Anyone Else Hate the Floran's Personality?

*post removed*
Well, I gave this site one more try out of boredom, but it appears that the priorities of discussion are completely backwards.

Let me know when the game finally updates properly, because I have no more patience for this community's bipolar bullshit.

 

Since I don't really get literature, I'm still not understanding why this is bad writing? Is it because they are able to reverse engineer technology (symptom of being smart) but they speak in broken sentences and use basic thought processes (symptom of being not smart)?
random aside: party like it's 1999.

 

Okay, first off, where is the lore saying Floran have "only fairly recently come into existence"? Hell, it doesn't really matter how young they are: if they're young enough they simply don't have enough time to gather resources and match anyone's technology, while if they are any older than that then being incredibly dumb is a misfit.

Secondly, Floran are very stupid. In writing we have a golden rule: Show and don't tell. Starbound attempts to tell us that Floran are smart, but they do not show us this. What they show us are the mental equivalent of toddlers who can't look at something without hitting it and/or putting it in their mouths. What they show us are morons who can barely tell which end of their laser axe to hold and which to bean people with, and then try to tell us that guys who can't match wits with Barney Rubble are wicked smart and that they can totally understand this technology they have.

Simply telling someone to believe is not adequate to suspend disbelief.

Starbound's a game. And as a game, there are some limitations in order to facilitate gameplay. That is why the Floran have access to contemporary technology - so that enemy Florans are on par with enemies of other races and so the player Floran have no lore exclusion from the same tech as every other player. The problem is that the lore does not adequately justify their having access to this technology. It just tells you they're smart and can do that, when you can plainly see they are too dumb to use a microwave, let alone build warp-capable starships that counteract relativity.

 

Jesus Christ, it's just an interpretation of what I've seen.

Now I remember why I don't bother with this site anymore.

 

See, I disagree with this entirely. While I don't want to get into an argument about how impossible it is for me to take anyone who deems themselves an appropriate judge of something as subjetive as 'writing' steriously... I can't quite wrap my head around your reasonings for actually calling the writing bad.

You call them a mess of conflicting traits, but they CLEARLY have rationale and intent behind them. These aren't traits merely thrown at a wall haphazardly for ironic effect, these are traits INTENTIONALLY CHOSEN to subvert established tropes and cliches, with a drizzling of humor sprinkled on top. They are neither the 'enlightened plant-people druids' nor the 'primitive tribal'. In writing them like this, Chucklefish has furnished the Florans with a backstory that explains precisely how they came to be as they are with a line of clearly defined logic which is neither 'poorly written' or 'clearly contradictory'.

The Florans are CLEVER, vicious, and aggressive. Their society's sense of aesthetics is on the level of pre-historic humans, their morals dictated (as with all species) by a mixture of culture and survival. As carnivorous plants, the Florans' behavior perfectly mimics the brutality of the carnivorous plants we observe in the real world. Their grasp of written and spoken languages is broken not because they lack intelligence but because they are PLANTS, and plants do not typically communicate through writing or speech. These are newly acquired skills, and they are shown as such... again with intent.

They are hostile to almost all other living things, but they are hostile within their NEWLY ACQUIRED ability to reason. Their nature as a violent plant drives them to sssstab and ssslice... but their newfound sapience gives them the wisdom to know you cannot survive by blindly attacking EVERYTHING. The Florans we see right now are caught in the mid-step between their CULTURAL evolution from irrational killing machines to so-called 'higher beings'. And, as I said, some of their DIALOGUE is, indeed, for the humor... because humans will always find broken speech and "stupid" levels of counter-intuitive aggression humorous. That's the 'primitive' in us getting pleasure out of looking down on another species.

