How "realistic" would TLoU be today?

[Nightingale]

The greatest thing about gaming is that the vast majority of videogames serve as a vehicle for escapism and never try to ground anything of their content on reality... and "The Last of Us" was one of the shiniest examples of this sort of thing, as the game never tried to portray a realistic scenario with its premise, setting and characters.

... But then we actually had a pandemic and that shoved it all back into the realms of possibility, where it can be analyzed against this new light.

I have always praised TLoU for how relatively believable it was in its execution, showcasing "realistic" portrayals of the mindset, mood and reactions of a society faced with a new threat hellbent on tearing it apart. The characterization of the entire cast passes scrutiny even after is all said and done, but other parts aren't as lucky (at least in my opinion). Below I'll add a list of things that were assumed/shown on the games and how they differ from what we have actually experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, because we might not be dealing with zombies this time around, but the threat of an omnipresent, mutating, invisible and deadly virus was equal to both our world and that of the game and I think that this "collective nightmare" we have all experienced together will forcibly change how we see the genre of virus-indicued zombies for ever. Here's to what we once assumed to be and how it actually turned out.

NOT HAVING FOUND A VACCINE: I'll be honest, that was the point I believed the most while playing this franchise. My train of thought was that it would be impossible for us to develop a countermeasure effective enough against a virus that not only spreads like crazy, but also mutates with every new host it infects. I never once disbelieved this and held it as an absolute truth, so it comes as a bit of a slap in the face to be proven wrong that quickly on an actual pandemic.

PEOPLE BEING WAY TOO CHILL EVEN THOUGH THE VIRUS HAD REACHED CRITICAL MASS: Contrary to the point above, I never once believed this and it hurt my immersion right from the get-go. The Wiki says that the virus gets outta hand as the game begins and it stroke as extremely odd that Joel and Sarah would be living life as normal (they were planning to celebrate Joel's birthday) as the world around them collapsed with an actual bang. NOW, we had idiocy for days ourselves, but the game never made it sound like any measures other than roadblocks were in place as this was happening (and the more gruesome cases were being severely toned down by the media, so I don't think a quarantine was in place around Joel's house).

I do seem to remember the intro talking about quarantines and food shortages anywhere else in the US, but I might be mixing it up with Project: Zomboid. It's been a while.

UNDERGROUND MOVEMENTS/TERRORIST GROUPS: I have mixed feelings about the whole "Fireflies" affair. I have talked to several COVID-negationists and the more they'll ever say about it is that they don't think it is "that big of a deal" and we "should just get over ourselves". It is very hard for me to see anyone brandishing a weapon in demands of "the truth" (although several non-violent pieces of lunacy have surfaced amidst OUR pandemic).

CURFEWS/RIOTS: Surprisingly those were a thing and I'm AMAZED by the fact that ours seem to have been worst than anything portrayed on the games themselves. I mean, sure, we didn't have overran/abandoned QZs and the like, but it was all still very violent.

FOOD SHORTAGES: Never were a thing where I live and I imagine that was the case elsewhere as well. We definitely had speculators and hoarders, but that seems to have been the extent of that.

LOSS OF COMMUNICATION/ABANDONED PLACES: No, surprisingly none of that was a thing, either. If anything, we actually improved upon our communications on the global scale.

LOSS OF RIGHTS: Can't speak for the whole world, but that just has not being the case around my area. Liberties (particularly those of circulation and travel) were severely restricted, but are now being restored to their pre-pandemic levels. It is very hard to accuse anyone of shutting down personal freedom after a pandemic stroke.

So, those are my points. If anything, I think the scenarios portrayed in TLoU and countless of other games actually make our actual, real-life pandemic far less scary by comparison. We never expected zombies, but assumed chaos as being an inevitable part of the "journey" and, deaths aside, seem to have gotten the "light" version, which is extremely encouraging in its own way.

[Moonface]

There's a lot of neat points in here that I really want to talk about, but due to lack of time on my part right now along with wanting to also better formulate my thoughts on some stuff still, I'll share some basic thoughts for now:

In regards to the vaccine not being developed quickly in TLoU, the main difference between that and Covid is that the Covid vaccines are built off existing mRNA vaccine work which helped the speed. That aside, the issue in TLoU is that the infection has no known cures. It says in the openings that vaccinations are being tested but none are working, so the speed is sorta there but it just doesn't work out.

