(07-20-2013, 05:10 AM)Callipygian Wrote: I’ll be specifically describing the biological basis for these mating systems. Politics and sociology are not my fields of expertise, so there is plenty of room for these systems to be complicated by morality and ethics.I'm enjoying the open dialog this discussion has bolstered. Most of the criticism seems to be stemming from the concerns which inspired me to write these two lines. Personally, I'm expecting a wide spectrum of potential cultures for Miqo'te to choose from, from the lost "# tribe" full of cannibals and baby-killers to the new "$ tribe" of highly refined and culturally sophisticated city-dwellers. As one poster stated, modern humans share very similar biology with the ancient Spartans (or Incas, or Maori, or Romans, etc.) but vastly different cultures and values. In my mind, biology changes very slowly while culture changes very quickly. It's up to you the player to decide where you fall on the cultural spectrum and how it has influenced your character and their tribe. I specifically avoided cultural and political ideas because there's too many for me to quickly and justly describe, plus it's not my place to define that important aspect of your character or their tribe. My goal was to provide a rational foundation of biology upon which others could build based on their own interpretations of culture and individualism.
Personally I want this to foster interesting RP, and good stories are driven by conflict. Culture clash leads to conflict, which is why I'm suggesting that Miqo'te culture should clash a little with what we consider normal human culture. If it does, we'll likely develop some awesome stories out of it. If we don't challenge the basic assumption that "Miqo'te culture is likely very similar to human culture because the devs that are writing it are human," we can't explore all the possibilities. In my mind, there's every reason to believe that a feline race would be culturally and biologically different from hominid races, and that this difference would be a good thing from a roleplaying perspective.
About the notion of killing the old nunh's children when you take over a tribe, I included that because a quest option exists that every character will encounter that complicates the issue. You're welcome to interpret it however you like. I included it for those who may not have leveled up to level 25 in the beta yet, thus hadn't encountered it. Personally, I envision a scenario similar to the New World, where Christian missionaries put a great deal of effort into stamping out the ancient practices of blood sacrifice. It probably doesn't happen now, but may have happened in the past, and may still happen in some lost, undiscovered tribe.
The idea of elder females pulling the strings of Seeker tribes to determine which males become nunhs is one that I alluded to, but didn't really endorse strongly. Given that there are 26 different tribes, I envision a spectrum here. One tribe may have males who rule with an iron fist where the females are completely subservient. Another may have powerful elder females and no male can even hope to become a nunh without garnering endorsement from at least one of these matriarchs. It's up to the players to decide where their tribe falls on this spectrum, and I expect this will lead to some very interesting struggles and RP storylines.
As for those who are uncomfortable that I've boiled the entire race down to a few underlying biological principles, I offer this wikipedia page on human mating systems and behavior. I'm personally of the opinion that humans are not nearly as divorced from nature as many would like to believe. I'm also incredibly envious of those who have a more positive outlook on life and deeper faith in the notion of free will, as my own cynical perspective hasn't done me any favors in terms of my psychological well-being (positive people live longer, happier lives). I can see how my point of view would seem presumptuous to an idealist.
Also, a lot of the inconsistencies between this microcosm and real world biology are necessities of developing a video game. Game devs are artists and writers, not scientists. The idea that male Seekers should be larger or male Keepers more flamboyant while female Keepers more drab likely never occurred to them, and even if it did was ignored because of deadlines, budget, player protest (why are these female Keepers so drab, that's not fair!) and other real world factors.  But since I can't be playing the game at the moment, I spend my time thinking and writing about it.
(07-20-2013, 04:23 PM)DimmerMeerkat Wrote:I actually wasn't aware of these differences, so you raise a good point. As far as differences in coloration, pattern, or the length of the tail go, these sorts of adaptations don't take long to develop, as you're altering an existent trait rather than gaining a new one. Still, it's probably on the order of tens to hundreds of generations. As I mentioned in a post above this one, the traits I'm ascribing to a short time-frame are likely things the devs didn't even consider, so you're probably right.(07-20-2013, 05:10 AM)Callipygian Wrote: Recent (Sub)Speciation of the Miqo’te ClansThis section, I'd like to discuss! You have sound reasoning, but I think that you left out one big detail about the difference between Keepers and Seekers that could have completely altered your conclusion.
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I'm a tinker! Tinkerer? Hrm.... I'm an artificer! - Myxie Tryxle | Impressions and Memories
