The Empire is widely considered the more xenophobic of the two powers vying for control of the galaxy. It is not a stretch to have the near-human aliens currently populating the playable population as members of the Empire, but the more exotic races would probably face an uphill battle in Imperial service.

 

What I propose is that Bioware use a coincidental fact of lore as an excuse to bring population balance more in line. Once we have additional character creation options from legacy they could simply be somewhat more generous to the Republic when it comes to the more "far out" alien races. I'm not advocating being punitive towards the Empire, as they are also paying customers, but merely "showing a little more leg" to the Republic in this area. Find a way to allow Republic players to create some of the more "out there" species such as Wookiees, Ithorians, Duros and Talz and you may have a convenient key to population balance. The Empire should get some exotic options as well, of course, but perhaps letting the Republic get the long end of the cool stick on this one would help a bit.

 

I realize this is possibly poses a serious problem for game art. Perhaps the answer lies in the orange item system. Simply have a few sets of medium, light, and heavy orange items that have appearances on these exotic races. Perhaps if the equipment has no appearance it could simply default to being invisible ( like Bowdaar's armor, for instance. )

 

This is just an idea I wanted to throw out there.

Edited January 6, 2012 by AlpsStranger

This may be the most constructive use of Xenophobia I have seen. Thumbs up. Definitely consistent with lore. Fatal Alliance goes into this in detail.

i /sign this.

A nice idea i think.

I honestly wouldn't want to play an Ithorian, but just making Nautolanians (Kid Fisto) Republic only would be a HUGE thing.

This is incredibly creative, and I believe would also be successful.

 

They'll never go for it, but kudos to you for coming up with the best solution to the problem that I think may be suggested.

I was a little disappointed that I have so few races to choose from for my Sith Warrior. I wanted to play a Rattaki or even a Twi'Lek or several other races that have been represented a Sith in the lore which aren't playable character races. And why is cyborg a player "race"? Shouldn't cybernetics just be a slider option like scars or tattoos?

This is a great idea. I think Imperials could get some middle-ground races like Trandoshan to make up for it.

 

And let's not forget Bothans. Let's give the Republic some Bothans. I miss those fuzzy little kangaroo-men from Galaxies.

The Legacy is probably one of the best basic concepts Bioware has in place.

 

It could have proven useful, if it actually was in place upon game launch.

 

Right now it doesn't look like we'll see it for another 2-3 months.

I was a little disappointed that I have so few races to choose from for my Sith Warrior. I wanted to play a Rattaki or even a Twi'Lek or several other races that have been represented a Sith in the lore which aren't playable character races. And why is cyborg a player "race"? Shouldn't cybernetics just be a slider option like scars or tattoos?

 

There's nothing disruptive about your post, but I think you may be missing the point of what I'm saying.

This is a great idea. I think Imperials could get some middle-ground races like Trandoshan to make up for it.

 

And let's not forget Bothans. Let's give the Republic some Bothans. I miss those fuzzy little kangaroo-men from Galaxies.

 

Oh exactly. I wasn't advocating being too harsh on the Empire and leaving them out in the cold. I was just saying put in a few crowd-pleasing exclusives like Wookiees or Nautolans(as the Hiramas suggested) to boost Republic pop numbers.

Edited January 6, 2012 by AlpsStranger

Good job OP. I like where you're head is at.

I concur there is a SEVERE population balance and this may be the best 'Star Warsie' way to fix it.

I agree, and I don't see why they don't offer other races.

I keep hearing that it's because of the voice acting.

 

But I have ran across Twileks that speak their native language and english. for an example.

 

And I have a male human that has hair that sticks up a mile that just disappears when I put on a hood or helmet.

So why can't the same thing be done for Rodians, Bothans, MonCals and other humanoid races?

Edited January 6, 2012 by Fraxture

There's nothing disruptive about your post, but I think you may be missing the point of what I'm saying.

 

 

I didn't miss anything in your post, I just didn't reply directly to your initial post. I got a little sidetracked.

