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Star Wars: The Old Republic Editorial: Possible Playable Races, Part One
Based on yesterday's announcement of The Old Republic's first non-human race, MMORPG.com's Michael Bitton kicks off a series that examines what some of the other possibilities might be.
By Michael Bitton on May 14, 2010
Yesterday saw the unveiling of the first playable species to be featured in Star Wars: The Old Republic: the Rattataki. You might be asking yourself, "Rattawhatti?" even if you've seen all the movies and read a few of the Expanded Universe books. The Rattataki are a race of bald-headed alabaster skinned humanoids whose most notable example is Asajj Ventress from Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
For Star Wars fans, I'd argue this is a fairly odd and obscure choice to include in the game as a playable race and it has given me some pause, as I can't think of any reason to include the race other than to tie-in to the new-ish Clone Wars series and film, however, that is neither here nor there, so let's take a look at some of the races we'd like to see in Star Wars: The Old Republic and examine their likelihood of appearing within the game.
Barabel
The Barabel are cold-blooded reptilian species hailing from the planet Barab I. One of the Barabel's most distinctive features are their scales, which are strong enough on their own to deflect some blaster fire. The Barabel make excellent hunters and trackers, and also hold a deep respect for the Jedi, however, the event that fostered this respect did not occur until well beyond the time period Star Wars: The Old Republic is set in.
Why we like them: There are simply few things more fearsome than a pissed off Barabel, and if The Old Republic features racial abilities I'd love to be able to shrug off blaster fire now and then much to the surprise of my enemy.
Likelihood of making it in: Not likely. Barabel are a bit too similar to the Trandoshan as a reptilian species in many ways, and are much more obscure.
Cathar
The Cathar are a humanoid catlike species (surprise, surprise!) from the planet Cathar. Their population was driven nearly to extinction following a battle with the Mandalorians known as the Battle of Cathar . While tempermental, the Cathar possessed high moral values and a strong sense of loyalty, and lived in a clan-based society.
Why we like them: Given their strong moral values, distinct cat-like look (every MMO needs catgirls, come on!), and their tendency to become Jedi we think they'd be a great fir.
Likelihood of making it in: Very likely. Not only do they fit the timeline well, they are much more humanoid than say the Barabel, and would be easier from an art perspective to implement. More importantly, Juhani from the original Knights of the Old Republic was a main character who traveled with Revan and is easily recognizable by fans of the franchise.
Chiss
The Chiss are a blue-skinned almost demon-looking humanoid species with bright red glowing eyes that hail from the Chiss Ascendancy, a small portion of the galaxy located just inside the Unknown Regions, putting them even beyond the Outer Rim territories. They are an incredibly disciplined race, possessing a calm and cool demeanor, even in the heat of battle, and are known for having an exceptional military. However, due to their isolationist nature they were rarely seen, and only really came into the forefront following the fall of the Galactic Empire when everyone's favorite blue-skinned badass Grand Admiral Thrawn (Mith'raw'nuruodo for you nerds out there!) ascended to power while the Empire was in disarray.
Why we like them: Frankly, they just plain look cool, and Grand Admiral Thrawn is one of the most recognizable and beloved Expanded Universe characters out there. Plus, they already look pretty snazzy in a uniform.
Likelihood of making it in: Not likely. As we mentioned earlier, the Chiss were incredibly isolationist, and it's not even certain whether or not they appeared in the known regions much at all during the timeline The Old Republic is set in. However, I do recall seeing quite a few of them as NPCs in Star Wars Galaxies, so anything is possible! We're certainly pulling for 'em.
Defel
The Defel are a small wolf-like species from the planet Af'El. The Defel have the distinct ability to naturally view the ultraviolet wavelength due to the fact their homeworld of Af'El lacked a ozone layer and orbited an ultraviolet star. However, exposure to other wavelengths often has a blinding effect and so most Defel are seen wearing special visors when off-world. Since they can see exceptionally well in the dark, the Defel were often sought after as assassins or thieves throughout the galaxy.
Why we like them: Given their natural inclination towards stealth, they'd make great Smugglers or Imperial Agents, we're also feeling nostalgic for the Teen Wolf films.
Likelihood of making it in: Possible, but not too likely. The Defel have the advantage of not being a purely Expanded Universe race, as one makes a brief appearance during the Mos Eisley cantina scene in A New Hope, but other than that they are fairly obscure.
There are really only a few races that people will really *want* to play, and they are based largely on what main characters existed in the movies. You can bet that we will have:
Yeah. I was wondering about that, too.
