Set Races

[Grayell]

Ok, this one is simple. Pick from the following options:

Being able to create an originally race and ideally, a culture (or settling on something common) as we do now.

Choosing from a set, finite list of races for your character that have established cultures and backgrounds and may impart some kind of racial benefit. This would nullify creating new races and would see some people having to pick from the list for established characters.

[Enuyu Suhishi]

Off the top of my head :
Freestyle races :
Pros :
- freedom of player choice
- PC's get to do some indirect world building
- nobody feels pidgeon holed
- nobody feels like their desires for their character cannot be met
Cons :
- PC's do some indirect world building
- Things can get awefully complicated when you start to have to think about how all the races do or do not get along and why they have the relationships they do, where'd they come from, were they created or did they evolve, etc.
- Admin has to make sure nobody is doing anything ridiculous

Set Races:
Pros :
- World is built, no worries about further interactions/relationships/half breeds/etc.
- Established backgrounds to build on
- No extra work for Admin every time a new race pops up
Cons :
- Players may feel pidgeon holed or that their character concept doesn't fit in the established architecture
- Admin will have to choose which races are good to go, which are not, establish relationships twixt races, etc. Fair work load there, but it's only once.

Myself, I think setting race choices is the way to go. If a player doesn't feel their concept works inside the races available they likely aren't thinking hard enough or need to re-tool their idea anyway. Races should probably have some sort of perks to go with them, like The totally NOT Worgen being good in the cold given their home climate. Subtle things that can be attractive and make sense but are not too game bending. There might be a bit of work to do initially on the Admin side of things, but once that work is done, it's done and doesn't need to be revisited.

My two cents.

[Marlena]

I'm with Enuyu.
It may take some time, but it could be worth it. And, in the end, once it's established, there's nothing wrong with considering someone's idea for a new race, provided they could come up with the details needed.

Every time someone creates a new race, a new history, lore etc, has to be figured out. Their place in the world also needs to be created.

For the sake of simplicity and the sanity of the admins/GMs and most especially, you, Grayell, I say a set race list.

[Grayell]

New races would not be on the table, no new player will be creating a race. And there will be requests for the half-demon-hald-angel-not emo at all character.

Anyways. I'm prepared to build a list, but when it's done, it's done. Again, some people will need to edit their current characters some, so they need to consider that.

[Serenity]

If we're still voting, I'm for a race list.

I don't know about everyone else, but for me it still feels like the history of the world is incomplete and it's partly because, I believe, because of constant race building.

Sure it's fun to come up with a new race, or be original, but I agree that it creates more work for the player and staff. There shouldn't be any guessing games when it comes to the population of our world, most of that should have been defined by now.

[Grayell]

FYI: The race list we have won't be the final product, as mentioned prior. Just a reminder to anyone who missed that.

I need more input of course, or this will be scrapped entirely.

[Neko]

I am in agreement with everyone so far. While being able to create your own race is fun and all, it does keep the world from feeling complete as there is always new stuff to add and new interactions to consider.

If we had a set list of races that people picked from we could go into alot more detail about those races (in time) and flesh them out more. Give the world more detail and more of a feeling of completness.

And yes I realize it would mean changing Neko into something else.

[Kiko]

I agree with 'Nu. I always will.

[Dani]

I agree with set races. Playing something where I get to decide everything about the race can be fun, but it can also be alot of work and responsibility to have to come up with everything about them. Yes I'm playing an elf and they are pretty standard, but there is not much outside of the little blurb in the races thread about them.

Having set races I feel would allow for the history of those races to be more established for new and old players alike and allow for a framework for us to playwithin and off of. It would take some of the responsibility of of our shoulders as players and allow us to focus more on our characters as individuals as opposed to trying to balance that with the culture as a whole as well. And it may give us something to work with that we never thought of before.

Worst case scenario, if existing players complain because of the change in thier character, we could consider "grandfathering" them in as members of a very small race that does not have much sway in the world as a whole and say that going forward all new characters would have to be from the set race list.