First off, I believe you're seeing people misinterpret their recent rise to interpretation as an 'intelligent species' as being a recent rise to 'existence'. The Florans are not NEW... their intelligence (and ignorance) are. The Florans, in the lore clearly obtainable within the game, only recently became what they are through exposure to the Hylotl. The Hylotl inadvertently gave them the means to escape the limitations of their world, and they have now emerged throughout space as a serious force to be reckoned with. As this is all we actually SEE, we have to rely on lore-books and developer knowledge to really get a full picture of what the Florans were like pre-spaceflight... but none of that even matters in the grand scheme of things.

Secondly... the intelligence of the Florans you seek to describe is not actually in line with our understanding of intelligence on the whole. Intelligence is not merely mathematical/scientific/literary... it is also the ability to survive and thrive... to evolve and adapt... and THAT cunning ruthlessness, their Darwinian nature (as others, and I think the developer have called it), is their real intelligence. The way they look at things and speak is a mixture of comedic riffs on 'stupid plant people' and understanding that these are plant-people capable of reverse engineering a warp-drive... but who have never before had to CONTEMPLATE the reasons for not killing and eating their new Apex friend. But it isn't STUPIDITY... it's IGNORANCE, and they are RAPIDLY EVOLVING as a society. It isn't bad writing. It's SUBTLETY, done in a style you apparently don't much appreciate. Which is fair enough.

 

Because talking in public causes people to reply? Poor you.

You clearly "take me seriously" enough to write a college thesis in response to my post, whereas I'm fairly certain no one takes you seriously, because you respond to everything with huge walls of arrogant and frankly irrelevant nonsense.

You think someone can't judge the quality of writing? That only proves you know nothing about it and are flatly in denial.

 

It's not the reply, it's the needless hostility.
Maybe learn some tact before spouting off like I just killed your dog.

 

Disagreeing with you and explaining why is hostile now?

 

Good idea, everything is place holding after all. Gives us the chance to contribute to the growth of an early build..

There is a fair bit on the Florans but most of the story related material is missing from the game like the narrated intros and I assume a lot of other lore content. Even the new dungeons, outposts, villages and missions give the base to attach story to, it can't all be detached snippets of text in books.

I don't think it's fair to keep making this about the writer themselves when flawed early concepts are perfectly normal in writing and early access is exactly that, a stage where everything is in flux and being fleshed out, lore is no exception. There is no question that many writers talk about the changes to their works in terms of development, that's the process. Story boards, professional proof readers, editors, sketches, early scripts, nuff said, seen some terrible early ones that become good works.

It's lacking no question but far from fraudulent.
My suggestion is pretty simple. Hylotl need to be changed from herbivore to vegetarian, fits their general missionary/monk aesthetics while eliminating the problem with being able to eat meet. It also add's to the existing opposing relationship with the Floran and adds more to aspects of choice, an aspect that does need work for the Floran.

Not sure how the Floran could be better conveyed....
Maybe the descriptions for future content. It covers fairly general items at this stage, perhaps beef up the later descriptions at higher tiers? So for example investigating the ship at the start of the game yields the existing Floran descriptions but after you upgrade they change to having a better understanding and more intelligent observations. I doubt many would mind having more detailed explanations for more increasingly complex items.
Maybe lessen the lisp with more complex ones too, I dunno

Cold and flu medicine is a double edged sword

 

@Dwagon
@Fibriel Solaer
@TheSilentObserver

Really guys? Can we keep cool? You realize that things are getting heated in a thread asking if we agree with the opinions of the OP? It's just silly. I'm going to have to issue small duration bans and/or lock the thread if this continues. My best advice to everyone posting here is; if you don't agree with someone, and it makes you really upset; breathe deep -- walk away from your computer, eat a snack, think of that one time your friend did that really stupid thing, laugh, come back with a clear head.

 

oh no, by all means, continue arguing... EMBRACE the Floran way of life... hahaha

*I am joking. Just to be clear. We all are here to share our joy and love of Starbound

 

But many interesting and creepy dreams follow after.

