Amph Are the predators a bunch of rich playboys?

Discussion in 'Community' started by beezel26, Oct 13, 2013.

  1. beezel26 Jedi Master

    Member Since:
    May 11, 2003
    star 7
    I am currently watching Aliens vs Predator and I realized with all of this technology they have and the shear fact that they kill for sport. They are a bunch of rich Hampton playboys. They have no apparent skills at anything other then hunting and killing. You look at their claws and find they are not that adept at circuit technology. They have ships that obviously are big and technological yet they spend no time doing anything other then training. I suspect they are rich playboys who over centuries bartered what they had for new technology to hunt and now they have it. They are now happy being hunters. No need to advance their society. Just hunt and nothing more.
    Last edited by beezel26, Oct 13, 2013
  2. Eeth-my-Koth Jedi Grand Master

    Member Since:
    May 25, 2001
    star 9
    Speaking predators. Take a seat beezel.

    [IMG]
    Last edited by Eeth-my-Koth, Oct 13, 2013
  3. beezel26 Jedi Master

    Member Since:
    May 11, 2003
    star 7
    This isn't the JCC. This the Amp. Please make this about the the subject at hand. Not the user.
  4. Adam of Nuchtern Jedi Master

    Member Since:
    Sep 2, 2012
    star 4
  5. beezel26 Jedi Master

    Member Since:
    May 11, 2003
    star 7
    Please stop harassing me. I asked nicely and you chose to ignore that. I am reporting you to a mod.
  6. Adam of Nuchtern Jedi Master

    Member Since:
    Sep 2, 2012
    star 4
    The image you posted contained a swear word not allowed in the TOS. I have removed it. Consider this the only warning. In addition, no trolling in the thread..

    --Adm. Nick
    Last edited by AdmiralNick22, Oct 13, 2013
  7. GrandAdmiralJello Moderator Communitatis Litterarumque

    Manager
    Member Since:
    Nov 28, 2000
    star 10
    Alright, let's all play nice now. The predator thing is rather out of line. I'm not really sure what point beezel is trying to make with this thread, but he didn't deserve that.
  8. Rogue_Ten Chosen One

    Member Since:
    Aug 18, 2002
    star 7
    maybe they're a post-scarcity communal society
    Last edited by Rogue_Ten, Oct 13, 2013
    Master_Jacen likes this.
  9. beezel26 Jedi Master

    Member Since:
    May 11, 2003
    star 7
    I don't think so, perhaps they are the actually a race of warriors who fought each other. Eventually instead of battling each other they became a race of mercenaries like the Swiss Pikeman. So badass that countries paid the Pikeman not to fight. So perhaps the Predators are a race of rich mercenaries with all this technology. But at this point they haven't been contracted to fight and if they do its in small commando groups. But the same blood feuds that fueled the previous wars are still going. But in the form of hunting each other. Not full on combat.
  10. Alpha-Red Jedi Grand Master

    Member Since:
    Apr 25, 2004
    star 5
    I just watched AvP not too long ago, and the Predators actually struck me as being not too smart. If there's a species as incredibly lethal as the aliens, you don't breed them to be hunted for sport...you exterminate them. Maybe if the alien-to-predator kill ratio was something like 100:1, then hunting them might be justified, but the aliens seem to kill the predators at least as often as the other way around. If your best warriors can barely hold their own against these things and the adolescent hunters who are the future of your race is being massacred by them as well, then self-survival ought to take precedence over any kind of rite of passage. And what good is a rite of passage that kills almost everyone who undergoes it?
    Last edited by Alpha-Red, Oct 13, 2013
  11. beezel26 Jedi Master

    Member Since:
    May 11, 2003
    star 7
    That is why it is called a rite of passage. Massai warriors in Africa have something similar. You pull the tail of lion and survive. Sure you could kill it with a spear but to pull its tail and run away and live to tell about it is a crazy, suicidal but most of all brave. The Predators are the same, going up against the aliens as a rite of passage. Perhaps the aliens themselves were the original weapon of mass destruction used against them. But then they captured the alien queen and forced it to do their bidding. That is to make some eggs and give the predators a sporting test. Perhaps what we don't see is that the predators are going out and exterminating them one planet at a time. And perhaps the aliens infest a planet and basically die out quick because they kill off the animals needed to survive. Perhaps the predators are the only species that can defeat them and the galaxy turns to them when a planet is infected. In the meantime they hone their skills and hunt. You cant have an exterminator that sits around all day. He needs to be fit and ready and prepared.
  12. I Are The Internets Winner: Most Improved

    Member Since:
    Nov 20, 2012
    star 8
    I watched AvP too. It really really sucked. I wish I hadn't. AvP:R is terrible too, but at least every single annoying character dies in that one.
  13. beezel26 Jedi Master

    Member Since:
    May 11, 2003
    star 7
    Maybe the alien species had been exterminated so much that there were few pockets left. Its like rats, they stowed aboard a ship and made it planetside. After which they were able to grow and mature into a nest. We know from the first aliens movie they were left aboard the ship. We hear very little of the predators because they choose to continue hunting each other until the alien menace presents itself. With help of the corporation the aliens get a free ride to any planet.
  14. Jabba-wocky Chosen One

    Member Since:
    May 4, 2003
    star 8
    Maybe you are a making a whole huge series of assumptions about an entire species when we probably haven't seen a dozen individuals in all their films combined.

