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[Catastrophic lolcats]

I think the first thing I'll try to play as is Militaristic Xenophiles. "Murdering you is just our way of saying hi!"

I imagine that would be something like the Combine from Half Life. An organisation that invades planets to incorporate the inhabitants into their war machine and have completely ascended a singular species.

Also I think the three points are a bit limiting. I think having four so you could be fanatical about two categories would be better. Would allow you to simulate a lot more classic Sci-fi species.

[a1s]

Spoiler: It's not obscure enough for Bay12 (click to show/hide)

I wouldn't put the Ur-quan of either kind as Xenophiles. I mean, their great schism was whether it was better to murder alien species or enslave them after all. Militaristic++/Xenophobe+ verses Militaristic+/Xenophobe++ maybe? The battle thralls thing could also fit into Collectivism, but that feels like a bit of a stretch...

Spoiler: offtopic (click to show/hide)

I don't think they're all that into proper enslavement. They say they are, but they suck at it. Their "thralls" have way too much autonomy, and anyone (any species) who doesn't want to fight can just sit it out on a planet. To the best of my knowledge there's no tribute to pay either- you just can't ever leave your homeworld or develop weaponizable technology. Ironically of they utilized their slave network better, they might have beaten the Kohr-ah (Why even have battle-thralls if you won't field them against your ancestral enemy?)
I do agree Kohr-ah are more Xenopobe than they are militaristic, though.

[Zangi]

Militaristic+ Mercantilism++

Profit above all else, if we can't get it, we will take it.

[USEC_OFFICER]

Spoiler: Also Offtopic (click to show/hide)

I agree more or less completely. It is more of a way of control than anything else, which is why I initially suggested that collectivism could fit. It doesn't matter what people do/want so long as the collective species is safe. Something like that.

And it's been a long time since I played the game, but I think that they didn't use battle thralls for philosophical reasons. After all, the fight against the Kohr-ah was a big secret that they kept from their thralls. Seeing as the conflict was over how to control alien species, I'm guessing that using their thralls would have been 'cheating' in some way. But again, it's been a while and I don't remember all of my fluff anymore.

[Shadowlord]

Spoiler: continuing (click to show/hide)

I would have thought the same thing (about not using them because it's "against the rules") but the evidence seems to contradict that.

Most sources indicate that Ur-Quan Dreadnoughts have only a single Ur-Quan on board because of their intense intraspecies territoriality. All other crew members are believed to be battle thralls forced to work on board the Dreadnought.<sup>2

2</sup> From the Star Control manual, pg. 19, and the Star Control II manual, pg. 66 (PC).

The Ur-Quan ships were pretty much superior to any of their battle thralls' ships, especially versus the Kohr-Ah - at least IIRC anyways (plus the Ur Quan considered themselves superior to begin with).

The main reason the Kzer-za (would have, if you didn't win the game) lost to the Kohr-ah, though, was what the Shofixti did during the first war.

[Rolan7]

Spoiler: Somewhat ninjad (click to show/hide)

Well, the dreadnoughts were mainly crewed by thrall races prior to the doctrinal conflict.  Part of their backstory was that they get violent with close proximity, even with other Ur-Quan.  Though obviously the Kohr-ah manage somehow, so maybe the genetweaking fixed that aspect.

I like to think that the Kzer-za used thrall crews in the doctrinal war.  They were physically weak administrators, compared to the Kohr-ah, so not using their slaves would be a crippling disadvantage.  The point of the war was to see which strategy (enslavement or genocide) was stronger, after all.

But it's true that they didn't use their thralls' fleets, and seemed secretive about the situation.  Probably a rule they agreed on out of pride...  They won the last time, after all.
They seem so sad when you talk to them after they lose.  I actually would call them xenophiles.  They try to preserve alien races despite instinctively hating them, and being terrified of another threat emerging.

[USEC_OFFICER]

Spoiler: More Offsiding (click to show/hide)

Yeah. It seems that the combat was supposed to be heavily ritualized after all, so not including any battle thrall ships would easily make sense.

Also part of the problem with slotting these ethnics into the SC2 races is that we don't really know what the Ethnics really do. Xenophilia increases xenophilia and reduces tolerance of alien slavery, but what does that really mean? The other problem is that it's hard to map out the nuances of the races on just four axis. For example, how would you make the Spathi? Pacifism is an obvious choice, but their utter fright at everything in the universe is a lot harder to get a grip on...

[Shadowlord]

Spoiler: spathi (click to show/hide)

They're not really pacifist, though. They made astonishing technological progress, leapt into space, and developed militarily purely out of fear.

About 400 years before the events of Star Control II, when their civilization was still at a Bronze Age level, their home planet has been beleaguered by a race of ravenous creatures called the Evil Ones who enjoyed eating Spathi, accelerating the advancement of their culture greatly — in less than a century, they had reached the Space Age, and finally took refuge from the Evil Ones on the Moon.

Hell, their ships are some of the most effective in the game because they can run away and fire tracking torpedoes at their enemies at the same time. (And I always mod my flagship to do the same thing. ^_^)

[Sirus]

* Sirus forces the thread back on topic

WHOO MULTIPLE PORTRAITS FOR EACH RACE
Don't worry Culise, I hear words are good for you. A zero-carb food.

[Aklyon]

Spoiler: spathi (click to show/hide)

They're not really pacifist, though. They made astonishing technological progress, leapt into space, and developed militarily purely out of fear.

About 400 years before the events of Star Control II, when their civilization was still at a Bronze Age level, their home planet has been beleaguered by a race of ravenous creatures called the Evil Ones who enjoyed eating Spathi, accelerating the advancement of their culture greatly — in less than a century, they had reached the Space Age, and finally took refuge from the Evil Ones on the Moon.

Hell, their ships are some of the most effective in the game because they can run away and fire tracking torpedoes at their enemies at the same time. (And I always mod my flagship to do the same thing. ^_^)

Spoiler: Meanwhile in spathi space (click to show/hide)

And then they lock themselves onto their planet for the exact same reason.

[Majestic7]

I hope there is technology that improves longevity, perhaps eventually making leaders immortal. Then you get stuck with an idiot at the helm for infinity.

[Zangi]

I hope there is technology that improves longevity, perhaps eventually making leaders immortal. Then you get stuck with an idiot at the helm for infinity.

Eternity is a long time, accidents happen.

[Majestic7]

I think you mean "accidents". Anyway, even immortals might retire or change careers or go insane or something. I just think it would be logical that technology would allow extending the time leaders stay available.

[Teneb]

New Dev Diary out, about science ships and their job.

[Dutrius]

Exiting stuff.