Why wouldn't I want race variety even if it does turn out to be what you say Izure?
I think Wookies and Twi'leks are a safe bet, they are iconic and human-like enough. Its a kind of "orcs" and "elves" ^^
Some of these races i hope will make it into the game:
no one want mandalorians? I guess it still would exist some of then for this timeline
Which unfortunately means that we probably won't be getting Ithorians :(
"This deal is getting worse all the time." - Lando Calrissian
I have 21 races planned out, seven of which you saw today, there will be more! Stay tuned next week!
Kel Dor is my favourite, their look is quite awesome.. and look.. well.. alien, it's pretty hard to classify them, andthey've had several appearances in TOR-related material.
You could be a lead MMO dev with lines like that, Mike.
ROFL. Wow, now you're scaring me. I seriously do have more for you though! This won't be vaporware, I promise!
Currently hoping for one species and I believe there is a good chance they will be added:
I guess I should stay subbed, then.
;)
My top three choices are:
3. Wookies (cause Chewie and Zalbar are both kewl.)
2. Chiss (Grand Admiral Thrawn in da hizouse.)
1. Twi'lek (which I'm pretty sure will be in the game, 100% guarenteed.)
Mandalorians are pretty much humans. I bet you can get Mandalorian armour in the game at the very least.
Can you say... STO-style race DLCs? :D
Please no...
yes looks like one but have better stamina and strenght, also they use implants to heal then over time or augment another atribute, but in any case we will see XD
I, for one, would love to play a MANDALORIAN, they are BADASS :}
Ohh I guess I am the only one who wants to play a Jawa, they are simply too cute!
Is this what the mmorpg.com had descended to? Fanboi wishlists? This used to be the go-to site for real journalism about real news in the gaming industry and then real discussions that didn't get closed down just because they criticised a game in which the Community Manager was emotionally invested.
SAVE US, JON WOOD! YOU'RE OUR ONLY HOPE!
I'm inclined to agree, but SW really has a wealth of races, and given how BioWare's lately been fixated on DLCs when it comes to ME2 and DAO, I see this as a possible path they could take to get some more money. After all, haven't there already been some talks about "alternate payment methods" to maybe be used in TOR?
Noghri are extremely unlikely, as they were completely non-technological until Thrawn came on the scene (similar to Ewok as a playable race). Since this is many thousands of years before that, I doubt we'll see them.
Most of the rest of those would be fine. #1 on the list is #1 in highest probability, too, since that race was at least mentioned in the movies.
I have to admit I'm a little bit perplexed right now... why Rattataki? Is there something special about them that I'm missing or are they a clear marketing choice because of Ventress and her role in The Clone Wars cartoon? Other than that, they seem like a very bland almost-human race.
Yep. I felt it was just a random marketing choice -- which doesn't really bode well for me given the history of Star Wars Galaxies and all the odd marketing choice tie-ins.
Details ^^ - but i think your right ... thats it - no noghri bounty hunter ^^
Right, but mandalorians aren't a race or species, so i dont see them as a race ingame. The way of the mandalorians is a decision you make by yourself and not your DNA.
Maybe they will add them as a joinable faction? ...
In general the have to split the human races too. Ther should be a diffference in a corillan or a courouscanti.
I think it's related to the planet choices so far, alot of obscure, little known, or almost entirely unknown planets chosen... or it might just be that they want alot of different species... adding this species shouldn't take that much of their time, as they can share alot of customization with humans and other near-humans.
Was abit of an odd species to start with tho, but it might be best to get the less interesting and more humanlike ones out first, and go upwards. Going down to this again after a myriad of exotic ones might make people disinterested in the species. Similar reason they started with the non-force users when it came to classes, come to think of it.
Supposedly, all races are going to need to be able to speak galactic basic, which some believe will rule out many of the species that cannot physically speak galactic basic like Wookies.
Twi-Leks are almost a given, they are one of the most iconic races that can speak basic.
Togrutas seem to be another species that I feel are a pretty decent chance of appearing.
I think Mike hit the spot with the Cathar, I'm sure we'll be seeing them.
Mon Calamari also have a good shot at being in too.
Its a good list. But as mentioned with the choice of the first revealed race being a little known Clone Wars Cartoon tie in I'm not expecting we will see much.
If you have Trandoshian or Mon Cal or any of the more exotic or well known races in the game, it seems strange to lead with hears a grey skinned bald human! So sadly I think BW was planning on just having humans and when there was a great deal of demand for multiple species on the forums they looked at ways to tick the multiple species box with as little work as possible. So we can look forward to red, blue and oranged skinned humans.
