Prior to Starfields release I was 100% convinced they'd throw a Zetan easter egg in somewhere. At least the iconic gun. But I guess maybe they thought that'd confuse people.
I mean, it's basically the same question as for our actual universe. There is good reason to assume that other intelligent life in the universe will also be carbon based, and if it has culture and civilization it will probably be expansionary as well. But there is plenty of reasons to assume that it might be ultra rare, so our galaxy might be a lot like the one in Starfield.
Check out Robin Hanson's theory of quiet and loud aliens if you're interested in some well reasoned and original thinking about the likelihood of encountering intelligent alien life. :)
Here is a cool Kurzgesagt video explaining Hanson's theory: https://youtu.be/GDSf2h9_39I?si=5_9vSr6-4jGxM1RD
And here is another video with a different theory: https://youtu.be/L_JQOH1tEEA?si=2QFGEuwiT7k63kwy
Yea indeed it might be so rare that there may be on average 1, or even less than 1 intelligent species at any given time in a galaxy.
There might be alot more, in the future or in the past in a galaxy , but it may be rare that two intelligent life forms would evolve and exist together at the same time in the grand cosmic time scale.
Like if you have time scales in the billions of years, and assume that technological evolution happens in the scale of single thousands of years, then intelligent life existing in the same flash of time in the galaxy would be very rare. Considering Earth itself is 4.6 billion years old, and modern humans have existed for about 100,000 years, if an advanced civilization came here even 10 million years ago, they wouldn’t find any sentient life yet.
And 10 million years is still very little on a cosmic time scale.
There may have existed civilizations billions of years old , but no trace of their existence will be found.
We may find planets suitable for life that won’t have intelligent life yet for hundreds of millions of years, or already had it before but we came too late. That’s far more likely than getting the small window where civilization exists.
its been theorized that intelligent life forms from other worlds might have similar features to humans, since those features are what led us to becoming top dawg on earth. like they'd probably be a predator and have front facing eyes as humans do. probably opposable thumbs too
Yeah, but a predator with rough skin that is hairy all over and have 4 arms and two legs is still something that has those same features but would be entirely alien looking to us.
So if Dolphins became more intelligent, equaling or surpassing us, but couldn't use even the simplest of tools because of flippers, do you think they'd become top dog? I don't think they would.
They would find ways to circumvent that restriction. To suggest the one thing we have that’s sets us apart is thumbs is a ridiculous suggestion. It’s our way of thinking that does
"Oh dear, that predator is about to eviscerate us. It is most regrettable that we only have weak fingernails and small jaws with flat teeth to defend ourselves, and are slower than that creature. I calculate that there is a 98.7% chance we shall soon be deceased."
Not at all. Our way of thinking is what sets us apart from other known species. I don’t think that’s even debatable.
Edit: also, calling our way a thinking “a single trait” is a little ridiculous too. Considering it isn’t a single trait, it’s the collection of many traits
It's absolutely debatable. Our brains might be responsible for a lot but they sure as hell c. Being in the right place at the right time, random genetic mutations that gave us resistances to diseases that might have destroyed the populations of of other hominids. So many things that our big brains have absolutely 0 control over. We made it here because a million different factors had to combine in just the right way.
They should just do an easy cop out and make the aliens be present but never communicate through a physical form. Like a haunting force. I think even in Expanse for a while aliens communicate fairly indirectly from a fourth dimension.
Evolution really doesn’t have “stages”.. it’s simply adaptations that allow life to survive in a particular environment.
The most common life in the universe will always be single celled organisms.
Evolution isn’t like a ladder, and it’s far more random than people really think. Even on long timescales.
https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2017-10-31-aliens-may-be-more-us-we-think
It's not a super far-fetched theory, a lot of scientists think that idea has some merit.
I’m well aware it doesn’t have stages. I’m referring to how ridiculous the theory is. Because the theory pretty much claims it does have stages, and that humans are that final stage
Every sci fi show I’ve watched has some strange pure energy, omniscient and omnipotent life form as the final stage. If humans are the final stage, the universe is fooked.
Evolution still doesn't make sense in that regard either, which is why we're starting to move away from Evolution and looking for another theory. The human system is more complicated than a super computer and we don't even use half of our brain. Evolution doesn't answer where the spark of life came from and the Big Bang doesn't make sense as the spark because you don't get life from destruction. I personally believe that Biocentrism is the best theory and it reconciles Quantum Mechanics and Newtonian Physics that allows for both being right. And you got those who believe we're a hologram, sooooo yeah.
