Playable and Companion species suggestion checklist thread

So far, it seems BioWare's strongest argument against making less-humanoid species playable (specifically, those that already exist ingame as NPC's/Companions) is the average player's inability to "identify" with these species.

This is garbage.

I'll put it simply. If players can not identify with these species, why do they continue to request them?

The vastness of the Star Wars universe is one of its greatest appealing factors, yet I feel like I'm restricted to a tiny little humanoid corner of it. This feeling of being walled in is stifling, uncomfortable, and puts a big old damper on immersion. It goes against one of the most basic principles of the MMO--the player's ability to be and do anything they choose, within the realm of that creative reality.

One quote that was referenced earlier talked about how non-humanoid species wouldn't fit the class stories because all the side characters would have to be altered. Supposedly, they'd need to react to the player being "the weirdest thing in the room." Also garbage. This is Star Wars--the idea that the story NPCs have no idea how to interact with aliens is patently absurd. It's no different than people of different cultures relating to one another, which we do today on a global scale.

Other excuses have been given, and they're equally invalid. Don't want companions smooching up blobs? Easy fix--a tooltip at character creation tells the player there is [currently] no romance arc for that species. Those who wish to play a nonhumanoid (Ithorian, Bothan, etc.) won't miss it, especially if they've already pursued these romances on other characters...they'll be overjoyed just getting to play as their chosen species.

Worried about voiceovers for non-basic-speaking species? Again, the players that choose them won't fuss about it--many have posted saying they'd be perfectly happy with subtitles, as long as they got their [insert species here].

The hypocrisy of the developers' philosophy is what gets me. Legacy unlocks now allow a player to roll through the Jedi Consular story as a Sith Pureblood. BioWare enables these obscure crossovers, yet feels strangely comfortable citing story-related issues when I wonder why I can't have a Trandoshan bounty hunter. In my humble opinion, this illogical double standard is nothing short of laughable.

The ugly truth is that they did the same thing with species as they did with the endlessly, tiresomely reskinned gear. Whether it was due to insufficient resource allocation, a lack of vision, or just simple laziness, they tried to get a lot more mileage out of their artwork than it could ultimately provide.

The problem is that we noticed. Why all the hullabaloo, you ask? Because at our core, we want to feel unique. We want to be treated as individual players, not a faceless playerbase. In a story-driven MMO, we want our choices to have some sense of meaning. And for many of us, having a choice between nine shades of Human just doesn't feel like much of a choice at all.

I love the tales you tell, BioWare...just let us choose the shoes we walk them in.

An excellent list sir. I noted that you were unsure about some of the class options because you were unsure of their culture, etc. Might I suggest the Ultimate Alien Anthology book made for the D20 Star Wars Roleplaying game, as it has a multitude of species and a basic overview of their culture and out look. It may be of some assistance.

Great list I really like it the ones I really want in the game from these are: Kaleesh, Echani and Gen´dai

I wan the Togruta and the Bothans, and maybe Rodians. Then all my favorite races would be in game, what with the Rattataki and Twi' leks already in game.

I agreed with the entire post but thought the last part summed it up nicely. I have said it multiple time on multiple threads but I want to see more species come in. Alien species like Kel'dor, Gran, Trandoshan, Mon Cal etc.

Great list indeed. What's going on Bioware?? We want to play species other than ones that look almost human..what gives?? Soooo many things that could make this game much more popular, and yes much more money and yet they leave us with nothing.

This is a pretty wild guess but looking in the Star Wars: The Old Republic Encyclopedia, the way the species section is presented, after Cathar the next few playable species could be, in no particular order: Togruta, Chagrian, Devaronian, Advozse, Mon Calamari and Kaleesh.

What kind of annoys me with Cathar is I remember reading that it would be a Legacy species. If this means what I think it means, then Cathar would only be accessible after reaching a certain level. To me, this would be pretty frustrating especially to the people who wants to play as their favourite species from the start only having to play as one they don't want just to obtain another. I would understand if like the rest of the current selection it was available from the start but only to a couple of classes and then unlockable to the rest via the Legacy system. I guess we'll have to wait until either 1.7 or 1.8 gets closer to know the exact details on how they'll handle them.

I like the list though I can see obvious problems with some of the races though you have put up reasons for them but anyway. Mostly jumping on the bandwagon for Zeltron. I honestly feel like they should have been there to start with since they are entirely human reskins and would have fit perfect as the trooper/smuggler unique race*jedi got miraluka, sith got pureblood, agent/hunters got Chiss. Smuggler and Trooper got nothing as a unique to just them* They even could just be given a unique dance for a emote or blowing a kiss. *that and I was more intrested in playing them then I ever was or liably will be playing Mirialan but thats me.*

A jedi hutt would be fun to play as. Seriously though, I would be completely surprised, not to mention disapointed, if the Echani race are not implemented in the future. They played a key role in KOTOR 2, the supposed foundation of this game. I can totally see them being a melee oriented class using their fists, feet, and vibroweapons while wearing light armor with high evasion rates. I personally wouldnt play as one, but it would be nice to see them running around. I would have prefered that they be included as a female Echani companion, the spiritual successor of Briana if you will, to one of the jedi classes. Sadly, that never happened.

Well, now with the free to play stuff in place, you could probably get them from start with cartel coins.