I'm not racist, but....

[Mathak]

seriously imagine what they would consider art or music....it would be sick...and Vorcha...well okay at least they have a reason for being one note, but the Batarians are supposed to be a proper space faring race and theya are all dicks. all of them. all the other races seem okay

To be fair, the Batarian government is rather totalitarian, with travel outside their borders strictly forbidden. The only Batarians you meet are the ones who blasted through a few dozen Batarian Space-police to get out. The nice ones (who stopped to ask 'can't we talk about this, guys?') didn't make it.

OT, fuck Varren. Infectin' ma Normandy with scale itch.

 

[Azex]

seriously imagine what they would consider art or music....it would be sick...and Vorcha...well okay at least they have a reason for being one note, but the Batarians are supposed to be a proper space faring race and theya are all dicks. all of them. all the other races seem okay

To be fair, the Batarian government is rather totalitarian, with travel outside their borders strictly forbidden. The only Batarians you meet are the ones who blasted through a few dozen Batarian Space-police to get out. The nice ones (who stopped to ask 'can't we talk about this, guys?') didn't make it.

hmm didnt really consider that... i guess i should check out all my facts before shooting my mouth off... thanks dude...still... why did the guy i try to save in that quarenteen zone on omega have to be such a dick? he is an ass so therefore his entire race must be!

 

[Azex]

Scale itch is sexually transmitted >.> implecations are disturbing

 

[Mathak]

Scale itch is sexually transmitted >.> implecations are disturbing

Dammit Kelly. No more shore leave for you.

 

[TheeBassMasta]

You're not racist, you're specist.

Meaning it's not racist because they clearly aren't a different race?

 

[Azex]

to clear up the whole racist/speciest/xenophobic thing...the way the word racist is used is outdated in ME as in our current context it subdivedes humanity. in ME we know humanity is one of many galactic races so when i say racist i mean non human aliens

 

[Something Amyss]

You can't be a racist if you don't like something/someone that isn't real.

It's a race. He's just fictionally racist. >.>

 

[TheKruzdawg]

Sometimes I feel like being "that guy" and telling the Elcor to hurry up and get to the point.

Also, I want to know where the hell the hanar keep their faces.

 

[Something Amyss]

to clear up the whole racist/speciest/xenophobic thing...the way the word racist is used is outdated in ME as in our current context it subdivedes humanity. in ME we know humanity is one of many galactic races so when i say racist i mean non human aliens

Not to mention, in the ME world, we really have bred into more or less one large culture.

I'm not sure it ever says this in the games, but the novels, written by one of the authors of the game itself, goes to great lengths to describe the phenomenon.

Also, they point out that with REAL aliens to fear, the guys just over the border seem less scary. Not in those words, but still.

 

[Gemore]

I really can't stand Batarians or Vorcha. They look like crap and they probably all smell. And 4 eyes? gross man. Gross.

The thought of a Batarian having some sort of artform or literature or even music makes me hate them more.

We should enslave them. They arent even human!

 

[DustyDrB]

For those who aren't familiar with Mass Effect...

A Batarian:

and a Vorcha:

And I do love hitting Vorcha with Incinerate.

 

[Azex]

inb4 Pro Vorcha and Batarian groups start bitching that those are unflatering pics

 

[Cat of Doom]

For me its the hanar, they take forever to get talk and I cant remember how they talk, i know its through speaking however. I dont understand how they, on their water world developed space travel,and how they handle tools. I think bioware should explain there culture and developement more in the next game. A bit more on the elcor would be nice to, i would like to see a hanar or elcor ship.

I dont dislike the votua or batarians, I just think there bland and havent been explained well. I mean there entire race cant be evil and agngry. I love the volus though, think there interesting tbh.

What I do hate are aliens that are indistinguishable from one another, it just makes them seem less real when they all look the same.

 

[Azex]

truely the only bland ones, at least from my PoV are those Baties and their 4 eyse >
Im quite intrested in all the races and ultimatly how they reflect us here in RL since all of this was mad up by humans and i can see traits of humanity across all the races in ME.

But its like when they mad batariens all was left was the asshole bits

 

[Kenko]

I really can't stand Batarians or Vorcha. They look like crap and they probably all smell. And 4 eyes? gross man. Gross.

The thought of a Batarian having some sort of artform or literature or even music makes me hate them more.

Its not racism. Its specieism as they are not the same species as you. So congrats, yer not a racist!

 

[bojac6]

Surely you mean 'I'm not speciesist but...' ?

Seconded. This is something I always wondered about, especially in fantasy settings. Is there racism in D&D? Is the Man keeping down fellow humans while also hating orcs because they're too green and keeping elves out of his schools? Is it okay to be speciesist because the other guy is physically different and maybe ACTUALLY incapable of happiness and love and freedom or whatever?

And for the record, I would never let my daughter date a hobgoblin. That's just not right.

Are you kidding? Of course there's racism in D&D. Elves are huge racists, described as looking down at the "younger, less races" in the Players Handbook. Dwarves are basically isolationists most of the time. Humans also like to keep to themselves and only trade with other races when it's profitable. In Lord of the Rings, its even worse. Elves consider Orcs to be vermin, humans to be dirty and uncultured and Dwarves to be hairy, repulsive ugly creatures.

Of course, that's in game. When you look at the creation of fantasy universes, they're all terribly racist. Every Ferengi in Star Trek is a greedy little back stabber, all Klingons have exactly the same concepts of religion, honor and combat, all Bajorans are spiritual, all Romulans are very intelligent, etc. Star Wars races are developed from a single line in the movie, hence Bothans are a total society based around espionage, Jawas always smell bad, Wookies are always awesome, Qualish (the alien in the Catina that attacks Luke) are all aggressive, and Mon Cals (Ackbar) are all great with capital ships.

There are two conclusions here. One: there has to be a defining trait for a species. An alien race that isn't completely united under one religion, culture, government and world view? Unthinkable.

And two: I apparently know a lot more about different fantasy universes than I thought.

 

[_Cake_]

Batarians believe in slavery so yeah fuck them and Vorcha are closer to animals.

 

[Caligulove]

Batarians are definitely getting the short end of the stick when it comes to civilizations and races in Mass Effect. Just about everything I read or saw of them in the game seemed to confirm that every Bataraian ever was a either a racist pirate, slaver, terrorist or just an apathetic asshole.

Strange since the other races seem to fit a lot more roles... Want a Batarian squad member in Mass Effect 3 who isn't an asshole

 

[Arcane Azmadi]

This thread title reminded me of this:

 

[EOD Tech]

Anybody else reminded of the enormous fights on the Oblivion forums about whether or not it's racist to hate the Beast Races in that game?

I'm also reminded of Evan Narcisse's musings on the Krogans from ME2 and his claim that he identifies with the Krogans because he's black.