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The Pilosus, a player race with 6 Genders for your 5th edition Sci Fi setting
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<blockquote data-quote="VelvetViolet" data-source="post: 7603312" data-attributes="member: 6686357"><p>Maybe I didn't articulate my arguments well enough. I'll try again:</p><p></p><p>The games repeatedly try to manufacture a moral dilemma where you're given a binary choice between curing the genophage or condemning the krogan to extinction. The dilemma being based on the assumption that krogans are inherently predisposed to breeding out of control. It's a disturbing neo-malthusian space man's burden type of deal that wouldn't be out of place in a Tom Kratman novel.</p><p></p><p>The logistics as described don't work. The krogans aren't biologically feasible. In fact, any population control dilemma like this doesn't seem feasible.</p><p></p><p>I'll describe this using the "r/K selection theory." It's been discredited but it's still a useful shorthand.</p><p></p><p>Essentially, a r-selected species produces a lot of offspring and invests zero parental care because most of those offspring won't live to reproduce. By contrast, a K-selected species produces a small number of offspring and invests parental care to ensure most live to reproduce.</p><p></p><p>With me so far?</p><p></p><p>The krogan are described as an r-selected species. The problem here is that it isn't feasible for an r-selected species to develop near-human intelligence. Why? Because things like language and culture and science need to be taught. The krogan should never have been able to develop sapience without a K-selection strategy.</p><p></p><p>Although the krogan are repeatedly claimed to be an r-selected species, what little we actually do see of their child-rearing practices does resemble a K-selected species. That is, they raise a small number of offspring who they instruct in language, culture and science. At the end of <em>Mass Effect 3</em>, we see a slide in which a krogan couple hold a baby after the genophage is cured. One baby, not a thousand.</p><p></p><p>It isn't physically possible for krogans to lay ~1000 eggs per year as they are stated to. An adult krogan is about 8 feet or so tall. A krogan newborn is about 2 feet tall. It isn't physically possible for a krogan woman to pop out a thousand of those two foot babies through her vagina every year, or approximately three births per day.</p><p></p><p>The writing contradicts itself depending on whether it wants you to be sympathetic toward the krogan or not. It rarely provides hard numbers but when it does those numbers are blatantly absurd.</p><p></p><p>I don't understand how this is so difficult to understand. The writers tried to pose a neo-malthusian population control dilemma. The problem is that the dilemma is physically impossible and relies on the player having no knowledge of the biological and mathematical science that it butchers.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="VelvetViolet, post: 7603312, member: 6686357"] Maybe I didn't articulate my arguments well enough. I'll try again: The games repeatedly try to manufacture a moral dilemma where you're given a binary choice between curing the genophage or condemning the krogan to extinction. The dilemma being based on the assumption that krogans are inherently predisposed to breeding out of control. It's a disturbing neo-malthusian space man's burden type of deal that wouldn't be out of place in a Tom Kratman novel. The logistics as described don't work. The krogans aren't biologically feasible. In fact, any population control dilemma like this doesn't seem feasible. I'll describe this using the "r/K selection theory." It's been discredited but it's still a useful shorthand. Essentially, a r-selected species produces a lot of offspring and invests zero parental care because most of those offspring won't live to reproduce. By contrast, a K-selected species produces a small number of offspring and invests parental care to ensure most live to reproduce. With me so far? The krogan are described as an r-selected species. The problem here is that it isn't feasible for an r-selected species to develop near-human intelligence. Why? Because things like language and culture and science need to be taught. The krogan should never have been able to develop sapience without a K-selection strategy. Although the krogan are repeatedly claimed to be an r-selected species, what little we actually do see of their child-rearing practices does resemble a K-selected species. That is, they raise a small number of offspring who they instruct in language, culture and science. At the end of [I]Mass Effect 3[/I], we see a slide in which a krogan couple hold a baby after the genophage is cured. One baby, not a thousand. It isn't physically possible for krogans to lay ~1000 eggs per year as they are stated to. An adult krogan is about 8 feet or so tall. A krogan newborn is about 2 feet tall. It isn't physically possible for a krogan woman to pop out a thousand of those two foot babies through her vagina every year, or approximately three births per day. The writing contradicts itself depending on whether it wants you to be sympathetic toward the krogan or not. It rarely provides hard numbers but when it does those numbers are blatantly absurd. I don't understand how this is so difficult to understand. The writers tried to pose a neo-malthusian population control dilemma. The problem is that the dilemma is physically impossible and relies on the player having no knowledge of the biological and mathematical science that it butchers. [/QUOTE]
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