Racial Abilities

Hello guys! I´m new here and find about this game only two days ago!

I'm here to talk about the racial abilities:

All I read about the racial differences is about "the racial abilities is an armor racial power". I dislike this concept!! The races have different biologic systems, environment and behavior, soo is too sad thinking all this difference is because the vestment he uses, and another completely different life organism can be have the same "powers" only going to a interspacial merchant and buying an armor....

To make the things better and not completely destroy the racial armor systems, I got a idea:

All races have a racial trait bound to his race. And the racial armor makes a upgrade in this racial trait. The racial armor in another race give to the user the original race racial trait. By example, an avian without any armor can make some glide, with his racial armor the glide are extended. A starchild without any armor glows faintly, with his racial armor, the glow is stronger.

What's your think about this?

EDIT:

But I think find a solution:

In the actual game, each race start with this racial armor and racial recipes. To be equal to the others races, a member of any race need take an armor of another race and his recipes. Soo, one character only became "equal with another race" then find the race in question. Ok, everyone agreed with this.

If we put the racial traits then I told, will be impossible one caracter becomes a full member of another race without using any or all equips slots to became the other race and don´t have any slot to be the other race with specific armor.

The Soluction? A new Equip Slot. This new one only serve to chance your racial traits for one of another race! Call then Genoma Slot, Genetic Slot, or whatever. With this, if you want became the other race member without changing anything other then the racial traits, all you need is one equip item who go to one specific slot to do it. And how you got this item? In a specific recipe and some specific material of the other race... and to do you need find the another race!!!!

Well done... now we have a way to get the racial traits but maintaining the "game status quo".

What you guys think about?

 

Holy double thread, Batman!

I actually like the idea of armors giving abilities. You also have to take into consideration there is also a perk system thats going to be in the game, and they might be good.

 

Ummm good points, but:

@WoxandWarf: This can be resolved with special armors/items/etc. who can give a full trait to user, disabling the original trait.
@Katzeus: I forget considering PvP. I really hate PvP and don't think about. But the abilities can be weak ones, who almost don't make differences in PvP. The full traits armor (see the WoxandWarf answer) can be done too. And..... a lot of games have racial traits and PvP... a good balance can be done preventing abuse. One more things: the racial traits can too create more PvP strategies too, making the pvp more intense.

 

I personally am fine with racial bonuses not being armor based, but the creative direction of the game is the armor gives the bonus and I will respect and enjoy that decision. I like your idea of small bonuses op I would recommend making that a suggestion. As far as I know the only current racial bonuses connect to the character are the quotes from clicked items being investigated and some exclusive crafting recipes that I am sure will be traded between people.

 

THis is actually a reply to the other thread but it was locked before I could post it. Here it goes.

I have to disagree with this. Normally, I would say you are right. Funneling people in one direction typically leads to people feeling restricted or compelled to make one choice rather than the other because of some racial trait or whatnot. But sometimes differentiation is good.

Lets use the biggest example i can think of right now. Diablo 2 and Diablo 3. Largely, people credit Diablo 3's failure to a lack of endgame content and 0 individuality between characters. You could essentialy retrain your skills in any way. In Diablo 2 you had a much more unforgiving system that people adored(and still do to this day).

That beings said though, I think there is enough personality in the other aspects of this game that we don't need racial traits.

 

The best you can hope for really is a mod that changes the system to what you want. Personally, being a D&D fan, i'd much rather have racial than armour bonuses. But also because of the same reason, I can see why the devs wanted to do it on armour rather than as racial bonuses. Even in D&D, people choose things based on the bonuses and not because of roleplay reasons (or simply because they like the concept of something), and in some ways I see this as the devs trying to "save" people so they don't have to make that choice.

Balance isn't really an issue here as I see it, since balance is always going to be an issue regardless of whether the bonuses are on armour or on racial types. If one armour set is unbalanced in PvP, then you'd still have the problem of everyone using it.

 

And what is the point of racial abilities then?

