Mass Effect: Favorite & Least Favorite Alien Races?

Favorites:
1. Salarians
2. Geth
3. Elcor

Least favorite:
1. Asari
2. Vorcha
3. Hanar

Favourites: Humans(well i am one), Salarians(we don't often see shorter lived races and Mordin in ME2 just made me like them even more). Finally had to go for one of the minor races which are somewhat different. Was a toss up between Elcor tanks with their different approach to language and the hanar. Ended up plumping for Hanar.

Least favourites. Vorcha, just feel rather dull and underdeveloped. The drell also feel a mediocre addition, which pale before the existing biped main races.

Favorite: humans (since we are the aliens in Andromeda, so it applies)

Least favorite (as in nauseating): asari
If they had made the asari androgynous and non-gendered, with the lore that is now, I would have applauded Bioware. As it stands the asari is a simplistic and dimwitted recycled concept. Sure there will be people who like it, but that's irrelevant to the point. And if that wasn't enough, I really dislike them as they are in terms of morality, or lack thereof, and general ideology.

Now onto other species:

Geth: I like both the concept and implementation. They are "alien" enough to actually be interesting and stir up some conversations. I didn't like the ME3 "evolution" where by becoming "fully evolved ai" they actually become more human-like, but whatever. Plus the whole silly thing with souls, meh. But Bioware always had a b... umm... thing for religion so not surprising.

Salarians: I do like them. The one thing that bothers me is their holier than thou attitude. Uplift this, put it down since it's not working anymore, uplift that, nah, put it down too... A bit too much playing around with other species who can't defend themselves with total disregard to what they want. Also they suffer visually from SHAPS (silly hollywood alien portrayal syndrome), meaning they all look the same. Now I know budgets are a thing, but I still hope to one day see a game where the aliens have variance in their features, just like humans... or other living creatures lol.

Turians: Kinda like them too. They seem a bit stiff, and slow to adapt (with their pew pew first mentality) which is never a good sign for an "advanced culture", but eh. Like the salarians, they suffer from shaps.

Quarians: meh... but... omg... no shaps!!! Oh wait...

Batarians: I don't get how some people like them... Aren't these the aholes who justify slavery as being "part of their culture"? Or am I confusing species here? If they are, than they are nothing short of disgusting and I don't get how someone can explain liking them. Major case of shaps.

Hanar: One of the cool species in the ME universe. The fact they are really alien in design (or at least not humanoid, since jellyfish is not exactly alien) is a really big plus for me. Now if only they would make an alien species that is fully "alien-ish" and do a "translation" of emotions and let players work with that in relating to it or whatever, that would be amazing. What I mean by that is this: let's say you have a species of giant spider-like aliens. You then use the lore to explain (translate) various emotions; for example, when they are happy they vibrate their pincers, or their eyes start glowing pink, or etc. You get the idea now. With the hanar they could have easily gone with a bioluminescence approach to this and let players identify what emotions a hanar was displaying in conversation depending on their display. I think that would be a cooler approach to aliens than the old and boring human-body-with-alien-ish-head approach. Do I need to point out shaps this time? 

Elcor: Again an interesting case. The whole verbal emoting is both hilarious and fascinating. They just need to add in game/lore some of their own language so we can actually be able to tell if an elcor is happy or mad or whatever based on that (like he has his head pointing towards right and downwards, that means this one is sad or whatever lol)... now that would be interesting. Shaps strikes back.

Protheans: meh. Again with the whole dominance/slavery thing. Boring and really not likeable in my opinion. Shapstastic.

Volus/Drell: Too simplistic and underdeveloped concepts to be anything other than a punchline. Like the hanar actually. Moar shaps.

I think that the Thorian could have been utilized in a way that didn't necessarily require a newer version of indoctrination. We are shown that an Asari, previously enthralled to Saren Sovereign was completely purged of that control by the inhalation of Thorian spores. If the other species of the galaxy could contain this species; it was evident that Exo-Geni was aware of the dangers and could protect themselves if they wanted so it's not outside the realm of possibility; or find a way to communicate with it, you could effectively create an "indoctrination sterilization system". Just send in groups of people into a room filled with spores, let them free the individuals from any active or latent forms of Reaper control, and then simply remove them from the Thorian's effective radius of control, or in the case of communication being established, ask it to relinquish it's hold on them. Better yet, if the fungoid alien refused to cooperate, the various scientists could simply resort to harvesting the spores and storing them in aerosol format for later use.