[Zaedus]

I have to say I am in agreement with everyone else Gray. Set races make things easier as Enuyu suggested. However I have to side with complacency on this one that making new lore implements for it to fit can be tiresome for the staff.

[Grayell]

Yup. Having a race list does not mean there will be any more information than there is now. Really, if our umpteen elf players cannot be bothered filling in the gaps, then we can't expect staff to, when they will have numerous other races to cover.

[Serenity]

Probably because, for the sake of example, we never had all the elf players get together and decide what's what. They've not filled the gaps probably because they don't know what would clash with the other interpretations of the race. I've seen several different takes on elves during the time I've been here and still am not 100% what their place in the world is. I've seen it range from slaves, a prideful race now at the pit of society, and now the traditional guardians of nature that we often see them depicted as in literature and film.

We even had a weird thing with the origin of magic for a while, ain't that right Zae? That whole Worgen+Mage companionship deal that totally threw me off when it was introduced. I hadn't planned on that at all. It was just shoehorned in, as far as I'm concerned, at the last second and its still a thing I've kept in mind for any adventures or lore that involve the history of magic.

I'm speaking mostly for myself here, but I don't think the staff would be complacent when it comes down to creating lore for races and such. For me personally, I just need a damn clean slate to work on, get critique on the work from the others, and finally put a stamp on it that says DONE in bold.

[Grayell]

Alright, I've given plenty of time for everyone to have their say. Anyone who didn't contribute can suck an egg (lol).

Seriously though, I'll start working on a race list. Just so you're all aware, ALL things are subject to change. This won't be done any time soon and isn't the only change I have planned, but it will take some time to get it altogether.

If you have any race suggestions, feel free to post them here. I won't respond, as I'd rather not see a debate but will be focusing on appeal, balance and whether or not such a race would be common enough to be considered playable.

Thanks all.

[Neko]

Humans are obvious choices.

Elves are pretty standard, but there is a reason for that. They are popular. Maybe we could give them a twist of some kind?

The Warven race we have is nice. I think they are a keeper.

Cat races, as much as some dont like them, there are plenty of people that do. So we could keep Cathian and maybe change them a bit...

...Or maybe lump them in with Warven for a whole anthropomorphic race that would allow for different animal types. The resrtiction being that there would be no cross breeds. The children of two different types of Warven would be either like one parent or the other. No cat-bears or anything like that. This would allow for some freedom in appearance and let people like Khorek keep with the same look. The downside being if we did do racial benefits it could be hard to figure out one set for the whole race...

I like the idea of the demonkin, but agree with Gray in that they should all have a similar look. There are lots of available pictures out there for people with red skin and horns perhaps that should be the standard if we go that route.

a reptilian race of some kind?? Not necesarily Dragonborn, but definatly lizardlike and scaly.

Trying to think if there is a better way to try and determine what to do. Should we maybe break it down by region? Or perhaps have a patron race for each deity? One they created themselves. Of course that would not mean that every member of that race worshipped that deity, but it may help with ideas. If we did do racial benefits we could look at what kind of benefits we would want to have and build a race around that as well. Just some ideas to maybe give us some direction...

If we were going to do racial bonuses we could have a race or two that look mostly human but with some differences. Perhaps they are taller and more powerfully built with golden skin or something and a different bonus than humans.

An intelligent construct race of some kind could be interesting. Again not exactly Warforged, but something like that. Clay golems maybe or just magicaly created artifical life. It could open up some cool RP opportunities as they would have a completly different outlook on things. No children, no families, what kind of legacy would they have?

If we go off of the deity idea and considering we would have a large race like the Warven and possibly others, we could have a smaller race from the monkey god that had monkey features...

Just throwing out a bunch of ideas hoping to at least inspire others...

Another thing we want to consider would be the availability of pictures that players could use for avatars. We don't want to pick something so unique or obscure that players have nothing to use.

[Zarrustra]

I agree with the consensus. Set races would make the world more cohesive. Plus, I am going to vote for Drow to be included among any elf races. Beside the fact that they are a popular choice, they have been part of the game; even so far as a homeland on the map.