Basics of the Four Playable Species
Written by Ren
Hello, your friendly neighbourhood Ren here. It has been said that MechScape "centres around the tension among four distinct species, each with their own look, abilities and back stories" (source) and that there are these "four factions" (source). This editorial provides a summary of what we know about them.

Pliigi
Darren B's Pliigi-related artwork was some of the first MechScape art we had on MechScape World (view it here) and the Pliigi themselves were confirmed by Mod MMG as a playable species. What the Pliigi look like has not been confirmed, but our best guess is that the following image of Darren B's is Pliigi concept art:

The buildings of the Pliigi and the "land vehicle" are variously described as being plant and organic. It therefore seems plausible that the Pliigi themselves are plant-based or in some way harness the natural environment and perform bio-engineering. The artwork includes references to work benches, temporary research stations, market stalls, bio containment, tutorial caravans, Pliigi houses and Aberrations Creatures (including "herd creatures"). The word Pliigi is Esperanto for 'increase', with pliiĝi also meaning 'augment' and 'grow'.

Humans
While humans have not been explicitly confirmed as a playable race, humanoids have featured in the official concept art. The "human pilot" artwork (see below) has a sort of grimy, steampunk look, while the "desert city" artwork (see here) gives a more Middle Eastern feel. It seems plausible that, like with other species, there will be quite a lot of variety in the "look" of the humans, consistent with Adam Tuckwell's comment that "we will offer gamers a very wide variety of customization for their characters" (source). For an analysis of one of the worlds which feature humans you should check out PoultryChamp's review in MSP #20 here.

Picture of Human Pilot (source):


Mech
Mechs or 'mecha' (see Wikipedia) are where the game gets its original name, although if they show up in the game they might not even be called mechs. They seem to either be one of the four playable species or be heavily utilized by a futuristic faction. Mod MMG said in April that "When we first came up with the idea for our new game it was primarily focused on robots known as 'mechs'... During the game's early evolution we became a lot more ambitious, and substantially widened our vision beyond just robots to encompass the wider possibilities of the sci-fi genre" (source). More recently he said "So we thought about, from the start, what if we had a bigger design brief, with these robots almost like Mechs, and it was very consistent. And it was only meant to be a year-long project originally launched in 2006... Certainly four years ago it would be sci-fi, robotic, and mech-like. But even now, that's just one of four factions, if you will. So it's grown and evolved as the sci-fi genre allows." (source)

It seems as is a Mech featured in the departmental logo for the Jagex graphcis team (central character):


It also seems like a Mech featured in the left-most image of a picture on a Jagex team t-shirt (see discussion):


Note: It is commonly understood that a pilotable walking vehicle can be called a 'mech', but its root are in the Japanese abbreviation 'MEKA' (メカ) which is derived from the English 'mechanical'. The Japanese usage of the term is much broader, and "is extended to humanoid, human-sized robots" (source) so not necessarily just "something you pilot".

Mortiga
While the other three species have a fairly firm basis for believing that they will appear in the game, the Mortiga (pictured below) are a little more sketchy. They show up in one picture by Darren B alongside the Pliigi artwork. In its favour is the fact that Mortiga is Esperanto for "deadly", meaning it would be consistent with the use of that language for the Pliigi. Considering the artwork is labelled as a 'character test' means that it is very possible that it will either look quite different or might have not made it into the game as one of the four playable species or factions. Still this rocky species is the best guess we have for the final species at the moment (just don't shoot me with lasers if they don't show up as a playable species).


Final Thoughts
MechScape creative producer Alex Janaway said that "I think, with Mechscape, we have created a game universe that has a history of its own and a future that is...to be discovered! You know there are different species involved and for us it means we have to be mindful of how we develop each species. As their own story arcs develop, the challenge for me and the rest of the team is being able to manage those to ensure they interweave seamlessly. So having this multidimensional approach to storytelling is definitely a new experience for me." (source)

Which species would you be most interested in learning the story of, and which would you most want to play as?


