jordiver2 said:

No, they really aren't.  Books  and such will SAY they are.  But even that often comes from the viewpoint of them and I think it comes off as real arrogance as opposed to actuality.  Fundamentally they have the same desires:  They love, they hate, they fight off Chaos, they defend their homes. 

The "Alien" comes most especially from the Aspect Paths and how they can be lost on them, or from Dark Eldars casual barbarism (which is an aspect of its own).  The bits that are just different enough.  they may say 'MORE ALIEN THAN ORKS RAWR!' but they are never, EVER portrayed that way, just as super advanced.

And seriously, there's far more alien stuff for characters out there.  Tekumel lets you play as 4 sided face thingies with multiple arms and legs.  Hell, human Tekumel is every bit as alien as Eldar are ever made out to be.

I'd rather have proppa Orky rulebook, than Eldar.

They have quite a few choices for "careers", their equipment can be "kustomized" in many ways and while 40k is a grimdark sci-fi, some light-hearted Orky fun would be appreciated (at least by me).

jordiver2 said:

I'm not that familiar with them either though based on some of the other comments I'd have to say that they can't be any less alien then the post-human Space Marines and FFG did a decent enough job to address my criticism with that RPG.  As for Dark Eldar... yeah I think even after Black Crusade most of us here are going to have to take a big fat PASS! to the Dark Eldar.  Some aspects of their society might be cool but for the most part... yeah I think I'll pass on them thank you.

Off the top of my head, Eldar are older and have lost infinitely more in their fall from grace then the Imperium.  Mankind claims to rule the galaxy and we might have for a short while... sort of.  The Eldar though are the only race in the lore that could make that remark and probably have meant it in their heyday.  They have a lot that a band of Eldar adventurers could recover or preserve.  Rogue Traders uncover Eldar artifacts and try to peddle them off to the cold trade or the Inquisition all the time.

klaymen_sk said:

And what is with this we HAVE to roleplay elitist bull? Who says we all want to roleplay? Maybe we want to shoot some stuff from the Eldar's point of view. Not every gaming group on earth is into the roleplaying aspect of the game. For goodness sake people.

 I think it was a solid choice. Many people are overwhelmed with the power level of Deathwatch, this is a lower level of play and offers a lot of roleplaying oppertunities including the chance for driving around a Leman Russ or two. 

kwinland said:

Did this really need a new thread?

Gamgee said:

A perfectly valid point.  Though on the flipside, game books generally don't do well unless they cater to BOTH groups of gamers.  Either way, after post-human super soldiers and individuals who regularly consort with a demonic patheon, the arguement that you can't RP the Eldar, the Tau, or the Ork is kind of... well okay it's not just stupid, it's fracking pants on head retarded.  While as greedy and as amoral as many a Rogue Trader, the folks at Games Workshop are still human unless there is some grand conspiracy I've missed out on.  Human hands designed the units and created the first mold prototypes while human brains came up with the lore for each and every army.  There is no way a space alien can be written in a way that isn't in some way comprehendible to the human mind unless it's written by an actual space alien.  And I seriously doubt GW has an actual Tau, Ork, or Eldar on staff....

So yes, either way this arguement is pointless.  Unfortunately it will likely continue on and on until FFG announces either "The Greater Good" or whatever would make a good title for the Eldar game, the game gets released, and after mulling it over for a few months we decide that it's not that bad or at least suffers from the same criticism as the rest of the 40k RPG franchise.

Psion said:

Yeah, I guess it really depends on how serious you take the whole roleplaying part of roleplaying game. I withdraw my opinion and state the opposite.

In my opinion, being a 40k fan for a long while now, the Eldar if they ever get a core book, would need a THOROUGH background section. I don't mean just craftworlds or history etc. I mean a comprehensive section on their mindset and how they think. For those players who want to roleplay Eldar, me slightly included, we'd need a really really firm idea as to how different the Eldar from us.(general fluff both new and old), They have the attention spans of a knat at times. Those locked on their path are those who don Aspect Warrior Exarch armor, the Farseers, Autarchs to name a few. An eldar citizen may go on a 100 year bout of being an Aspect warrior, and later get distracted by something and go study music. Though they share common feelings and certain facets with humanity in the end their minds are different from birth, from humans. This is a race that is dying out, and they know it. Humanity in 40k is blind to this ultimate truth, they dnt except it. Eldar however know they are dieing. These few reasons listed is why if an Eldar book is to be created it needs to have a comprehensive section to help players and the gm understand HOW different the eldar are from humans in 40k, or in general. Other than that the mindset of the different existing craftworlds in general should be gone into detail as to how a character from that wolrd feels. In closing if an Eldar books is to be done it needs a thorough section on how fundamentaly, psychologicaly, and morally the Eldar are different from humanity, or in my opinion it will fail. Cheers!

P.S. Bump on the possibility of an Ork core book, their cunning and brutality would be a real fun game to roleplay WAAAAAAAGHH

Inquisitor Augustus Pike said:

And that's important in any game!  And a big reason I'd love buying such a book (Or helping write it).  I love stuff like that.  It's a fun part of everything.  It's a big part of Tekumel and any other setting heavy game.  And in general fun to read!

AluminiumWolf said:

Okay Aluminium, you've convinced me.

Well.. not really.

Blood Pact said:

I'm just saying, all you gotta do is act like Elrond from the LOTR movies. This is not difficult.

+++++I hate this place. This zoo. This prison. This reality, whatever you want to call it, I can't stand it any longer. It's the smell, if there is such a thing. I feel saturated by it. I can taste your stink and every time I do, I fear that I've somehow been infected by it.+++++

Is it possible that the FFG contract with GW prohibits development of certain intellectual properties?  I remember for along time that the Black Library submissions page would not accept any stories with Eldar as main characters.  It seems like GW likes there to be some areas of mystery in their universe.

AluminiumWolf said:

Wasn't that quote from the Matrix?