How Ants and Bees Broke the Game

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/ tierzoo
Music:
Godskin Duo - Elden Ring
Hornet Theme - Hollow Knight
Battlefield - Super Smash Brothers Brawl
The Trade Parade - Old School Runescape
Source Footage from:
Ant Lab - • Death by Doodle: A Bri...
Getty Images
Pond5
ShutterStock
More info on arrhenotoky and the Kin Selection hypothesis: en.wikipedia.o...

[@CuriousArchive]

Never realized just how much ant and bee eusociality breaks the game. And to think the devs have been letting them get away with these broken builds for 100 million+ years...

[@allosauruswithinternet]

Hey it's Curious Archive! Love your videos by the way!

[@zmaster5982]

I think they're calling it a feature now

[@G-LukeJA]

Peak fiction youtuber😤😤😤😤

[@Atamosk-bu7zt]

We busted the game wide open by mastering the tech tree over evolutionary stat bumps. Our build doesn't need exploits to be viable, dude. Unless the devs add growth to the next expansion, i doubt they will overtake our position in the leaderboard.

[@Daikoon]

The game devs have brought a huge nerf to these exploiters already: The long term solution is global warming. Sadly the recent patches have only contributed to the dying of very specialized and laid back groups, The tryhard factions like the red fire ants or yellow crazy ants are already coming up with new exploits. One Bee faction is now respecing to be Africanized “Killer” Bees, which shows their desperation. We can only hope the Wasps will be left out in the next patches, to stop the terror of their new and upgraded yellow jacket.

[@TimeBucks]

An ant tier list would be really good

[@reavl6494]

he needs to collaborate with Ants Canada for that!

[@froggouk2]

@@reavl6494 OH HELL YES! "What's up AC family, today we're talking about OVERPOWERED ANT BUILDS."

[@nicklasmartos928]

"You get an S, you get an S ..."

[@paule.2687]

Man, ants are SO cool!

[@brawmankerlexterminateurde860]

There are so many ants to cover up That video will be juicy

[@amphicyon4359]

That was a really nice explanation of how eusociality breaks down normal natural selection processes. Just by changing how genetic information is passed on, the math of the objective itself switches. Hymenopterans be like: Just when you think you have all the answers, I change the questions

[@TierZoo]

I'm glad the info came across well enough to be understood! It's a complicated topic so I was worried that the gaming jargon would obfuscate an already difficult point too much.

[@kritikill7779]

@@TierZoo Personally, the gaming terminology is much more understandable than the legitimate scientific terms which each have like a bajillion sub sections and etc

[@jasonreed7522]

I wasn't expecting eusociality to be based on changing the genetics math, i just assumed the queen intentionally only birthed infertile females to the only way to keep their genetic code going was to serve the queen. I didn't realize that the sisters were 75% the same making them closer than they are to their own children, which really changes the math on how to best pass on your genes.

[@tripplordofinconvenience9953]

E

[@Veemo590]

@@TierZoo can now send this to explain during my cool caste infodumps to explain the relatedness theory

[@Saddsol]

This guy is such a genius explaining nature using gaming terms making it understandable AND interesting

[@ilona3630]

True, I actually have zero intrest and knowledge in gaming but these videos are still highly entertaining to watch

[@squishy2229]

Gamer English is becoming this weird pseudo-dialect in the same way Legalese is technically English, and it’s interesting how gamer terminology makes knowledge transfer more efficient with all the shorthand words.

[@ToastyCas]

He also does it in such a way where the gaming terms don’t distract or cover up true facts that much; he doesn’t like make up stuff just to make it work for the terminology

[@1995pieter]

first time? *meme*

[@Average_Drone]

It’s great for younger kids as well, I think this approach should be utilized in kindergartens.

[@wibiz9657]

Calling scientists "dataminers" has to be one of the more clever things I've heard here. Great stuff man.

[@amberkat8147]

I love it.

[@BlazingShadowSword]

Considering the dataminer that made the knowledge of passing down code more widespread only did so after his character's offspring spawned with debuffs because of the "incest" mating style in humans, I'd say they're doing good work.

[@tramnguyenduy954]

ok

[@nuuuuuut]

@@BlazingShadowSword So science started.. because the first scientist.. fucked his family?

[@VeganSemihCyprus33]

👀🙌💖 The Connections (2021) [short documentary] 👀🙌💖

[@kasshern]

A top tier class complaining about another class being busted, TZ is truly a gamer.

[@mauriciokenway9922]

And not only a top tier but THE top tier class complaining about other class.

[@CheeseOfMasters]

@@mauriciokenway9922 Ants have more biomass on this planet than humans, also probably cover more ground, so they are more successful in those metrics.

[@justjay7093]

@@CheeseOfMasters yes but if humans decided to they could wipe half the class on a whim, human class is still top tier while ants are simply viable when playing coop

[@ExtremeMeinung]

@@mauriciokenway9922 Depends on how you define winning the game. I dont think humans are THE top class. To say they are just plays into their designflaws of thinking they are the center of the universe, pinnacle of creation.

[@BoneTea]

@@CheeseOfMasters that's not even a comparison, ants alone make up about 20 percent of all biomass on land, period.

[@ihatecnidaria270]

Imagine spawning as an ant, one of the most powerful and viable insect classes ever, just to be used as a literal barrel

[@hundred-eyedmonster1160]

@what now wtf is that 44 likes yo I'm famous 80 likes wtf

[@akakay0131]

Or as a glue gun in the case of weaver* ants.

[@shuumatsunojoshua]

It matters not. I life and die by the colony.

[@juliofranciscogomezstoppel1860]

Have you ever played Goths?

[@akasakasvault7597]

@@hundred-eyedmonster1160 a family of spam channels that have been crippling a lot of comments section lately

[@MORIA_TSTL]

"Every player needs to respect them as a threat" Me with a marine build: i have no weakneses

[@Smortthspeaksenglish]

Marine build is a great counter for this types build

[@mattoiles_9641]

Flying eusocial builds like to wait for their pray outside the water, so amphibian builds are in big trouble, while with full marine builds usually have no problem unless they're also mammals

[@carlorielmendez6505]

never heard of a marine frog.

[@jesussanjose2664]

@@mattoiles_9641 i think a dolphin cannot live in ponds and bees cannot stay so much long in the sea. If they are a full marine build, they usually come to sea, where a more competitive meta offers more rewards (with some River builds as an exception)

[@flyingstonemon3564]

Wasps stuck in pools able to still sting: *Drowning anger never dies noises*

[@ripzmad9846]

An ant tier list woulr be really good. Even though most of their playstyles are the same, there are some species that are clearly better than the others and have different strategies or abilities.

[@NoobSharkey]

Yes please

[@whatdahelltwin]

Think bullet ant may be a tier And leaf maybe a s teirs

[@YuniversalYT]

The best ant build is definitely the chimera ant, combining their eusociality with human intelligence is definitely a meta warping build.

[@ArustwatDaGoat]

the S+ tier is the ant whose head is a door, without him an ant nest is everyone's nest

[@salveteinfernum]

@@YuniversalYT human intelligence?bro please, ain't no ant aeroplanes, ant animes, ant radio signals...

[@DrGero15]

Everyone always forgets the termites, they invented eusociality, agriculture, climate control, standing militaries, and more but the upstart ants always get the credit.

[@sergioibarra3461]

And have crazy castes organization with all those different types of queens and kings like ergatoids and nymphoids...

[@jiekimbuous]

Also they have gender equality

[@anatoleb6419]

They are not from the same species. They are more closely related with beatles than ants or wasp....

[@HidekiShinichi]

Termites are more basal, less aggresive and less dangerous. Not to mention that they are not as widespread as ants wasps and bees.

[@juniperrodley9843]

@@jiekimbuous holy shit, based bugs

[@BESTREVIEWSTOP10]

I'm not a biologist, so I'll just stick to pointing out that this is a great analogy of eusociality and game theory. Great job!

