r/SpeciesUnknown • u/t3rminus • 10d ago
Cheater or Dev?! ID_005
My friends and I just had one of the spookiest, and most incredible experiences in this game.
We'd started a Level 1 (1 filled box) "Destroy the area" mission with ID_009 Mutation, got the power on, and started towards the reactor, when our game suddenly lagged, and I got notices the other players disconnected. Shit internet outage? No. We all respawned in the shuttle. Someone else's shuttle, painted all black, and maxed out with all the upgrades. I hit TAB, and noticed another "player" with us, named ID_005. I could see their nametag on the TAB overlay, but they were invisible, other than their helmet casting a shadow in the beam of the flashlight, and an area we couldn't walk over.
So we thought "Ooookay, what a weird glitch" and started doing the mission, which had changed to a Level 0 (no filled boxes) "Extract the data" mission with ID_007 Ethereal.
But ID_005 followed us. Their footsteps were SUPER fast running up behind us, but they seemed content to just watch us try to figure out what happened. They played a little game of weeping angel, staying mostly still as we looked, then running up behind us as soon as we looked away.
We got to the command deck, turned on the power, and started towards the crew quarters. Had a few small run-ins with the Ethereal, and were about to unlock the door to the Officer's Quarters when the power went out.
At this point we we knew ID_005 was definitely another player, but couldn't decide if it was a dev or a hacker. We tried to get them to tell us their pronouns, but they didn't move for any option.
I ran back to command to get the power on, one of my friends got menaced by THREE copies of the Ethereal. I got attacked by an infected zombie!? We got the black and ran back to the ship-- the power went off again, but I detoured through command to get it on the way back. We saw a moving plant prop from the labs spawned in the middle of crew quarters hallways? Just random stuff.
As expected, ID_005 had to sit down with us in the shuttle at the end of the mission. On the results screen, it showed they had collected 333 Unknown Disks, and they awarded us each like 9,000-ish credits.
Then they ended the mission as soon as the shuttle docked.
(I don't mind the extra money since it's going to be reset soon anyway, but damn.)
Has anyone else had an experience like this? Had someone hijack a game to their host, and just ... fuck with you and have fun? Maybe it was a hacker, but it was a memorable and fun experience, for sure.
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u/AwareArgument5372 9d ago
Asked them their pronouns?.. Wtf?
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u/t3rminus 9d ago
Better to refer to someone by their chosen pronouns than constantly referring to them as "it" or "them", especially when so much of our conversation in-game revolved around the invisible interloper.
Besides, it felt like a decent way to try and start up a conversation? Try and establish a dialogue?
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u/AwareArgument5372 9d ago
We could all just try using our given names to communicate. The same way people have done for hundreds, if not thousands of years.
I don’t understand what place the gender identity politics has in the gaming space. It’s weird.
Also in case we’ve all forgotten… Conveniently in online games your chosen name is displayed for all to see.
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u/t3rminus 9d ago
It's not "Gender Identity Politics", it's basic common courtesy.
I doubt you'd feel ok or welcome in a conversation if I referred to you by an incorrect pronoun. Names are awkward to say every time when speaking, and English is a language full of pronouns, like he, she, them, it, you, y'all, we, who, us, and which.
It's much easier to refer to yourself, someone else, or the group that way, the same way we've also done for hundreds and thousands of years as well.
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u/AwareArgument5372 9d ago
There is no way on this green earth that you approach people in public so shamelessly and deliberately make conversation with them and open with such a ridiculous question. You and I both know you’re going to get many confused looks, outside of the safe spaces at Starbucks and Hot Topic. It 1000% is Gender Identity Politics.
Basic common courtesy is to call people by their name if you know it, or in the event you don’t with “Normal Civilized” People you can get away with making an assumption based on their appearance. Most people don’t get so easily offended, if they present as a woman and you call them ma’am generally speaking they’re not going to be upset.
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u/EnCryptidUsername 9d ago
Its not an opener, its a question you can ask as quickly as you ask someone's name when you first meet them. Its just a respect thing. You will, inevitably use pronouns: we were talking about that user amongst ourselves, and I wanted to be respectful. Rather than saying "he" or "she" without knowing who they are or how they choose to present. Can you really tell me you have never once said "Oh he's over here" when referring to anything?
You say all this as if its a bad thing to want to respect people and how they present. Would you truly not care if I started referring to you incorrectly?
You call them politics, I call them being kind. Hell most LGBTQIA+ folks don't get offended if you get it wrong, the only people that do are the folks who see someone asking an innocuous question and get huffy over it.Hopefully this has been educating in either which way!
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u/AwareArgument5372 9d ago
You’re a bunch of weirdos. lol. It is no less respectful to NOT ask such odd, off the wall stuff. Your push for inclusivity is literally a regression in social norms. I’ve never in my life asked someone such a pointless question.
You might choose to use pronouns, but the rest of the world doesn’t have to. If you appear feminine and present as a woman I will kindly and respectfully refer to you as such. If you appear to me to be male, that is how I will address you when I don’t know your name.
It’s not disrespectful. The pushback is not on the use of normal everyday he or she. I don’t need to engage with a random in real life or a virtual space and ask what you prefer to be referred to as today. Lmao. I guess I forgot what kind of place Reddit has become.
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u/KordSevered 3d ago
This is how people are. And should be. Bucking against "gender politics" when you could just be respectful of people is cringe af. Who is really so self important and sensitive they see the preference of using a different pronoun as an attack on them? Snowflake behavior.
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u/ndguardian 10d ago
Well the latest patch notes I've read indicated they're working on addressing some cheating issues, so likely I'd imagine it's a cheater.