Not everyone has studied English in University here, so respect the little mistakes.
I only had English in School, my Mothertongue is german and I still get it right. It's not that hard.
There has never been Species Selection in BioWare Games - even in Dragon Age not, as the Races there are only Races, they do not fit the Definition of separate Species (as they are able to interbreed and even have fertile Offspring).
Ok I keep seeing people point out Inquisition as a reason for no multi race since the Inquisitor was so poorly done. But look way back to DAO. There they did it right. It can be done. and Inquisition did not add elves. dwarves, and qunari rill like a 3rd of the way into the games development. So it can be done. If you simply plane for it and not crowbar it in.
I'm bit disappointed, since playing as alien was my biggest wish for ME:A, but in other hand I knew that it was going to be unlikely.
I enjoy playing as the best species in the galaxy. Humanity #1
I enjoy playing as the best species in the galaxy. Humanity #1
We need a slur for fictional species that identifies them as such, like fics, or ficties. Those fics got nothing on humanity.
Ok I keep seeing people point out Inquisition as a reason for no multi race since the Inquisitor was so poorly done. But look way back to DAO. There they did it right. It can be done. and Inquisition did not add elves. dwarves, and qunari rill like a 3rd of the way into the games development. So it can be done. If you simply plane for it and not crowbar it in.
No, DAO was terrible with it. Your race was never acknowledged beyond a couple slurs. Having it be relevant for the first couple hours and then ignored is not 'doing it right'.
I very much doubt there's ever going to be payable aliens in SP, thankfully. It's a terrible idea on so many levels, and I don't see the need beyond fanservice.
The answer to how to do it properly would be to have actual storylines and content unique to each race choice throughout the game, but that got shot down earlier in this very thread.
If multiple races are to be a thing, they need to make it matter beyond switching some dialogue here and there, even if it might ruffle some feathers among forum posters.
It's not a little mistake, it has nothing to do with English and it permeates the entire forum.
Actually, it is matter of English (and probably some other languages too).
F.e. in my language there are practically only alien races in sci-fi genre and alien species is mostly used only for non humanoid aliens or animals.
As has been said by others in this thread (and others), having playable aliens in SP wont work without making the protagonist extremely generic, forgoing any unique physiological/cultural aspects of said alien in favor of a human that just has a Salarian, or Turian face. I don't doubt that one could create a widely divergent playthrough with the game actually taking your choice of species into account beyond the occasional NPC going: "Hey, you're an Asari." but I have yet to see it. DA:O was the best out of BioWare's attempts and it wasn't really that divergent outside of your origin story; plus it had the benefit of a silent protagonist, and being a fantasy setting. Aliens are more than just short humans with beards, or thin humans with pointy ears; they have developed in completely separate environments.
I would love to play as something other than human, but I don't want the narrative watered down to accommodate it. I would love to research things as a Salarian, or skitter across the battlefield as a Rachni, but the SP narrative is not the place for that. Make the campaign less focused on humanity, and explore the alien side of the setting, and then let us play as those aliens that we find fascinating in MP (IMO).
The answer to how to do it properly would be to have actual storylines and content unique to each race choice throughout the game, but that got shot down earlier in this very thread.
If multiple races are to be a thing, they need to make it matter beyond switching some dialogue here and there, even if it might ruffle some feathers among forum posters.
I enjoy playing as the best species in the galaxy. Humanity #1
Humanity **** Yeah!
On a broader note I've always used the word races for sapient beings and species for plants and less evoluted animals. To use the word species for intelligent beings (humans) would be kind of offensive in my language as it would be like comparing them to animals. It feels strange for me to use the word species for sapient beings.
Also no need to nitpick on these kind of things, we non-native speaker use this language the best we can in an informal environment such as this one.
Actually, it is matter of English (and probably some other languages too).
F.e. in my language there are practically only alien races in sci-fi genre and alien species is mostly used only for non humanoid aliens or animals.
It's a matter of biology, actually. Which should be the same in every language.
https://en.wikipedia.../Race_(biology)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Species
Let me put it this way: DA has never done payable races properly. ME species are way more different from each other. It would take a lot of resources to implement them, and even then it would almost certainly be half-assed.
Consider how very few people would actually be interested in such a feature and how it would hurt the story and it's just not worth it.
I didn't say they have either.
My point was more that there is no middle ground, if they aren't willing to devote resources to unique content for something perhaps 20% of the player base will ever see, its going to suck and feel watered out regardless of how much they try to acknowledge it in minor dialogue.
Either don't do it or go all in.
It's a matter of biology, actually. Which should be the same in every language.
Actually some languages have their own taxonomic system and terminology, where similar sounding or derived words got different meaning then in original. Truly international terms are mostly old latin terms.
What you post here is English (and probably international) version but not every nation use it this way.
