Poll: Anyone tired of the standard 3 RPG playable races?

[Scars Unseen]

You could always play Horizons [http://www.istaria.com/]. Old MMO that got hyped too much for its own good, but apparently it's still running. And you can play a dragon. Or one of 10 other races. Just have to deal with the old graphics and low population.

 

[Macgyvercas]

I like halfling, Warforged, and half-orc myself. How about you? Want a game where you can play as a wooden robot? Play Dungeons and Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited.

Don't forget Drow and Half-Elf!

I want them to add Dragonborn, though...

 

[Kiju]

I'd love to have more playable races, but you shouldn't get rid of the old stand-by's. Admittedly, I wish that DDO had as much freedom (or at least close to it) with playable races as it does in the pen and pencil style gameplay. That would be quite a bit of fun.

I'd love to play my chaotic-good dire werewolf again, that was always fun.

 

[deleted_by_strongbad]

There is always the RPG Shadowrun, they have the three, albeit a little different in some respects, then in just the standard book you have: Ork & Troll, both a bit different from standard ork and troll, but then in the SR4 companion you get a ridiculous amount of options from tons of variants on those 5, to were-animals, AI, free-spirit (think less hippie and more unbound elemental), Ghoul, and even an option where you pretty much make your own mutant type.

 

[Benny Blanco]

Absolutely. They should make a RPG where you play "the other side", for example Orc, Goblin, Kobold.

I know I've seen a few like this: GURPS Goblins, Orkworld and a couple of others, the names of which escape me.

Or what would be really awesome, a RPG where you play as a dragon and like any proper dragon you sleep a long time between each chapter. So long that each chapter represents a different "age" of humanity (stone age, classic, mediaeval, renaissance and modern) and each age changing slightly depending on your choices in the previous one.

Again, been done, there was a D&D 2nd Edition campaign with this idea.

There is always the RPG Shadowrun, they have the three, albeit a little different in some respects, then in just the standard book you have: Ork & Troll, both a bit different from standard ork and troll, but then in the SR4 companion you get a ridiculous amount of options from tons of variants on those 5, to were-animals, AI, free-spirit (think less hippie and more unbound elemental), Ghoul, and even an option where you pretty much make your own mutant type.

I frigging love Shadowrun. The 4th Edition did jump the shark a bit with races - an AI character might sound cool but try integrating it into a game. I don't even like GM-ing Decker PCs because they mess with the flow of the game and the amount of info I want to be available to players.

The really interesting thing Shadowrun did with races is to modernise the thinking around RPG races by using the discussion of tension between (fictional fantasy) races as an extension of the discussion of (real world) issues of racism. It could easily have become monumentally crass but it was handled really well and led to some thought-provoking games, as well as some uneasiness on one's return to the traditional milieu (Paladins start to look even more like the Hitler Youth and Rangers' "racial emnity" bonuses start looking really bad).

In terms of sheer originality, where else have you seen a game where the GM's Random NPC generator includes a Racism table?

There needs to be another Shadowrun videogame. Not a shitty FPS but a proper RPG. Hell, even a decent FPSRPG would do, but a proper RPG with party management and roles for all character types would rock. Bioware would be a good company for this, partly because of their excellent track record in this field and partly because their name is genre-appropriate for Shadowrun.

 

[icame]

It's nice if the game is diverse, but the more species they add the more variations of that species they need to make to populate the game world, which can be hard to do for a smaller studio that has a smaller budget or not enough time.

 

[randomsix]

They're used so much because by using them, creators have most of their characterization (general race characterization) done for them. The races "human," "elf," and "dwarf" already come with an easily understandable and widely known set of characteristics, and even if those were to be changed, only confusion would result.

 

[tehroc]

So normally I would just say no, not really. I have not grown tired of human/elf/dwarf choices, though I wish lizard races were more frequent.

Then there was this...

I give you
Shardmind

Dragonborn

And
Kenku

Those are awesome. Though I think at least human or elf (skinny nature humans) should always be a choice, since a lot of people like to play as something similar to what they are.

When did Kenku become a player race? i fought them last saturday! Is it from the mags or something?