[@FilosSofo]

Not an analogy. You may need to read the selfish gene.

[@Argonwolfproject]

@@FilosSofo I'm thinking he meant analysis

[@themedic7933]

Not only does it make it more entertaining, but also easier to digest. The comparison between nature and gaming seems to be one that this guy has gotten really good at now.

[@vrillionaire88]

I'm also not a biologist, yet somehow I'm able to distinguish a bee from a wasp

[@bubblewrapvillain]

I am not a biologist, but blabla women

[@gruby_0924]

I love how you used the darkest dungeon fear effect to show their intimidation stat

[@peggedyourdad9560]

I like how the music in the beginning was the intro for the godskin apostles.

[@sea_triscuit7980]

"the game is being played less like an RPG and more like an RTS.." honestly that's an amazing analogy haha

[@thehylian6984]

supreme commander bee edition

[@andylaw3222]

Still want him to comment this clip kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZoLEcn6fZbN5oaM

[@peterbillings3276]

Yeah that stuck with me. Interesting implications for the human race too.

[@hohoboi8719]

I am a dumbo what does Rts mean

[@TheUltimateMachineGod]

@@hohoboi8719 Real time strategy. Age of empires is an example of such a game in that genre.

[@lordfriedrick7911]

The ant gameplay is not that engaging in solo But in squad is really fun: scouting, defending, going on food raids on human territory... You always find things to do and more

[@ITBEurgava]

Well, yea. As stated in the vid. It's no longer action rpg. It's RTS. You have your base, resource pickup, infantries, heavy armors... Dunno if they have superweapons. But encountering big opponents animals must have felt like taking down epic/commando units.

[@spooder1568]

The Flood game mode is also very fun when there arent any 3 year olds playing.

[@Spider-Complexion]

Great way to start the game too. Meet a bunch of other people who need you just as much as you need them so they colony survives

[@thelukesternater]

@@Spider-ComplexionI can see the clan builds and guilds having a lot of fun but the use of bots on this server is op

[@spooder1568]

@@thelukesternater so is malware. It’s crazy that Fungal Class players figured out how to take control of Insect Classes

[@v.k.8153]

What is the main goal of Outside? Normie players: “Survive and reproduce!” Human mains with god-tier INT: “What *IS* the main goal of Outside?”

[@Daniel_45]

Their INT stat is so high that they start asking stupid questions

[@Someone-sq8im]

Humans get so bored they seriously try to get 110% completion...

[@Sparkz1607]

@@Daniel_45 So high that they start questioning their own existence, which is indeed a pretty stupid question -- the sidequest "Outer Wilds" taught me that the goal of Outside is to have fun :) Enjoy your playthrough while you're here, because the servers *will* shut down one day, and that's okay. We had a great time together, didn't we?

[@ellienugent2000]

That's true!

[@ellienugent2000]

Bees/Hymetherions: OK let's survive and reproduce by helping our Queen (Our Glorious Leader) by gathering food so she can clone herself or her grubs and so we can continue building our dominions! Also Bees/Hymetherions: "Damn Bears! Stealing our food-" (Later) *Damn Bears! I stab you! Stab Stab*

[@Wiseguy909]

It's great that you used hornet's theme from hollow knight as the music in parts, considering the theme of the video

[@ohriohn]

cultured.

[@EagleChrysaetos]

and the Hollow Knight font too!

[@chezfry]

Shes actually a spider team cherry made the lore a lot more confusing with the name.

[@pauloazuela8488]

@@chezfry I forgot that she isn't a bug 😂

[@avryotter9252]

A fellow gentlefolk of culture, Doma Doma to you my good man 🪲🎩

[@serioussponge6416]

2:52 In many cases, veteran Bear mains have the endurance and the armor values to simply tank all damage Bee players deal, as they've found the XP gains of raiding their hive far outweighs any damage and debuffs they might get in the process.

[@TheRestedOne]

I’d be curious to see how a bear might respond to exotic species of bee/wasp.

[@fork9767]

@@TheRestedOne well it would probably fuckin die

[@bigmanbigman2544]

@@fork9767 no they would not

[@fork9767]

@@bigmanbigman2544 prove it nerd

[@bigmanbigman2544]

@@fork9767 the bear is strong big bear strong the bear can ignore the bee no matter the kind of bee

[@justinenguyen7578]

Let me just say, as someone who studies honeybee behavior and is also an avid video game fan, watching this video and also discovering your channel has been the *highlight* of my career.

[@rzr0015]

Welcome!

[@MrTrollo2]

You must be new to the internet

[@VeganSemihCyprus33]

👀🙌💖 The Connections (2021) [short documentary] 👀🙌💖

[@geckogamingreptos8654]

@@VeganSemihCyprus33 🛂

[@nenmaster5218]

GOP vs Queer; an amazing video by 'Some MOre News' that i warmly recommend all my fellow Zoo-Fans.

[@rafliavriza3651]

Aside from the highly informative biology lessons explained eloquently with gaming terms, can we take a moment to appreciate how TierZoo's editing has improved a lot over the course of a few years? The amount of dedication put into his videos is genuinely unreal.

[@e4Bc4Qf3Qf7]

Personally some of the changes feel like a downgrade to me. The shift towards increasingly catchy and clickbaity titles and content feels like a break from the enjoyable mix of real world biology and video game speak that came from his earlier videos. Especially here when he is saying bees are op during a time they are in extreme crisis feels detrimental towards the reality of how fragile they are, and how important it is that we preserve them.

[@cbdragon1517]

@@e4Bc4Qf3Qf7 Except that's not really true. The only reason that crisis exists is because of humans, the only creatures that can really oppose bees besides other bees. Humans spread the honey bee so much that a large amount of the planet has become dependent on them over the last few hundred years as they killed off native pollinator populations, so when something bad happens to one species of bee, it becomes a big deal. But overall the 'faction' is still doing extremely well and overall populations are still increasing even with humans fucking with them and a few species going down in numbers.

[@rafliavriza3651]

​@@e4Bc4Qf3Qf7 oh I was mostly talking about his video editing skills. Compared to the early days of his KZbin channel, the quality of his editing has came a long way from where it started what with the more polished visual and audio. As an amateur video editor, I admire his improvement. I'm not sure that he's becoming more clickbaity though, he's titled some of his older videos with similar wording (e.g. "How humans broke the game" and "How Mosasurus broke the game" both from 2019). And personally I don't mind "clickbaits" as long as it actually delivers quality content which TierZoo does. I do agree to a certain degree about him seemingly glossing over the fact that the population of some bee species are decreasing, especially because he usually briefly mention it when a species is endangered. But eh, he could've just forgot to put it in the script, slip ups happen.

[@Kartoffelkamm]

Yeah, it's amazing how much his videos have evolved.

[@gillbrady7403]

Would be interested in a rating of the mantis shrimp build and other related builds; as the mantis shrimp has some of the most unique perks of any build in the aquatic server

[@NickSibz]

I think they broke the game too. Hackers from another Meta imo.

[@JohnDoe-fm6jd]

Modded attacks

[@Zuvas]

We don't support hackers here. They have maxed STR stats & quickdraw ability

[@nachyomoney3598]

@@NickSibz: mantis shrimp are hackers Mantis Shrimp: lol, get good scrub

[@verdesin08]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/pYSbdaOEh9NpraM Tier zoo already has a video on them!

[@derpywoodoo]

5:08 One minor correction: Sister bees attain 100% of their father's DNA since the father only has 1 set of chromosomes. That means all sisters share at least 50% of their DNA just from the father. The remaining 50% is provided by the mother, who contributes 50% of her DNA. This in total makes sisters 75% related, like you were saying.

[@hashimiyazib]

This confused me too, but fortunately the graphics show that 100% of father DNA is passed on

[@Srevengel]

So... 75% it's an exact copy of the parent's DNA and the remaining 25% is RNG?

[@WanderTheNomad]

Thanks for clearing that up. I had to pause that section of the video and I still didn't get it.