One known example of such differences:
English term Caucasian (race) is in many languages, mostly Slavic, known only as Europoid race and Caucasian means only people living near Caucasus mountains. But both are terms right.
Actually some languages have their own taxonomic system and terminology, where similar sounding or derived words got different meaning then in original.
What you post here is English (and probably international) version but not every nation use it this way.
One known example of such differences:
English term Caucasian (race) is in many languages, mostly Slavic, known only as Europoid race and Caucasian means only people living near Caucasus mountains. But both are terms right.
Fine okay, the discussion would be offtopic anyway.
Edit: Actually, no. Not okay. 
Race is race, no matter what language you use. The specific name of a race in question might change according to your language and area but that's not what I was talking about.
You want to play a dwarf? It doesn't work in this franchise.
A short Krogan is almost like a dwarf.
Actually, no. Not okay.
No, you are still mistaken.
Problem is that you are ignoring (I hope unwillingly) fact that when some language accept Latin terminology with just little cosmetic changes, other languages created or reused their own words with different connotations as translation of these terms
English "Species" is just cosmetically changed Latin "speciēs".
But Czech translator (my language) used old and relatively common word "druh" which already has some old connotation tied to itself that will slightly change its meaning in some phrases.
As result, when "extraterrestrial species" in English means "organisms living outside Earth", Czech translation "mimozemský druh" would mean "organism living outside Earth AND relative to another organism on Earth". See how different meanings can one word have in two languages?
But "race", in Czech "rasa", was pure loanword and has no such connotation which is main reason why is phrase "extraterrestrial (alien) race" linguistic preffered choice now.
Ok, you are correct. 
I learned something today. 
Locking the player out of significant game content because of a race they chose is stupid design.
That's the way it should be if you're offering different races. Especially if you're trying to establish that these races are treated differently et al.
If a place is for Batarians only then why should a human (who they have deep hostilities with) be able to just walk in and out of the place? Why would the PC even think it's smart to surround themselves with Batarians in a place for Batarians?
Although I think it would be funny to let the Player chose whether they want to enter such a place only to get shanked multiple times before leaving the joint. lol! But if bioware isn't going to do that with the race selection then why bother offering them?
That's the way it should be if you're offering different races. Especially if you're trying to establish that these races are treated differently et al.
If a place is for Batarians only then why should a human (who they have deep hostilities with) be able to just walk in and out of the place? Why would the PC even think it's smart to surround themselves with Batarians in a place for Batarians?
Although I think it would be funny to let the Player chose whether they want to enter such a place only to get shanked multiple times before leaving the joint. lol! But if bioware isn't going to do that with the race selection then why bother offering them?
True, but he has a point.
If you add species selection, then you MUST add stuff like that to make it believable. I don't know you, but if they're going to add divergent content I'd much rather it was based on in-game choices rather than character creation.
Yeah the title is sarcastic. I know that most people just pick the boring human but letting your players be different races is a big deal for a lot of fans. It would defiantly help push ME:A which will be a good game into a great game.
To return to the topic, I think the main problem is 'whether or not the Mass Effect series remains with a set Protagonist'. Do we go the Dragon Age, which features a new character each game, or even the Resident Evil route, which cycles through a relatively set main cast?
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We know we are playing a human in the next game, but will the game after Andromeda feature this very same human, or will we move on to a new character who may be a Turian, or a Krogan, or perhaps we see the galaxy from the eyes of a domestic race**? I'm curious as to which approach they go for, though I'd rather prefer former protagonist type, leaving the 'Story of the World***' to Dragon Age and the 'Story of One' to a series of Mass Effect games, even if it means jumping to a new protagonist every three games.
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* Leliana.
** English is a wonderful thing. Did you know that 'Bromance' is now officially a word according to Merriam-Webster? It's true, look it up! In fact, here's a link! Languages evolve and change and not everything means the same thing every time when used, especially as time marches every onwards. After all, Legal Insanity and Medical Insanity are two drastically different things that only have one small similarity that keeps them locked together, however detached that may be. What's more, there was a time when the primary definition for the word gay was 'to be rather happy' which is not entirely the case now, the same can be said for the word 'awesome' which meant something wholesomely different from what it is thought of now. In matters of fiction writing versus maters of biology, the term 'race' is used to refer to any sentient/sapient species of that particular universe (EX. Tolkien's 'Race of Men', High Fantasy's Elven races ETC)
*** Let's face it, people: Dragon Age is really just the high fantasy version of The Gods Must be Crazy, co-starring Morrigan, Leliana, Flemeth, and whatever sub-protagonist they can dig up who is probably voiced by Tory Baker or something I dunno.
There's always MP..
and I bet it will be a pre-order bonus to play as another race in SP.
There's always MP..
Unless the MP has a story mode, it doesn't count.
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