I heard Wookies were out as a playable race. Beacuse they didn't fit in with the offered classes.
Sith Wookie ftw
I think Wookies would do fine on the Republic side.. they can be Jedi, they make fine troopers (special armor though I'm sure), and we know at least one that worked as a smuggler. =) Now they dont make sense on the Imperial side really though. I'm sure there would be class restrictions, but they have to have Wookies.
Supposedly George Lucas has said there can no longer be any more Wookiee Jedi, though I can never seem to find a source on this.
races won't matter if they make this entire game instances. please don't do it!
Exactly, he hates the idea of a Wookiee being a Jedi. So that also rules out Jedi Counselor.
Plus they can't wear armor, so a Trooper is out.
If they offered Wookiees at all, they could only be smugglers in the scheme of things.
I wanna be a Smurf Inquisitor.
Two apples high of pure evil.
DLC, as someone else suggested. That's my bet.
Play as an alien - pay extra?
Fly in space - pay extra?
New classes - pay extra?
Maybe.
I bet wookies won't be playable, but they can be companions.
Not good enough.
In any case - I thought companions actually took part in those 'flashpoint' cutscenes. Which means talking, which means no Wookiees?
Oh thats easy. Bioware will implement a Wookie language skill you toon can take. When the cut scenes happen - your Wookie companion sounds like the GEICO gecko.
What your groupmates hear from your Wookie "Grrr gurgle grrrahhah"
What you hear from your Wookie "Surely , MMO Doubter, there is an alternative than melting their faces with your lightsaber."
Hoping for Kel Dor too
It's already been stated by LA and BW that there will be no playable Wookie races in SWTOR due to the fact that all characters have voiceovers...and George Lucas dislikes wookies in a heroic role anyhow. That was one of his pet peeves about SWG when SOE allowed Wookies to not only be a playable race but jedis as well which is severely non-canon.
On another note, to me it won't matter how many races they add because Istaria(formerly Horizons) has something like 14 playable races and that didn't make it a box-office hit either. SWTOR is sadly just turning into the biggest carbon copy of WoW since WoW itself. If I continued to play any SW-based mmo, it would be SWG because at least it is a sandbox type that has turned itself around and begun to improve on their bugs and content finally.
Companions can "talk" but supposedly only the main character needs to be able to speak and/or understand galactic basic. That would also open up your companion to not only wookies, but droids like an R4 unit etc. I think we'd be more apt to see a wookie companion then a wookie playable race.
So...what about Miraluka? Too unexotic/generic (meaning that they only differ from humans, facial-wise, by having no eyes) ?
Let's take a look at the revealed race. It's basically a bald, grey-skinned human. The half-sith, which may or may not be a race (some believe that it will be because it's in the comic) is basically a red-skinned human.
I'm not too familiar with most of the Star Wars species but based on the above observation, I'd venture a guess that most races will be some form of human variant. So Twileks are a possibility, they are basically humans with tentacles on their heads, while species like the wookies and the ithorians are probably not going to happen.
Ithorians are pacifists anyway, so the most action they'll get in TOR is as NPCs, probably in a park playing with flowers or whatever else they do all day long.
Chagrians will be there i am calling it now
So, who else would prefer playable wookiees over voice acting? The bad design choices seem to be adding up.
As for WoW - it does seem to have more racial diversity than SWTOR is likely to.
Ecellent quote, BTW. That Yoda line was the best thing from TPM.
One of the things that the old SWG did pull off really well was playable races - Wookie, Bothan, Mon Calamari etc
One of the things that the old SWG did pull off really well was playable races - Wookie, Bothan, Mon Calamari etc
I think it's time for another poll.
Im not a major star wars fan, i dont know the lore dont know any of the races by name. But what i do know is i liked Kotor, and i like bioware, so ill play this.
My thoughts on the race issue is this, every race that fits the lore should be playable, if they are capable of playing any of the 8 classes from a lore stand point it should be a playable race, anything short of that is just lazy.
Are the developers of the game trying to have too many playable races? Are all of the races even playable in that one race may not have been develped as fully by the developers as another race?
I want to be a droid. IG-88 is my favorite SW character.
I hate it when an MMO makes "races" that are more or less human character models. It's like.. what's the point. ugh.
Ugh! Devaronians!? They showed up because at the time of the first movie they needed more character masks for the Cantina scene. Some yahoo saw the devil mask at the EFX guys place and told them to bring it. The more cognizant of the production crew did facepalms.