[@litapd311]

thank you, i was confused as well by what tierzoo was saying but this comment made it clear

[@SC-zq6cu]

@@Srevengel No, every life is 100% a copy of their parents' DNA barring mutation, the 75% similarity in hymenoptera is with their siblings.

[@cryzz0n]

If anyone wonders what the parasitoid wasps do that is so disturbing, they will paralyze their prey before laying eggs on them, the prey is alive but in a permanent state of paralysis, so the larvae would hatch and literally eat the prey alive. (Source: Brave Wilderness, Tarantula Hawk)

[@H3LLMAU5]

Aaaaah I remember one time I found a bug that looked like a caterpillar… it could barely move or at least that’s what it was trying to do… anyways I decided to poke it with a stick and as soon as I touch its body, it cracked open and hundreds of tiny larvae came out from its insides… aaggg it literally traumatized me ( i was 8 or 10 years old) and I could never get that image off my head

[@Leopar525]

Alien…

[@m4r00123]

Propably what xenomorph was based on

[@themaster2.0]

some species can even enthral the larvae.

[@clownindan]

They turn you into a mother and a meal. I think it's sweet in a hannibal kinda way

[@barrydingall]

I’ll never forget when I was a kid, I watched this science video showing that a honey bee will find a patch of flowers and then return to the hive and give the exact location to others by shaking it’s body in different directions for specific periods of time. “Go this way for 8 seconds, then that way for 5 seconds, and then this way for 15 seconds, etc”. The others will circle around and watch this dance and memorize exactly where they need to go. They’re amazing little creatures.

[@misomie]

It's doubly fun cause bees and wasps bloody learn to recognize you too. Like the whole hive will learn who you are. So one of them passed on your description to another who passed it on to another. It makes me wonder if they have short names for people or just describe them in detail every time.

[@exeggcutertimur6091]

"That loser kid scumbag Steve is back!" "Attack him before he takes out that bright light circle thing!" (magnifying glass)

[@andylaw3222]

@@misomie So THAT'S why my GF had the same huge bumblebee queen twice in her room🤔🤔🤔 Gotta say i prefer bumblebees over the rest, especially the bombus terrestris, they are peaceful asf and never bothered us in any way, they are hilarious and even defy gravity, that's some A Tier material!

[@bangerxshane]

@@andylaw3222 "According to all known laws of aviation..."

[@amberkat8147]

@@andylaw3222 Yeah, I love those peaceful little ladies too. At my parents' old house, the queen would come and say high to my brother every spring. He was certain they recognized him, and I think so too. He gardens, so they saw him more than anyone else. But none of us ever harmed them, so they were never aggressive towards us either.

[@phoenixchampion7]

2:13 I don't know why but I find this moment incredibly hilarious. It's like three friends just messing around with the launch and physics mechanics.

[@dimetrodon2250]

TierZoo: "Hymenoptera is so cool with their unique eusociality" Termites: "am I a joke to you?"

[@Someone-sq8im]

And let's not forget the naked mole rat

[@justawhim]

Yes yes they are

[@thekrampuselbananoquevivee9947]

Ants are aesthetic, termites are gross

[@nathans.3618]

Termites are a couple buffs away from destroying human habits in the rural zones.

[@benjaminmiller3620]

*Naked mole rats* :guys? *Ambrosia beetles* :uh, guys..? *snapping shrimp* : GUYS! Heterocephalus glaber, Austroplatypus incompertus, Synalpheus regalis

[@N4rha]

The fact that something like a door head ant actually exists and was ... evolutionarily created due to necessity? for the purpose of blocking entrances with their heads astounds me

[@Laeiryn]

ants block door to stop predators. the ant with the biggest head is most likely to be successful. repeat ten billion times, each time the biggest head is most likely to "win" thereby enabling its hive to pass on its genes... and eventually, there's literally a gene for biggest head because there has been a "selection pressure" to elicit that gene in a phenotype. :D

[@attaenjoyer4092]

@@Laeiryn explained almost perfectly!

[@OverAchieverStudios]

@@Laeiryn okay but if the queen is responsible for breeding, then how are adaptations developed in the rest of the colony? To explain what I'm asking better, if this large headed ant never does anything itself to pass down its genetic information, how does it end up evolving?

[@martinlabossiere]

@@OverAchieverStudios the ants colony with no ants with bigger head to block to doors are most likely to just die. So on the long term the queen that are able to generate them are more likely to survive and reproduce. People dont realize how much time pass before we can actually realize and categorie this"new type of ants" haahah

[@OverAchieverStudios]

@@martinlabossiere ah okay makes sense. Just didn’t know if I was missing a certain detail or if it really was only the queen that passes down genetic information. I also know nothing about ants or colony species. Thanks!

[@WhatTheFnu]

The patch notes on these guys are always a treat to read. Things like: "Asked bee players very nicely to stop being so useful to other playstyles so that we can finally nerf them."

[@thebossbrothers123]

Its no wander they needed to break the game because many other players need them to play, therefore it makes sense that they play with self modified rules

[@BoojumFed]

Yeah, Outside has been patched around pollinators since at least the Cretaceous build. I dunno about the kids these days, but I remember back in the day suppliers couldn't keep the _Flowering_ expansion to _Outside: Jurassic_ on the shelves! It was so popular that vanilla Jurassic had to be scrapped and Cretaceous was rushed out with baseline _Flowering_ options. Just goes to prove how much more fundamental the exploits become when a fan-made feature with rushed play-testing time gets sent out to the public.

[@sonokawaray]

Imagine breaking the meta so hard the devs have no way of nerfing you without destroying their own game.

[@DrCruel]

@@sonokawaray It's called corporate capitalism.

[@jesusreyes7685]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/sJqWYWuHdtmcd5Y

[@drao81924]

Playing as a worker ant is so fun, being able to not have the common breeding main quest makes a lot more time for fun, while also the spawn availability is so big, so everyone can just do a suicidal attack at a powerful enemy and still spawn as a new ant not very long after.

[@noepopkiewicz901]

Normal players: Ugh, I need to survive! Ant players: LET'S DIE BY THE THOUSANDS FOR THE GLORY OF THE HIVE

[@Jasonmakesvideo]

Incels really need to stop taking their anger out on the world

[@nsr-ints]

​@@noepopkiewicz901I think ant mains are just Warhammer 40k fans trying to recreate the playstyle.

[@BlueCreepvine]

Was grinding xp recently to unlock the "better memory" perk, and as I was doing so a wasp flew into my territory and engaged in combat so i couldn't fast travel. Almost lost my character, but I managed to win. Good thing too, it took me years to get where I am now, though im still trying to optimize my build for the current meta.

[@Oniguy_05]

You got lucky, accidentally walked into an ambush of bees. I died and lost everything. Always make a hearing check before walking into a new area.

[@Romanticoutlaw]

pro tip: if you have access to tools in your build, always utilize them. Human players who can endure the intimidation debuff can trap a wasp unit under a plastic cup. They don't even have to actively kill it or try to remove it via the somewhat risky strategy of sliding a piece of paper underneath, they just have to outlast the insect player. Granted, it's usually the "get the wasp under a cup" step that's the most difficult.

[@astick5249]

@@Romanticoutlaw I opt for a grab move while having a cloth equipped

[@endrankluvsda4loko172]

be sure to stay away from the alcohol and marijuana debuffs, and you should be just fine

[@TDGCmote]

@@Oniguy_05 thank goodness they have the audio cues. Ants, however, have always tripped me up with how quiet they are. Kinda busted that they mostly use the invisible pheromones-based ping system so players like me who don't spec much into scent abilities can't detect their signals.

[@Xavierpng]

23 years of watching nature docs, and never once did anyone talk about why bee colonies have a Queen. You made me understand so easily!

[@dark_familiarity]

stop copy pasting other's comments bot

[@bettermebetterlife8975]

@@dark_familiarity don't waste time, with bots especially

[@naowie]

I saw you before, sir bot. you commented about watching IMAX marvel movies. I am here to remind you about Morbius, the best movie of all time.