The second point is what really got my mind ticking but I want to refresh myself on the game a bit more before covering that and other stuff. I'll look things up to give better thoughts on that stuff tomorrow.

[Nightingale]

There's a lot of neat points in here that I really want to talk about, but due to lack of time on my part right now along with wanting to also better formulate my thoughts on some stuff still, I'll share some basic thoughts for now:

In regards to the vaccine not being developed quickly in TLoU, the main difference between that and Covid is that the Covid vaccines are built off existing mRNA vaccine work which helped the speed. That aside, the issue in TLoU is that the infection has no known cures. It says in the openings that vaccinations are being tested but none are working, so the speed is sorta there but it just doesn't work out.

The second point is what really got my mind ticking but I want to refresh myself on the game a bit more before covering that and other stuff. I'll look things up to give better thoughts on that stuff tomorrow.

That's OK, man. Gather those thoughts and I'll be sure to read them!

I find it very interesting that amputation of an affected limb was tried at some point and not quite discarded as makeshift cure for the infection. I love that they left that deliberately open in regards of it working.

But yeah, I don't think any vaccine would "fix" something new that latches onto your brain, grows in it and is capable of shutting it down.

Man, what a great game.

[Moonface]

PEOPLE BEING WAY TOO CHILL EVEN THOUGH THE VIRUS HAD REACHED CRITICAL MASS: Contrary to the point above, I never once believed this and it hurt my immersion right from the get-go. The Wiki says that the virus gets outta hand as the game begins and it stroke as extremely odd that Joel and Sarah would be living life as normal (they were planning to celebrate Joel's birthday) as the world around them collapsed with an actual bang. NOW, we had idiocy for days ourselves, but the game never made it sound like any measures other than roadblocks were in place as this was happening (and the more gruesome cases were being severely toned down by the media, so I don't think a quarantine was in place around Joel's house).

I do seem to remember the intro talking about quarantines and food shortages anywhere else in the US, but I might be mixing it up with Project: Zomboid. It's been a while.

The intro does but that is after the outbreak has already begun. No reports of what the pandemic truly is start until September 27 when the news on the TV says that what was initially believed to be rioting is actually connected to the nationwide pandemic, which is causing people to become highly aggressive.

When the game opens, it's September 27, and that is the first time even the news reports what the pandemic truly is causing. A newspaper from the 26th says hospital cases are up and that more contaminated crops have been identified, but the FDA only reports them to be contaminated with mold. There is nothing reporting what that mold is actually doing to people until the game begins, which is when road blocks have started to be set up and large groups of people evacuate in a panic. There is nothing else being done before this, since attacks that happen before the game are thought to be riots and not isolated pockets of the infection.

However, even if September 26/27 is truly when the nation learns the truth of the severity of the pandemic, there are still a lot of complacent people that choose to stay put. One such example is in Bill's Town, which doesn't even see people start to evacuate in notable numbers until October 17, but a large enough number of people stay that the military posts a mandatory evacuation notice because those people are convinced the infection won't reach them, even though the severity of it is known at this point. People were complacent with Covid until it knocked on the door, but I don't know if people would be the same about an infection proven to rock your shit 100%. All I can assume is the people in Bill's Town thought that it was better to stay put than to go where the infection was more likely to be such as a QZ or the route to it, especially when rural areas like that had gone without incident for at least 3 weeks.

Joel and Sarah are only acting complacent until the game opens simply because nothing reported gives the impression that evacuation needs to happen. Panic only starts when the news realizes what is actually happening and reports it on the morning of September 27.

UNDERGROUND MOVEMENTS/TERRORIST GROUPS: I have mixed feelings about the whole "Fireflies" affair. I have talked to several COVID-negationists and the more they'll ever say about it is that they don't think it is "that big of a deal" and we "should just get over ourselves". It is very hard for me to see anyone brandishing a weapon in demands of "the truth" (although several non-violent pieces of lunacy have surfaced amidst OUR pandemic).

I think the Fireflies came about more because of FEDRA turning the QZ's into police states. FEDRA also replaces the US Government and takes full control of everything, but in ways that the general populace dislikes. Various QZ's fall because of how FEDRA and the military are abusing their power to benefit themselves, and the Fireflies are a group who want to restore the government to its original form and stop this abuse. I could see that happening when the people in charge are hoarding food for themselves and FEDRA opts to stop work on a cure.