That's a good point about the Hylotl. They're a dominant species on their planet. They could not have gotten there by eating only vegetables, unless they had defense methods so great that they were untouchable by all other larger meat eaters. And there ought to be a few of those swimming about.

WHOOPS! Floran thread!

Okay. That's good. We can have more stuff introduced to fill in the blanks about the Floran's intelligence. Perhaps the player could find notes from a Floran that had lived among other Floran just like it: more civilized and far more enlightened in terms of intellect. Maybe they find a story about a Floran living in a city who is recollecting how it once was in the past: a sapling growing in a glen of murderous and carnivorous monsters. In fact, perhaps that very same Floran learned to speak past its impeding lisp?

In my headcanon, Floran can speak fluently with discipline and practice.

 

Maybe Floran are Starbound's zombies! There was a great and wonderful Floran civilization, full of reverse engineering and stuff. And then Drysap was invented and used on the population, turning them into the Floran we commonly see today. The few smart ones that remained scattered to the edges of the universe (or the Terramart at the local Outpost), but the majority of Floran we encounter are the oaken soldiers.

I think that would be neat, since it would allow for finding "rare" Floran outposts, where they are more than primitive hunter-gatherers. And then we wouldn't feel as bad about clearing Floran dungeons of all occupants in search of floranprods.

Bonus points if Drysap is codenamed "The D-Virus".

 

Eh, if I can avoid zombies in any way possible, I'd do it. Not to say that your idea is utter bumpkis. It's just not flying very well with me.

I like to think that some Floran just want to pursue an even greater hunt out in the stars that isn't tasty or filled with blood. Perhaps they want to hunt for one's true self, or a greater knowledge than what they're used to. The Floran may be like they are now, but that does not mean they should have a couple free thinkers in their groups/ like other races. Curiosity leads to discoveries.

 

Predator Floran armor WHERE. CHUCKLEFISH PLS.

 

Oh god... You're right...

DEVS! Come quick! We've done it!!

 

Ha! Gotta love that headcanon, my Hylotl is built on it

Yeah I always imagined most people would talk as they wanted with the Floran as they wished, but that's a social aspect.
Some more detailed stories would be awesome. Cool reflective pieces like you describe that break up the fun stuff, def something I would read.
(Your comics are great though, this isn't a damn Greek tragedy!! )

I think the outposts are going to go a long way in showing a better Floran image too. Seeing them mixed in with other unique races in shops and unique garbs shows less of the primitive feel. Throw in the Villages and the Floran jail dungeon and you have some very different bases for exploring the Floran as Individuals, as a social group and as warriors.
Perhaps they need to made more unique. For example those found at outposts would be very different in conversation from the ones you would find in villages. I can imagine a Floran working at the seed shop commenting on the irony or telling you not to laugh about it. Where villagers retain more of the Floran culture and mannerisms. Then you get the violent war like ones in the dungeons who reveal the violent aspects.

That's kinda how I viewed the village, dungeon system already, A way to look at the good and bad of each race. Give them more lore and they would paint a good picture.

Story missions, oh man, what can I even say. The possibilities

I'm fairly sure I speak for everyone when I say this shouldn't even be a request.




Picard has spoken!!!

 

Hmm, wasn't intending literal zombies, more like "The Floran you've seen so far are the Drysap-infected communities that have slowly been making their way out of the Drysap-induced haze and back to their scientific glory days, thus the reverse engineering skills, as those are actually past memories of intellectual pursuits that didn't involve chasing smarty-pants with spears."

Some communities could be fully drysap-induced (Floran prisons) while some could be slowly clearing their way out (primitive villages) and others could be quite far removed from their dark ages (peaceful and modern Floran towns). Maybe once in a long while you'd find a Floran research lab or gated community! These would be Floran that fled once Drysap was introduced and set up their own little homes away from home.

 

Nah.

 

To clarify:

Sometimes a drawing of a spear, daubed thickly onto bark paper with Hylotl blood... is just a drawing of a spear.