Vitas Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 (edited) We've been constantly requesting BioWare to release more playable species like the Togruta, Rodian, Bothan and Wookiee and thankfully we'll be getting Cathar soon. But there are many other eligible ones which although may not be as popular as the Togruta, would take perhaps less time to implement and become playable. There are many Near-human species which appear to be simple reskins of Humans, much like the Chiss, Mirialan, Miraluka and Rattataki, that it would possibly take less time to create than say a Mon Calamari. Few may feature minor alien anatomical features like sharp teeth, pointed ears, and/or minor elongated facial bones; and a couple of original cultural hair styles and piercings, but there wouldn't be a need to update all of the gear so they would appear properly on the selected species and that they shouldn't clip on them. Here are a list of just some of the Near-human species known in the Star Wars universe: *Arkanian *Arkanian Offshoot *Echani *Hamadryas *Kage *Kiffar *Nagai *Noorian *Pantoran *Sarkhai *Teevan *Tof *Umbaran *Wroonian *Zelosian *Zeltron A list featuring most Near-human species can be found here. Zeltron is perhaps one of the more popular cadidates with either Echani, Nagai and Arkanian far behind. Sarkhai is already in-game which would mean less of a hassle. Granted I'm not completely versed in how the production process works but I can imagine it would take less time to develop those than a playable Trandoshan. At least maybe a fortnight but that could be just wishful thinking. I'm not saying the development time should be moved away from what's already planned or from any of the other popularly requested playable species such as Cathar and Togruta, but if the possibility is there to release a Near-human species with every update/month, then defenitely it would be something to help bring more interest into the game to a point. It would allow more selection for the player and provide more diversity in the game environment even if it would be very little to notice. Hopefully if a new new playable species is introduced, that like other current playable species it'd be available only for selected classes but eventually unlockable for all and made purchasable for F2P. As much as I hate saying this, purchasing them would also help the game a little with development costs much like other items on the Cartel market, but a nickel and dime scheme is the LAST thing I want to see. I hope the developers do consider this thought. Like they've said, they do occasionally browse the forums addressing player's concerns and hovering over feedback, but to be on the safe side to keep discussion flowing, I may bump the thread from time to time. Share your thoughts on this proposition and hopefully something positive may happen out of it. Edited December 14, 2012 by Vitas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fornix Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 I think we'll definitely start seeing more and more species to be added in the future, although personally I'd hope for some more less near-human species to be added. As an entire fleet filled with lots of near-human species, will hardly make a real difference in how the population looks. Whereas the beauty of a setting such as Star Wars is the variety you can create. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elear Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 They won't. They said regarding Cathar: "Doing a race and all the customization options is very very expensive but if it is something popular, that is something we will do more." But this is nowhere near one race per update. They drop Cathar, everyone starved for it or new race will jump on it. If they release another race next month, sales will be much much lower. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LegendaryBlade Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 I think if they released a new recolored human every month that would turn me off from the game even more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nemhauser Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 Doing all the animations for a new race is a lot of work. I'd rather have them dedicating the manpower to other things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fornix Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 Doing all the animations for a new race is a lot of work. I'd rather have them dedicating the manpower to other things. It's not just animations, there's a lot of points with the character stories where NPC's use certain dialogue choices based on your race. It gives a certain level of variety. And additionally is something which would be a waste if all feature races are simply welcomed by generic lines. As such, the introduction of a single race requires changes to not only character texturing and animation, but also voice acting, quest dialogue, etc. It's part of the reason why modern MMO's are making certain things utterly complicated for themselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vitas Posted December 17, 2012 Author Share Posted December 17, 2012 I think we'll definitely start seeing more and more species to be added in the future, although personally I'd hope for some more less near-human species to be added. As an entire fleet filled with lots of near-human species, will hardly make a real difference in how the population looks. Whereas the beauty of a setting such as Star Wars is the variety you can create. Well out of the near-human ones available, I suppose we'll need ones whose colors don't clash with the current range. So blue with red eyes for Chiss, green