If it advances by character class then any race is playable. What book is the Kenku from anyways?

 

[Requx]

Gennerally games where the races actually change stats they have at least 8 thanks to the d20 system. Or its like wow and they just keep adding a bunch. The only game i played that had those 3 only was dark alliance...and race didnt matter in that game.

 

[Nunny]

Neverwinter nights 2 had a nice selection, even if they were just different variations of the big three.

 

[Shawshanker]

Elves can go but dwarves are the most epic beings ever invented.

 

[2xDouble]

here's some fun races:
Norn [http://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/races/norn/]
Sylvari [http://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/races/sylvari/]
Charr [http://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/races/charr/]
and Asura [http://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/races/asura/].

Non-playable (yet) but still a nifty race, the Tengu [http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Tengu].

Spoiler: here's some images

Spoiler: Norn

Norn can do this:

Spoiler: Sylvari

Spoiler: Charr

Spoiler: Asura

Spoiler: and Tengu

They are similar in some ways to other "traditional" races (if you feel like being obtuse), but each is unique.

 

[Serenegoose]

I don't really see the races as the 'reskin of the humans' that others do. I mean physically they are, which I get - but the physicality of them is second to the important bit, which is how they act as a race, and how their experiences as one affect their society, culture, attitude, etc. That said, I'd be fine with more diverse looking races, that'd be cool - because I absolutely hate hate hate it more than anything else when I'm playing an RPG and it goes and forces me down a race/class/gender path, so more variety is a massive plus.

 

[DustyDrB]

I'm kind of sick of seeing the same races over and over. Not only that, but the races are almost always pretty homogeneous. Dwarves are short, chubby-looking, yet strong and often have red hair and like to drink. Elves are wise, respect nature, and are generally better rogues or mages. Then you have your Orcs who are pretty much defined by the word "warrior". I mean, humans differ in their beliefs and skills, why wouldn't other races?

 

[slarrs]

There shouldn't be a "Standard" Fantasy RPG setting. Please trying being creative. Anyone. Just once.

 

[eatenbyagrue]

Yes, yes and YES.

It's why I mostly play D&D instead of CRPGS. At least in D&D, I can roll a Warforged Paladin or a Halfling Ranger if I want to, and not be stuck with Elf Wizard, Dwarf Fighter and Human Ranger all the time.

 

[Valdsator]

Not enough games with dwarves in my opinion... but yeah, I do like it when games give me lots of options when creating my character.

 

[twaddle]

So normally I would just say no, not really. I have not grown tired of human/elf/dwarf choices, though I wish lizard races were more frequent.

Then there was this...

I give you
Shardmind

Dragonborn

And
Kenku

Those are awesome. Though I think at least human or elf (skinny nature humans) should always be a choice, since a lot of people like to play as something similar to what they are.

so basically you want more beast-men as an option.

 

[TurtleBay]

How much does it cost to completely craft a new universe? It certainly is much easier to start with a known archetype and go from there.

Developer to writers: Follow the architype, humans are naive, elfs and wizards are too smart for their own good, dwarfs are evil

Developer to artist: You draw elves in the forest, you draw humans in the village, you draw orcs covered in mud

Starcraft (1998) was given as an example of breaking from this tradition. It is an amazing game, but just as unoriginal as the others. Please entertain me.

An advanced race who are governed from a golden pyramid, have energy weapons, travel through circular gates that connect across planets, have luminous eyes, need to mine minerals to survive and want to kill the people of earth. Is that the Protoss? Or is it Stargate the movie (1994)?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWC3-VzDGMY&NR=1

Slimy space aliens that are led by their queen which covers their home area with slime, hatch from eggs and can infect humans. Is that Zerg? Or Aliens the movie (Alien 1979, Aliens 1986)?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNhARS02rfU&feature=related

Original writing is hard, time consuming and expensive. It often doesn't pay for developers and doesn't review well. How often do reviews pan games for using well know archetypes if they can execute well. In fact players are comfortable with well known archetypes because they are different enough to be fresh while familiar enough to be approachable.