[@Alamagosa]

Knowing the haplodiploid nature of ants made it difficult to me to watch Antz (1998) and A Bug's Life (1998). I think the story writers missed a real opportunity there because true life was much stranger than their fiction.

[@aceman0000099]

@@Alamagosa they used insects as an analogy for humans, so that it would be relatable, while not looking ugly (Pixar CGI wasn't good enough for humans)

[@MageFlower]

I love how he used the hornet music over clips of bees attacking a hornet

[@goddessdeedeebubblesofimag7789]

I think Hive Knight would've made more sense but using Hornet's theme just makes her name a corny pun

[@haosmagnaingram6992]

I’d like to hear you talk about how the Argentinian ant supercolonies have exploited this even further with the way they entered other servers leading to a lack of in fighting between their colonies on invaded servers allowing them to heavily out compete other ants in the area. Actually a video covering the major effects of server switching invasive species in general would be interesting.

[@orngjce223]

South American parrots settling into North American cities should go here too - one particularly fascinating case is monk parakeets in Chicago building their characteristic gigantic multi-chamber stick nests on top of active electrical equipment, giving them both heat and insulation to survive astonishingly brutal Chicago winters!

[@PhantomKING113]

I must say, as an occasional termite player, that I am a bit disappointed that you didn't even mention this other lineage of eusocial insects, but still great video!

[@jesusreyes7685]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/sJqWYWuHdtmcd5Y

[@evilsharkey8954]

They don’t have all the other special abilities.

[@orlock20]

Invested players look at casual players that just camp as something to increase their kill streak and maintain their energy levels.

[@PhantomKING113]

@@evilsharkey8954 They have some other ones which are really cool For example, some can shoot acid, kill a tree by removing its bark, build nests up to 9m high and 9m deep using feces mixed with mud, have secondary queens (and kings) in case the main ones die (to replace them)...

[@rodentlover100]

To be fair termites aren't closely related to ants wasps and bees at all, they're closest to cockroaches

[@SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

Other insects: Invests points into painful stings and solid armor Ants: *Rapid birth-giving, take it or leave it* Using Hornet's theme from Hollow Knight as background music shows just how much of a man of culture you are.

[@NIRDIAN1]

Ok, but may I present to you: Bullet Ant.

[@VeganSemihCyprus33]

👀🙌💖 The Connections (2021) [short documentary] 👀🙌💖

[@BarcelonaFan3213]

@@VeganSemihCyprus33 are you dillusional

[@andresgarciacastro1783]

Summoner is a great clases in outside

[@justat1as]

@@BarcelonaFan3213 its delusional

[@ProfDragonite]

I'm simply amazed it took this long to get to eusocial insects, considering how many times they've been mentioned on the channel.

[@TheWickedWizardOfOz1]

I've been begging for it on every video for a while now.

[@clockworkkirlia7475]

I think it's really hard to do them justice, and TierZoo did an excellent job here!

[@mataschmata]

I never understood how so many players could collaborate for something that goes against the main objective until I watched this. the way you describe it is perfect!

[@bautibunge737]

It always amazed me how many times the hive seems more conscious than the single ant, as it shows collective behavior that is "smarter" that what any ant could do (eg, creating a bridge made of ants to reach for food, even if most of the ants making the bridge will die). This is more plausible when you realize that there are more ants per colony than neurons per ant, and that the ants are always engaging on chemical comunication, so it isn't that bad of an analogy to think of the ants as the neurons of a decentralized brain

[@genghiskhan6809]

Meanwhile me and my friends when we’re together are the exact opposite. When we’re together, all of a sudden there’s more of us than there are neurons per individual, thus causing us to have only a single neuron which we all share.

[@Luis-qj3pg]

I like to think that the ant's queen is the real player controlling them in God View... XD

[@heydislikethisvideoleaveaf2187]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/q2PTgXeQn82roLc finally its here sbb

[@nirodper]

@@Luis-qj3pg The colony is the actual organism, not the individual. A single bee is as useful as a single cell in your body

[@liranpiade4499]

I think of hives more like how multicellular organisms first evolved - individual cells started sticking together, forming a safe environment within, for cells to specialise, and due to sticking together, when moving, they'd move together, increasingly functioning as one macro-organism, until we get to a point where if they separated, the whole colony dies, and now we have one macro-organism. So now we have two models of macro-macro organisms. Eusocial, and civilised (us). We can literally manipulate reality's building blocks on an atomic level, and regularly manipulate them on a slightly higher level to create the silicon dies that power the devices on which we type all of these comments.

[@kestrel7493]

This is one of your best videos to date! The fact you explained complex topics so well with the gaming analogy is really impressive!

[@yyphases5257]

Tierzoo: "This faction's strategy is so disturbingly brutal!" Me: It's Parasitic Wasps isn't it?

[@Kaligraphy22]

I was thinking same thing. Like "O H, you're talking about tarantula hawks and the like, right? Right."

[@evilsharkey8954]

Cordyceps fungi: “Hold my disgusting brain mushroom”

[@kirbstomp1338]

As a queen bee main, I find that being a queen bee really changes the gameplay style from an rpg to a wartime strategy game where you control different groups of troops

[@Name-nw9uj]

that's what a real time strategy game is

[@Gaunerchen]

The queen doesn't control their hive, that's why it's called hive mind. It's more like a neural network with each part contributing to the system.

[@CoNteMpTone]

@@Gaunerchen no its not. They are literally bots who do their job and communicate but they dont have a shared intelligence or a group conscousnes (as if the current understanding of them)

[@TestTestGo]

@@CoNteMpTone it all comes down to how you define consciousness. Each individual insect is very simple. Even the Queen has a relatively simple nervous system, and would not be considered intelligent on its own. The whole hive though, acts in what appears to be an intelligent and organised way. It's an emergent behaviour from the simple choices each insect makes, and the simple rules that they instinctualy follow. Whether you can call a system intelligent or conscious, or if those terms are reserved for individual organisms is a matter of deffinition.

[@KatKit52]

Not gonna lie, the companion video about parasitoid wasps has gotten me tempted bigger than anything else. Also, I can't believe you didn't mention the human+bee co-op strategy! It's a criminally underrated game play style, especially because its one of the few human co-op strategies where the human is the support for the bees, rather than the other way around.

[@discountchocolate4577]

The bees are very much our support as well. Insect pollination dramatically increases the fertility of many fruits and vegetables we take for granted. Without bees and other pollinators, the plant-based part of our diet would be limited mostly to crops that can be pollinated abiotically, e.g., wind-pollinated cereals and legumes.

[@Kartoffelkamm]

Yeah, it would be nice to see a video on one of the few times a human is the support class for another class.

[@TDGCmote]

Human support builds is a whole meta for sure if you were to cover it. Interesting to see new strats in the realm of niche co-op teams with porpoises and such, too in the future. seems like controlling coincidences to me.

[@ashross5860]

It's a testament on how broken humans are that we support entire guilds of players just so we can have a few more materials in our crafting mini games. We're so dominant we can spend our entire lives only working on side quests and perfecting mini games, and if youre lucky and spawn in a good server you never have to even touch combat (I mean, at least after the PE section of the tutorial). I'm glad it lets players diversify their builds and opt into "suboptimal" builds. Adds flavor to the game.

[@antblisss]

0:01 “be wary of head”

[@chillinon3263]

I was super impressed that the most distriburbing thing Elden Ring could do was put extremely realistic ants into the game but make them huge

[@wonderboomful]

You should see them in EDF

[@endlessnoodle3056]

If they were this big irl, we'd be beyond fucked

[@JagEterCoola]

It's always semi-disturbing when the ant grabs you and stabs you through the abdomen (And doesn't it pump you full of poison too? I only went down to that hellhole once.)

