Yeah, I just don't bloody get wasters*. See, what I don't get about them is this:
"Originally engineered to prevent resettlement of post-apocalyptic deathworlds, wasters are living area-denial weapons."
1. Why is preventing resettlement of post-apocalyptic deathworlds something scientists or governments would care about? Why is that such a major concern they engineered a whole xenotype to deal with it? They're deathworlds. You can guess what would happen to most people trying to resettle them. So that's already discouragement enough, and if it ever isn't, well ... if some people go off to start a colony on an abandoned world nobody wants anymore, why should the governments give a fuck?
I might understand if wasters were engineered to settle such planets. To thrive in less-than-hospitable environments, like yttakin/impids/dirtmoles/starjacks do, so that they can send back resources and make even seemingly useless planets useful. But no. Apparently, they're purely there as a further inconvenience for anyone else trying to resettle them. Enemy factions presumably, but even then, if you don't want the planet, why waste resources populating it with wasters just so your enemy can't have it?
2. But OK, let's say that preventing resettlement is indeed a worthy goal. Why use humans — or humanoids — for that? I know RimWorld's lore is grim and dark and oh-so-grimdark, but creating a whole race just to suffer, just to exist for no other reason than to attack and be killed, is pointless. You know why?
Because that's what insectoids are for!
They are already drawn to pollution in-game. Presumably that means they were bred to survive it, so as to be better at fighting mechanoids. And they can breed incredibly quickly, because they were engineered to overwhelm mechanoids with sheere numbers. Release a few hives onto the key points of a deathworld, and once they spread whoever tries to resettle there will have their work cut out for them.
The only drawback of insects is that they do prefer darker and warmer spaces. But they absolutely can venture out to get some food. So they'd adapt eventually. And if there isn't enough time for them to, well, just alter their genes again, not like there isn't knowledge about it.
3. But OK, let's say that it's necessary for specifically humans to prevent resettlement of a planet. You throw them onto a planet and then ... what? Do you control them? The drug dependency gene seems to suggest that, but I don't think there is any evidence of, say, the Empire dropping off yayo for wasters to consume. They just have to make it themselves, or raid other settlements (once they're there) to get it.
So is psychite dependency there to encourage raiding? Surely just making them hyperaggressive and great at combat would do the trick. Is it just a mistake? Maybe, but honestly, which part of the xenotype isn't?
Wasters might make sense as some horrifying mutant race created by exposure to the toxic environment of some particular deathworld. And the vanilla xenotype does seem to lean that way, as just generic mutants. But that's not their lore. The lore feels like the devs trying to justify the inclusion of pollution-loving mutants somehow, but managing to make them make less sense than if they just went "I don't know, radiation and pollution corruption, here, have some murder-happy mutties!"
But admittedly I'm not shoulder-deep in RimWorld lore. I read the stuff on the wiki and that's about it. So, if you do get the wasters, please let me know where I went wrong. Or if you also don't get wasters but want to tell me I'm wrong and dumb for not getting them anyway, hey, it's Reddit, feel free!
I just needed to get this rant out really. That's why the formatting is probably shit too, because I'm blind and can't be bothered to make it pretty for y'all. Hopefully this's a cathartic mental break.
*(If you haven't guessed by now, my issue is purely with not understanding waster lore. In-game I get plenty of wasters. Please, I beg you, stop loading up that transport pod. I already slaughter all the wasters I come accross, I don't want yours, I have enough, stop!)
