I'll be honest, I played Star Wars Galaxies for like 1 month (the game was like 10 bucks with 1 month free) and there was something I really enjoyed: Playing as an Ithorian bounty hunter.

 

So I started playing this game like 1 week ago and I was kinda disappointed to see that the only playables races basically look like your average human with flashy colors and "alien" appendices.

There is also something else that kinda felt awkward to me, there aren't enough alien npcs wandering around, the whole game feels kinda "humans in space only" .

 

I haven't followed much what Bioware has in stock for the future, but I would really like to think they will bring a little more fantasy content instead of the 90% human population/10% "alien" races in this game lorewise, along with having the possibility of having an ithorian bounty hunter

 

Anyway, that was just my 2 cents, overall I'm having fun with this game, not the ultimate mmorpg, but fun nontheless.

I feel this is the one thing that I hate about the game. Every race is just a human with different colored skin and a weird growth on a different part of its head. There needs to be more of a difference in races. I am very shocked they did not put Cathars as playable since they already skinned them for the game.

 

I really hope we get some actual alien type races to play as. I see other players and i just think of them all as human, when they're in full armor you cant tell a difference.... and that needs to change.

Likely answer is that this was a solution to making standardized cut scenes:(; on the bright side, with Legacy, Chiss and Human union can give birth to Sith.

The only species I want are the Nautolan, my favorite species isn't in the game and it makes me cringe. Twi'lek made it in but Nautolan didn't, Bioware WHY?!

I think the issue more likely is that Ithorians and Rodians and other species with more "non-human" features are usually the ones that spoke an alien language other than Basic.

 

This would mean that the voiceover sessions for those will be a little more tricky, and take some more time and finesse, not only for the voice talent, but for the audio department as well.

 

I fully expect we'll get those characters, eventually. They're already in the game wearing various types of armor and clothing, like Ithorians, Rodians, Mon Calamari, Weequay, Cathars, Nautolans, etc. Just probably a bit unrealistic to have in for launch.

 

I'd probably expect the Basic-speaking species to appear first, like Mon Calamari, Nautolans, Cathars, Weequay and the like before the alien-tongued species.

Edited May 13, 2012 by Kubernetic

People who want to play exotic species is a minority, yet the work required to make all the gear and animations work on a single exotic specie simply outweighs the benefit. The majority of players prefer humanoid-species whom they can more easily relate with, as such more work is done of those species.

 

Had BioWare introduced species, chances are those species will have: 1. awkward animations, 2. nearly all the gear in the game do not show up, or only show up in a very limited number of forms, 3. no proper VO, only alien gibberish. Only in such circumstances can the amount of work be justified. Yet if that had happened then I'm certain there will be even more complaints. As a result BioWare chose the safer option of not introducing those species as playable characters at all.

Edited May 13, 2012 by GhoXen

That or if you go to SWG you get them durpy Itorian helmets.

 

True, but we will most definitally never see Ithorians in this game as playable.

 

Even if more species were added those guys are most likely out.

Edited May 13, 2012 by kirorx

People who want to play exotic species is a minority, yet the work required to make all the gear and animations work on a single exotic specie simply outweighs the benefit. The majority of players prefer humanoid-species whom they can more easily relate with, as such more work is done of those species.

 

Had BioWare introduced species, chances are those species will have: 1. awkward animations, 2. nearly all the gear in the game do not show up, or only show up in a very limited number of forms, 3. no proper VO, only alien gibberish. Only in such circumstances can the amount of work be justified. Yet if that had happened then I'm certain there will be even more complaints. As a result BioWare chose the safer option of not introducing those species as playable characters at all.

 

Indeed. These are all good points. In fact, alien species being playable is one of the few places I think microtransactions would actually make sense, even though I'm opposed to them on a subscription MMO in general, due to the low probability of use and the extensive resources required to make them work..

People who want to play exotic species is a minority, yet the work required to make all the gear and animations work on a single exotic specie simply outweighs the benefit. The majority of players prefer humanoid-species whom they can more easily relate with, as such more work is done of those species.

.

 

I agree and disagree, I think Duros bounty hunter would be a rather popular choice and i dont see how a player can relate to being a sith or twi'lek any more than being a Duros or Bith.

I recall a developer post here talking about the "Leia kissing rule". They will only have playable races that Princes Leia would seriously consider snogging.

 

Additionally, given the hassles of helmets and masks for Twi'Lek and Pureblood Sith, do you really want to see Ithorians? (Speaking personally, yes, but you get my point).

I would like to see more variation in the species one can play, but I guess it will take years before we get more interesting species in SWTOR.

The only species I want are the Nautolan, my favorite species isn't in the game and it makes me cringe. Twi'lek made it in but Nautolan didn't, Bioware WHY?!

 

Especially since they appear as NPC's in the Jedi Knight story.

I recall a developer post here talking about the "Leia kissing rule". They will only have playable races that Princes Leia would seriously consider snogging.

 

 

That should be any race then cause Leia kissed her brother, devs should really catch up on their lore.

I'll be honest, I played Star Wars Galaxies for like 1 month (the game was like 10 bucks with 1 month free) and there was something I really enjoyed: Playing as an Ithorian bounty hunter.

 

So I started playing this game like 1 week ago and I was kinda disappointed to see that the only playables races basically look like your average human with flashy colors and "alien" appendices.

