This thread is inspired by another: view original post
The exclusion of the Tigerman probably points toward the Awoken and Exo not being aliens, as the Tigerman (obviously alien, am I right, guys?) did not fit the vibe they were going for. The two that made the cut are most likely human variations, The Food Chain pointed out that the existence of aliens with similar facial features is highly unlikely.
This is a little long but almost all of it hasn't been gone over.
As ShadowSlayer218 and a few others alluded to, this is a mythic sci-fi game, the Awoken clearly represent the Elven element of this mash-up. Evidenced by the screenshot from the Destiny Character Development video, they appear to be identified with the Hunter, a ranger-esce class (note the yellow hued warm colors, and the left variant doesn't even have an exposed face).
As for the Exo, previously we couldn't see the full concept but The Exalener has provided us with a [url=http://puu.sh/2pNg2]suitable reference[/url]. That helmet doesn't appear to have enough room for a full skull, notice the back top portion appears either blown out, broken, or stylized to have a chunk missing from what would be a full head. Also notice the hands, particularly the the thumbs, where the webbing and muscle should be instead there are mechanical tendons and a blacked out gap. To me the hands appear mechanical with the legs and feet simply being armored, indicating the Exo is not fully machine.
Where does this put the Exo?
[i]outside, external, turning out, outward[/i]- medically and scientifically this term is used to prefix something that produces something else, such as energy or waste, or something that lays outside of something else.
The most prominent term we might think of is [i]exoskeleton[/i] but we know that all classes utilize some form of armor, so maybe this is an external skeletal feature or replacement that does not supplement but attaches at the end of the body as prosthesis.
With human civilization facing annihilation it could make sense for recovered casualties to be repaired and sent back into battle, their disabilities replaced with prosthetics, their damaged brains/humanity sutured and cropped (offering a more useful disability: a mental familiarity with and propensity for violence).
Or perhaps they've willingly subjected themselves to medical procedures and cybernetic alterations aimed at enhancing their [i]physical[/i] or [i]outward[/i] presence on the battlefield, whereas the Awoken (filling the role of the Elves) might have more of an intellectual/spiritual prowess, scrying abilities or mental connection to physics, or similarly, as most have proposed, a more intense magical presence.
What do you think of this speculation, it's effect on story, and the gameplay implications of this may be?
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5 Replies in this Sub-ThreadEdited by TheEyeOfOdin: 4/6/2013 3:23:51 PMI disagree with the point about aliens not being likely to have human features. This would be due to something called Convergent Evolution. This is where two totally separate species isolated from each others have developed the same adaptations in order to accomplish the same problems. This can be seen with ants and termites, thylacine and dogs, kangaroos and deers and many other species. So if aliens on other planets needed to accomplish similar tasks to humans then it is likely they would adapt in similar ways.
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[quote]So if aliens on other planets needed to accomplish similar tasks to humans then it is likely they would adapt in similar ways.[/quote] How many Earth-like planets, first had the dinosaurs wiped off of them and did not terminate themselves when they discovered the military application of every technology? You're talking about a similar planet with a similar evolutionary timeline, and yes, dinosaurs matter because they were the first dominate species on the planet before their extinction event. The lizard brain would most likely prevail again on another planet with a different history, and while we're at it [spoiler]what about the widely accepted giant impact theory that hypothesizes the creation of the Luna? Mercury and Venus have no moons and Mars has only two asteroid sized satellites, making it appear as though our moon is somewhat of an oddity in the inner solar system. Without a moon our whole evolutionary branches would have changed; think about the differences in night vision, our ability to plot time accurately and in-system distances at a young age. Tidal effects would disappear and great amounts of water would drift toward the polar caps. The Moon also has stabilizing effect on our angle of precession, unlike Mars which has seen it's ice caps drift to the equator. Also some scientist think that multi-plate tectonics are a result of the Moon's presence without which other inner planets have a mantle which does not recycle as well as ours. That is one 'small' difference that seems to be a [i]rarity[/i].[/spoiler] Minor atmospheric differences in elemental composition would alter the structure of everything down to single-celled organisms which in turn would offer a much different path to evolve along. Besides why would you want to breathe out of the front of your face when you can sense your predators/prey with stereo olfactory perception?
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Edited by TheEyeOfOdin: 4/6/2013 10:09:39 PM[quote]How many Earth-like planets, first had the dinosaurs wiped off of them and did not terminate themselves when they discovered the military application of every technology?[/quote] Yes I was talking about a similar planet to Earth, because that is the only type we know of that can harbour life. I am not talking about Earth itself though. In fact, I am not sure what point you are trying to make? Obviously this is a theoretical solar system with aliens coming from other regions of the solar system, on planets with different atmospheres. Their breathing anatomy may be different but they would need organs that could exchange gas into their blood for respiration. Maybe it isn't a mouth and lungs, but there are enough variations on Earth: gills of fish or tracheal systems of insects. Depending on the evolutionary stage of their planet there sensory organs might be different but I think they would be mostly similar. Something akin to eyes, nostrils, ears, etc. Most species no matter from what origin are going to need to react to the same stimuli as Earth species. Light, vibrations, chemicals, etc. And the sensory organs on Earth can be applied to other environments. Creatures on Earth exchange oxygen using either lungs, gills, the tracheal system of insects, leaves of plants and many other various methods. There could be a variety of systems to exchange other chemicals like methane, but the actual anatomical structures would be relatively similar as they need to do the same job. [quote]Besides why would you want to breathe out of the front of your face when you can sense your predators/prey with stereo olfactory perception?[/quote] I don't know what point you are trying to make at the end there? The ability to breathe out of the front of your face has NO effect on how you can sense predator or prey at all? That's like like saying "Why would you want brown hair when you can run really fast". They have no correlation what so ever. Also, in order to use tools, hand and arms would need to be free to do so, they would most likely be bipedal. Overall, in order to solve similar problems, similar adaptations are necessary, especially when they have the job of reacting to various stimuli. But, all that said, there is no proof to show I am right or wrong. There are a huge array of variations and adaptations on Earth, so it is also likely that there is a far larger array of variations that could solve the same problems.
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