Every major change in body structure requires a complete work up of movements, costumes, equipment, etc. So 'human-alikes' will be the main blueprint. Given the time they've got for the development, hopefully there will be some serious variations off this, but it is not a given.
A few alien races to keep out of the game :D :
I hope that there will be Nautolan's as playable race in SW:ToR.
Someone said "what about Mandalorians", Mandalorians are not a race. The first Mandalorians were Taung, so they could be a race. But for mandalorians, as copy pasted from SW wiki: The Mandalorians—known in Mando'a as the Mando'ade, or "Children of Mandalore"—were a nomadic group of clan-based people consisting of members from multiple species, bound by a common culture.
Would be awesome if Mandalorians were the third faction tho'.
Qute a selection of humans with different skin colours.
Apparently - there won't be Wookiee player characters.
A falleen was already seen as a companion character, so it could very well be possible...
I think for the rest, they're mostly going to pick races that are possible for both voice acting, certain scenes and for wearing armour.
So basically not too large / small, able to speak normally, humanoid, not too many strange appendages, able to wear armour...
I so much wished they added the Miralukas! That's my favorite Star Wars race!
Im going to agree with others, my fear looks more and more like a reality, nothing more than human's with different color's and tatoo's or marking's. Now that Bioware is in bed with EA, I have zero hope for this game(especially seeing the information they are giving us). I used to have high hopes and faith that this game would be good, now=zero, all my faith is gone and I no longer trust Bioware because they got in bed with EA. We all know that once Mythic got in bed with em, they rushed out WAR and not only killed any hopes of that game, but also killed Mythic. Seriously what is the point of calling it Star Wars if all you get for playable races is human's no matter what you call them! For that matter, why call it a MMORPG for that very same reason, the whole point of a MMORPG is 'choices', I want to be able to choose what I do and where I go when I want to go. And it looks like they are taking all that away with this game /sigh. Hopefully this won't be a reality and they will give us something worth being Star Wars, but like I said, my hope is gone :(
I never like it when people called games WoW clones, but if the term was to ever fit any game released it is this one!
Was going to say skimped over Twi'lek (the second most populace race in the galaxy), Torguta, KelDor, Nautalon, Mandalorian, Bothan, Wookiee, Rodian, Trandoshan, Noghri (not very likely), Zeltron, and many other more favorable races for play.
I honestly don't see that as a trolling attempt, but as a possible way to gain even more money from TOR. Seriously, there's a nigh infinite number of races in SW universe that could be added this way. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't support this coming from an AAA title with EA's financial backing, but those big honchos in BW and LA would have to be stupid to not even considers this, especially now that STO has already broken the ice by selling new races in DLCs.
After reading your post my will is slowly being drained from me as well. It is nice to see the positive off topic posts starting to appear. It i at this point that I think nice post from the OP but ,,, the Topic has now been derailed. By people who seem so utterly depressed and negative threads.
All my experiences with BioWare products has been excelent no reason to think any differently here. Keep up the hating , just one tip ity is bad for your health find a hobby that doesn't create so much hate.
I'm pretty sure that there will be DLC races. Especially since race doesn't seem to matter as the story is tied into your class.
There will be other DLCs also. Anyone who doubts it just has to look at Bioware's two latest games.
Oh yea, and that will probably be the extent of the MT system. Which is fine. As long as the DLC doesn't effect game balance its fine with me to have it in as an MT type system to supplement BW money making. Also as long as story content is either released in full expansion or as free updates.
Some races I am pretty sure will be in: Human, Twi'lek, Torguta, and Kel Dor. And honestly as long as those four are in it will satisfy the majority of Star Wars fans, obviously we could/would like to see many many more races so that way there is a deep diversity. But those 4 are required for play IMO.
The first thing that comes to mind, for me, is that it'd be cool to make an Iridonian character. I mean, come on! Who can forget Darth Maul?
Its exactly that. The game's style is already reminiscent of the Clone Wars series, so why not? Ventress is the most well known of her race (I just thought she was a human, but fcked up...), and I'm sure there are at least a few thinking along the lines of "I'd love to play as her!".
Me honestly? I'm just hoping for Darth Maul's race to be in.
And if there are racial abilities in this game, and one race is the Mon Calamari, I swear to god there better be a racial called "It's a trap!", passive or active, that can detect traps.
I wanted to be a hutt jedi, thought it would be cool doing flips and smaking people with my tail.
As far as the wolf-like species go, Shistaven would make a far better choice than the Defel. But that's just my opinion.
togrutatogrutatogrutatogrutatogrutatogrutatogruta
Shaak-ti for you who don't know.