[@VeganSemihCyprus33]

👀🙌💖 The Connections (2021) [short documentary] 👀🙌💖

[@mj4iq792]

They put big ant in dark souls 2

[@thegregitto]

I love how Tierzoo used the "Hornet" theme from Hollow Knight once he started actually talking about the bees ants and wasps lol, fitting.

[@astuteanansi4935]

Even though ironically Hornet is closer to a spider than an actual hornet

[@thegregitto]

@@astuteanansi4935 yeah, there really is no hornet phenotype in her, she's the daughter of a wyrm and a spider queen lol

[@victoriaasenjo524]

I play as a human. Back when I was a noob, I used to grief ant bases with a stick (thank you, tool use!). I was always amazed by how quickly the ant players rebuilt their bases. A few times, I even gave them a little XP. I’d chase a lone arthropod player towards a group of ants, then retreat and watch the show. Worms, pillbugs, even ants from different teams-all bodied in seconds.

[@evilsharkey8954]

Meanie!

[@WHOARETHEPATRIOTS475]

so tell me how the fuck haven't you been banned from the ant servers yet ?

[@cerridianempire1653]

@@WHOARETHEPATRIOTS475 everybody who isn't a member of the colony has already been banned even before they were born, the access and IP to their servers are just weak and don't use encryption

[@Kartoffelkamm]

That second thing sounds really cute, actually. You use your superior, well, everything, to pressure a smaller player into a situation that doesn't benefit you, but helps others. Even as a fellow human player, I'm constantly amazed at how broadly we apply our social skills, and how we use them for things that, even to other humans, seem pointless.

[@sayounsang]

@@WHOARETHEPATRIOTS475 Anything gets through Ant servers because they don’t have any server protection lol. I’ve gotten so much EXP as a housecat main because of them.

[@marcolin7721]

Man I remember discovering this through the super smash subreddit when this was a super tiny channel and now it's HUUUGE! Big congrats man! Haven't checked it out in a while but it really shows how much dedication has gone into it. Everything good about it back then has gotten even better. The throwbacks to oldskool games blend seamlessly into the educational narrative that doesn't even feel meme-y, it's simply become a legitimate language to talk about how lit nature is, which in turn underlines the transferable nature of 'game logic'. I'm sure you're aware but I am pretty confident that this channel might actually be highly impactful in shaping the next generation of biologists, even if it's only by being extremely successful in nurturing passionate curiosity in the current generation of the modern youth. Cheers!

[@zugunz5805]

TZ has me rollin when he refers to extinction level events as "balance patches".

[@lee-jj1js]

I'm just waiting for humans to get patched out by the devs.

[@hyzmarie]

@@lee-jj1js will dragon mains finally be a thing then?

[@samlink686]

@@hyzmarie maybe if their are enough radioactive lizards that can reproduce 😇

[@hyzmarie]

@@samlink686 yay! (Don’t tell anybody, but I’ve been modding it in)

[@planteruines5619]

​@@lee-jj1js brother , you want to be logged out early ?

[@elliottcooper6205]

Just so everyone is aware, bears attacking beehives for honey is mostly a myth, while bears do greatly enjoy honey, far more valuable in XP are bee and ant grubs, and it is, mostly, the allure of tasty little protein fat nuggets that lead bears to beehives.

[@Zak-cf2zp]

I am a beekeeper and I approve this message

[@edmartin875]

But as long as the bears are there to collect the protein, they won't mind chewing on a few carbs too.

[@janhuda8841]

@@Zak-cf2zp I'm a bearkeeper and I also approve this message

[@Jason-re4dw]

@@Zak-cf2zp You mean server owner?

[@vincent_hall]

Elliott Cooper, Wow! Bonus learning. Thank you.

[@dakotajacobs3369]

My mom won’t let me watch this video because of the violence but I just want to say that this is one of my favorite channels! Keep doing what you’re doing :D

[@DOGEreal]

Ur mom is a bad mom. Sorry to tell you the truth.

[@NiqIce]

L mom. This is hella entertaining and educating.

[@jesusramirezromo2037]

What violence? Its Nature

[@Stryker5757]

Its just nature, does she not let you outside or something? Plus its really educational

[@ViNncentSmith]

A bit too overprotective with a touch of control But her heart is in the right place so its all good❤

[@danko7213]

“Eliminated Hornet” while the Hornet theme is playing. Classy, TierZoo.

[@yuwelcome]

I'm surprised for the 'sacrifice their lives for the colony' part, you didn't show Colobopsis Explodens, ants which literally explode themselves with the acid contained in their abdomen to halt the attackers.

[@electrum5579]

Glyphid Exploder

[@radiation6913]

@@electrum5579 rock and stone brother

[@OG_DouG]

Ants are so OP they literally created Creepers before Creepers were even a thing

[@electrum5579]

@@radiation6913 Leave no dwarf behind!

[@dabuff1319]

Which mad lad thought up that ability?

[@ReneRitchie]

New video! Hype! Love code-contributions as a DNA analog

[@TechnicSky]

Those ants really snapped that dragonfly’s neck.

[@bmac4]

I get why you'd separate Parasitoid Wasps. They're wasps that lay their eggs inside other creatures to feast on them and kill them over time. It's the stuff of nightmares and it does very little to alleviate my own personal spheksophobia.

[@theshard5697]

if bees are druids, parasitoid wasps are warlocks lmao

[@heydislikethisvideoleaveaf2187]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/q2PTgXeQn82roLc finally its here bb

[@TheRealGuywithoutaMustache]

I like how bees are useful to the environment. While wasps exist just to torment people.

[@sway_deaddream4733]

Stop commenting everywhere

[@VaSoapman]

I mean there's gonna be at least one downside to playing humans

[@aliceh5289]

Wasps do pollinate some plants, and kill harmful insects

[@Vetrial_3038]

@@sway_deaddream4733 that rude

[@mr.lockwood1424]

I know that you are actually an AI. Your mustache can't hide your artificial nature.

[@AnythingMachine]

You know you've broken something when humans need to make full use of their even more completely broken open-ended intelligence ability to spec into a completely new tech tree gear specialized just for taking you out, because even regular high level human gear that can instantly take out the other high-end players is useless

[@senounatsuru6453]

There *is* a sub-tree to their normal high end damage tools that works extremely well, but the human playerbase has collectively agreed that they are a detriment to their society and are not to be used, even against eusocial insects.

[@Someone-sq8im]

@@senounatsuru6453 God, I hate the nuke exploit. Like, seriously, a bug so bad you shut down an *entire small server*?

[@thatguystandingbehindyou0_0]

@@Someone-sq8im yea SUPER broken aoe attack with insanely long lasting dot damage bro who's balancing this shit where are the devs ??

[@georgiishmakov9588]

some very low tech human gear, like soap, works surprisingly well. And if all else fails, there are always flamethrowers. Insects are very weak to fire.

[@burgerkingas7027]

@@georgiishmakov9588 Unfortunately, humans that spec into the "pyromaniac" tree always end up banned from the server unless they take the "pyrotechnics" perk.

[@generalmisery]

Imagine humans working together for the greater good without a single thought of self interest. We would break the meta even more, giving us evolution beyond scope.

[@mikem3130]

In that type of situation I think that is what the Borg is. Sure we can excel at things like never before but part of humanity is our chaoticness

[@corneliusarmstrong5018]

So all dissension in mankind is just a nerf to prevent complete game breaking

[@e_rock_3149]

I wish people would stop imagining that, because attempts to implement that level of collectivism inevitably end in disastrous failures,. The most examples are the 10s of millions of bodies left by communism. That level of collectivism completely disregards the dignity of individual humans, and it goes completely against our nature and how our minds work. Remember that the only reason it works in bees and ants is a genetic trick that's biologically impossible in humans.

[@QualityPen]

There were two attempts at this strategy. One doctrine was fascism and the other was communism. However, humans generally rejected both play styles.

