Splicer Psychology

* See also ADAM_Addled
* See also Splicers
* See also Game_Bosses
* See also Philosophy
* See also PsychoDrama
* See also Splicer_Play
* See also Perceptions_Altered
* See also Strange_Splicer_Visions
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Creepy Things Splicers have in their Pockets
"Crazy is as Crazy Does" - A Splicers Life is like a Bottle of Thorazine ...
Listen to things Splicers say in the Solo Games.
WE Hear some deluded Splicer talk about "Colonel Sander", and complain about the chicken in Fort Frolic ( a 'fried chicken' place in Fort Frolic !!! )
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The Splicer Mentality can diverge significantly from that of the 'Normal Human' - when affected by taking significant amounts of ADAM. Minds, as well as bodies, face numerous side-effects of using ADAM products.
It can be of great variety of different ways.
Should NOT be TOO different than humans - for the most part. Dealing with them will be a big part of the Game experience.
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Splicerism Is A 'Matter of Degree' :
We see Splicers behaving fairly normally. ADAM's effect on the brain varied differently between people. Peoples usage of ADAM (amount and type) also differed. By the time of the MMORPG, the remaining Splicers are the ones who managed to survive by not being too crazy.
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MORALE as a combat/adversarial effect factor :
They (the enemy) run away (loss of morale) - Important when we have a less "deathy" MMORPG game theme.
Watch out though - they might 'fake it' and double back on you ( or lead you into an ambush ).
Expanded motivations and reactions would be in play in this expanded game experience.
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== The Psychology of the Splicer's World : ==
The Transition From What Was :
* Dealing with 'the Chaos' trauma ( from even before splicing's insanity, the falling apart of Civilization )
* To some it was like a dream, to others a nightmare they could not get out of
* Memories of 'before' (time before the splicing, back when things were 'normal')
* Decay all around, no control, and the collapse of order ( way too much inconvenience )
* The 'Trapped like a Rat' feeling -- Rapture closing in on them ( was happening long before the 'Plasmid disease' started )
* Repeated cycles of withdrawal ADAM/EVE from varying supplies ( in later periods much of the ADAM supply has dried up  and they become sources of power for those possessing them. ) Having to rely on other ways of doing things (NO LONGR using  Plasmids).
* The fear of running out of EVE that would leave an individual vulnerable to other Splicers. The fear of having your EVE stolen and having to stash some away safely 'just in case'.
* Hand to mouth survival ( some in Rapture came from places where that was the way things worked, while others never missed a meal in their life ).
* Continued Addiction - 'Eve-plant' source of Eve independent of the lab/Fontaine's/Sinclair's production - new source, but only for those who can obtain it.
* The Will - many of the original inhabitants of Rapture were not the 'sit down and die' type.
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 "Falling Off The Bandwagon" ( A Hazard for Players ):
ADAM was a Strong addiction.
Recidivism rate for the 'Cured' Splicers in the game ( a nice mission goal is hunting down someone who has 'backslid' ).
The Game Needs reason for why you keep finding/interacting-with more Splicers ?
Likewise, New Rapture's expansion has mishaps which need re-repairing to restore from "The Degredation".
A Story element for many of the minor NPCs ( Everyone should have a Backstory - even Players - "HOLY FANFICTION BATMAN !!!" )
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Team Splicers
Laurel and Hardee pairings of Splicers - The One Two (Three Four) punch of Splicerdom
Requires good programming to coordinate actions/tactics believably.
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Splicer Vs Splicer
Splicer Groups/Factions 'DISing' (disrespecting) each other.
'Pissing' on their territory (often literally). Splicers who have nothing better to do once they achieve sustenance,
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Dealing With Other Splicers :
* Law of the Jungle ( 'dog eat dog', 'splicer eat rat', etc ... )
* Splicer eat Splicer ( there have been reports... )
* Loners - safer to live apart for some ( even Splicer see each other as crazy )
* Hiding and surviving
* Those who emerged as leaders and formations of groups.
* Cooperation amongst those who weren't completely insane - strength in numbers
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The Splicer Code :
There is a reason there are still so many Splicers walking about
"Parley" ...
The Splicer Code says don't kill other Splicers ( just embarrass and ridicule them ). 