 

Yes, more races would definitely pull a lot more people to Republic side. But at the same time, lore-wise there are a lot more races that should be allowed for both factions. Though I do agree that the Republic should have more. But there are hundreds of Sith characters throughout the EU who contradict the xenophobic pidgeonholing that's been applied to the Sith in SWTOR.

 

But honestly, we all know Anakin is the only one who can truly bring balance.

Edited January 6, 2012 by ChampionChains

I didn't miss anything in your post, I just didn't reply directly to your initial post. I got a little sidetracked.

 

Yes, more races would definitely pull a lot more people to Republic side. But at the same time, lore-wise there are a lot more races that should be allowed for both factions. Though I do agree that the Republic should have more. But there are hundreds of Sith characters throughout the EU who contradict the xenophobic pidgeonholing that's been applied to the Sith in SWTOR.

 

I'm talking about correcting the *game specific* issue of pop imbalance. I'm saying play the xenophobia idea straight in order to actually address the population balance. I agree that there are probably exceptions to any idea in the lore, but that's not what I'm focusing on here.

 

The point isn't merely to give the republic "more" alien choices, but to actually give them more appealing choices intentionally. This is similar to what Blizzard did by giving the prettiest race to the "ugly" faction. Give the coolest aliens to the "uncool" faction.

Edited January 6, 2012 by AlpsStranger

I'm talking about correcting the *game specific* issue of pop imbalance. I'm saying play the xenophobia idea straight in order to actually address the population balance. I agree that there are probably exceptions to any idea in the lore, but that's not what I'm focusing on here.

 

The point isn't merely to give the republic "more" alien choices, but to actually give them more appealing choices intentionally. This is similar to what Blizzard did by giving the prettiest race to the "ugly" faction. Give the coolest aliens to the "uncool" faction.

 

Yeah, it would definitely help. Maybe the implementation of the Legacy system will affect this as it hinted to more character customization options being implemented based on your Legacy level unlocks.

 

The best thing about most of the alien species in SW is that they're so very humanoid and for the most part helmets are the only conflicting issue (as seen with Twi'Leks. Which really is more of a non-issue for many characters as they want to show off their alien-ness. At least I personally would. Why customize cool lekku if you're going to hide them under a hood?

 

But I'm getting off topic again. I'd like to see Republic having more Alien species choices. Wookies (would voice acting really be a problem? That's what sub titles are for), Duros (though I'd be selfish and want a Duro Sith Warrior), Mon Calamari, Trandoshans, Rodians, Bothans, Gran, the list goes on. For the most part, you'd just need to change the head and use pre-existing npc skin textures. Lots of people would roll Republic to be able to play these bonus race/class combos.

I'm actually overjoyed by the response to this thread. I hope this is the direction Bioware chooses to go. I'm under no illusion that I'll have had anything to do with it if this occurs, but it's still nice to see the idea well received.

Technically only Palpatine's Empire was Xenophobic. This is Palpatin's Empire thrown into the past... but I agree with the idea.

Technically only Palpatine's Empire was Xenophobic. This is Palpatin's Empire thrown into the past... but I agree with the idea.

 

Strictly speaking this is true, but I think it's obvious that "A New Hope" is onion skinned over KoTOR for the purposes of this MMORPG.

 

Read the little blurb when you go to create an Empire character. It's right at the top of the screen. It actually uses the word "Xenophobic" IIRC right there onscreen in SWTOR.

Edited January 6, 2012 by AlpsStranger

I like it. It makes sense from a lore standpoint and I think it would actually be effective.

 

/signed

I know this is wrong but... bump!

 

I want to see more thoughts on this.

This is a good idea. I had never thought about it before, but now I can see it in WoW and how that works. Add more leveling worlds as well and they'd be good to go.

Yes! This is a very good idea indeed! I sign this!

Also Kel Dor, Togruta and Yoda Species for the Republic

 

And maybe fit a Jawa in Republic or Empire please :')!?

Cool idea. Thoughtful.

Bumping for front page