    Question, though. Why do they put such emphasis on cloaking technology that makes them invisible in our visual spectrum? Given that they see in infrared, they presumably hail from some planet where that's predominant, so one would expect cloaking of that sort to be far more relevant.

    EDIT 2: Also, the "twist" at the end of the last of these movies didn't really make any sense at all. Most of the humans selected were violent people. The term "predators" then, was being deployed in a literal sense. The aliens were looking to identify people who were good at killing others. However, the last fellow didn't really meet any of those criteria. He was just a corrupt healthcare worker. All his "victims" submitted themselves willingly, thinking they were going to receive care. So this was at best a moral judgment that the guy was predatory. But if that was the case, aren't their plenty of dictators, corrupt bureaucrats, or even just especially heartless wealthy people that qualify just as well (if not better) than the mercenaries and military men that also made the cut, especially considering we were ultimately supposed to sympathize with the protagonist and his love interest? Let alone why an alien species would be making ethical judgments by the highly particular rules of a few contemporary human societies.
    Last edited by Jabba-wocky, Oct 13, 2013
  15. Violent Violet Menace Jedi Grand Master

    Member Since:
    Aug 11, 2004
    star 5
    Maybe it cloaks that too. How would we know?
  16. I Are The Internets Winner: Most Improved

    Member Since:
    Nov 20, 2012
    star 8
    Didn't we see the Predator homeworld in AVP:R? Or was that movie a bad dream and never existed?
  17. Lazy Storm Trooper Jedi Master

    Member Since:
    Sep 18, 2012
    star 4
    If you included both the Aliens and Predator canons into your canon it works like this.

    Engineers (aka Space Jockeys) create humans.

    Engineers decide to destroy humanity. They try to do this by sending three ship with the living biological weapon the Xenomorphs. One ship is overtaken by the weapon before it takes off. Two take off but later crash on separate planets. The Predators find one of the ships and use the Xenomorph for hunting purposes on Earth.

    The ship that never took off was discovered by the Prometheus.

    The other ship that crashed was found by the Nostromo and the rest is history.
  18. Lord Vivec Force Ghost

    Member Since:
    Apr 17, 2006
    star 8
    I'm sorry Maik, but you're not going to be getting any more Culture. :(
    Rogue_Ten likes this.
  19. Jabba-wocky Chosen One

    Member Since:
    May 4, 2003
    star 8
    The Bruce Willis one was the main good story anyway.
    Master_Jacen likes this.
  20. beezel26 Jedi Master

    Member Since:
    May 11, 2003
    star 7
    For all intents and purpose the ship the predators found could mean that the predators decided the use the aliens on other planets for sport or actually as a bioweapon themselves. Basically they could in exchange for being worshipped or technology or help as a slave population the aliens are not released on the planet. The hunters are basically used to clean up the threat when a population doesn't listen or rebels. The predators can control a lot more species without the need for rulers. Just a threat. They could release the aliens and then tell the population that unless you help us the aliens will be back. They will keep the aliens at bay.

    Basically a long time ago the predators engineered a crisis on different planets to get what they wanted. On Earth they arrived and were automatically worshipped so why bother releasing the aliens. The Earth was basically a hunting school set up long ago. No need to release the alien menace. But something happened and the population they had used passed away so they no longer had power over them. So it was abandoned until they decided to come back and found the whalers and their station.
    Last edited by beezel26, Oct 13, 2013
  21. DarthTunick SfC Part III Commissioner

    Game Host
    Member Since:
    Nov 26, 2000
    star 10
    I'm glad you're asking the tough questions that nobody else is tackling, beezel.
  22. beezel26 Jedi Master

    Member Since:
    May 11, 2003
    star 7
    This is what nerds talk about when we get together. Not neckbeards and dodgers. Well Sci Fi nerds. Sports nerds are a different genre.
    Last edited by beezel26, Oct 13, 2013
  23. darth-sinister Manager Emeritus

    Member Since:
    Jun 28, 2001
    star 10

    The Predator race is a species that has spent most its existence hunting other species for sport. Nothing more and nothing less. Yes, they have long fingernails, but that doesn't stop them from making weapons of war. It is a matter of honor and pride for them, to hunt living creatures capable of fighting back and claiming their skulls and spines as trophies. When a Predator fails, they terminate themselves through either the bomb or by committing suicide through other means. They create new weapons whenever they need to.