 

Max Effectiveness can be a strange argument here. Max Effectiveness can vary between each bioma.... you can make your starchild be a sun in the caverns, but will be useless in the desert. Glide can be a good thing, but almost useless in the indoors, and the ability to water breath is useless in any other bioma without large water poll.

Racil Traits can show us the diferent abilities to each race. And with this abilities is easly to each race colonize a bioma or another one, making the game different to each race. Oh, is not fun to you need to make a hole new character to get all in the game? You still not needed, but to each race is more easy make some action and bad making another one.

By the way, a trait not need be only a good one!! A bad one can balance positive traits. You have ability to recover energy with the sun? Useless at night, and you recover can be penalized in the underground or without a light source (like the plants in Earth). You can breath water? But you need drink water more then others races!! This can change the game only changing the race, augmenting the replayability.

Backing to PvP... a preference for one race or another one will happening even with the armor trait.... if one race are better, everyone will use the race's racial armor anyway. A balance will be needed, ever. And a lower traits cannot be soo harm to pvp like end tier weapons: everyone who likes PvP will play all to find the better weapons fast, ignoring the whole planets who don't have notting to give to boot his PvP power, ignoring a large part of the game to be the "best player killer in the game". Ok then... but.... this game is about exploration too... And changing the way to exploration can give us more to do too.

 

The point is you born with this. If another race want be like you, he will need a special armor...

 

@Metafogos: You could find this thread interesting I guess.

 

Thanks Blind Sniper! This other trait can give more informations ^^

By the way, the only thing I are disliking (but not prevent me to play this great game) is: I'm a Robot!!! I need to eat the same thing as the human!!! Without further explanation, is sad see every race equal, even with different evolution. And, if everything are equal, why we need races? Is easily putting everything as an option: change the apparency to another race with a genome change... change the tool tips information changing the encyclopedia used! All you need is find another race...

Soo, why we need to select one?

And why I will play a robotic character if we are not robotic in any way, only in the apparency?

I'm not trying to give combat vantage to the character... I'm trying to give explore vantages to the character!! Is easily to an amphibian character colonize a water planet, but not impossible to others ones... the other only need advance his technology, to give some vantages and lose some advantage. With only exploration vantages, the only vantage is environmental one... but you will not fighting an aerial opponent in a place we can fly hight without some strategies!!! And with this some others weapons can be more useful then the top one (a new can be useless against any solo combat, but can make an aerial go to ground to fight or even suffer damage by falling).

Can be does. But is my opinion. If the others don't like and the game still the same, ok! But I liked to say that and make the others thinking about!

Thanks!

 

If you read the Glitch lore, it says a few have become self concious, believing they are actully alive in a medieval-like period of time. So that's why they eat food and do non robot type things.

 

Yes... i don't read the Glitch lore....

By the way, everything can be lored to explain why the humans, avians, glitch, etc have all the same abilities even with a large biologic system differences... and if this happen, why we need races?

But I think find a solution:

In the actual game, each race start with this racial armor and racial recipes. To be equal to the others races, a member of any race need take an armor of another race and his recipes. Soo, one character only became "equal with another race" then find the race in question. Ok, everyone agreed with this.

If we put the racial traits then I told, will be impossible one caracter becomes a full member of another race without using any or all equips slots to became the other race and don´t have any slot to be the other race with specific armor.

The Soluction? A new Equip Slot. This new one only serve to chance your racial traits for one of another race! Call then Genoma Slot, Genetic Slot, or whatever. With this, if you want became the other race member without changing anything other then the racial traits, all you need is one equip item who go to one specific slot to do it. And how you got this item? In a specific recipe and some specific material of the other race... and to do you need find the another race!!!!

Well done... now we have a way to get the racial traits but maintaining the "game status quo".

What you guys think about?

 

Whatever abilities the various races had, they gave them up to evolve intelligence. Just like humans did. The major difference between them is that they developed their technology in different ways.

 

I've asked a relevant question before:
http://community.playstarbound.com/index.php?threads/racial-armor-and-lore.26732/
I'm uncomfortable with all races being equal either, but I just accept it as purely a gameplay design choice, and in lore or fiction or canon or whatever you call it, the armor abilities are racial abilities.

