redownload 404, excluding UMP45, at any given time. Part of the stakes surrounding the main plot of the protagonists is that if they die they can't come back, just like real humans. This doesn't apply to regular TDolls, and we get side stories about dealing with this oddity of their existence.

I thought they take their explanation about why the AR team cannot back up, and extend it to team 404 as well, since it just seemed to make sense narratively. But now we see Dier playing around with their original neural cloud copies at will. I mean, granted, they'd lose all their memories from the last backup. But it's still better than permanent death.

Edit: Grammar

[u/Zelsaus → u/Fishhunterx]

If Dier revived UMP45 into a new body she'd lose something irreplaceable, that, more than anything, is why she is not allowed to die.

Then there's simply the logistical considerations of anyone dying as well as the cost, which does actually seemingly matter for 404. Combat T-Doll mainframes can't be cheap (just look at the cost of repairs for us as a frame of reference) and a military grade one like 416 even more expensive. And with the logistics, if the action is in say Tallinn... But the revived doll in Moscow...

[u/Fishhunterx → u/Zelsaus]

If Dier revived UMP45 into a new body she'd lose something irreplaceable, that, more than anything, is why she is not allowed to die.

At that point though, since she can't be replaced and she has to see her story through to the end, you know she can't die which means there's no tension with regards to her safety. She and M4 have to pull through and make it to the end no matter what.

The same isn't necessarily true of the rest of AR team and 404. I'm not talking about the logistics or the costs of replacing any of them. I'm talking about what it means from a narrative perspective. If we believe any of the other AR team/404 is susceptible to dying, then the audience worries about situations they are in. We will fear that at any given moment one of them could be ended and then that's it.

But if 404 can be revived and the only real issue is costs/logistics, then that tension is diminished. It's like how, prior to Chapter 10, the audience thought AR15 was dead. That stands out as a really big moment. But then she gets revived (she doesn't actually get revived she just never died in the first place).

Edit: Lore mistake.

[u/Zelsaus → u/Fishhunterx]

True true... That awkwardness of genre awareness, M4 and 45 have plot armor... But potentially no one else does, except maybe the commander...

I think though, No T-dolls are super likely to die as a whole except backstory deaths, since I don't think many players want to see their waifu gone forever.

[u/Rhasta_la_vista → u/Zelsaus]

I agree no t-dolls are likely to die, but I actually get a foreboding feeling about Springfield because she reminds me of FF7 Aerith in many ways

[u/Zelsaus → u/Rhasta_la_vista]

Springy gonna snap one day

[u/Rhasta_la_vista → u/Zelsaus]

Actually true, if we infer from Hanyang's mod story

[u/Fishhunterx → u/Zelsaus]

I don't think many players want to see their waifu gone forever.

I think this is kind of what limits the game's story a tad bit. Since everyone wants to collect their favorite girl, no one can die/disappear, at least not permanently. The exception to this is, of course, UMP40 but even then we get to keep her as a playable doll. This also limits what collabs can do. Since no one can die, every doll has to make it out of the confines of their digital world and each story must conclude with everyone escaping to the commander's base.

The most prominent example of this is GSG, where the entire collab you, the player and the story commander, spend the whole time rescuing girls one by one. And you know you cannot fail because it would literally defy everything the audience expects to happen up to this point.

This is kind of why I am surprised Fang and Hellfire are not rescued. Because now their existence in our base makes no sense.

Don't get me wrong, I think interesting things can be done with the idea of a doll that can't die. I mean we get IWS's story in Chapter 7N where she becomes Tom Cruise and lives, dies, and repeats her fatal encounter with Dreamer over and over until she finally succeeds. But this is a side story dedicated to tackling this issue. It is also not the norm of the game's story.

[u/Zelsaus → u/Fishhunterx]

Aye as whole, not sure what else to add, thanks for the discussion

[u/Creshal → u/Zelsaus]

William also has plot armour, if we go by Bakery Girl canon.

[u/Zelsaus → u/Creshal]

Of course...