for Mirialan and pale for Rattataki, I suppose any which doesn't clash with these could be considered first. Arkanian = White hair and clear white eyes Zeltron = pink to crimson skin Kiffar = Tanned skin, black hair with dreadlocks, facial tattoos Teevan = silver skin Pantoran = blue skin, yellow eyes, facial tattoos Noorian = orange skin, dark brown to orange hair, yellow and green striped eyes Nagai = white skin, black hair, pointed ears Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laris_Rai Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 Quality over quantity is the way to go with this sort of thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlippinFlapJack Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 I really wish they would 1) let us change the appearance of our character (not change gender or species just a different face, hair, cosmetics, etc) and 2) put more customization options in for the species they already have (purple Twi'lek anyone?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CelCawdro Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 (edited) Once Cathar are implemented, I plan to do a voluminous analysis of the poll I've been updating - one of the thoughts kicking around in my head for that post as to do with near-humans specifically. Quite frankly, I don't believe that we need dozens and dozens of new species to make near-humans a reality. Just an additional slider for the humans themselves. While some species are easily replicated currently (ie. Echani, Arkanians), there are others that would require a very small about of tweaking. Take Zeltron for instance - the only difference between them and baseline humans is skin colour. What is interesting to note is that this blazing pink hue was once an option for humans during closed beta. Traits like these, whether they be a particular type of eye, skin colour, cultural marking, and the like, should simply be selectable (exclusive to each other) in character creation. Furthermore, it is perfectly acceptable for these truly near-human species (ie. species that are actually offshoots of humanity rather than a divergent species) to be treated as human in-game. This would kill quite a few birds with one stone, and it wouldn't completely clutter and overwhelm the character creation screen. Edited December 17, 2012 by CelCawdro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Altyrell Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 Furthermore, it is perfectly acceptable for these truly near-human species (ie. species that are actually offshoots of humanity rather than a divergent species) to be treated as human in-game. Except there is a difference between a Human and (example) Arkanians, and Arkanians wouldn't exactly be treated as any regular Human. Especially the Arkanians that were most pure of blood as they had pupilless white eyes & 4 fingers (unless they lost one) on each hand. And really, if I was playing an Arkanian I wouldn't my character to be treated like any regular Human. But yeah, I'm sure that you meant more along the lines of something like the 2 Subraces of the Twi'lek's, the Rutian and Lethan as opposed to Human and Arkanian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A_nonymous Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 I think if they released a new recolored human every month that would turn me off from the game even more. This. That would, by far, be the most awful thin they can do to the game. I have no issues with new species, but a new one every month is just insane overkill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vitas Posted December 17, 2012 Author Share Posted December 17, 2012 (edited) This. That would, by far, be the most awful thin they can do to the game. I have no issues with new species, but a new one every month is just insane overkill. I suppose it would be alright if it didn't interfere with other content sush as worlds and missions. Perhaps maybe a new playable species instead every 2 months wouldn't seem like overkill. Edited December 17, 2012 by Vitas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macheath Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 (edited) Eh, I can't say my excitement over the prospect of new races is all that high, anymore. I have all the characters I plan to make at this point, so I doubt I'll ever be in a position to take advantage of new races introduced to the game, unless they allow race changes. Even if they do allow race changes, that would most likely be found in the cash shop. I have little interest in paying above and beyond my subscription as, in my opinion, many of these things that are being added to the cash shop should have been implemented months ago (a wider variety of color crystals, armor/weapon skins, and playable races really should have been there at release.) I'm loathe to buy these items from the cash shop, for fear BioWare may mistakenly take that to mean I am satisfied that it took them a full year to implement things players were asking for in beta, and then saw fit to charge extra for them. -Macheath. Edited December 17, 2012 by Macheath Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CelCawdro Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 I'm loathe to buy these items from the cash shop, for fear BioWare may mistakenly take that to mean I am satisfied that it took them a full year to implement things players were asking for in beta, and then saw fit to charge extra for them. -Macheath. Moreover, a lot of these things weren't just asked for in beta - we were told they were coming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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