An "anti-suggestion"

I don't think that we have info on that yet.
What we do know is that Avians have mechanical wings that work like jetpacks, what we don't know is if that item is exclusive to them or not.

 

This, Hopefully nothing too drastic changes if you play as a different race.

 

It will probably be like Skyrim's races with each race having an advantage and disadvantage.

 

In skyrim there were only advantages....

 

Isn't there weaknesses too?

 

No. Just advantages (+10 two handed, +5 block, +5 light armor) i kinda like that more versatility.

 

From what the devs say in the chatroom so far the only difference is cosmetic only. Each race's weapons, armor, and block/furniture designs are visually distinct and nothing more. However, they have stated that they may look into adding gameplay differences and race specific abilities when they have the time, but for now, it's just cosmetic. I hope this satisfied your curiousity.

 

Well, that means that a disadvantage is not having another race's perks.

 

I like the skyrim idea. Making the races differ slightly in gameplay but not making them too different. little things like for example making the avians jump higher or have a glide ability or something along those lines. I wouldn't mind too much if the races were just aesthetic though.

 

I think they should just get same-race gear bonuses with their gear.

Also, different stats would be interesting. I mean, Avians are based off of birds, therefore their bones are hollow(to a point), so they should like, fall slower and jump higher - but only slightly. I mean, Super Mario Bros. 3 had differences between the characters you chose, why can't Starbound?

 

I thought that Nords had +50 cold resistance, -50 fire resistance and Dunmer had the opposite.
Well, checked the wiki and it turns out you were right and I just remembered wrong.

I think that having differences between the races could add more re-playability.
It could also be interesting when playing as a team.
I don't like weapon bonuses from races because that "forces" you to pick a race that goes well with your preferred weapon type.
Or maybe your favorite race's bonus is to a weapon type you hate using... That sucks, too.

Bonuses to other things might be cool.
Like Vinnamon_Buns said birds tend to have hollow bones, which means they weight less.

Starbound's planets have different amounts of gravity.
The Avians could get a reduction to their own gravity, which would make them jump higher and float around a bit more.

If there's some sort of amphibious race (Lizards, frogs, mermen?) they could get a longer breath meter.
If Starbound doesn't have drowning then they could just swim faster instead.

A nocturnal race could get some sort of toggle-able infravision, which means you'd need way less light sources when exploring.

Some vampire-style race could be interesting, but they'd be seriously weak on planets that always have day and possibly overpowered on planets where it's always night, so I dunno how well it'd work.
It could work if the bonuses and downsides weren't too drastic.
Or you could just have a race that has a different bonus during nights and days, or one that changes during different weathers.
It could be a plant race, for example.

Really, there are many ways they could go about it if they wanted to.

Edit: Oh yeah I must have gotten confused about Skyrim because being a Vampire on it gives you a fire resist penalty. Vampires aren't a race on it, though, it's a disease of sorts.

 

Im talking Skyrim, your thinkin Oblivion.
edit: oh wait, this was a reply to your first line xD the rest is right methinks.

 

About the weapon bonuses i was thinking that every race had their own variation of every weapon, and you would get a bonus for using the weapon adjacent to your race.

 

well instead of combat/crafting advantages we could take LastDay's idea and do movements advantages like for example, Avians could jump higher and also jump twice.Fishmen (if they make that race) could move faster underwater and also breathe the water.Wolfmen-like races could move faster at night.All those could change the way we play.Maybe if we make a race that worhips or values the moon (a lot) then it can have some special effects while its a full moon (considering the fact that it has moons) but sparkles (like Edward) in the sun.

 

I actually really like your idea. This would expand the number of weapons in game, and bring the need for racial Equpiment Corporations. Story-wise this would also make for sense as well. Avian's would have a religious order dedicated to making weapons that would appeal to their gods, remaining true to their religious background instead of buying stuff from the humans and gluing some feathers and sticks to it.
And/Or
The ape race could have a spoof weapon manufacturer that makes items that are some how related to Barrels, Bannanas, and palm trees. But due to the similarities with the humans, they can use most human weapons. But not armor unless modified.
I'm going to drag your idea to the "Anti suggestion" thread linked above if you dont mind.

 

I think you're thinking about Oblivion. They had strengths and weaknesses in that.

Barrelzooka!


Anyway, I'm all for there being differences in the races, as long as an 'uber' race doesn't come out of it.

 

I'm pretty sure that they've said the differences between races are just going to be aesthetic instead of permanent bonuses to stats and things. I guess we'll just have to see and wait for more information though.

 

I'm actually trying to steer people to a different perspective. Instead of having a racial bonus as what people perceive to be "unbalanced", how about manufacturing each race to contribute to the in-game item spectrum. For example, Avians are low on technology but offer a large range of magical weapons and maybe if we had a cetacean race, they could specialize in constructing items to help a player move faster in water.

If one still feels indifferent from other players in the game, we could allow new players that pick the specific race to obtain these items first hand though other players will most likely inherit these tools/weapons/accessories throughout the game.

 

I think races having different buffs/debuffs adds a great new aspect into a game. The way the original post is worded, it seems as if you are saying that having a -1% damage debuff makes the race completely unplayable; this isn't the case. Nearly all debuffs in games are so small that they have little to no effect. Even with this, they add a larger buff to make things more interesting. It creates a bunch of new ways to play (challenging yourself with conflicting play-styles/debuffs) and adds buffs if you want to completely maximize the potential damage. I think, to be honest, if you are playing to be the best possible machine on a game such as Terraria/Starbound, you're doing it wrong.

 

I think that there should be no racial buffs/debuffs. While I understand that some may like the idea due to its role-playing aspect, I would personally like the race system behave:
-less like Skyrim: If you want the fun of being the cat person, you're pretty much useless in anything other than unarmed or sneak.
-More like Terraria: The social slot lets you look however you want, with absolutely no affect to gameplay.

Basically, all I am saying is that I don't want races to get in the way of the gameplay. I would appreciate being able to choose the race that I think looks best without paying the price of limited combat options.