Your thoughts on reversing 2 stereotypes
It may not make enough of an impact to just reverse them, but I''m wondering what you think...
Remember the HR Giger / Stan Winston designed aliens form the Aliens series? Night black, slimy, huge jaws, long spidery limbs, claws?
Scholars. Pacifists. Comedians. What if? What if they were depicted the same way, with the same dark, steamy environs, but they were "the good guys." What would your reaction be, and the folks you know who''ve seen them?
The other stereotype: The beneficient angel. Sweet, kind, holy, radiant. What if this was the mental image projected by a very nasty species; maybe a species fond of mayhem and murder.
The art would be the same, and on first contact I wouldn''t tell players which species was what. But their actions would speak louder than words.
Just wondering if this is too simplistic a reversal...
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Just waiting for the mothership...
--------------------Just waiting for the mothership...
I''ve thought of this before too.
It actually makes sense. And exists in nature.
Something could look ferocious, to scare away enemies.
And something else could look timid, to attract potential prey.
ala wolf in sheep''s clothing.
(The players would soon learn!)
It actually makes sense. And exists in nature.
Something could look ferocious, to scare away enemies.
And something else could look timid, to attract potential prey.
ala wolf in sheep''s clothing.
(The players would soon learn!)
Well, to quote Juliet Capulet from Shakespeare''s The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet."
The same philosophy could be applied here. I, for one, would like to see such a thing happen. However, is the fresh change worth the players'' initial confusion?
An interesting dilemma
The same philosophy could be applied here. I, for one, would like to see such a thing happen. However, is the fresh change worth the players'' initial confusion?
An interesting dilemma
![](smile.gif)
------------------------------"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use. " - Galileo Galilei
quote: Just wondering if this is too simplistic a reversal...
Well, I remember a Lost in Space episode that had the same idea, so draw your own conclusions
![](smile.gif)
Assuming this is for your RPG project, I vote for going with it. Even if you don''t take it beyond the level of a simple object lesson (by that I mean that it only serves the purpose of misleading the character until he discovers the real deal, after which point the appearance of the aliens is a non-issue in the game), it''s still a nice little touch that I beleive most role-players will appreciate.
quote: I, for one, would like to see such a thing happen. However, is the fresh change worth the players'' initial confusion?
For a RPG, the answer is yes. In a shoot-em-up game, visual short-hand to distinguish good guys from bad guys is necessary. For role-playing, though, I think it''s fair game to reasonably play against the player''s prejudices.
-Sean
If the Persians hide the sun, we shall have our battle in the shade.
"we need common-sense judges who understand that our rights were derived from God. And those are the kind of judges I intend to put on the bench." - GW Bush"no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States." - Article VI of the US Constitution.
I think it depends on the reason for the switch. If it''s just a nifty little "feature", then the player will soon learn that the aliens are friendly and the angels are evil - what''s the point? But if you base your game around it, it could work quite well. I am reminded of a Futurama episode (I know, I know
) where Fry and Bender were called to war against this race of weird bouncing balls. Throughout the episode, we just assumed that we were the good guys, and the balls were evil (I mean, they are weird-looking). Only at the very end did we discover that we were the invading force, and the balls were just trying to defend their home planet.
If you have something like that - for example, we''re at war with a race of evil-looking aliens and the angels are on our side, but half-way through the game, you discover that you''re actually working for the bad guys (however that comes about, perhaps you''re saved by an alien and he tells you his story - heh, I can just imagine an H.G. Giger alien talking
) and the story revolves around you trying to get the humans to switch sides or something...
codeka.com - Just click it.
![](wink.gif)
If you have something like that - for example, we''re at war with a race of evil-looking aliens and the angels are on our side, but half-way through the game, you discover that you''re actually working for the bad guys (however that comes about, perhaps you''re saved by an alien and he tells you his story - heh, I can just imagine an H.G. Giger alien talking
![](smile.gif)
codeka.com - Just click it.
The main thing I''m looking to do is to liberate the player from notions that appearance == internals. I want to be able to, through depiction, make the statement that it''s only our culture that makes us think the way we do about visual representation. For instance, the Zerg in Starcraft could just as easily have been made benign and helpful if they were part of an an RPG, even though they looked slimy and evil.
I also want to mess with the player''s head a bit when it comes to confronting "alienness." I love Star Trek, but the way aliens are portrayed is pretty annoying. The Ferengi are a perfect example. They were supposed to be heavies, who evolved on a low atmosphere planet. People thought their big ears looked ridiculous, but I think if Paramount would have stuck with them as brutal and aggressive, it would have worked. Instead, they fell back on stereotypes and caved to making them comedians.
By putting in stereotype reversals or variations that knock down stereotypes, I would hopefully (as much as any game could) be getting players to deal with the fact that the world doesn''t revolve around them, or even humans. It would be less "egocentric."
I could also make everyone look like "monsters" and just let players sort it out. The angels thing might be too blatant, but I like the idea of a parasitic, psionic race that can get cultures to trust them by appearing benign.
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Just waiting for the mothership...
I also want to mess with the player''s head a bit when it comes to confronting "alienness." I love Star Trek, but the way aliens are portrayed is pretty annoying. The Ferengi are a perfect example. They were supposed to be heavies, who evolved on a low atmosphere planet. People thought their big ears looked ridiculous, but I think if Paramount would have stuck with them as brutal and aggressive, it would have worked. Instead, they fell back on stereotypes and caved to making them comedians.
By putting in stereotype reversals or variations that knock down stereotypes, I would hopefully (as much as any game could) be getting players to deal with the fact that the world doesn''t revolve around them, or even humans. It would be less "egocentric."
I could also make everyone look like "monsters" and just let players sort it out. The angels thing might be too blatant, but I like the idea of a parasitic, psionic race that can get cultures to trust them by appearing benign.
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Just waiting for the mothership...
--------------------Just waiting for the mothership...
quote: Original post by Wavinator
I like the idea of a parasitic, psionic race that can get cultures to trust them by appearing benign.
Who doesn''t!
Why don''t you have the parasitic, psionic race be humans?
That''d be a freaky twist wouldn''t it?
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Relee the Squirrel
-- Relee the Squirrel
quote: Original quote by Wavinator
The main thing I'm looking to do is to liberate the player from notions that appearance == internals. I want to be able to, through depiction, make the statement that it's only our culture that makes us think the way we do about visual representation.
Very interesting.
![](smile.gif)
Edited by - Ghostface on October 6, 2001 2:24:50 PM
------------------------------"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use. " - Galileo Galilei
This post reminds me of the book "Childhood''s End", by Arthur C. Clarke. Take a look at the race of the Overlords.
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Omnipotent_Q
A guy at a community college with too much time on his hands.
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Omnipotent_Q
A guy at a community college with too much time on his hands.
------------------------------Omnipotent_Q"Poor people are crazy. I'm eccentric."
The idea is quite interesting, I have played an old star trek game that had a similar reversal where 2 microscopic lifeforms took on a hideous apearance yet peacefull and a nuetral apearance yet hostile.They where shown through a holoprojection system. The final solution to the puzzle was to combine the dna from the 2 species to form a higher form of life but one of the npcs nearly destroyed the hideous ones beliving the lies that they where monsters. It all goes back to the old saying "you can''t judge a book by its cover".
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