[Marcov]

Don't you think? They've classified the Colossus, the Shivans to an extent, the Knossos, the entire info on ETAK, the Sathanas, several Ancient artifacts, research on the Knossos, the Hades, the Mara, and probably much more. Why are the GTVA so strict about keeping things secret? Are they afraid of being sabotaged?

All this limits the info on FS, which is why I'm starting to get annoyed. 

[General Battuta]

I think it was one of the best storytelling decisions :V: made.

The less you know, the more interesting everything is.

A certain excellent collaborative fiction site (the SCP Project) tends to place REDACTED liberally throughout its narrative, typically right when the document's about to describe something eerie, frightening, or disturbing...which makes it even worse!

It's the old movie adage of 'never show the monster' in literary form.

[Rodo]

well think about it this way:

-it leaves you a lot of things to work with in the next releases.
-you don't need to make up extensive and conclusive descriptions.
-enhances the interest of fans by keeping mysterious things undisclosed.
-gives the feeling of a real Intel manipulation seen on any organized army/government.

I can't seem to think on another reason, but I guess those might suffice for now.

[karajorma]

Why are the GTVA so strict about keeping things secret? Are they afraid of being sabotaged?

Bosch knew a lot more than the player did about the Shivans due to the knowledge he gained fighting the GTI during the Hades Rebellion. Look how well that turned out for them.


Can't say I blame them.

[Droid803]

A certain excellent collaborative fiction site (the SCP Project) tends to place REDACTED liberally throughout its narrative, typically right when the document's about to describe something eerie, frightening, or disturbing...which makes it even worse!

That's, however, sometimes done to the point where I just give up on trying to figure out what anything is and stop caring about the narrative in question altogether.

Too much of a good thing can become a bad thing.

That said, I feel FS doesn't suffer from lack of information.

[IronForge]

I agree, I believe in a true democracy, there should be no 'secrets'. However, given the situation with the NTF and HOL, it comes to no surprise.

[Scotty]

Think about it from the GTVA Command standpoint.  Your pilots and crew need to know what it can do.  They don't need to know how it does it, why it does it, or when someone found out how to do it.  To keep them from distracting themselves with an overflow of information they don't need to fight effectively, you classify it.

EDIT: Alternately, if you just don't know, you could say you do and call it classified.  Keeps morale up if they think you know more than you do.

[Dilmah G]

I take Battuta's viewpoint on this. And from a mil-sci fi viewpoint, well, why the bloody hell should an ensign know about this kind of stuff? He doesn't need to know, and it just makes him a huge risk if he's captured. I praise the GTVA commanders for it, actually.

Or who knows? They might've read Sun Tzu and fed you a whole lot of bull****. 

[Sushi]

I think it was one of the best storytelling decisions :V: made.

The less you know, the more interesting everything is.

This can, of course, be overdone... sometimes it feels like "that's classified pilot!" is just a way to hand-wave over incongruities, contradictions, and random added mysteries that you have no intention of ever explaining. It's a fine line to walk.

[Cobra]

I take Battuta's viewpoint on this. And from a mil-sci fi viewpoint, well, why the bloody hell should an ensign know about this kind of stuff? He doesn't need to know, and it just makes him a huge risk if he's captured. I praise the GTVA commanders for it, actually.

Or who knows? They might've read Sun Tzu and fed you a whole lot of bull****. 

But what if you've reached Admiral and didn't go read a book?

[Kie99]

The real reason it's classified is because volition couldn't be arsed writing extremely lengthy tech descriptions that 99% of people will never read.

[MatthTheGeek]

99% of the people suck. Why don't they do things for the normal people of us ?

[Paladin327]

they don't pay ensign fighter pilots to know the large scale battle plans of the entire fleet, they pay him to get into his fightercraft and blow up other enemy fighters

[IronForge]

Well the thing is they should be saying it is irrelevent but you can know if you want to. Makes me stop feeling I'm working for north korea.

[General Battuta]

Well the thing is they should be saying it is irrelevent but you can know if you want to. Makes me stop feeling I'm working for north korea.

The US military uses pretty much the same scheme, mind.

[SpardaSon21]

And it makes a lot of sense.  No matter how much or how harshly you interrogate someone, he can't reveal what he doesn't know.

[Klaustrophobia]

i can't say i ever got the feeling too much was classified when playing through.

[Goober5000]

I thought this thread was going to be about how everything is classified level Phi, Upsilon, or Omega.

[Molybdenum]

And sometimes even Rho.

Does someone know in what order they are?

[Rodo]

That's Classified pilot.