163 - Alphas And Betas

Developer diaries about creating Neverending Nightmares.
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gagaplex
Posts: 245
Joined: Wed Oct 09, 2013 10:32 am

Re: 163 - Alphas And Betas

Post by gagaplex »

Eh, it's just a silly joke, not really worth explaining, but hey. The book features castes of people who are both physically and mentally conditioned from before "decanting" (the artificial form of childbirth they have in that dystopian future) for their later role in society, with Alphas being leaders, great thinkers, athletes etc., Betas being in more middling roles and Gammas, Deltas and Epsilons making up increasingly lower class roles of sanitary workers, street sweepers and other stuff. But people are (generally) not unhappy with their lot in life because of the massive indoctrination they received (telling Alphas how superior they are or telling Deltas how glad they are for not having to think too hard and just be happy and so on) and the drugs they get. Long story short: When I read "Alphas and Betas" I associated that more with Brave New World than game development. :P
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matt
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Joined: Fri Oct 04, 2013 10:48 am

Re: 163 - Alphas And Betas

Post by matt »

Ah ha! I totally missed the reference. My bad! I guess the software development meanings of "alpha" and "beta" have been so ingrained in my mind, that it's hard to think of them as anything else.
-Matt Gilgenbach
Lead Frightener at Infinitap Games
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