Most Cliche'd Alien

[Lord Zentei]

It is. This kind of writing is called "wanking" and often comes across like a brat having a tantrum. It's terrible uncreative and dishonest toward the readers. If the author wants to discuss his ideas on society, he should write an essay. If he wants to tell a story, then he can tell a story.

Well, I can't say that I agree with you there. Stories can deliver a message well without being bad (though I do agree that if done badly it can be really bad). Though storytelling for it's own sake has it's place too.

Yes, and I don't see any stipulation for "ideal society wanking" in that characterisation of scifi. I think it's pretty clear that Asimov, Ellison, Clarke, pretty much every damn writer worth his scifi salt can deal with "alternatives" without wanking about how society would be soooo much better if we all just did what he wanted.

Except maybe Heinlein..

Frankly I think you can agree that the Minbari and Eldar societies are a far cry from ideal: certain aspects of their societies are better perhaps, but the problems associated with their societies are explored. They may be enviable in some ways, but certainly not all.

"What would happen if" is a stipulation, and improvement over what society we have should hardly be verboten.

I don't think the problem is with idealized alien societies vs human societies so much as with the concept that any society at all can be ideal. It's very hard to pull that one off convincingly, and 99 times out of 100 it comes across as retarded or forced--hence the cliche and people's reaction to it.

As above.

And as for the statistic you named, I blame the Bermans and the Bragas of the world.

[outcast]

human/cat aliens. Hate the damn things. Only there to serve as wankoff material for furries.

You mean like 'Warrior Cats'? Like... Kilrathi, Kzinti, Orions, Mrrshan?

to be honest i kind of liked the Kilrathi, they weren't dumb 'klingon' like warriorcats. they were evil sam fisher kitties with spaceships.

[outcast]

actually, to be honest, the most cliche'd race in sci-fi, in my mind, would probably be humans. homo sapiens sapiens. as D'argo in farscape put it:

D'argo: "i've watched a lot of your sci-fi programs, and in them, the aliens are always evil and the humans always win."

(random kid): "So you're telling us we should learn there are good aliens out there too?"

D'argo: "No, i'm saying you won't always win."


Humans are always either fighting a seemingly hopeless battle against superior numbers/technology and somehow win (usually through the actions of a few celebrities). OR we're these good guys that go around the universe telling people diplomacy and not war is the way to go. (think about it, in every space strategy game (like masters of orion), humans are ALWAYS described as being diplomatic)

anyway...that's what i think.

[Noble Ire]

Thats one of the reasons I like Starcraft. With only a few scant exceptions, humans are pompous, idiot, powerhungery, redneck SOB's who get their asses handed to them by the two superior alien races.

[Antares]

Xenos all the way.
At least there is an explanation why they are bipedal and look humanoid

[starfury]

Humans are always either fighting a seemingly hopeless battle against superior numbers/technology and somehow win (usually through the actions of a few celebrities). OR we're these good guys that go around the universe telling people diplomacy and not war is the way to go. (think about it, in every space strategy game (like masters of orion), humans are ALWAYS described as being diplomatic)

yeah in most sci-fi. one the aces up the human sleeve is their diplomatic power, it was even the main human power in the bab5 custom card game. only the IOM and the GE seem to be giant human superpowers who go around being evil conquering killers as opposed to fighting against hopeless odds. like the Humans being evil conquering bastards for a change.

[Crom]

Thats one of the reasons I like Starcraft. With only a few scant exceptions, humans are pompous, idiot, powerhungery, redneck SOB's who get their asses handed to them by the two superior alien races.

What about the second group of humans from Brood Wars? I haven't played it much but they struck me as culturally different than the Space Rednecks of the Confederacy.

[Nephtys]

Thats one of the reasons I like Starcraft. With only a few scant exceptions, humans are pompous, idiot, powerhungery, redneck SOB's who get their asses handed to them by the two superior alien races.

What about the second group of humans from Brood Wars? I haven't played it much but they struck me as culturally different than the Space Rednecks of the Confederacy.

Oh. Instead of Space Rednecks, we get Space Nazis.

Still a Cliche.

[Siege]

Another cliche which probably isn't as cliche as the "warrior viking in SPACE!" one but still deserves mention... The dead and buried but REALLY advanced (and quite possibly evil) alien race which comes back to life because a solitary hapless human adventurer stumbles upon some ruins and touches a glowy thing which makes the evil robots/alien consciousness/whatever awake from its millennia-long slumber... Really advanced but numbers are limited yet growing, bla bla bla.

[Shroom Man 777]

There's a reason cliches exist, that's because they work. Good cliches rock, and things that fuck up cliches and make you go "WTFLOL!" also rock.

Oh and the United Earth Directorate weren't Space Russians. They were just arrogant expansionistic fucks. Kinda like the US. Except instead of WMDs they had the goal of uniting the entirety of humanity into one greater interstellar co-propsperity sphere of influence or some sort of shit or another.

[HemlockGrey]

Only the one specOps guy was a Russian. The commander was a Frenchie.

[Shroom Man 777]

...who sounded like an Englishman. And the rest of them were of all sorts of nationalities, from the United Earth Directorate and all.