Players playing as Splicers as a side game ? YOU need to learn those Rules then.
Even if there was an appreciable percentage of the population of Splicers left, the Players in a typical MMORPG (with the exaggerated enemy body counts) would have them ALL cleaned up and extinct in a week at your typical MMORPG Kill Rates. (( So that is NOT how this MMORPG will run. ))
A Breach of the "Katzen Code" ( How do you say "Parley" in Cat ??? ) :
"See what I did there ?" ( Hmm that's another stupid phrase that should go away forever for the betterment of Mankind ... ) -- A reference to Pirates of the Caribbean ..." 
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Splicer's Code : ( There might be such a thing for the MMORPG )
* "Do unto Others Anything You can get away with"
* "A stitch in time, saves your patch of skin or your face from sliding off"
* "Parley" is just something you use when you are otherwise gonna lose.
* The Law of Chaos Rapture is that of the Strongest/Meanist
* Don't eat anything that's been on the ground for more than Three Years 
* Anyone disrespects you, kick the shit out of them
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Some Splicers Could Manage to Still Reason and Carry On Functioning :
* Varying amounts/combinations of ADAM used ( later times there was much less available )
* Varying ability of individuals to react to it -- Different levels of insanity
* Some Tonics that actually improved abilities but weren't abused far enough to bring mental breakdown
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Lamb's Effects - Warping The Psyche :
* "Mind Shafting" that Sofia does ( even before the Kashmir Terrorist attack started the road to chaos ).
* Those in Persephone 'being sold down the river' ( sold to Sinclair for experiments ) - fear
* Later forcing people to be 'Spliced' so she could have control of them ...
* Others who got in her way simply killed ( ie - "Unbelievers" )
Note- Those Who Survive a long time - the craziest ones are long gone
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The Holdouts - Non-Splicers :
* Farmers who managed to keep their independence, and others who's useful skills kept them alive
* Sofia Lamb using pheromones to control Splicers -- She must have had help of 'sane' scientists to do the work
* Many areas in Rapture which had cut themselves off from the City, who had enough resources to survive.
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"Gimme the Cashhhhh !!!"  (The 'Hype' from The Fifth Element) :
If ADAM has such addictive properties ( psychological as well as physical ), then wouldn't one of the first signs in Rapture be a rash of muggings by addicts who have lost their jobs because of becoming unstable, and couldn't afford their 'fix', and thus have to resort to crime to get the money they needed to feed their ADAM habit ?
A good question might be :  Of all the 'poor' people that Fontaine and Sofia Lamb and Atlas preyed upon ( selling them their Parasitic Ideals ),  how many were ADAM addicts or common-drug or alcohol ruined people ?   Suddenly a possible reason for most everyone else in Rapture not being 'humanitarian' makes a bit more sense.  
Personal Responsibility IS part of the Philosophy Rapture was founded upon.
Consider the possibility of people who are mentally impaired and are told they deserve everything to be given to them, and then being armed with combat Plasmids ( like done by Atlas ) - What they might do.  What likely should Andrew Ryan do to someone arming these crazy people and inciting them ?  What would the People of Rapture DEMAND that Ryan do to such a person ?
Considering the effects and the amount of time ADAM products were sold to Rapture's consumers, wouldn't such side-effects start showing up well before the 'everyone went crazy' period after Kashmir ?   If it was shown to be so debilitating ( physically and mentally ), wouldn't the newspapers/TV news be full of Exposés and Denouncements of it as 'poison' ?  Ryan wouldn't interfere with such journalistic activity, and even if Fontaine tried to prevent individual Newspapers and other media from reporting the story, he couldn't stop Ryan from getting the story out.  ( Of course the game writers avoided this logical outcome which would have invalidated their plot ).
If serious problems caused by this 'drug' were identified and projected, wouldn't Ryan himself begin to propagandize against it ( particularly if Fontaine was the biggest operator ), even if he wouldn't 'regulate' it ( a course rejected by his Philosophy ) ?   People have a right to decide for themselves, but letting them be properly informed doesn't run contrary to that.  Apparently, the ADAM problem was sufficient enough that Ryan could not just shutdown Fontaine's ADAM business without condemning some significant portion of the population to dangerous withdrawal effects ( but that situation just popped into existence apparently ).