WTB
D:
www.gamasutra.com
Really hoping for the Kubaz, personally.
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Kubaz
This game looks worse each time news is released on it. My hype meter is down to 0.5 now
i believe that the Barabel SHOULD be added to the list of playable races. it would be better than having just a bunch of Trando's running around the galaxie, with the Barabel, you have a VARIETY of races represented. not just ONE 'lizard' race...
If Jawas are not a playable race this game will FAIL. :P
I'd KILL for Nautolans.
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Nautolan
I really hope they'll get in the final race roster.
What no Zabrak?
What no Wookies??!! If you can't play a Wookie thats a serious flaw, but you can play some rat thing no one has heard of?
I want to be able to do an enigmatic grunt and shoulder shrug, then roar like a great ape when the going gets tough. :)
I would think that the #1 requisite for gettting a species playable in TOR is whether or not a human voice speaking Basic is suitable for it, considering all the effort being put into voiceovers. I'd wager this is more important than whether or not it can work with a humanoid skeleton (not that this is much of a problem in Star Wars or Star Trek).
Personally.. I would like to see a robotic class.. Why not?
The prime alien race I would want to play is Wookiee, and if BioWare's 'vision' regarding voice acting is the reason for keeping them out of the game, then their vision stinks.
Until your psot, I didn't know the race's name, but this is the other race I really want to play (besides Wookiee).
It sure is a good refreshment of info for those who know little about SW races. Generally it looks a bit too speculative though. ;)
I reckon there will be exclusive races to either side, Wookie would be exclusive to the republic and the only annouced race (forgot it's name) could easily be only Sith side.
Well They have offically stated they will not make a race playable if it cannot speak basic. But there are animations of some races speaking the most striking one was the gamorrian. So you can scrub your list if they arent able to speak basic.
hope they have ithorian
i know its kind of a tree huger race but they are one of my favorites in the SW lore
Stop asking for Mandolres as a race. They are NOT a race. They are a philosophy. L2STARWARS please. Wookie most likely will not make it as they have voice acting and wookies cannot speak basic. Thus Gamoreans would be out as well and any other races that cannot speak english on their own.
BTW Barabel? They are supposed to be primatives. Wouldn't make much sense for them to be PCs. They don't know how to use guns or space ships on their own.
I agree on wanting to see the Wookiee race being playable - plenty of folks I know will be sorely disappointed if this is not the case.
As far as BW's direction, lately, I can only bemoan my jumping on the initial hype bandwagon so eagerly: in that the more I hear, the less I want to. That is a terrible state of mind to realise you're in, with regards to any game in development.
At this rate of continued disappointment (in what we've been seeing, at the very least), most of my gaming group won't be pre-ordering, never mind playing... and that's an enormous let-down, given how much we were looking forward to playing a SW game, again.
I still have hope, of course (it is BW, after all!)... but it's waning, rapidly. :\
Hmm nice approach
BWHAHAHAHAHA!!!! I laughed out loud at this. That would be a great easter egg. :P
This statement makes no sense. Yes, EA being involved does bring up some concerns, however the game is far from release, Spring 2011 seems to be the target. Yes choices are important, I think BW would agree. This is why they focus on giving you choices in your story line that affect missions and your gaming experience as a whole. So they don't give you every race that YOU want to choose from; so what! They are giving you more choice in other areas which traditionally have not had any choices. Many people are just blowing this whole race thing out of proportion especially at a stage when all the games information has not been revealed to us yet.
Droids should be up there.
And if you argue that droids can't be force sensitive, I'll argue that they can be if you replace their oil with the blood of species with high midichlorian counts.
Mon Calamari if Mon Calamari is in there im all good
Although the Kiffar are extinct by this time, I really want them to be in it DX
I definitely agree with Wookies and Twi'leks being orcs and elves so safe bet they are in.
I think a race that better suits a sith would be a Zabrak or a Miraluka.
the Kiffar never strike me as a race that has too much hate and anger but are capable of both.
I agree Vicar that this statement makes no sense... You argue that the game has no choice involved then call it a WoW clone which has more choice then many other games? and EA being a part of it only says to me that they may involve something along the lines of somekind of extra games you can play in cantinas or something. this game also has MMORPG written all over it!!! You are thrust into a role of a hero and play with millions of other people! if thats an MMORPG to you then look it up... Yes the game has some obvious issues but that doesnt give anybody a reason to shoot it down efore they even play it. I would suggest Malroth that you play it first then you may think otherwise