MechScape and Community News


Jagex gets interviewed about MechScape
Jagex recently sat down for an interview with Develop to discuss MechScape, and an abridged version of this features in a CasualGaming.biz article (Read More)

Live MechScape Q&A
Mark your calendars, on Thursday, August 27th Jagex will host a live MechScape Q&A session on their official forums. (Read more)


Previous Issues:

MechScape Post #21: The Mecherican Dream
MechScape Post #20: Desert City Art Review and New Beginnings Review
MechScape Post #19: Cultural Differences: How they might affect MechScape
MechScape Post #18: The Economy of an MMORPG
MechScape Post #17: Influences on MechScape
MechScape Post #16: MechScape Moderation
MechScape Post #15: The MechScape Environment II
MechScape Post #14: The Community of MechScape
MechScape Post #13: Codename MechScape
MechScape Post #12: The Importance of Music to MechScape as a Game
MechScape Post #11: How MechScape Will Appeal to an Older Demographic


Footnotes
Contributors: Brenden, Ed5, Ren (Content Research Team); Pipinowns (Writing & Editing Team), MC.
Disclaimer: The views expressed by members of staff do not necessarily represent the view of MechScape World.

Nice work Ren. It was a good read!

It was a good interesting piece of information.

I just wish it could be truly confirmed exactly What or who the other playable races will be.

Very cool. Thanks for posting.

Really good work Ren, it was an excellent read.

Nice! That Mortiga is hawt stuff.

Awesome job Ren, personally I believe this will be the Pliigi because it has the organic look on it's back and such.



(Full-sized picture)

thanks for the information. its quite helpful in understanding much of the mechscape species concept.things like this gets me excited...knowing mainpoint of the game, so far am very intrested in the game and can't wait till it comes out.A quick question i would like to put in is about the different species . do all the species have the same strength or its own certain advantage over the others?.. because as you said about one species , it has the ability to stretch.{ p.s just making sure when the game comes out i will be fully prepared with all the information i need)

Good stuff ;) This is actually one of my favorite articles. Really put's things together; organizes all of the info Mechscape World has learned so far ;D (or at lot of it O.o).

Guess we can ask a bit more about Mechscape due to the Q&A they'll be hosting.

Great article Ren. Can't wait till I get to see how all these playable races fit together in the game

Not sure when I said one could stretch, but the line that each species has "their own look, abilities and back stories" makes me think that yes each one will have its own strengths.

Very good read! :D
Just wondering why these dont get put on the front page anymore.

We'll have to get as many users here as we can to ask as many questions as possible to take full advantage.

As for this edition of the MechScape Post, I'm glad to see the talk of the Pliigi and other races back into the primary topic of speculation.

Wow! This was very interesting. It's going to be hard to choose which species I'll play as.

Nice thread you've made. I make also art ( is like 1/10 of that ) so very interesting!

I still don't believe that Mortiga is a race. Does anyone else think it looks far too much like a monster you would kill? It looks very much like an "elemental" type monster that wouldn't have the capacity to fly a space craft.

I also don't think Mechs as we know it are a race. Humanoid robots or andriods perhaps, but not full mech suits as seen in the picture. The images above seem far more like vechiles that people would pilot.

Dont ask me why, but I always thought that mechs wouldn't be a race, but something the different races would go into or control. Either that or it would be a humans source of power. Idk...

Puppychow

i thought of the mechs in the game to be similar to summoning a follower that helps you out. but i could be wrong it could be a race or a type of armor maybe even a monster to kill we will have to wait and find out.

I think Mechs as a race would just seem way to overpowered. Imagine a Pliigi with its bladed hand, going up against a huge mechanical robot with Lasers and Rockets.

Other than that, great article Ren, I always enjoy reading your work. :)

HNNNNNGH i cant wait for this game

Nice article, Ren

I'll probably be playing as a human, it just seems right for me.

Sounds like starcraft to me, pliigi(zerg) Human(terran) Mecha(Protoss). Not that thats a bad thing, just saying they may have taken a little inspiration from starcraft, which I love so fine by me.

i cant wait if we wait any longer most of us will go mad

Awesome, But i don't see how mechs would work as a race, I thought the humans were the ones that were the robot-themed and technological factions

The Piligi remind me of those alien worms in MIB (Men In Black).

I will choose for the Mech's

Pligii is just not my style.
Humans are unoriginal.
And the possible last specie will be overplayed.

I enjoyed this article. It was short and to the point which is always nice.

I do agree with a few of the other posters that mechs will not be a species, rather something you construct to aid you in combat.

I'm glad that I'm not the only one who doesn't think Mech or Mortiga will be a race ;P

Was there some talk about the some of the delays to MS being caused by the difficulty in 'balancing' the playable species?

(extrapolating...)If so, could Jagex have built a combat triangle (um...quadrangle!) where (for example) Humans > Pliigi; Humans = Mecha; Humans < Mortiga; Pliigi > Mecha; Pliigi = Mortiga etc...? But would this only work if each species attracted the same number of players? Would you pick Pliigi?