[@mikem3130]

@@QualityPen true that lol

[@jaschabull2365]

"I'm talking about Hymenoptera: The group consisting of bees, ants and wasps." *sawflies crying in corner* Also, I wonder if we'll ever learn how the Eusociality strategy worked out for those guys in the roach faction.

[@MrSpinachguy]

Aren't they called termites?

[@AztecCroc]

@@MrSpinachguy Sawflies aren't termites, termites are related to cockroaches and mantises.

[@loify8381]

@@AztecCroc I think if termites were carnivores, had armour, and heat resistant, they would be top tier

[@mikemo1993]

This is the most wholesome and agreeable chain of replies involving clarifying scientific or possibly-contentious information. Made my day and I got to learn a couple facts at the same time. Thank you 👏🏻 carry on 😅

[@TierZoo]

Sawflies are only good at one thing: their larval forms tripping up entomology majors on their ID tests

[@xanderbeutel9239]

This feels like a genuine deep dive/rant someone would make about a busted strategy in a game and it's fantastic

[@KingOfTheJuice666]

The various music, be it RuneScape or Kingdom Hearts or some other on-theme tunes that you drop in at the perfect moments, really make these videos even better than they otherwise would. I feel nostalgic while I’m learning, AND it’s entertaining! Brilliant.

[@Seydaschu]

Y'know, some bees solo! Most people probably haven't seen "solitary bees" like carpenter bees or mason bees, but they play a big role to places honey bees aren't native to! So if you wanna be a bee, but don't wanna be just a worker in a hive, look that build up!

[@airesbattleblade732]

Carpenter bees are super common in my server. More so than bumble bees.

[@TheAlienPoison]

Bruh, bees are so weak alone, idk why they separated from the hive in the first place.

[@Seydaschu]

@@TheAlienPoison G I T G U D

[@10101001100111001011]

They didn't separate from their hive, the honeybee it's rare because they made a hive. Because is easy to harvest that honey, we started to move those bees around.

[@herrnase4340]

I'll one up you: most people actually HAVE seen solitary bees. They just can't be bothered to look more than a second and realize it's different

[@artiefufkin88]

This was thought-provoking and very informative which is exactly what a good biology video should be. Extremely well done, sir, and very funny, too. "broke the game" makes me chuckle every time. "should be nerfed" lol

[@epRivera]

1:48 Doing a little trolling

[@epicbear4679]

A worm tier list would actually be pretty interesting. They don't even have to be closely related, such as flatworms and earthworms

[@jaimemartinez8963]

Even things like mealworms?

[@epicbear4679]

@@jaimemartinez8963 Nah like it would only include animals that are called "worms" even in their adult stage. So things like inchworms, meal worms etc won't count. I mean things like earthworms, flatworms, bristleworms, bloodworms, among others

[@sarysa]

Watched the Parasitoid Wasp video, and I can just imagine all the keyboards breaking in two as the player is forced to watch their still living character be mind controlled, turned into a living food source for larvae, and all the while being unable to even alt-F4.

[@LimeyLassen]

tfw you're stunlocked for literally weeks

[@juliofranciscogomezstoppel1860]

Regular player base: We will struggle to win this game! Ant guilds: The game will struggle to win us.

[@scp-jd4py]

Thanks for the guide man I really love that you are a dev and a data miner Your the best

[@yaboi7239]

i dont think he is a dev maybe a mod or admin

[@armedmonkey5846]

While i agree. You're*

[@scp-jd4py]

@@yaboi7239 hmm

[@epRivera]

He's not a dev, but more of a tips and info guy. He's definitely one of the best, if not the best out there

[@scp-jd4py]

@@epRivera like a data miner?

[@jerrisgilbert5256]

I can’t believe I slept on this channel for so long. The videos are interesting, I love the framing device of Life being a game with expansions and DLC and etc., but most of all, I absolutely LOVE the music choices. Every time I hear some old RS music or whatever that iconic little ditty is bookmarking this video, it makes that happiness thing happen 🥲

[@skilon72]

Some bee tips I got for you as a 4,500 hours bee main: -Always watch out for potential kills. Even just poking an enemy for 10hp gives you a lot of XP (it's probably bugged) -Right after spawning take a sip of honey for a stamina boost -Fighting near the hive gives you a small attack/defense buff

[@LARAUJO_0]

Ha, "bugged"

[@sidlukkassen9687]

Also watch out for glass environments with sugary scents. There might not be a way out of them. I still see plenty of noobs getting stuck that way. You may think it gives a high xp boost but it takes a long time to respawn and you will lose your loot. Better off just farming plantlife.

[@ihap5180]

@@LARAUJO_0 I hate this take my like

[@UrpleSquirrel]

Also, if your hive decides to perform the "swarm" maneuver, keep an eye out for big empty boxes near human dwellings to use as a new base camp. If you're able to partner up with a beekeeper class human, it'll give you a very secure spot to locate your hive, help defend you from larger weight-class attacks on the hive, and provide you with food if you're having a lousy foraging season. You do have to give up a chunk of your stashed loot about once every other generation, but in my experience, the pros usually outweigh the cons.

[@obamngaaa]

Also watch out, if you're alone and a bigger animal decides to attack, DO NOT sting it, as they almost always survive and you'll end up getting eliminated after this.

[@mr.youngsir9142]

The Hollow Knight music at the beginning is a nice touch. Incredible editing as always.

[@NZOMV]

Still waiting for them to get nerfed next patch.

[@Leopar525]

Better nerf Irelia they said

[@Arfurful]

earth 2 is my bet for the change

[@mephisto8101]

Humans are working on it... Insect population is in decline at lots of areas, especially bees.

[@xDomof]

well humans are wipin the bees so they might get a buff to keep up

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

The eusociality of Asian honeybees are especially OP. When they detect a hornet has entered their nest, they shake to let everyone know of the intruder. And then when the giant hornet least expects it, they all not only climb onto the hornet like at 3:42 but they increase their body temperatures so that they roast the hornet to death. An effective defense mechanism. European honey bees, however, do not have this defense mechanism against Asian giant hornets and that's why these hornets being in the United States is a bad thing. Giant hornets have, and will, massacre European bees You can say ant tactics like those of invasive fire ants are OP but the existence of antlions balances things out.

If some Asian honeybees were to be introduced in European honeybees, assuming they would not get rejected, could they pass on the hyperthermia strategy to the European bees?

[@KiyanPocket]

@ Should the Queen desire them, it's a possibility.

[@melmelhodgepodge3800]

That's mind blowing that Asian Honeybees can raise their body temperatures.

[@tylermech66]

@@melmelhodgepodge3800 Every single one that does is dead, of course, but it is impressive. they're basically suicide bombers.

[@VeganSemihCyprus33]

👀🙌💖 The Connections (2021) [short documentary] 👀🙌💖

[@thyprodigymasterofthievery4295]

When the time comes, I’ll try to make an open world game with a bunch of animals and insects. That would be so much fun

[@tatsuuuuuu]

while ants and wasps are still doing great in the current meta, bees are getting absolutely blasted. it's the damn parasites and pesticides DLC, it nerfed bees so hard that they can't fight back against wasps and now the bee guild has almost entirely ragequit the server. and actually we'll sorely miss them when they're all gone so a patch is desperately needed.

[@Willzilla]

Honeybees tbh suck, you dont need honey to survive and they’re an invasive species to America and are driving other insects to extinction.

[@armpitbeard2031]

The more social bees are doing just fine. It's the solo players that are suffering.

[@randombaguette]

Bro this entire game theme is kinda cringe

[@TechWiz717]

@@randombaguette then why are you on this channel? that's the whole point lol. It's a great way to bring animal knowledge to mainstream and get more people interested in them

[@madarshtiwari3010]

It is not a dlc as a dev I can tell you the classes that you see are never introduced by us they are always available it is the player thaat descovers and use them tho some classes like the humans were unlocked only after the reptile age becouse the mammal class were just getting overpowered by the meta

[@stevdor6146]

this is literally the first time i've seen "DoorHead ant" and i played a mobile game called Ant Legions for a couple months. Congrats TZ, you've broadened my horizons yet again.

[@MrThatpersonthatguy]

Really cool species. They are called turtle ants or Cephalotes. Hundreds of different turtle ant sub-species. What really shocked me though, was some of them can be found in the USA, maybe in your backyard if you live in one of the southern states. I hear they are a cool species to keep as pets

[@filip9226]

ant genetics are insane imagine being born and devoting you entire life to being a door

[@jonnyanderson3042]

saw some in elden ring a little while ago. didn't realise they were a thing that actually existed, thought it was just something made up by the game, like horses

[@KenhelExcallius]

I’d like to see more play through of the game

[@jaanuspapp1333]

Then go outside and touch the grass

[@scp-jd4py]

@@jaanuspapp1333 why don't you touch grass

[@db5094]

@@jaanuspapp1333 Why would I go out and touch grass? We want gameplay of the game inthe video, u dum?

[@supremeguardian1395]

There's this really cool mechanic introduced pretty early on by the devs, it's called observation. Just head to your local park server and find a specific location to scout out and observe it over a period of time. It's almost impossible to miss the various let's plays posted in any given area when using this ability

[@Oyakinya-Izuki]

You can watch ants canada if you want more gameplay

[@TheH00ple]

Gaming jargon really lends a great way of breaking down such a complex concept, in a very eloquent manner.

[@Frizou]

theres a major point you should have mentioned is that even if these choices are awesome, you can't really play your own way, the queen is controlling the whole hive and makes you obligated to give all of your exp and resources into the common inventory where only the queen can decide to give back these items, making the point of playing itself non-existant since you can not do your own things. there is also the issue of how you have to attack if judged nessesary by the hive, essencially risking all of your progress.

[@Na0811te]

Agreed, in addition, how does one become a queen? Is there a dlc required?

[@shyguypro9876]

Can we appreciate that the roar effect of the Murder Hornet in the intro is from Hollow Knight, a game primarily about bugs and insects.

[@anorak9383]

You can also hear the song from the Hornet fight playing in the background

[@manitobant6738]

Also in the part about aposematic coloration he uses The Hollow Knight’s scream sound effect

[@Damascene_]

@@anorak9383 Specifically at 0:57 edit: Dont care to make another comment but oh my GOD he seriously used *Hornet* because..oh my god. 🧍

[@Post-ModernCzechoslovakianWar]

Man, that doorstop ant is so freaking cool. I never actually heard of such a thing before, that's awesome. Also, about the doorstop ant, his intelligence stats are significantly higher than a normal ant's intelligence stats. Does anybody understand how that works, and why they are so much smarter?

[@KP3droflxp]

I don’t think they’re actually smarter, it’s a joke about the head

[@Post-ModernCzechoslovakianWar]

@@KP3droflxp Hmm, that makes sense. But I'm still disappointed. I want them to be smarter, I want to believe there's some truth to that. Don't get me wrong, I'm not expecting them to have major intelligence, but just a bit smarter in some specific way would be cool.

[@Gusenichka925]

@PФSΓ-MФDΞЯИ Czechoslovakian War Factory imagine it has high iq just to think who comes in and what to do

[@asierx7047]

Doorstop ants are actually the least intelligent as they're basically machines that detect pheromones to let things in

[@jmz2144]

Big brains

[@TF2CrunchyFrog]

As a biologist who majored in ecology, zoology and botany, and who is also a pen-n-paper roleplayer and video gamer, this video is hilarious. Just one thing: The idea that all interactions between individuums, groups and species are primarily governed by "Survival of the Fittest" (a term coined by Spencer, not Darwin), self-interest and competition at all cost is a 19th century misinterpretation of Darwin's concept of evolution. (Apart from the fact that in Darwin's time, scientists had invented the theoretical concept of "genes" as the smallest unit of heritable trait data transfer, but lacked knowledge of the structure of DNA, histone proteins, genetics, epigenetics, and so on). Even today, a great many people misunderstand what biologists mean by "fitness", because it does not mean the biggest and strongest, but being the "best-adapted to your environment". Modern evolutionary ecology has moved away from the _competition model_ of "nature red in tooth and claw"[*] towards models of _cooperation/symbiosis, resource management/energy optimization_and _complex interdependencies within an ecological web._ To make it short, it is all about long-term stable strategies and balancing risk vs reward; why expend massive amounts of energy/calories in competition if both sides can gain better long-term outcomes by cooperation (the classic "Prisoner's Dilemma" from Behavioral Game Theory, when played indefinitely). For example, fighting is really energy-intensive and carries the risk of being crippled or wounded; which is why most animals that fight for mates or territory do not fight to the death. Only species that do not live long and only mate once in their lifespan will throw everything into the ring for the chance to pass on their genes. --- FOOTNTE: [*] The "competition model" was en vogue in 19th century Great Britain because the British Empire was run by aristocrats and merchants who loved the idea of having the "natural right" to crush and subjugate "less developed" peoples and countries, so both "God" and this newfangled idea of "Evolution" could be twisted into a narrative that provided the perfect excuse.

[@jeffmorris5802]

Very interesting, but I should note that the prisoner's dilemma would be evidence against such a theory - not evidence in favor of it. The prisoner's dilemma almost always results in selfish action, not cooperation.

[@AK-jt7kh]

Thank you for this! I pieced this together, but I don’t have the sources, research, and books to explore what I thought I have come to understand. Do you know of a few good resources I could explore on this perspective? I try to find them, but as they are not “popular” they are nearly impossible to search for.

[@qua_xor3348]

Eusociality is basically like having a global chat for a game but everyone can only quickchat. You can still cooperate but it's really slow.

[@speetza6265]

Love the breakdown, definitely thinking of picking up this build if NG+ is ever added.

[@sadboyflrn5641]

I think you need to spec into faith in order to unlock NG+ in this game....

[@jasperzanovich2504]

@@sadboyflrn5641 only some Faith themes give you a new game while others unlock a much more fun game without the grind but none give you NG+.

[@ryanbauer3680]

I hate to break it all you faith builds, but well... I'm just going to come out and tell you the truth about NG+ The cake is a lie.

[@cshub4016]

Bees also have a absurdly high intimidation stat. Being thousand of times heavier and taller than, the same ones who have manage to populate the whole are easily scared by them. Truly a broken class!

[@davidtitanium22]

it's a combination of their color, sound, and speed, all of which is incomprehensible to the players of the higher weight class that's not used to fighting the arthropod class

[@Aethgeir]

I've always thought of insect hives (in this context) as the player being the queen, and simply having the ability to spawn an army of bots over which they have a degree of control.

[@guiltriple]

That's a common way that humans have conceptualized it, but it's not really like that -- the queen doesn't tend to control the workers, she's just extremely important. Ironically more like the king in chess :P

[@Aethgeir]

@@guiltriple True, but the point is the whole colony functions essentially as a single macro-organism, with the queen (being the source of all the drones) at its center. If this really was a game, a player would probably begin as a young queen looking for a place to establish a suitable nesting site.

[@PaulWiele]

​@@Aethgeir - Ever played SimAnt?

[@jonsmith5058]

The Queen isnt really in charge though, they’ll brutally replace her when she starts to show age and births less larvae. The Queen is really more like a slave they constantly shove with food and force to constantly churn out eggs. They have a hive mind, the Queen directs jack. They just have a common instinct or ‘will’.

[@Aethgeir]

@@PaulWiele Why yes... ;)

[@chadd990]

I love how if you type in the search "are bees" the second search result is "are bees op", and it brings you to this video. I also love how none of the results are for roast beef sandwiches, or their fast food restaurants.

[@guest34568]

The bad thing about the bee is that their stinger is like a one-time move which is like the main down side for the player but if it's a swarm of it a few sacrifice isn't that bad

[@dangerouscolors]

bee stinging is actually only fatal when used against mammals because of our stretchy stretchy skin. theyre usually fine when stinging other bugs!

[@wildfiresnap]

@@dangerouscolors it’s also only with honey bees. Bumble bees and solitary bees don’t die after stinging.

[@NamHoang-oy7lj]

it took pretty short to respawn not like human where you need a year or so

[@mediocregamer2484]

This is actually only a honey bee thing and only happens to mammals! They can sting other insects just fine

[@ElladanKenet]

Also worth pointing out the insane intimidation buff from swarming forces all other players to flee at maximum speed, resulting in fewer casualties

[@SephirothRyu]

A number of these builds go far enough in caste specialization that they have now just gotten rid of the ability to even reproduce with their standard members, with only a specific fertile female and male cast capable of it (the female then in most species flying away to form its own colony). In the case of ants, these are also the only castes who keep their wings, and even then a future queen will in many builds dispose of them upon mating and then finding the place it wants to set up its new hive. In the end, they really can often be considered as a hive being a single organism. With most of the members being a "dispersed body," where like a normal body, individual cells are less important than the body as a whole.

[@tournesol99]

It is also worth noting that this does mean a relative lack of genetic diversity within each team, and thus slower experience gain. This would also partly explain why there are so many extremely different and extremely similar ant/bee/wasp builds. If one build is no longer optimal, there are still countless others for new players to try.

[@Stratelier]

Lack of genetic diversity also puts them at risk when something figures out the perfect counterplay. Various "tamed" guilds in the European honeybee faction have suffered widespread colony collapses in part due to this.

[@preacherpreacher9417]

Love, Death + Robots: Season 3 Episode 6 “Swarm” dropped today. I know it's a completely different game, but asking: "What does it mean to win the game?" It felt relevant.

[@wesleyowens4089]

That was a really dope episode. I would watch a whole series about that one episode

[@davidtitanium22]

a question: since everyone in the colony are basically clones, how do they keep their genetic diversity? do they just rely on having so many males that the random mutations alone provide enough diversity? how does new queens and new colonies starts?

[@metametodo]

I have no idea about genetic diversity, and I'd love to get an answer to that, but I do know how to get you the idea for the second one. Queen bees are in a sense actually sisters to the other bees, they always rise as a hormonally influenced larvae, that otherwise would be a normal worker bee. So they are "crowned", in a sense. After that they're able to lay eggs and control male sperm. That sisterhood is what makes them 75% related to other bees. But they're the only ones who can lay eggs, just one. It's amazing. And the "crowning" of a new queen happens in some specific moments, like death of the original queen, or when the hive is too large. At this latter moment, the hive divides in two, one queen for each, and half migrates to settle a new hive in a place that I think is previously verified as a good place. Amazing, again. I'm not sure how similar this all is for other hymenoptera. Maybe I'm talking about a single species.

[@riva4420]

I know a bit about the ant side of things. Basically, future queens and males are born from the queen, sent out during nuptial fights where the queen mates with a male from another colony, breaks off their wings, digs a hole, blocks it if it's one of the species that doesn't need food in this time, lays eggs and tends to them. The male dies after mating, by the way. When the workers are ready, then the queen can start focusing on eggs while the workers do normal things like build the nest and get food. An established colony.

[@thesquishedelf1301]

Genetic diversity is actually a major issue with them. Honeybees especially since humans have inflated their numbers for honey production. While their systems are generally robust enough to not suffer from the low diversity, they’re extremely vulnerable to disease and don’t genetically adapt nearly as fast as most organisms. Those “save the bees!” campaigns? Partially due to toxic pesticides, and partially due to new pathogens spreading amongst colonies quite rapidly. Sudden Colony Collapse Syndrome, by far the biggest threat to honeybees today, is probably caused by a pathogen transmitted by mites that interferes with eusocial behaviour.

[@rng8899]

One important factor is that since drones (males) inherit only the mother's DNA, most males with serious genetic issues die before mating. It's not entirely dissimilar to genetic purging (which allows small populations to remain viable). Another, and absolutely crucial factor is the existence of flight. Inbreeding is absolutely a serious issue in eusocial animals (haplodiploid or not). Naked mole rats are staggeringly inbred. Social spiders are a step below true eusociality but pretty damn close, and sociality has evolved in spiders several dozen times in distinct lineages. It's generally thought that social spiders eventually succumb to inbreeding/lack of diversity. Sociality has huge advantages, which is why it keeps evolving, but there NEEDS to be a way to deal with inbreeding. Enter flight, allowing fertile individuals to cover much greater distances, which in turn enables them to meet less related breeding partners. (Eu)sociality keeps evolving in lots of species. Time and time again. But only species with flight (for the fertile individuals, at any rate) last.

[@travelingparadise2823]

@@metametodo how do the future queen gets crowned? and who decide it? (democatically elected? haha). I mean, if the queen has more than 1 daughters, but only 1 will become of a future queen, how is the process ? or maybe the queen will only produce daughter if she decide she needs a future queen?

[@Doddweon]

I've waited so long for this video! I've completed the "biology major" questline and hymenopterans have always been one of the most fascinating guilds to me. As always, a great explanation of a great topic :)

[@Lakanus]

6:43 Are you telling me those ants from Elden Ring actually exist and aren't just another fictional eldritch nightmare?

[@Grandflea02]

Yes.

[@Lakanus]

@@Grandflea02 *bruh*

[@breloommaster12]

@@Lakanus yeah those ants are pretty much just supersized versions of an irl species of ant

[@sticc3978]

Recommendation: ticks They are so small and yet so annoying and can carry very dangerous diseases. From spring to autumn I feel like I'm not living on a open world server without very high level beefed up protection gear and 100x caution

[@somedragonbastard]

Anti-recommendation: ticks are gross

[@FakeWaterLoL]

Ticks Main Are Annoying

[@xenocross6597]

@@FakeWaterLoL Tick mains need to be banned in the next balance patch.

[@khepridixon2754]

On the topic of eusociality, it was mentioned that they're able to perform impressive feats in spite of their low intelligence, but dataminers are starting to find evidence that Ants might also be INTELLIGENCE builds on top of their Eusociality, possibly getting into one of the highest tiers for standalone intelligence. Cmon devs, where's that patch?

[@KraytTheGreat]

Bees aren't just frickin OP, they have an excellent matchup against another OP build: the human. In fact they are so powerful, that humans don't dare spawnkilling them like pigs, chickens or cattle - they chose a symbiotic relationship with them

[@noamnarrowe5284]

Playing the hornet theme while discussing them is a god tier move

[@rubickevich]

I don't even know whether should I be ashamed of or proud that I recognised every music theme in this video.

[@pokegard]

Proud most likely

[@Ahrpigi]

The editing on TZ videos is always top notch. The Hollow Knight music, the various sound effects and references... Fantastic.

[@LindenHS-Hillcraft]

You should do one of these on the "roach family". Roaches, Termites, and Mantids are all one family that has some amazing diversity! The Dictyoptera family is INSANE! Also there were once "Roach-Mantids" and a more mantid related sister species that tried to become ants by mimicry, they are called Alienopteridae.

[@kittogashi8561]

Criminy! More roaches!

[@LindenHS-Hillcraft]

I did an entire research paper on them… I love roaches

[@heydislikethisvideoleaveaf2187]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/q2PTgXeQn82roLc finally its here ddsv

[@drago939393]

My mind was blown the day I discovered that roaches, termites and wasps are somehow related. So odd.

[@plm-fp6nu]

@@LindenHS-Hillcraft I support alienopteridae genocide.

[@Jpeg.g]

I remember one time i was in a discord raid where we attacked an enemy ant colony, thousands died but it was a victory in the end. Good times.

[@ggrtjoefamily65]

Lol i remeber once beating a fire ant raid (my colony were marauder ants) it was a glorious battle

[@BoojumFed]

There are definite downsides to an eusocial game, but the rush you get when fighting the same war over _dozens_ of spawns is incomparable to any other seemingly-life-or-death battle in the game.

[@Jpeg.g]

@@BoojumFed agreed