Race functions- a note to newbies

To be fair, it's only cosmetic in the fact that there is no passive based on race. However, each race will be limited early on to certain armor and weapon types, having to learn the technology of other races through... something. So there will be some difference, however you won't be stuck with certain attributes, or limited from having the others further down the line.

 

While the races themselves don't have bonuses I would suggest picking the race that has a bonus you want right away. I say this because the racial armor should be available sooner than other races' armor. So in the long run it doesn't matter but in the beginning it has a little more meaning.

I actually hope the armor bonuses are relevant meaning ppl would have to make meaningful decisions about what armor to wear in different situations. Because there are no restrictions its not a balance issue but ut makes initial race decisions a little more meaningful.

 

Racial choice in Starbound is mirroring that of EVE Online: It changes what you start with, but you can do whatever the heck you want if you work towards it. Which is nice.

 

Personally, I don't see why the races themselves shouldn't have passive bonuses instead of their armors.

 

It really depends on, if there will be racial passives, just what those racial passives do.
You don't want the different races to only excel at one thing, because that would limit what players want to do, if they want to be effective at what they want.

 

I see your point.

 

I dont know if everybody is kowing the fact that the races are divided in the clothing/living style.

Human = modern
Avian = ancient mayan
Hylotl = feudal japan
Apex = ultra modern
Floran = tribal
Glitch = medieval
Novakid = wild west

 

Honestly I'd be more enticed to play cowboy robots instead of cowboy gas-beings.

 

Didn't any of the developers say that the Floran can use solar power to restore energy faster? idk.

 

If they did it was Floran armor most likely not the race themselves. The racial armor will hold the abilities, like Hylotl armor with water breathing etc.

 

From the List of Announced Game Info, which newbies should read right away:

The team has announced they plan on adding multiple playable races. The following six races are set for release, with more races planned as post-release content.

• Humans
  • (No Background racial data given yet)
• Apex
  • (Apes) Read Racial Background Info
• Avians
  • (Aves/Birdlike Humanoids) (Read Racial Background Info)
• Floran
  • (Sentient Plantlife) Read Racial Background Info
• Hylotl
  • (Aquatic) (Current name may be temporary.) (No Background racial data given yet)
• Glitch
  • (Medieval, Sentient, Self Aware Robots) Read Racial Background Info
• Novakids
  • (Fan Created Race, Sentient, Gaseous lifeforms.) Read Racial Background Info

*******************************************************************

• While using a specific race does not change your stats, they may change the appearance of items you craft/place.
• Each race's armor will have different abilities:
  • Avian: Allows you to glide
  • Apex: Allows you to jump higher, maybe run faster
  • Human: Allows you to carry more items "possibly" - might change as it's "a bit dull.. though very useful" -Tiy
  • Glitch: Allows you to mine faster
  • Floran: Allows you to convert sunlight into extra energy
  • Hylotl: Allows you to breathe underwater and swim faster
  • Novakids : Will have a faint glow to them, but not enough to light up a cave. This is not actually armor dependent, but a feature of their race.

• Players will "probably" have to be wearing a complete set to gain these abilities.
• The armor gives these abilities, not the race itself.
  • As the player progresses through the game, they will be able to craft other race's armor and gain their abilities, but at the start players may only craft their own race's armor.

 

Maybe, but if not, I'll live with it. I've settled down with the idea. I'm just glad I get to beta test, get a head start with learning how to make buildings in the game's style.

 

In multiplayer it shouldn't be too much of an issue, at least. Even if you can't learn the other race's blueprints right away, you can get someone of the race you want to make the gear (or whatever) you're looking for.

I'm not sure how it'll go in single player, mind you.

 

Buy it from merchants of that race? Loot it?

 

Oh, yeah. Thanks.

 

Even though racial abilities are cool and all, they kind of limit gameplay. Skyrim is the first game I can think of where race doesn't necessarily limit gameplay but playing a High Elf with a Magicka regeneration ability either pushes you into playing a mage, or pushes mages to select a high-elf. Sure you don't have to do it, but then you'd have no benefit, and having no benefit in a crowd of people who have them is a downside.

A bunch of MMORPGs do this too. Some games even limit classes to races, where s classless* game like Starbound allow players to do whatever they want.

Without racial abilities dictating your moves into a a typical path of progression players are now free to pick what they want with zero conflict of gaming style. Sure the racial armors change it up a bit but that's so far into the game that don't need to worry about it for a long-ass time, AND every race can use every armor.


*Classless as in "has no classes". Starbound is WAY classy~

 

When one of the first decisions you can make in the entire game will radically change the potential effectiveness of some character build, it's bad game design. It makes players quit partway into the game because they realize something is wrong with their character, all because they didn't look up the consequences of their choices online earlier.

This isn't a race-specific issue. Having to choose a single class at the beginning of a game and being unable to switch is also a huge flaw in design. It might increase the number of hours a person spends playing the game, but it means you have to start over multiple times instead of being able to enjoy any of the classes whenever you'd like.

This is why item-based mechanics are so fantastic. Instead of having to choose an inherent characteristic at the beginning of the game like race or class, you can simply swap out items and try something different for a while. It lets you mix and match, and even if what you have isn't ideal you can always obtain something better later on.

Also, the Apex have the best racial armor bonus. Increased movement speed and jump height is almost always useful in any environment, while the other races have bonuses that are only useful in certain situations. Human inventory bonus doesn't help at all during combat, and neither does Glitch mining speed. Hylotl water breathing and Floran photosynthesis are only helpful when you are in certain environments that you probably won't be in most of the time. Avian gliding seems pretty useful until you realize that flight capabilities will be available to every race by the time you reach the higher tiers. The kicker is that Apex speed is not a very impressive bonus, so all the other situational bonuses would be useful to have IF you were able to obtain them somehow.

The genius of Chucklefish really shows when you realize that you can only craft your own race's items until you find other race's blueprints. That means the earliest acquired items of each tier will be those of your own race, and it might take quite a bit of searching to unlock and craft the items of other races. In other words, the race you choose still has a HUGE impact on gameplay prior to completing the entire game.

 

Both methods have advantages and disadvantages, one isn't inherently better than the other. So what if you make mistakes in a character build, if you're going for RP then you shouldn't care that your character isn't perfect and all-powerful.

I've made D&D characters before and made choices that didn't fit with what would make the character more powerful (pure fighter with massive CHA score ftw), and i've even made outright bad choices. But you know what? I just rolled with it, and those things just became part of the character and made them more than just a min-maxed collection of stats.

 

yeah except hes not a dev theres really no evidence to suggest thats the way it is.

 

These are real facts that have been posted by the devs. Unless a massive overhaul happened and they were quiet, this will be how it is.