 

Partially, for that person who did read the Glitch lore, and really really wants to play a robot that thinks they are in a medieval era etc, roleplaying purposes, as not everyone is going to concentrate on this game as a sandbox building game, some will want to play it out as an RPG type of game. The way the system is set up now, is to ensure you aren't screwed 30 hours of gameplay after you make the Avian, because the Glitch has an extra 2 points of Def because of racial traits. Even a SMALL racial trait is still something that can force some gamers into the mindset of having to play that race. (D&D is a perfect example of this to be honest.) Most races are useless, and optimizing goes so far as ensuring you get that 1 extra skill point. Why? Because you're 1 skill point better then the race who doesn'thave it. From a game-balancing point of view, I can see their point.

If the Glitch were a self-sustaining robotic race, that'd raise some very interesting questions actually. For one, you'd have a much higher resistance to the elements. (They won't feel the effects of heat and cold nearly as quickly as any other race would.) You're right you wouldn't need to eat, argueably you'd never need to sleep eithier. Or drink I guess, depending on what "robotic" lore you are going for in what universe. However, in the Starboundian universe, you have to eat. (Which is why the Dev team did so much hard work in ensuring each race had their own personalized foods etc.) and again, RP purposes, balance reasons mostly. I realize just saying. "It's because of game balance." Doesn't sit well with some people, but it is a multiplayer game, they have to take balance into mind.

Honestly? I'd like to see what you would propose as racial traits that aren't damning to the game, that aren't to OP for one side or the other. Any form of flight or gliding? That can be pretty OP to be honest, if the Avians are somehow "better" at it then other races, that's a reason to pick that race over the others etc. I dunno, this topic is a touchy one, cause it's suspension of disbelief VS game balance, never a pretty fight to be honest.

All that being said? Give the game 2 months after release, I'm sure someone will have made a mod for the game to add in racial bonuses.

 

@Regal Kain you see my solution? I think can resolve all problem of the racial trait AND maintaining a balance. If now some race have any vantage over the others (racial trait or racial armor), the beginning of the game will always unbalanced. But actually, you can balance all things later. My suggestion is one to allow the balance even if we have racial traits.... and better then have a racial armor too.

The Starbound racial traits nonexistence is strange for a game who are creating a lot of different environments, but all character races are equal...

Maintaining balance sacrificing the variety is estrange... I understand the necessity to make a balanced things... but to something be perfectly balanced, everything needs be equal, and this not even are a good thing (think about a fighting game.... the only way to be a perfect balance is all characters are the same).

Real RPG is about interpretation and not making the best "monster kill". Sadly in the gaming RPG its not true. And for a lot of real RPG players too...

To end, I don't want support a game if I'm waiting for a mod. I'm supporting Starbound and happily throw some money to this, even if any of my suggestions are ignored. But waiting for a mod can be bad for the original game for a lot of reasons...

People, I update the first post with a suggestion. What you guys think now?

 

I currently believe in the Glitch being Biodiesel powered... but how they function in the way they were built to simulate organic life while being metallic beings has yet to be fully explained. Nonetheless, Biodiesel seems to be the most logical way to fuel a Robot in a way that uses food that Organics would also eat.

For the Topic: Ya all also need to note: Racial Armor Bonuses WILL be analyzed to hell & back by the Leets, & ya can count on them to make a judgement on one of the Racial Armor Bonuses being the best of them all and the only smart way to go, to the exclusion of all else. Rebalancing could happen later down the road, invalidating something's usefulness in the process. Would ya rather that 'invalidation' happen to something more disposable, like a certain bunch of Armor Pieces, or to one's cherished, loved Character...?

Tiy wants us to play the Race we will like & he sought to enable people to play what they like by moving tactical concerns like 'balance' & such to something that could be invalidated freely & not missed, like items. We can easily enough replace Armor with something else... but NOONE would wanna have to replace their Character to regain viability at being strong enough to be able to handle the game.

 

Apex should get extra in human enslaving, I will go ape and Caesar the human race.