As stated elsewhere, I'm still in favor of leaving Ford Schick in on the third visit. My reasoning, more concretely:
- The code doesn't seem intentional: Though there is some ambiguity, I think a scripting typo is still the more parsimonious explanation. While it's true setting the flag to 1 elegantly allows Smuggler to acknowledge your actions without summoning Schick later, I have my doubts that they would have left Schick's check in the later missions active. If he's never supposed to be around, why leave in the code that checks if he is? Of course, I don't know what the team's general approach was here, and there are a few other places where impossible actions are still acknowledged (e.g. giving Gunther the stealth pistol, getting into the MJ12 Sewer Base before talking to Smuggler, etc). Those seem more minor, though.
- There are narrative benefits to keeping him in NYC 2: Schick appearing is a nice acknowledgement of the player's actions and provides closure in NYC 2. When I first played the game, I wondered if I had actually failed the mission because I told Schick to run for it, and wasn't sure if the game needed me to accompany him or what. We agree that Schick ought to appear in NYC 2.
- Even if it was intentional, the removal in NYC 3 is on shaky grounds: The only problem with Schick returning seems to be his dialogue in NYC 3. I don't think it's inconsistent with JC's clone status and his theory about himself, and the information plays nicely into what you may have heard from Lebedev. I think the worry that he's spoiling too much is legitimate, but still, the truth about the Gray Death isn't a big reveal at the end -- it's something that you can glean incrementally and learn soon after. There's nothing definitively problematic about what he's saying. But regardless, if this
was the reason he was removed, why remove him from both NYC 2 and 3? The flag could be set to 3 (I think?) so he's around for NYC 2 but not 3, and that would have solved the issue. Maybe they were worried about his presence at Smuggler's being consistent,
but that's a bit fucking over-elaborate, isn't it?.
- There are narrative/gameplay benefits to keeping him in NYC 3: In addition to the nice reward in NYC 3, Schick's is an example of your actions in the earlier half of the game impacting the latter half. Paul and Jaime Reyes can show up in Hong Kong, Jaime can show up in Paris, you can meet Sandra at the gas station, etc. While most decisions only have a local impact in time, the recurrence of these characters helps make the role-playing aspects of the story shine through, and better than in many RPGs. While it's believable that Schick could have left Smuggler's before NYC 3, keeping him in actually increases believability in your presence in the world.
- Smuggler is more important in NYC 3 than NYC 2: Something to keep in mind is that many more players go to Smuggler's in NYC 1 and NYC 3 because it actually helps you with your objective. In NYC 1, you're investigating leads and purposefully sniffing out useful opportunities. In NYC 3, you can be instructed to go to Smuggler's to load up on LAMs. In NYC 2, only players who want to make sure that they're not missing anything new or want to pick something up will visit Smuggler (both are quite valid, of course). I think there's actually a loss if the only narrative payoff to rescuing Schick can come in NYC 2.
Sorry for the paragraphs, I just feel that there's a major loss here if you proceed with too
much caution. I think there's more of a case for removal than I originally granted from Kim's video, but I personally think it'd be a shame if GMDX were the only major mod to not include the infamous cut in full -- not that I'm necessarily saying you should cater to the snotty fans who'll use that to claim Shifter/Revision are better (ugh, I can already hear them now).