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All the Crap That Falls Out of Their (Splicers) Pockets :
Stuff you loot from enemies (generally Splicers in this MMORPG) can be like Christmas (although they might be smart enough to discard their most useless items first before YOU chase them down).
With so many goodies, it makes up for the added difficulty of capturing a Splicer.
'Amusing' items for an MMORPG can be as good as being 'worth Cash'.
Player Skill - 'Suppressing Nausea' - some of the odd things they keep might be rather noisome. Perhaps you may want to have your 'booster shots' kept 'up to date' before going out adventuring ? ( Actually THAT'S a GOOD detail idea for the MMORPG ... Tetanus, Rabies, etc ... )
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Fallen, Fallen is Babylon V :
Those Splicers be crazy. They scrawled all kinds of weird crap all over the walls in Rapture.
Probably, the MMORPG will have a recurring Contest for that kind of Assets, destined to be plaster all over the Wilds of Rapture.  ( And they can change all the time, giving Players another possibly amusing thing to notice ).
There is yet another City Task (for Player) -- Whitewashing such messages in the Border area adjacent to the New City.  Crazy Splicers keep putting up new ones. They are not only an eyesore, but contrary to the image of 'order' the City is trying to create.
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When You are Out to Capture Splicers to 'Save' Them, Don't Forget to Bring a Gag :
* They yell and scream, bringing other Splicers
* They gibber continuously their 'story' - very annoying...
* They will bad mouth you, telling you how pathetic and weak all 'genetic mundanes' are.
* They Spit ( and their 'breath' may be hideous ).
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Some of the Smarter 'Wild' Splicers 'Fear' Ex-Splicers From New Rapture :
The Unknown Country - the Cure   ( Better to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous insanity, bad food and physical deformities, or to take arms against brutal neighbors, than to go to that place where no Splicer returns ... )
It is what some Splicer Bosses tell their underlings - 'to keep them in line' ( Hnmmm : "Watchout, Oo The Tenenbaum Will Getcha !!!!" )
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 Second of Three Splicers Says : "THAT'S THE ONE ... GET HIM !!!!!!" 
Other Splicers might have been sane enough to talk to the Player, if Jack hadn't had a 1000 ADAM Bounty on  his head.
"If you're going to shoot, shoot, don't talk !" -- Tuco ( Movie : "The Good The Bad and The Ugly ..." )
Some people out to get Jack might even NOT have been Splicers ( others, less insane, who kept Rapture running for Ryan ?? ) You can buy alot of tasty Fish for 1000 ADAM.
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Mermaids Are the LEAST of Splicers' Delusions :
* An Elmer Fuddite with tentacles ( "Shhh, I Huntin' that That Wascally Walrus !!!" ).
* Herr Hitler dancing the Foxtrot with a 'Sad' Clown
* An Enormous Burning EYE (I)
* An airborne city full of crazy people ( Oops, that was the "late movie of the week" )
* Weird "Music of the Jelly Fish", that you just can't get out of your head Definitely Copyright and Trademark vetted. 
* Giant Kittens !!! ( doing ballet or Cossack Sword Dancing - Infrequently at a cardtable playing Poker ... )
Sounds like Another Player Contest ( an open-ended 'WTF' Scene Creation that could be just about anything the Players could Imagine ).
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The Church of Ryan :
In the reclaimed freedom of New Rapture - People just to do it because they can ....  ( Organized Religion Ban Rescinded - But 'NO STATE RELIGION' is still the law in the New City Charter ).
More likely to be done by some group of Splicers, who worship "THE CREATOR" and "THE LAW GIVER"
Perhaps the 'Worshipers' all dress up as Ryan, wear those Howard Hughes mustaches, golf putting as a Sacrament ...  Reciting his famous Quotes/Sayings with great reverence an in unison ...
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Psychology of a Little Sister :
I suppose Little Sisters can be generally considered 'Splicers' :
Everything is Magic ...  They are around the childhood age when reasoning starts about things - When recognizing 'Causality' starts developing in most children.  Add to that, whatever delusional conditionings were used to make the Little Sisters not care so much about shoving a sharp device into a corpse and then drinking some rancid blood/lymph fluids. 