CURFEWS/RIOTS: Surprisingly those were a thing and I'm AMAZED by the fact that ours seem to have been worst than anything portrayed on the games themselves. I mean, sure, we didn't have overran/abandoned QZs and the like, but it was all still very violent.

Most of the riots that we hear of in the game occur due to outright power abuse like I mentioned for the previous point. In Boston the curfews are abided to but it could be because of what the consequences are known to be for not following it, or those who did rebel and such were already dealt with, or a mixture of both happened.

FOOD SHORTAGES: Never were a thing where I live and I imagine that was the case elsewhere as well. We definitely had speculators and hoarders, but that seems to have been the extent of that.

Covid hampered production but it wouldn't stop it outright because nothing stops running entirely. For TLoU there isn't going to be workers making food and delivering food still, so the supply is going to quickly fail to meet up with demand.

LOSS OF COMMUNICATION/ABANDONED PLACES: No, surprisingly none of that was a thing, either. If anything, we actually improved upon our communications on the global scale.

This one would come down to whether areas are lost that contain power grids, communication infrastructure, etc. that cause those systems to eventually stop functioning. It's presumed that such areas are lost very quickly in the game since letters are being sent between QZ's until FEDRA stops it.

[Nightingale]

Those are all excellent points, man.

I have played the shit outta this game and I still managed to forget some of the details you have brought back into the conversation, so kudos for that. 

I'm glad you went straight for the FDA notice on "infected crops from South America" because that was treated almost like a side note and it always fascinated me, as zombie stories are notorious for not telling us anything about how the world got upside down. I remember the Wiki saying that those crops were pulled from store shelves very quickly, but that'ś the whole beauty of it: it only took one person getting in contact with it/devouring it for all us to get fucked, much like it only took one or two cases of COVID for the whole pandemic to kick into gear.

BTW: I'm sorry for not quoting you like you have and have all this neat and tidy, but I'm currently typing on a wirless keyboard hooked up to a 7'' Tablet and it is getting outta hand xD

I have never paid to much mind or homage to Bill because I didn't like him as a character, but I do remember finding notes and the like on "his" town backing up what you are saying... and frankly, the whole state of the places gives support to what you are saying: places look rough, but not necessarily looted and a lot of vehicles are just parked, as if no-one had even THINK about setting food outside.

The FEDRA thing... yeah, I don't really have a counter for that and I agree with what you are saying on the whole "dictatorship" thing. 

The fact that FEDRA was able to take over (and actually replace) the US Government could just be the most implausible thing about this whole story... about goddamn zombies xD

I remember that Joel's smartphone still worked and was able to get messages from Tommy as the hospital exploded on the intro, but the time skip after this point makes it impossible to say whether that was the case for long. I didn't know FEDRA had put an end to mailed letters... man, they were all out in the whole power abuse thing, huh? 

Funny side note about food: the very few times this is brought up in the game, it is always some bluebarriers or bacon that had """miraculously""" survived in well-enough shape to be eaten, which I love. There's something about that small wonder that amuses me to no-end,

[Moonface]

Yeah, the simple note that mentions the crops is one I always remember because it was such a basic statement but enough to give a back story to the infection for the reader to decide how things went from there.

I expect the side of Bill's town that is filled with infected is the side of town that didn't evacuate. The area Bill resides is mostly stores; you rarely see a house until after you meet him. If the residents didn't leave and stayed in their homes then the infection would concentrate there, and easily overwhelm everyone once it started breaking out. I haven't actually thought about the distribution of the buildings in Bill's area until now. Might also explain why Bill says a lot of cars still have gas in them; if nobody left or a lot of other areas were like Bill's town, cars would have gas because they never left.

The only time I think we see radio communication being used after the time skip is in Part 2 with the Wolves in Seattle. There's a moment in the TV station where a radio is being contacted and the person is saying if no response is given a team will come out to check what's going on.

[WR91]

I honestly don't think we're that far off from mutations like we saw in The Last of Us.

And the way people would be on edge all the time and very territorial is already happening. So yeah, I don't THINK I'll see anything like it in my lifetime but I wouldn't put it out of the question.