Subject: Sounds cool
Author:
Posted on: 2013-06-23 22:40:00 UTC

I like the amount of variety you've got with all the different species, although I do wonder how easy it will be to make sure that they all get a decent amount of 'screen time'.

Similar to what some of the other guys have said, I think that the names and characterisation of the aliens work better as 'this is what humanity refers to them as / tends to think of them as' than being truly representative of the variety that could be present in an entire species. However, I think that a broad generalisation could be appropriate with the insectoid races - if you've got a hive structure with different specialised castes, then it might make sense for their personalities to all be very similar, or even identical.

Following on from that logic, it would mean that humanity as the 'Jack of all trades' is humanity's opinion of itself, it'd be interesting to see if the other races agree with them on that.

Specific thoughts on some of the aliens:
- The Trull being mechanically inclined but lacking in imagination seemed a little off to me at first, as I would normally associate 'mechanically gifted' with being creative, but then I thought that it could make a lot of sense depending on how they interacted with the world. If they've got a range of extra senses, such as microscopic vision, the ability to 'see' magnetic fields, sense the density of materials, etc. then it might be that something nebulous like a new concept that doesn't have any kind of working prototype just wouldn't seem real to them. They could be really good at assessing damage, making copies, making minor improvements, but generally lack the creative thought process for coming up with truly groundbreaking new ideas.

That got me thinking about the other races - humans tend to get most of their information about their environment through sight or sound, is the same true for all of the aliens? Or do some of them have a different priority order (or even have entirely unique senses)?

- Saurians having a reputation for being good fighters, but not being smart, seems like a contradiction to me. I would have thought that in a setting with spaceships and advanced weapons you'd actually have to be pretty intelligent to make it as a (successful) mercenary type. Fair enough, they may not produce many Nobel prize winning physicists or whatever, but I would think that the professions you've said they are inclined towards would actually require a fair bit of intellect and skill. Although again, I think it could make sense if we're just talking about the perception of them rather than the reality.

- You say that the Yagitsu live simple lives with just the basics - are they actually a space-faring race, or do they just live on their homeworld? If they're planetbound, do they actually have much interaction with the other races?

- I like the idea of the Ferrar. Out of interest, are they fully feline/canine in apperance, or are they more anthro (like cat-people)?

- The Hexxion seem pretty cool too, that's a very original body shape that they've got.

Personally, when it comes to sci-fi I'm normally more interested in the technology of the setting than the biology/culture of the aliens, so I'd be quite interested in seeing some details about the spaceships, weapons, etc. of the various races. Have the different races all known about each other, and traded with each other, for long enough that technology is homogenous? Or are there obvious differences between the same type of device produced by different species?

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