(SPOILER)That we don't see her thank the soldiers doesn't mean she didn't.Originally Posted by NeoCracker
(SPOILER)So why didn't she thank the soldiers who were bringing her to soup?(SPOILER)So she would thank him?(SPOILER)You mean like that time she totally thanked the people who were leading her to soup?(SPOILER)Even before that ELLIE's been shown to clearly react to what other people are doing, like when she follows the soldier because they have fresh soup, facilitating her tasks. It really doesn't seem unlikely that Autonymus would program her with basic social utterances to facilitate communication. So it really make sense that she'd say thank you after you help her resume her programmed task.(SPOILER)SO you are saying you believe that the robot was programed to thank you for returning it to it's master? That is.... a very, very bizarre thing to program(SPOILER)I know. It doesn't convince me.(SPOILER)Go back and talk to Ellie afterwords the story is finished, and there is an additional bit of dialogue that wasn't their the first timeIdk. It didn't really feel depressing to me at all and some of the stuff was downright dumb. (SPOILER)I'm also pretty sure the robot just kept doing what it was programmed to do, as a robot would do. Did not get the impression it had a soul or emotions of its own whatsoever. Which makes the reaction of the people around all the more baffling. I mean, of course it would keep doing that thing over all these centuries - it's a machine and that;s literally the only thing it was programmed to do at that point. Sure, it's sad the guy died alone, but other than that the plot in the present was pretty meh. But that's just me
She reacts, yes, but there are two isntances in which she is helped. The first one she thinks the soldiers are leading her to fresh soup, but she doesn't thank them.
The second is when you return her to continue watching over the dead guy, in which case she does thank you. If she is programmed to thank people who help her, it seems odd that it didn't happen in the first case.
Also, why would Autonymos, who clearly hates people, program Ellie to thank other people? He wanted nothing to do with people.
This must be amusing to people avoiding spoilers, btw
If it was programmed, there would have to be some oddly specific flags to trigger a thanks.
Offering to help with a task doesn't trigger a thanks, as the guards weren't thanked.
Helping her complete a task doesn't trigger a thanks, as you aren't thanked upon returning Ellie.
Returning her to her duty after she is prevented from preforming her task because the guards lied about soup and fixing her up, and then returning at a later time to speak to her triggers a thanks.
This is some strange programming at work here.
That or she has developed a sense of consciousness, and considering this is a world in which multiple NPC's have already stated they believe it to be possible? Seems the more likely option.
And who knows, maybe the Idea of dying alone with nothing but electronics to keep you company is just something that seems perfectly normal to you, hence the lack of feels.
And no, the idea of dying alone with electronics around you is sad, and that was pretty touching, but nothing that would make me go "woah", or even begin to assume that this automaton somehow grew a soul. There is nothing in this game's universe that suggests even a slight possibility that a machine can somehow grow a soul. There is no foundation to believe such a thing could even happen. And yet people suddenly treat it like it's a person for some reason?
And believe me, I say this as a person who think that machines IRL could some day possibly have souls. There's just nothing in the story to really warrant the reaction from the characters that they had.
To me, the story came across as kind of wasted potential, especially after so many people said (not just here) that it's so sad and dark. I just think it's pretty dumb that 1) they decided that a robot still supplying soup to a dead guy is a good reason to prohibit entry to that area without telling anyone why and 2) I feel bad for the thing and I think it's way sadder that they really think it's the righteous thing to just have it repeat this meaningless activity for eternity instead of trying to actually put it to good use so that it can have a new purpose instead of constantly living in a delusion.
The most frustrating thing here is that there is an interesting story buried undreneath. Everyone says that the whole historic even we witnessed is lost to history - we never find out why or how, and it goes nowhere aside from "oh there was actually an old guy there that died and his robot thinks he's not dead yet." And it really could have gone somewhere dark since the lack of historical records is just asking form them to repeat mistakes from the past, which again is flirted with briefly but is quickly forgotten.
So yeah, this story could have just been handled better. Heck, i think the whole scenario would have worked much better with a very simple change - just let us visit the shack and see the robot in action ourselves, without adding that pointless story in the present that goes nowhere. I think it would have been much more effective then.
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