rapture vs columbia

[a very goodfella]

I have watched the trailers, gameplay footage and interviews about bioshock infinite again and played through bioshock and contemplating which city/'utopia' I prefer and would rather live in. Obviously it involves a lot of speculation where infinite is concerned and neither city is a good place to live but I have come up with the following comparisons:
rapture seems a lot more dangerous when compared to columbia, in terms of both the denizens and the environmental hazards.
Both cities seem to have their own merits architecturally and both are in sublime locations
it seems like it would be easier to integrate into columbia because while clearly mentally unstable, the inhabitants don't seem as insane and unreasonable as the splicers from bioshock
the ideologies of both cities are clearly flawed but columbia seems to fit more with my own personal views (although it obviously takes them to a more extreme level)
so overall I think Columbia is the better city in terms of survival. In fact, it doesn't seem too ridiculous to think I might actually thrive there, especially when compared to Rapture. I'd be interested to see what other people think about it. I apologise if it seemed a bit long winded

[I-ChooseTheImpossible]

I have an insane fear of heights, so I would quite honestly feel more safe and comfortable fighting for my life against splicers than I would flying god knows how high above the ground, and the sky rails that are used to get around? Forget about, give me a good ol' bathysphere any day. So yeah, definitely Rapture for me.

[Seasick]

Well, I can't decide.

Columbia:

-High in the sky, probably cold 24/7

-May be hard to breath, considering the altitude

- When you think about it, there is a healthy supply of food: Birds. You'd just have to catch 'em.

-Rain could be a Water source

- Weather conditions directly effect the city.

- Vigors and Nostrums don't seem to have any side effects....yet.

- Constant fear of seemingly unpredictable Handymen/Motorized Patriots

- GHOSTS THAT RAISE THE DEAD TO ATTACK PEOPLE

-Threat of buildings collapsing, causing the death of many.

- Racist Founders

- Anarchistic Rebellion

- Risky Transportation

- No apparent way out

- Little to no Police Force

- Tears


---

Rapture:


-Constant fear of flood

- Food very hard to get

- Water most likely not drinkable

- Plasmids and Tonics make people insane

- Hostile gun turrets

- Attentive Security, they take no sides.

- Big Daddies won't bother you unless you bother a Little Sister.

- Big sea creatures like Whales and Sharks could prove troublesome.

- No law or government outside of turrets and cameras

- Outside of the very slow Big Daddies, repair is not an option. Once a section of Rapture floods, it's gone.

- To survive, you probably will have to Splice, and to splice, you'll have to get to a Little Sister.



Sorry, I pick Rapture as the harder place to survive, yet Columbia as a harder place to LIVE...In General.


Columbia is a tad better for me.

[wodinoneeyex]

Have we really seen enough of Columbia to know how 'safe' it is ??

Once both sides get after you they might be no more friendly than the crazed Splicers..

To 'live' in Columbia you would probably have to join one side or the other and the plot will not let you do either. In Rapture, you had no choice but to become a target of the factions and no doubt the same will happen in Columbia - you wont have a choice.

Will Elizabeth pull trouble your way when things 'slow down' - at least in Rapture you could find a quiet corner to rest in.

[Adam Addict L]

Hey Seasick,you forgot these: Rapture cons: security works for whoever is in charge or targets un-registered outsiders....weapons needed all the time...no weather(good or bad) to speak of....you will eventually have to make yourself go insane by splicing to survive whether you want to or not....already insane splicers around every corner

Pros: solid ground wherever you go(unless you are in a bathysphere).....weapons are upgradable....security is hackable...tonics power up both your weapon attacks and plasmids

Columbia cons: constant fear of falling down to your death....constant fear of giant bird thing....fear of crazy people that don't like outsiders....fear of getting killed by lightning....possible fear of freezing to death in cold weather

[wodinoneeyex]

In Rapture you dont have to fear that you will be 'Wished away into the Cornfield" by whatever metaphysical weirdness is happening there. At least in Rapture your fate was in your own hands (and accuracy with a weapon).

