Why so many humanoids?

[SentientRace]

I can't help but notice almost all the races in the Role Play are human, or have human extremities. Now, it's understandable that the Yamataia, Geshrin, Neplesians, the biological Freespacers, Tarkareans, Jiyuuian, Iromakuanhe and maybe the Abwehrans (although that's more speculation based on extreme similarities, since it isn't actually mentioned in the wiki) be entirely humanoid since they are descendants of humans. However, that doesn't justify the Azoreans, Elysians, Lorath (from what little there is to read, anyway) and other vaguely humanoid races that live in the known universe of Star Army RP.

I can understand why you'd want to keep a varied array of humanoid races to RP as, since most people would identify themselves with them (I mean, how many people RP the Mishhuvurthyar, Neo Mishhuvurthyar or the Vordachibeans?), but I have to say that it's highly unlikely this would happen if we were to base it on actual real world physics. Chances are aliens would be nothing alike each other. The odds are astronomical!

It seems too far-fetched to me that this would happen in nature casually. In Star Trek most sentient beings are almost completely human because it's a TV show and having to make puppets or CGI animations to create the races necessary for the series would not be cost-effective or feasible. Star Wars, on the other hand, has hundreds of sentient species that are not human-looking, so they are more believable in that sense (but not in other senses, though...).


So can anyone tell me why there are so many humanoid races? Even if it's only OOC knowledge? Is it thousand year old splicing made by the original human empire? Was there an ancient race that made every living creature in the galaxy in their image, thus the similarities (as what happened in Star Trek)?

Or at least, if you have no explanation to it, do the characters in the Role Play ponder this, themselves? Do they study, compare and contrast DNA samples of each other to see if there are any root genes they share to find an answer?

 

[Zack]

Well this used to be a sorta 'anything goes' RP site that has been making its way towards realism for quite a few years now. Certain things have been changed to make things better and some things have been grandfathered in and that kinda includes star trek's alien of the day rubber masking for a lot of species.

The major ones, however, all do share a common ancestry (nepleslians, yamatains, Elysians are supposed to all come from space colonists of old) and it is very likely that some of the others also follow this lost history common ancestry bit (Freespacers).



But for the most part it is that people associate better with humanoids so when they make a new race they want to have human+ whatever their interests are. Saying 'they look human but...' is also a really easy way of doing appearances. So if you want an OOC reason that would be it.

 

[Wes]

As you mentioned, a large number of the humanoid races are descended from ancient human colonists (sort of a panspermia effect). This includes the Elysians, Freespacers, and Nepleslians among others. Other races like the Nekovalkyrja and Yamataians were made by humans in their image.

The basic answer is because people play what they know.

That said, there's been a push on the site for the last couple years to have any new humanoid races either be descended from humans or be significantly non-human in form, that way new "human but not/human but better" races are not added to the setting. It's specifically mentioned in the race submission rules, IIRC.

 

[Scot]

Player Factions might also play a part, since it's the most lucrative way to impact the setting, most don't think about supplementing existing races. Even if that is what is happening with factions that lost their masters (aka. Freespacers, Elysia.)

 

[SentientRace]

Interesting. Well, I kind of already took it for granted that it'd be mostly for the 'you identify with what you are' kind of a deal, so I was mostly right in that aspect. I'm surprised the Elysians are descendants of human beings, though... but that subject is worth touching later on.


What Uso said, I find most appropriate. In other Sci-Fi series retconning and re-inventing is usually the norm. Warhammer 40,000, for instance. On that note, it'd be a good idea to re-invent the Azoreans to make the Role Play more believable in that sense (they could be shark-like or dolphin-like creatures with 'finger-like' extremities at the tip of their fins, or they could use special extremities in their tails to interact with materials). What Wes said also struck me as interesting, since it would be a real challenge to create more beings that are likely to be selected by players to play as without being undermined by all the other races.

Sentient mice would be interesting to play, I'm fairly sure. They'd be cute little 2-3 foot critters, and intelligent ones, at that, that could be some of the most advanced races in the galaxy. Perhaps sentient velociraptors, or sentient wolven creatures-- something that strikes the attention of players to actually take on the role of these creatures because they're fascinating and they catch their attention in a good way.


But otherwise, thanks for the answers.

By the way, what's up with the Freespacers not being playable anymore? I really like that race. >.>

 

[Wes]

Freespacers are playable in independent plots and Nepleslian military plots.

 

[SentientRace]

Freespacers are playable in independent plots and Nepleslian military plots.

Ah. Right. Thanks for that clarification, then.

 

[Ira]

Well considering I am one of the players attempting to make a player race, I actually had several concepts to select from before I started. One of my ideas was a race of fully aquatic cephalopods. The other was a race of sentient rocks, and the last one was what turned into the Gartagens. (The purple chick in my avatar is a Gartagen)

The problem I bumped into was a rather simple one. Non-humanoid races are a great idea, but most people will not find a way to be able to emotionally relate to them. Now the Gartagens at this point are pretty alien biologically speaking. But they have a human like face, and a human shape to their body, this is mostly to make them easier for players to play.

 

[SentientRace]

Yes, I realize that, Ira. But that's why we all have to look at creatures that we would all like to play. Also, looking at other series' sentient races which have been successful would be a good idea, and then take pointers.

For instance, in the Final Fantasy Tactics Advance series, no one likes the Seeq (in terms of how they look like, anyway; or at least, very few people). Why? Because they're friggin pig people for crying out loud! They're ugly bastards!

