Back in 1998, when I was first creating the universe of OtherSpace, my focus was mostly on providing an abundance of options for people experienced in MUSHes who also were fans of various space opera/space fantasy franchises.
So, besides garden-variety Earth humans, I introduced talking cat people, lizard people, fish people, bug people, psionic bear people for all those Ewok fans, and even super-cold jellyfish people.
I won’t call that a mistake. I think the scope of choices available to players in the original iteration of the MUSH proved most appealing and helped build a following for the game.
But, over the years, it seems like that broad spectrum of alien options somehow became too much for the average player to grok, especially after the theme evolved. Empires rose and fell. Universal variants came and went. In some cases, the essential nature of what made the aliens so appealing to start with shifted due to the changing story.
Plus, here’s the thing: Humans can be awfully interesting. How we see ourselves, how we interact with each other, and how we react to new and unusual circumstances are often fascinating to behold.
As I work on this reboot nearly 16 years after the first go-round, it’s no coincidence that character creation leading to Earth 2550 will offer only humans as a racial option.
Since 1998, other text-based MUDs and MUSHes have drastically dwindled toward extinction. So those aren’t liable to provide us with new blood. Given my relative lack of free time, I can’t afford to spend a lot of OtherSpace time answering questions about cultural development for more than a dozen races.
Our adventure begins with humans on Earth, Luna, and Mars. We’ll find intrigue and diversity between the regions, cities, and cultures inhabited by humanity. And, together, we’ll start down a path of research, exploration, and discovery in which new and veteran players alike have the opportunity to forge a new future for OtherSpace.
I agree! The potential depth and breadth of humanity’s exploration of space, their discovery of other people, plants, animals, species, worlds, aliens, etc, should provide more than sufficient fodder to generate engaging story.
As someone with five characters, three active, two of those human and one of those mostly human, I’m confident that I can speak from experience that humans as a race will work.
The time saved on character approval alone (no more lengthy ‘discussions’ about inadvisable and implausible custom critters!) will work well both for the players and the administration.
Anyone who wants to put up an enormous fuss about not being able to be X, Y, Z, -and- the kitchen sink, is a poor carpenter blaming his/her/its tools.
(Or just a tool! NO! BAD AL! Don’t be mean!)
I agree with Al that for now with the Reboot The human race can be sufficient enough to work with for people to make there characters.
I’m already getting several idea’s for a character myself that I might create.