[rootbeertapper]

Depends, are we talking about the cities during their prime? and not when they fall?
if so...

This is an easy one for me.

Columbia:
Racists,
Capitalists,
Overly Patriotic with its star spangled Americana,
Bigots,
Hypocrites,
Totalitarian control (its essentially a Jules Verne esque death star).

or Rapture:
Not racists,
Not bigots,
Are hypocrites
Capitalists/Socialists
Not patriotic although much propaganda style has roots in the USSR
No religion permitted in public, and no public displays of religious pride
Citizens are 'free' to invent and profit on their own ideas.
The city wants to remain a secret and there for does not impede its policies and ideals on the outside world.

-------------------------
Another thing that has to be considered is safety, if Rapture floods, airlocks are enabled, as for Columbia based on what we have seen, I could shoot a shotgun at the hot air balloons and the entire city would fall out of the sky. The devs will probably use some anachronistic fashion to patch said issue, eg: anti-gravity fields.

Just as ADAM was a catch all plot element in BS1 and BS2 for all 'magical' lore collisions, Elizabeth will probably be the one in BSI.

and the oscar goes to....
*opens envelope*

Rapture, for being the safest most well thought out city, that any citizen of any ethnicity could be a part of, providing they moved the great chain and left their faith behind.

[Shiav]

Talking about cities in their prime, definitely Rapture. Afterwards? Eh. Neither is good. Rapture might edge out for me just because I couldn't fit in AT ALL in Columbia.

[a very goodfella]

I think that its best to consider which is better AFTER they had fallen. When they were in their prime, I would say Rapture is probably best for most people. Some people might prefer Columbia but that would mainly be for ideological reasons rather than because it would be a better place to live. After they had fallen it is more difficult to decide and makes for a more interesting discussion in my opinion. There have been some very good ideas and opinions so far, even better than I expected. I'm surprised more people haven't chosen Columbia though

[CHAINS4W]

Well considering none of us have played in Columbia yet it will be hard to make such a decision. Rapture Will always have a special place in my heart<3

[rootbeertapper]

I think that its best to consider which is better AFTER they had fallen. When they were in their prime, I would say Rapture is probably best for most people. Some people might prefer Columbia but that would mainly be for ideological reasons rather than because it would be a better place to live. After they had fallen it is more difficult to decide and makes for a more interesting discussion in my opinion. There have been some very good ideas and opinions so far, even better than I expected. I'm surprised more people haven't chosen Columbia though

Hmm, well in that case I can not say which is better, it is easy to translate what a civilization is like during its prime by observing how it is during the fall but choosing which is better after the fall is N/A at the moment, I do not think enough data has been presented.

[Vito_Lucente]

Before their downfalls, I would say Rapture, based on all the art deco and general 50's awesomeness. Afterwards, however, I would much rather live in Columbia. No nasty splicers. Plus living that high up would be pretty cool.

[Using-Plasmids-All-Day!]

Surviving in Rapture is hard, because there are splicers crawling all over the place; but it is possible to survive even without splicing, as we have seen in BioShock 2. Splicers are driven by their thirst for ADAM, but in using ADAM they have lost crucial parts of their humanity so with some good reasoning you can outsmart them. In Columbia, apart from the constant threat of falling to your death/buildings collapsing on you/falling to your death while the building you're in collapses, your enemies are driven by ideology. And what's more dangerous than that? You could try to survive, but they will hunt you down eventually. They want to get rid of you.

Thus, life (after downfall) would be easier in Rapture.

[Quirin Inga]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gHUkc4pDCI

Here is a little comparison for the thread wich i made
i think i would stick to rapture because it was just way more awesome how the water flooded the tunnels (=
even from the living fact i think rapture was far superior to columbia in its high times
sry for bad english