C
Clirkus
Guest
Original poster
So there I was, looking for an interstellar space adventure, casually submitting a character when BAM "Your alien isn't human enough."
Um, excuse me?
Hi, my name is Clirkus and for a long time I've wanted to roleplay an Andalite character. For those of you who don't know, Andalites are semi-humanoid centaur-like aliens from the Animorphs series, and they are really cool. Simple enough to grasp, right? A quick Google search will tell you everything you need to know about them. They're not OP, they have recognizable features and feelings, they have species-specific characteristics and all in all they're very feasible.
But apparently even in a roleplay where you're encouraged to play aliens, they're simply "too alien". This isn't just about Andalites, this is about all alien species who fall outside the narrow-minded idea that you can only be an "alien" if it has human physiology and maybe a face tattoo or different colored skin. Don't get me wrong, I'm not attacking anyone who wants to play a humanoid alien with different colored skin and a face tattoo, I'm just pissed that the only acceptable aliens must in essence, look human and I think that just defeats the purpose of having aliens in a space RP for multiple reasons.
1) Allowing aliens to exist at all opens a huge door in the world-building aspect of the game. Say you're visiting another planet and get attacked by a monster BUT that monster has to closely resemble an Earth animal (maybe a cow with green fur?). Wow, how lame would that be? No, you want big scary alien monsters with lots of arms and teeth and eyes and purple goo, not some green cow. So why can't that principle apply to creating an alien character too?
2) It's not as if playing a non-humanoid alien would be stretching the limits of your imagination (and duh, roleplay is all about imagination). I'm not asking for a god-tier omniscient entity made of a ball of energy. I'm asking for a carbon-based biological life form with physical limitations and unique character quirks that doesn't need to conform to human physical standards. Plus, if you choose a pre-existing race from a movie or sci-fi show, all the better because you have pictures or fan art you can use as references.
3) "Functionality" *shudders* I've heard the functionality argument one too many times. "It's just not functional." For starters, that's total BS. It's science-fiction. Functionality is not the point (besides, I've seen pictures of your cushy and comfortably large live-in spaceship interiors) the point is having an epic space adventure. Having a non-humanoid character is not a handicap, it's an opportunity to try something new.
(I'd like to point out that I have explained my super-valid logical points and still been turned down)
And just to be extra clear I'm talking about outer space roleplays that allow and even encourage players to make alien characters (y'know, as long as they're not too alien because they just can't wrap their narrow-xenophobic minds around it) I'm not talking about outer-space roleplays that ask for an exclusively human cast or where humans are the only sentient race.
So what's the deal? I thought science fiction was supposed to be the pioneer of diversity and equality. I can't be the only one who thinks this. I can't be the only one who wants to play a non-human alien and have it be just as accepted as the human-with-a-face-tattoo-alien.
I don't know, maybe I just missed all the really creative non-xenophobic space roleplays, but I mean I've really looked.
Um, excuse me?
Hi, my name is Clirkus and for a long time I've wanted to roleplay an Andalite character. For those of you who don't know, Andalites are semi-humanoid centaur-like aliens from the Animorphs series, and they are really cool. Simple enough to grasp, right? A quick Google search will tell you everything you need to know about them. They're not OP, they have recognizable features and feelings, they have species-specific characteristics and all in all they're very feasible.
But apparently even in a roleplay where you're encouraged to play aliens, they're simply "too alien". This isn't just about Andalites, this is about all alien species who fall outside the narrow-minded idea that you can only be an "alien" if it has human physiology and maybe a face tattoo or different colored skin. Don't get me wrong, I'm not attacking anyone who wants to play a humanoid alien with different colored skin and a face tattoo, I'm just pissed that the only acceptable aliens must in essence, look human and I think that just defeats the purpose of having aliens in a space RP for multiple reasons.
1) Allowing aliens to exist at all opens a huge door in the world-building aspect of the game. Say you're visiting another planet and get attacked by a monster BUT that monster has to closely resemble an Earth animal (maybe a cow with green fur?). Wow, how lame would that be? No, you want big scary alien monsters with lots of arms and teeth and eyes and purple goo, not some green cow. So why can't that principle apply to creating an alien character too?
2) It's not as if playing a non-humanoid alien would be stretching the limits of your imagination (and duh, roleplay is all about imagination). I'm not asking for a god-tier omniscient entity made of a ball of energy. I'm asking for a carbon-based biological life form with physical limitations and unique character quirks that doesn't need to conform to human physical standards. Plus, if you choose a pre-existing race from a movie or sci-fi show, all the better because you have pictures or fan art you can use as references.
3) "Functionality" *shudders* I've heard the functionality argument one too many times. "It's just not functional." For starters, that's total BS. It's science-fiction. Functionality is not the point (besides, I've seen pictures of your cushy and comfortably large live-in spaceship interiors) the point is having an epic space adventure. Having a non-humanoid character is not a handicap, it's an opportunity to try something new.
(I'd like to point out that I have explained my super-valid logical points and still been turned down)
And just to be extra clear I'm talking about outer space roleplays that allow and even encourage players to make alien characters (y'know, as long as they're not too alien because they just can't wrap their narrow-xenophobic minds around it) I'm not talking about outer-space roleplays that ask for an exclusively human cast or where humans are the only sentient race.
So what's the deal? I thought science fiction was supposed to be the pioneer of diversity and equality. I can't be the only one who thinks this. I can't be the only one who wants to play a non-human alien and have it be just as accepted as the human-with-a-face-tattoo-alien.
I don't know, maybe I just missed all the really creative non-xenophobic space roleplays, but I mean I've really looked.