It (the game) might NOT have been quite so endearing/empathizing IF the only viable ADAM 'Hosts' had been 75+ year old men or women.
Are Little Sisters addicted to ADAM ? - Do they get an ADAM 'rush' from their Vampire-like harvesting ??  ( Are they conditioned into this ??   OR does it more rely on a reinforcement feedback within their conditioning ? )   Seeing them with a twisted grin on their faces after slurping down an "Angel's" blood is a bit creepy.
Do they hear a constant tiny voice in their heads : "Slinky Twinkey wants Drinky Drinky ..."
Their Psycho-Babble .. etc, etc, etc...  Rote-learned little sayings/recitations  ( "All good girls gather" )
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New Rapture - Making Mirrors to Replace All the Smashed Ones We Found in The Solo Games :
Splicers didn't like looking at their deformities caused by the ADAM disease, so destroyed most mirrors. This was an adequate excuse for NOT having them in the game (for technical reasons). The MMORPG's graphics quality might not make for great "look at my character's wondrously lifelike face", but even 'Duke Nukem' had amusing mirror shots and views in security camera feeds. 
With Players being human again, appearances will matter and a Mirror is indispensable for that purpose.  We Will have to think what Player interactions could be appropriate.    Cosmetic influences may have some importance in the game (why not ?) That would mean there would be Avatar cosmetic options, hairstyles, face shape variations, etc ...
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Splicer Weirdness (You Can Do Alot With Insanity Story-wise) :
* "Big Dada" - yet another 'Boss' to encounter -   a fairly generic 'local boss' small Faction/gang situation for a Quest/Mission.  But I like the cute name.     Maybe wears a diving helmet as a sign of authority -- which for comical effect impairs his movement and firing straight as it is a bit unwieldy - and/or he meets a real Big Daddy and has a problem.   I suppose there could be a 'Big Mama' also somewhere.
* Splicer Cult that worships Ryan's Face carved into the side of Mt Ryan -- and it turns out THEY were the ones who carved it ( and no, it doesn't turn out to be a puny little Stonehenge miniature thing seen out a fake window like in "Spinal Tap" ).   Unfortunately the profiles resemblance to Ryan isn't really evident except from where they live.
* Splicer Boss who thinks he IS the god Apollo - saw a statue one time and the image stuck/emerged thru the Splicer's insanity  ( Splicer fails miserably in acting out the delusional role, really bad toga, etc ... ).  Thinks he owns 'Apollo Square', yet is not located anywhere near it.
* It is not inconceivable that there are Splicers who worship the Almighty `Sea Slug.
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Other Sayings in The Halls of Rapture :
Someone tells you this : "Hey, We're on a voyage of discovery here, Mac !!"
"Pulleeeze Splice-aah !!! Don't be doin da slingin yor turdums so freely!!! Ya Mitchum me ??"
"See what I didn't do there ?" ( Turnabout of That Stupid 'aint I clever' thing they say so much today ).
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Splicers Are Really Nice Once You Get To Know Them... :
Players have more dealings with Splicers besides just Firefights
* There is no 1000 ADAM Bounty on your head like there was with Jack ( Hmmm - If the Pheromone thing worked, would that even have been necessary ?? )
* Yoda-like Splicer who you learn stuff from ( bring him Potato Chips and he will lay his Wisdom at Your Feet ) ???
* You can figure that the real crazy (dangerous) ones would have eaten their own heads by now, so the ones left were more marginally insane.
* Trading - Splicers usually know where 'The Good Stuff' is and can supply some things otherwise unavailable. They are interested in things YOU can get which they can't.
* Not all Splicers went insane or were maimed into madness. Many just live out there trying to Survive.
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Gimme ADAM :
If the Splicers are so hard up for ADAM in ALL the games, then why are there Plasmids and Tonics just laying about for the Player to find ? That never did make much sense to me ( first Splicer to toddle by would grab it and be gone ... ). EVE might have just been sugar water for all it mattered. But any CASH to be looted (or other goodies) when there was stuff still in machines to buy ? 