    The Predators aren't about self preservation. Not when it comes to the hunt. That is why they continued to hunt humans after the first one managed to kill one of their own kind. It was now interesting and thus they continued. The secondary species in "Predators" choose to go in a different route, but kept the same rules. So long as the Predators did well against the Aliens that were created, then there was no problem. But as we saw in both films and throughout all the books and comics, anytime things got out of hand, they took drastic measures. Not for themselves, but for the world that they hunt on. The ones in the first film used the bombs because the Aliens were not meant to get away like that. The Wolf, who was the Predator in the second film, had to clean up things because the main methods of clean up failed.

    Because as we saw in "Predator 2" and "Requiem", the Predators don't want the entire human population to know of their existence. Much less have access to their technology. Beyond just using it to hunt, it was used to conceal the mother ship and allow them to remain hidden while on Earth. They can still each themselves while invisible, as we see in each film when we see from their point of view.

    The Predators chose Edwin because he was still a threat to humans, regardless of the methods that he used to kill them. He still choose his prey carefully and hid behind a veneer of being a normal person. Much like the Predators hide themselves by going invisible.
  24. Alpha-Red Jedi Grand Master

    Member Since:
    Apr 25, 2004
    star 5
    Yeah, but if they don't care about self-preservation, then pretty soon there won't be anyone left to participate in the hunt. The whole point of the hunt is for them to test their prowess, but there comes a point when the prey is so dangerous that it stops being a test and starts becoming suicide. I recall one of the fight scenes in AvP where I thought "all right, time to see the predators slaughter those xenomorph freaks!" only for the latter to xenomorph to end up killing the predator...and then I was like "oh crap, even they can't handle them". And if they can't handle them, then they shouldn't be breeding them for purposes of recreation.

    Eh anyway, that's just my two cents on the film.
    Last edited by Alpha-Red, Oct 13, 2013
  25. Jabba-wocky Chosen One

    Member Since:
    May 4, 2003
    star 8
    Yes, I understand how it is useful on Earth. But that technology probably took considerable effort to develop and economize. Why exactly did they go through all the trouble, before they knew Earth existed? By way of comparison, the US would be very well served to have a cadre of thousands of social scientists, engineers, and civil servants who were fluent in both Pashto and Darsi, were intimately familiar with all the cultural niceties of the country's major ethnic groups, and were development experts. Nor is there any real barrier that prevents the US from developing such a group, should they want to spend money on it. The problem is that it's a completely stupid investment. It would cost billions of dollars and decades training to cultivate the expertise described above, and even if we're generous no one would spend more than 25 years of so on the reconstruction of Afghanistan before pulling out.

    So what's the point? Do they seriously develop a whole new group of technologies every single time they come to a new world? Really? Just to hunt a few people? Or did they just so happen to have this lying around?

    How does this make sense? Garter snakes are also predators. So are bull frogs. But if you were at convention of game hunters where people were bragging about the lions and jaguars they've bagged, you would never bring up the time you ran over the garter snake with your lawnmower and defend it by claiming "it's a predator."

    The tricks that guy uses to kill humans aren't ones that are at all applicable to the games the Predators are playing. They're so culturally specific they probably aren't even accessible across species. Even if they were, his techniques are less dangerous, less subtle, and yield less kills than others who are indirectly responsible for murder. Whereas if measured in terms of his personal capacity for violence/destruction, he's also a clear loser.
http://boards.theforce.net/threads/are-the-predators-a-bunch-of-rich-playboys.50015657/?_debug=1
boards.theforce.net
crawl=CC-MAIN-2017-04
111387
application/http; msgtype=response
sha1:SL57KWFO4GTSVXEKCYZ2S7Q5RQMX2BE4
<urn:uuid:7dc34ad9-4b42-48e6-a928-39b506285afb>
2017-01-19T14:04:53Z
50.63.136.209
sha1:CQRAXKIU6POVU6BUOD4L4DRVNQM5LOE2
<urn:uuid:003f62cd-833e-453f-b06c-f4b75e864a7c>
http://boards.theforce.net/threads/are-the-predators-a-bunch-of-rich-playboys.50015657/?_debug=1
response
<urn:uuid:c49298f6-0d84-4ce9-930a-7f3c880db5b0>
robots: classic
hostname: ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal
software: Nutch 1.6 (CC)/CC WarcExport 1.0
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2017-04
operator: CommonCrawl Admin
description: Wide crawl of the web for January 2017
publisher: CommonCrawl
format: WARC File Format 1.0
conformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf