Specism/Xenophobia in the EU and TOR.

The genetic between two Human ethnic are tiny compared to the (hypothetic) différences between a Duros and a Bothan

Genetic expression within a species can be incredibly varied. The best example is dogs. All dogs are Canis lupus. Yet, there are so many breeds of dog that look completely different from each other. The pug and the great dane. The greyhound and the corgi. These are all the same species.

So, technically, a Duros and a Bothan could be the same species, but expressing is widely different ways. They're not, but they could be. But, if you look at the Duros and the Neimoidian, you then have a closer example; neimoidians are offshoots of the duros species.

Twi'leks are another example, with the widely varying skin colors. Same species, different expressions. You could call Rutians, Lethans and other "colors" of twi'leks different races of the twi'lek species.

There are such things as human races, since "race" is just a classification of people, usually in regards to ethnicity. Every human being is **** sapiens, but we have many races within our varying cultures.

"Speciesism" is the same result, but for different reasons. The term may be a neologism, but the idea dates back to Cicero and even Aristotle. A human that hates all houks because they are houks is guilty of speciesism. Houks and humans are not the same species.

In regards to twi'leks: slavery is ingrained in the twi'lek culture. Families often raise children and sell them into slavery. Slavery is technically illegal in the Republic, but, since slavery brings so much money to Ryloth, few are the people who will rat out every slaver that comes knocking (and even fewer once the rat gets found out, most likely). They didn't necessarily like it, though. Most just viewed it as a necessity.

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Twi%27lek

Aaaand....what's the point of this? Are you offended by this? Are you just pointing it out to people who don't see it?

What do you want?

Mostly it's an interesting discussion. Like assessing themes in a book. "Spot the real world parallel" kinda sorta.

I'm not really sure that the game or Star Wars franchise itself has ever deliberately said "slavery and exploitation is okay" and a number of prominent twi'lek characters object to the treatment of their species. That the species has that problem is perhaps a bit of an unfortunate implication though, especially since they tend to also end up being considered "fanservice" in-universe and outside. It's like saying "oh noes just terrible" while winking and serving up a big ol' serving size.

So both sides are going on here, really.

Do you really prefer discussion about how CP sucks ?

I should have made a wild claim about the game dying....

You've got to put things into perspective, though. The "40 so-and-sos" you kill are not innocents, they are soldiers; moreover, on most planets (even with the Killiks you mentioned!) they are enemy soldiers that attacked first. It's not like you're running in there unprovoked and slaughtering them for no reason. And for those when they didn't attack first, i.e. when you're trying to capture an enemy base, you're just fighting through enemies. Real-life soldiers fight through enemy forces to capture an objective. The point is you are at war with those you are killing. It is not murder.

It was the same in SWG except it was taken a step further. If you were an alien species and were of the Imperial Faction, Faction Items would cost more from Vendors.

I don't see how it falls flat...That's like saying talking about or portraying slavery in entertainment is a bad thing.

Those who don't remember the past are destined to repeat it. George Santayana

oh damn!
i was just thinking about this when i saw a cathar sage!
i tought "aren't cathars usually energic and rebelli-ish?oh right,well,it's a whole population,they sure are like humans with their own beavior,cathars could be even calm jedi,like humans can be,or any other species"
my silly monologues.

Yes, it is murder. You are going out into the field and purposely attacking sentient beings who have NOT attacked you at all. You sneak up on them, assess their weakest player, take him out first, and then kill the rest. They aren't, for the most part, "soldiers." They are often sick or mentally ill, and labeled as such. The sniper shoots from cover and until after the first volley, nobody even knows he's there.

In many cases, you do this even after talking to a NPC when you also have a light side option of letting him go. Some of these characters have been forced into positions that weren't their fault (being used as bait, for example), but you kill them anyway to gain your darkside points. You are acting as a summary executioner.

The major point of the game, and the only way to progress, is to kill hundreds, if not thousands of sentient beings.

The point is that if you're going to take it upon yourself to compare real life with a game and express "moral outrage" at what you consider to be a parallel between "specisim," where we really are talking about completely different species, and "racism" and "slavery," which the modern world has declared illegal, the first time in history, then you are ignoring the elephant in the room. Where is the moral outrage about killing thousands of people? Where is the moral outrage at encouraging a climate of destruction and violence? Where is the moral outrage over suggesting that you can get people killed, then simply magically return to the Medical Center and be okay again?

If you REALLY want to extrapolate from the real world to the game, there are a whole lot of things happening here that are exponentially worse than "specism," a contrived and contorted comparison that doesn't even work when you think about it because you know what? All species are not created equally.