However, I can bet you the most loved race other than the humans, viera and perhaps the gria, are the moogles. They are -somewhat- humanoid, but on their own right, aren't obviously human. They're extremely short, they've got long ears, and don't look at all like any of the animals we know (perhaps a variation of hare or rabbit, but not entirely). They are also extremely useful, as they are craftiest of all the races, and are probably the cutest creatures in the whole game.


Yet, in the newest version of Dungeons & Dragons (v. 4.0), I will guarantee you that more people play as the dragonborn than people that play as the dwarves. Admittedly, the dragonborn are a type of anthropomorph with highly humanoid characteristics, but dwarves are humanoids in a much more faithful sense than the dragonborn.


So, what am I getting to?

It's not so much in the humanoid nature that people tend to enjoy playing a character. Similarities are important, yes; I mean, playing as an octopus might confuse the hell out of you considering you have to pay attention to 8 different limbs all the time... and then there's movement in odd conditions like walking with tentacles that'll really make your mind mush... BUT, it is not the only thing that is important.

>Physical and Practical Aesthetics!

That is the one and true thing I believe that will drive players to play as a race.

Does it have two extremities it uses to manipulate objects and two extremities that it uses to transport itself (akin to mine)? Or, at least, if it has more (or less), are they within the 6 extremities limit to what I can control without having to focus too much on them?
Yes.

Is it formidable or exceptionally good in at least one aspect when compared to other races?
Yes.

Is it physically attractive, intriguing, exotic, cool, cute, and/or beautiful?
Yes.

Would it be not difficult to play as this new race? Does it have any limitations regarding environment/mindset that would cause interaction with others to be difficult?
No.

If you answer the above questions properly, you're good to go with a cool new race. If it looks good, if it has an outstanding quality, if it has a mindset and environmental setting that allows it to interact with other races without difficulty, then the creature type is more than able to excel in popularity compared to it's humanoid competitors.

 

[SentientRace]

Also, MOOGLES!

That's why I suggest mice-people! :3

 

[Ira]

I agree with you, I have to say my race does match up to those qualifications you have stated. But when forming a playable faction on SARP you have to treat it some what differently.

When this is finished and hopefully it gets approved it will by no means be something a beginner should consider playing. SARP is a challenging place that thankfully does challenge its players.

My goal was to bring something that looked, and acted differently, but also felt differently too. But I promise one thing. IF the Gartagens do get approved I will so make a non humanoid NPC race that people can beat up on.

 

[Scot]

I always imagined making a race that may have one human like group, and the rest are nonhuman. Aeonic is sort of that, though I plan it as a NPC race before it becomes an PC race.

Also the question is how it will fight others since this is a military roleplay. Power Armor has been the main thing for a while, and non human would need special armor approved before use (much like the Mishu armor for the brain ones).

 

[Moogle]

Did someone say Moogles? Anyways, I don't have much to say on the topic. I mean, it'd be nice if we had a Liliputian/much shorter race of beings to play as, but we *might* just degenerate into using those as the staple spaz/cute characters.

 

[Wes]

There are 8-inch-tall versions of the Nekovalkyrja which may be similar to what you have in mind, Moogle.

 

[Moogle]

But those are rare-to-none. According to the Wiki, anyways.

 

[Wes]

It's true, you don't see them much, but they are around. There's one on the ISC Enkidu right now, for instance. The current iteration is the NH-29M (miniature).

 

[SentientRace]

Smaller species would obviously have to be either more technologically advanced, or have some way to keep up with larger species in terms of battle. Genetic manipulation could also help them with this, and particularly 'speed over strength' principles. This could be justified by the fact that, in their own planet, they themselves are smaller than most other creatures with their only advantage being their intelligence and sentience. With that in mind, they would need to build weapons designed to take down much bigger opponents.

As soon as they learn about aliens that are not only as smart as they are, but are also bigger than they are, they will instantly begin to adapt their weaponry to reflect their need to react to situations that would impede them victory in the battlefield considering their size. New martial arts, designed to take on larger foes. Bigger armored vehicles to compete against their opponents' vehicles, larger weapons systems-- or take the completely opposite approach and make weapons the same size but still able to penetrate through defenses.

So, in essence, yes, they'd need power armor approval. Hell, they'd need a lot of approval for a lot of things. Weapons, armor, starships, customs... but then, any good race will take a while to have enough fluff and background information to make it 'real'. The more the better, no?

 

[Fred]

Well, in Macross, a small race pretty much reversed engineered technology from another small race in order to make transformable planes that could turn into giant footsoldiers.

Except that when those giant robot footsoldiers met the Zentran, they found out they where at just the right size to fight them.

 

[Scot]

Well it's feasible, just the question was why so many humanoids, and the general ideas have been said.

We don't have "Gnome or Goblin engineer" types in SARP as of yet, feel free to create one someday!

 

[Exhack]

We don't have "Gnome or Goblin engineer" types in SARP as of yet, feel free to create one someday!

Well, we have to consider that this is a more or less standard sci-fi setting. This means that there's no correlation between size and technological prowess, save that races that are naturally more physically able have a reduced need to innovate technologically. So no Squats or Demiurges, please. The Gadgeteer niche should be filled by someone who's trained for it, not born.

For this reason, the clearly 'superhuman' races such as the Lorath and Abwehr have developed more slowly than the Nepleslian/Yamataian/Jiyuuian human lineage, and have only caught up recently through external interference.

Certain other abhuman races such as the Freespacers and Iromakuanhe developed along different lines that led to slower progress in strictly military applications. But Iroma biotechnology and Freespacer network systems easily rival those of the lead factions because of the specializations inherent in their different evolutionary and societal development.