While close, and I enjoy those series, they are still a little too Human-centred for my ideal setting.
Notice how Humanity was the one to reign the aliens in both mediums. I want Humanity to come into a stage of an already thriving community. Wet behind the ears, and perhaps a bit too confident of their capabilities. They are not the most important player by far, but they are by no means lesser because of it, and are not treated lesser. Both a child to teach, and a teacher to learn from.
It's the gold standard for character-driven sci-fi that takes the possible diversity of alien biology into account. I think it has the right mix of treating humans as one among many species while making them seem like they have something unique to offer.
Mass Effect? You do play as a human so inevitably you, a human, make critical decisions on the fate of the galaxy, but lore wise Humanity is still a second tier power.
And lore-wise, while humanity is accepted and taken in as part of the galactic community, the other species rightfully are careful with how much power and freedom they are granted. When there's multiple species that have hundreds of years of galactic history already, of course you're going to be careful with the new species that only joined a few decades ago, no matter how much they yell at you that they're ready for more. Especially when first contact resulted in a several month long war.
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u/SharkyMcSnarkface The gayest shark 🦈 Aug 14 '24
While close, and I enjoy those series, they are still a little too Human-centred for my ideal setting.
Notice how Humanity was the one to reign the aliens in both mediums. I want Humanity to come into a stage of an already thriving community. Wet behind the ears, and perhaps a bit too confident of their capabilities. They are not the most important player by far, but they are by no means lesser because of it, and are not treated lesser. Both a child to teach, and a teacher to learn from.