Hi Dark, Interesting. The Amnion do sound pretty unique. That is what I like to see in a sci-fi series because the more less human an alien species is the more alien it will be.That in turn will make the game more interesting.
For instance, right now I am reading a Star Trek book called "Doctor's Orders" which I've never read before. The over all story itself is so-so, but I am interested in the aliens described in the book. As Dianne Dwane describes them they appear to be round balls of protoplasm, with black eye stalks, have no internal organs, can assume any shape they want, and speak with a chittering sound. they have no government, no religion to speak of, and live from moment to moment without anysense of organisation or planning. They are truly strange by human standards. Bottom line, the more diversity we could put in a game besides the typical humanoids the better. It will make exploring the game universe more interesting I think. Cheers! On 8/14/12, dark <d...@xgam.org> wrote: > Hi Tom. > > > To bring things back on track however, this does raise some interesting > possibilities for alien races and cultures, sinse the more we can believe > that any views we hold are mutable, the more possible it is to considder the > > views of different times, places, or alien races. > > For instance, in Steven donaldson's gap cycle he imagines humanity coming > into conflict with a race called the amneon. The amneon are not actually > evil as we would understand evil, sinse they do not feel animosity or hatred > > to humanity or wish to destroy humanity at all, indeed they have a strong > sense of honour and reputation. Yet, they are driven by an absolute drive to > > genetically alter any species they come across, to make that species > resemble themselves genetically. > > This is not like the borg say, sinse anyone infected by the amneon remains > an individual, but the amneon themselves don't realize that the process of > having someone's body mutate will drive them literally insane. > > Yet, the Amneon are desperate to maintain trading links with humans, sinse > they are able to recognize aimes that will fulfill their ultimate goal and > contribute to their survival, so they often trade with outlaw captains, > particularly for specimins of technology sinse their own biologically based > > technology is less than efficient at mass production of anything (they thus > > have far fewer space vessels than humanity), and of course for human > subjects to convert into amneon. It's indeed suggested that the amneon's > desire to convert others is simply a base survival instinct and a wish to > reproduce, but still one tempered by reason. > > They're one of the most unique alien races I've seen in an sf setting, apart > > from the fact that Donaldson's descriptions of them, their easthetics and > technology is extremely disturbing, and very different from what you'd > expect. I Also admire the completeness of the amneon because the gap cycle > involves just! the conflict betwene the amneon, privateer captains, and the > > united mining company which through economic mite now controls all space > going vessels. > > it is exactly this sort of explanation of different modes of thinking, > cultures and points of view that I really enjoy in sf, ---- or indeed in > fantasy, and primarily the only difference I see betwene them is that sf is > > tempered by what "could" exist, albeit at the stretching of some scientific > > principles, while fantasy begins with the idea of the exploration of what > could never exist, though consistancy, good characterization, and decent > plotting apply just as well to both forms of literature and I hate formula > fantasy as much if not more as I hate formula sf. > > Beware the Grue! > > Dark. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://mail.audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