There is also something else that kinda felt awkward to me, there aren't enough alien npcs wandering around, the whole game feels kinda "humans in space only" .

 

I haven't followed much what Bioware has in stock for the future, but I would really like to think they will bring a little more fantasy content instead of the 90% human population/10% "alien" races in this game lorewise, along with having the possibility of having an ithorian bounty hunter

 

Anyway, that was just my 2 cents, overall I'm having fun with this game, not the ultimate mmorpg, but fun nontheless.

 

Eventually, yeah.

 

So whether it's Dragon Age, Mass Effect or The Old Republic, PCs are near enough to humans for us to crawl into their skin. They have generally understandable facial expressions, they don't look ludicrous speaking the basic language, they can interact with the rest of the galaxy without a constant "what the heck?" reaction from the NPCs. The freaks, the droids, the weird that we get to know and learn about--that's where our companions come in.

 

It's okay to turn to your companions and say "What are you supposed to be?" It's not okay to look in the mirror and say that.

 

In the future I can see a day where we would do a Trandoshan or Wookiee type story but it would have to be just that. Not a simple graphic swap where now your smuggler is a giant lizard man and nobody notices but a full class story where you learn what it means to be this strange alien and deal with the rest of the galaxy and their reactions. For the present, however, our heroes are our projections of self, headed into a galaxy of wonders and adventures.

 

This was an excerpt. Click here for the entire quote.

Freaking Daniel E. blowing our minds like that. I'm cool with that.

"Colored humans" is racist!!!

 

....or specist.

 

Something.

 

Not exactly sure but I know I should be offended.

"Colored humans" is racist!!!

 

....or specist.

 

Something.

 

Not exactly sure but I know I should be offended.

 

It's speciest.

People who want to play exotic species is a minority

 

I don't even believe this is a fact. Sounds like a stat pulled out of thin air.

I don't even believe this is a fact. Sounds like a stat pulled out of thin air.

 

And sounds vaguely racist.

People who want to play exotic species is a minority, yet the work required to make all the gear and animations work on a single exotic specie simply outweighs the benefit. The majority of players prefer humanoid-species whom they can more easily relate with, as such more work is done of those species.

 

Had BioWare introduced species, chances are those species will have: 1. awkward animations, 2. nearly all the gear in the game do not show up, or only show up in a very limited number of forms, 3. no proper VO, only alien gibberish. Only in such circumstances can the amount of work be justified. Yet if that had happened then I'm certain there will be even more complaints. As a result BioWare chose the safer option of not introducing those species as playable characters at all.

 

You know, the Mass Effect 3 multiplayer, another Bioware game, has more players using alien races instead of humans, so it kinda negates your argument.

 

There are 2 factors to think about:

-Cool looking aspect or the class/race.

-Efficiency of the class/race in pve/pvp.

 

As a gamer I wouldn't care playing as an Ewok if it had enough interesting abilities, and besides, I played enough games in my life as a human character, a little more variety never hurted anybody.

You know, the Mass Effect 3 multiplayer, another Bioware game, has more players using alien races instead of humans, so it kinda negates your argument.

 

There are 2 factors to think about:

-Cool looking aspect or the class/race.

-Efficiency of the class/race in pve/pvp.

 

As a gamer I wouldn't care playing as an Ewok if it had enough interesting abilities, and besides, I played enough games in my life as a human character, a little more variety never hurted anybody.

 

To be fair, you can't "dress" the Quarians, Geth or Batarians. You can only change the colors of their armor. And they all speak english in the ME Universe for some very very odd reason.

To be fair, you can't "dress" the Quarians, Geth or Batarians. You can only change the colors of their armor. And they all speak english in the ME Universe for some very very odd reason.

 

Bioware lazyness fault, but it doesn't negate the fact that those races are more played than humans, because either they look cool and/or their skills setup are more interesting.

It's a sad fact of the game when the staff avoids "creative" issues like this. Alien races in Star Wars are a must have and Bioware has tried to fight this aspect since implementation. They originally only wanted to allow humans as a race choice like in KOTOR until LucasArts refused to accept that as a resolution. Unfortunately the voiceover immersion would kill Rodian/Jawa/Wookie type race choices along with several other alien selections. I would love to see more playable race choices to give more of an individual feel to each character but Bioware dug themselves a hole that only a ton of money spent in graphics and voiceover design can dig themselves out of.

look what they did with trolls, worgens etc., or check how draenais walks in wow. guess they didnt want to do the same mistake... and they save us with not making same mistake as their fellow douchebag friends from blizzard.

Bioware lazyness fault, but it doesn't negate the fact that those races are more played than humans, because either they look cool and/or their skills setup are more interesting.

 

Yes, but they are not the heroes of the ME story, are they? Your character is Commander Shepard, a human. You identify with him more than you do with the multiplayer character. You even stated yourself, people do it because they look cool and have combat advantages. Unless you are a hardcore roleplayer, you don't really look at you character as a story. You just say "Oh man this Geth is so cool to play as!" not "Who is this Unit? What is his motivation for fighting? What is his stance on the Creators?"

 

Basically, dude, you just proved what Erikson said. People identify with the "human" protagonist more than the alien. When they add more alien races, you're going to realize how different it is from the others.