I dont think that would be wise of them.
1. Only 1 race could fight effectively against the other one, this would create uniformity, everybody goes humans, only mortiga's own humans, the rest goes mortiga. go on go on, people would only try to kill 1 race.
2. It never works out to be working (see Runescape, melee owns both ranged and magic).
3. It makes dominating an area less likely.

Very good read! This makes me even more hyped about MS :) I hope its as good as they say it will be.
Interesting about the Mechs. I wonder if they will be vehicles, NPCs or an actual race?

Nice read. If the option for a humanoid is available I will most likely select from them. Although the others seem interesting enough, in all RPG's and games where I have had an option I prefer human.

thanx for the read

Yup Teh - I think you are right. But that doesn't ease my doubts.

Another thing that concerns me (and I think this may have been hinted at by others) is that the images, we have seen, lack sex appeal (apart from that one of that bloke in the coffee bar with the marketing fluff). Even a game as abstract as Civony has a picture of a pouting bint in its ads. We all know that women (generally) make charming players, but will they want to play a Pliigi character? Even one with a wooden leg? Now I am not saying that I want to play a sex orientated game in which you have the option to wheelbarrow some poor Doris around the ship's bridge, but it would be nice to know that the game wasn't only being aimed at warmongering gits like me.

Oh well - perhaps Pliigi will lay their eggs in captive, human hosts. Kind of works for me... maybe it's time for a little lie down until I feel better.

when mechscape come out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MUHOHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

damn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 when!!!!!!!!!!!!!! mechscape!!!!!!!!!!!! come!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Very nice article Ren, well done .

perhaps it is time for you to lie down...

But I see what you are saying and it could spell minor disaster.

One question. Are the 4 races playable?

I think there will be 4 playable races. But I'm not sure it will be these 4.

As I understand it... Ren is: sure that the Pliigi will be one; assuming humans are another; speculating on the last two (Mecha and Mortiga). He is more than likely correct ...he usually is.

But I'm putting five quid on one of the other races being called 'Volupta Katidoj'.

Yes.

ok, thanks, I wasn't sure if I'd heard corectly.

Eddie, why that name? Doesn't volupta mean pleasure?

Sorry Aslancsc - I was being crass. It was a puerile attempt at 'sex kittens'. 'Volupta' probably does mean 'pleasure'.

XD its ok.

yeah, its latin.


on topic: If there really are 4 playable races I want there to be some sort of switching system (like the makeover mage or the hairdresser in fally) so that people dont just choose the humans (because invariably they will choose their own over the aliens) without thinking it through. From what Ive read in interviews the content developers have been working really hard to make sure each of the races are equal and none has superior anything over the others.

lol - is 'volupto' Latin? It was meant to be Esperanto!

Interesting what you say about the races being equal. I thought that they would be different but balanced - with each race having its own strength(s).

And I bet you are right about most people choosing to be human ('homaro' in Esperanto...I think)

I agree with you, Lord John, That a mortiga looks more like a npc that you have to kill than a playable character itself. However, we do not know what jagex is thinking, maybe it would be one...

Great read, thanks MC :)

Wow Ren, that was really amazing. The pictures of the races looked great. I really loved how the Mortiga looked. I hope it is one of the playable races/factions in MechScape.

EDIT: After reading Lord John's post. What he says seems, somewhat right atleast. If there's a concept art of a humanoid, without the mech, then isn't the mech merely a vehicle to pilot like Lord John said?

On the note of there being vehicle's to drive, I wonder if that is serving a purpose to transport/teleport/etc, or is it also a weapon/defense system.

Mortiga and/or Pliigi are my favourite, because I love aliens I am crazy about Tyranids in 40K, because there bio-engineering is beyone anything in the game (they are weapons, to be exact). So Pliigi really win it over for me. Mortiga look pretty cool also. I am basing my opinions of the information we have, and the concept art btw. If anything is changed in-game, I might just become a mech

Wow,
Great work Ren!
Finally some real information about the game, thx,
Looking forward to some more :P

Rilenzo

Though we know Pliigli or however you spell it lol and Humans will be two of the four races. I highly doubt that the other two races Mechs and especially Mortiga will be ones. I would think it would be more likely that Mechs will be names to the vehicles/mechas/war machines or w/e the term is that all species/races will drive. Mortiga I just don't think have enough variation in their design to allow players to distinguish between a male and female gender and thus I don't think will be implemented as a race that we can play.

Just my thoughts. Still excited to know what the other races are once confirmed.