From what little dialogue and in-game information we have on the Thorian its obvious that it didn't actively want to harm the thralls under it's command; I believe the lore likened it to a craftsman looking after his tools and ensuring their continued function; so at the very least you could be assured that it would treat it's mind controlled population far better than the Reapers would. But more than that, all the Thorian needed thralls for in the first place was protection and to assist it with things it couldn't do itself. If the other species of the galaxy could establish a dialogue with the Thorian and meet it's needs then there wouldn't be any need for it to try and supplant control. And with the threat of extinction at the tentacles of the Reapers should the current cycle fail, what better motivation could you ask for in securing at the very least a temporary truce?



As for the Rachni, the "sour yellow note" is implied to be the Reapers, but I believe it was actually the Leviathans behind the Rachni wars. Consider how the Queen, when captured by the Reapers in ME 3, doesn't send her Rachni broods to fight the galaxy at the behest of indoctrination, nor do the Reaper jailers supplant direct control of the army she was growing and then send them en-mass to attack the allied forces. In fact, the only way they could mange the lower caste drones and warriors was by physically implanting them with mind control devices and converting them to Ravengers.

On top of this, consider how the Queen, despite being held in captivity for about six months was still of a sound mind able to coherently talk and communicate with Shepard, and then assist the war effort when freed. Compare this to the Salarian STG operatives captured on Virmire who, after only a few days, were reduced to mindless zombies or violently insane lunatics. Surely the Reapers didn't need the Rachni queen to posses higher level thought processes if they were strictly using her as a baby factory, so the fact that her brain wasn't turned to mush after nearly half a year of confinement would lend credence to the fact that the Rachni are effectively immune to the effects of indoctrination, or at the very least, resistant enough to it that they might as well be; especially when compared to all the other species in the galaxy. 

Now the Leviathans on the other hand, are shown to possess a more 'focused' form of mind control; a laser beam effect compared to the Reaper's shot gun approach if you will. They have demonstrated that they can directly assume full control of any organic species within their area of control (including resident Space Jesus Shepard) so it would make more sense that it was them, not the Reapers that instigated the Rachni Wars. I mean the forces of the galaxy weren't fighting Rachni husks during the conflict so unless the Reapers suddenly lost their effectiveness with indoctrination in ME 3 it would stand to reason that another party was behind the attacks during the Rachni Wars. The fact that the Queen on Noveria is aware of the danger posed by the Reapers, and prepares accordingly (unlike the rest of the galaxy  ) could be due to the fact that the Leviathans' control of the Rachni clued them in on their (the Leviathan's) goals. As we see in the ME 3 DLC, controlled individuals still possess their thoughts; they are just a prisoner in their own minds; so its likely that the enthralled queens learned about the Reapers through this, and then once the Leviathans abandoned them at the end of the war, they imparted their knowledge to the last remaining royal egg.

EDIT: To add on to this, also consider how Vigil mentions the unattended indoctrinated slaves left by the Reapers from the previous cycle simply died from exposure or starved to death. Once a being has been fully indoctrinated it no longer has a mind or will of it's own. If the Reapers truly were behind the Rachni Wars, then once they relinquished control of their thralls the Rachni would have simply stopped moving; nowhere close to possessing the capability to spirit away a solitary egg in hopes of preserving the species.

My favorite race is the Turians because who doesn't love bird-lizard men?

My favorites are quarians, turians, and humans.

My least favorite are hanar.

I like their design, and their voices. I also think the "proud warrior race" thing is often overstated as a stereotype. Mass Effect seems to me to try very hard to avoid utilizing the planet of hats trope too much. There's an array of criminals, businessmen, soldiers, cops, and mercenaries standing out amongst the Turians we encounter. They might have a specific reputation amongst the other species, but the universe adequately convinces me that they see themselves as a lot more diverse.

That said, my favorite Turian character tend to go against type, as in they're more charismatic and smooth talking than stoic. A character like Lorik Qui'in or the Turian con artist we meet in the citadel DLC would basically be my perfect Turian companion.

Similarly, my favorite Quarian companion would be more of a ruthless and calculating type, in contrast with the vulnerable underdogs the species is more like given to portray.

I'm disappointed, but unsurprised, to see the quarians beat out the salarians, and even the krogan, in this poll. Maybe MEA will give the salarians some long overdue time in the spotlight. ME3 handled them very poorly.

Some time away from the quarians would be most welcome, as well. A few individuals would be fine, but the absence of the Migrant Fleet is most pleasing. I found myself resenting their species' stupidity by the end of ME3. I need a break.

Favorites: Salarians, Krogan, & Volus
Least Favorites: Geth, Drell, & Vorcha

The Vorcha getting the least amount of votes makes me sad. It's my dream to turn them into a human auxiliary/client race that will build colonies for us, mine in inhospitable environments that they can easily adapt to and act as auxiliary troops. Man prospering with his real best friend, the Vorcha, make it so Bioware.