All that don't make much sense neither, unless things in Rapture were alot better than they (the writers manipulative plot) pretended they were -- It was NOT quite a dying city ... Rather - Maybe YOU were being led through the bad parts ?? For example - Would there likely still be 'Who Is Atlas' posters still up and NOT defaced/scrawled with the vilest derision, if the area (ie- Arcadia) was Ryan-controlled ?
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Consolidate - All the "Columbia" Splicer's Dreams :
All based on a bad 1952 movie produced in Rapture about an Absurd Flying City, and satire presenting a complete misunderstanding of American History, Religion, Culture and the Laws of Physics. Worse might be a delusion that this IS NOT all a dream, and the terrible extremes which some (fanboi ?) Splicers obsessively try to re-create that place themselves :
* Flying simulated by having suspension wires/cables embedded into their limbs ( or at least 'lunette' rings )
* Splodey Ghosts ( 'ghost stories' - swamp gas is flammable and too many Splicers still smoke ... )
* Wearing Victorian Era Clothing - Props scrounged from Rapture's various Theater Groups, or the best approximation created by the Splicers ( as in pretty awful ).
* Really-bad fake 'Floaty' things (staging/special effects/props), Giant Puppet Handymen ( "Hey, that's a real head in that !!!" ). Turn of the Century 'terrain' with whatever was on-hand.
* 8 Splicers squeezed inside a Songbird Monstrosity to make all its parts work ... ( It doesn't fly much - dangling from a cable on an overhead crane - deux ex machina )
* Dress up in those absurd heavy Police/Military uniforms ( and the ones with the red bags over their heads ). Maybe if the Vox used sticks and stones they might give some protection, but guns go right thru leather and any thickness of metal that a man could walk in ( ... but they still look neat to wear ). Some of the metal armor appears to have been made from Rapture Trash Cans.
* Splicers ("The Columbians") pretend to see 'Tears', usually by sticking a 'live' electrode up against their eyeballs.
* Argue over who plays Booker and who plays Elizabeth ( who gets to hit Booker in the head by throwing things ). Nobody wants to be those weird 'Boys of Silence'. Corpses can be used for 'corpses', and to make 'shootem' Enemy targets in the simulated (live fire) fighting.
* Skyline fun causing broken Hands/Elbow/Shoulders, and repeated painful falls even from rather low heights. Simulated blood and ripped flesh squirted from a bladder under the arm, as 'faces are ripped off' with the jibbalicious 'Sky hooks'.
* Rants of Pseudo-religious gobbledeegook and absurdist racist/class diatribes, and Snake Oil technical claims.
* Drinking 'Vigors' which usually are '180 Proof' kelp alcohol with a few Pharmaceutical 'additives'
* Counting up their piles of "Silver Bagles" (old bottlecaps), and hiding them from the evil tyrant 'Cornstalk'.
* Minstrel Show !!! ( Singing of the few remembered words of "Camptown Races" and "Sweet Adeline"Note- songs/music that have had their Copyrights LOOOONG gone... and bad attempts at Barbershop Quartet singing ).
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Curse The Black Spot (It is Probably Melanoma) !!! :
So Some Splicers Became Pirates ( some interesting Surface World adventures - Yo Ho, Yo Ho ... )
And NO, they don't use those transit Bathyspheres, which would sink instantly on opening that front door in its mostly still submerged hull when on the ocean's surface.
"Captain Black Marrow" (ick), and other assorted monikers ... (Green Beard ???)
These clowns are threatening Rapture's secrecy and security, and it is YOUR job to stop them !!!
Many of these guys are Creepy and LOOK like they belong on the "Flying Dutchman".
There would be a Bounty for their Subs and any Loot they possess.
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Shaggy Splicers - Only a Detail :
Electric shavers came in in 1930 were perfected in 1950s but what Splicers have the time/opportunity to use them or even get an 'oldie time' shave (safely).
Thus beard/long hair for many.
Keeping up appearances is obvious for many of the Splicers we see in the game.
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Cannibalism in Rapture's Chaos
Hunger and Insanity lead to what normally is abhorrent behavior.
Ryan would do everything possible to prevent such things happening.
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==A Thought : Add Booze and Drugs To Splicer Mental Operation==
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