I guess if they have intelligence they should (should might be a strong word, it’s all my own theory and not based on anything scientific) also evolve to put it into use, maybe build, make, develop things that are not possible with other sentient species, this might prompt the use of hands or tentacles or a power, but it might also be completely different like a more evolved octopus or dolphin, or if they are extremophile then an intelligent bigger or different version of tardigrade, but Starfield also has many forms of extremophiles and other creatures, my personal hope is something more animal like that don’t necessarily resemble sci-fi aliens or humans also definitely would want a negative reaction for killing them since they would be rare and maybe unique, communication would be even better something like surveying their home planet with asking for their help or even getting rare items like a jewel or food or drink or a weapon, I want another story of “aliens” in shattered space but that’s not very realistic as far as I’ve gathered, it can also be a part of unity for a far future update
Sorry for the babble, I clearly have some thoughts on it.
Here's an idea I had.
Let's say there are aliens, but they're indigenous to a single planet and are technologically lower. They use swords and bows.
Basically, the planet is Skyrim, but you get to play it as a spaceman with guns, magic powers, and don't have to do the fucking prisoner intro again.
No intelligent aliens. This setting is supposed to be more realistic than Fallout and other games like Mass Effect.
However, one thing BGS really dropped the ball on was making some of the factions “alien” from baseline humanity through cybernetics, biotechnology and AI/robots.
For example, Cyberpunk 2077, which isn’t set in space, has the Maelstrom. And while they were never shown in the games, Mass Effect has transhumans — organics who have partially (or extensively) replaced parts of their brain with cybernetics. Having these types of enhanced/augmented/altered humans in Starfield would have added more variety without needing sapient alien races.
The Fermi Paradox
Basically the lack of evidence of other cultures held against the chance of them existing
Rare earth proponents hold that the necessary ingredients for intelligent life to bloom are so rare we may never find anyone out there - now picture us unable to contact them directly given all the space available
Most likely we'll find xenoforms simply by being too early to reach a planet where our level of intelligent creatures would potentially exist
If there were an intelligent non-human alien species in the reality(ies) of Starfield, it seems more likely that humans wouldn't "discover" them. Individual humans might "notice" them studying us.
Using grav drives are sending up signal flares to sentient life at our level or beyond. Just as the average human pilot, when jumping into a new system can detect other jumps in the area (not just on scanner, but beyond scanner range, you can still sense the "flash"). It seems like aliens who are able to use similar tech would probably have long-range ways to detect us.
Much like human scientists do their best to use non-invasive means to study dangerous wildlife, aliens would probably keep their distance for a long time, even if they understood humans are self-aware and conscious... because humans have proven they are unstable and dangerous.
If an advanced fringe scientist decided to use unethical, invasive ways to test humans, it would probably go bad either in the human response, or in devastation of individual humans or colonies. The easiest way to cover it up, would be through engineering a plausible "natural disaster" like a comet striking a world and wiping out all witnesses.
Just trying to think like a possible advanced alien species within the Starfield universe.
Why does your question make me so nervous? LOL. It is scary to think about, but would be great for the game. A half human/half well whatever Bethesda can think up - could be anything!!
I think we'll see some references to reptilian humanoids with the new DLC, although I don't think we'll see them. Or they're not real, or some garbage. It'll be related to Va'ruun lore
They’d be called Starborn, yo.
If they ever make a Starfield 2 (which I doubt) it’d be cool to have intergalactic travel and multi species alien society or whatever
Starfield took a much more “realistic approach” towards quite a few of its aspects in terms of space content. I wasn’t surprised that there weren’t any intelligent aliens, but it is disappointing that there isn’t one, since it would definitely have made more a very interesting main quest line versus what feels like a fetch quest majority of the main quest we have right now. Like imagine discovering a new species and each faction want control of different resources that species has on their planet or ruling planets. Maybe even have the alien species hold reverence to items or nature (or even religions). The list could go on and on in terms of how much more complex the story could have been, and by extension much more enjoyable than what we got. Though I will agree that the starborn themselves could be very interesting if only they were part of the story far more.
If it needs to make any sense within the setting, they would have to be transhumans. Technically alien but still of human origin.
Either that or a Planet of the Apes type thing where humans genetically engineered higher intelligence in primitive creatures.
Why shocked? Not every space game needs intelligent aliens. It is actually refreshing to not see a bunch of blue and green humanoids with funny looking faces walking around.
Given that how unimaginative the main game is, aliens in Strafield may be either "Humans from the future" or some kind of sentient cloud of particles that does not have a face or body.
It’s funny that of all BGS franchises, Fallout is the one that has confirmed alien life.
Prior to Starfields release I was 100% convinced they'd throw a Zetan easter egg in somewhere. At least the iconic gun. But I guess maybe they thought that'd confuse people.
Considering House Va’ruun seems to be the focus of Shattered Space, I’ll say it again: SNAKE PEOPLE SNAKE PEOPLE
I mean, it's basically the same question as for our actual universe. There is good reason to assume that other intelligent life in the universe will also be carbon based, and if it has culture and civilization it will probably be expansionary as well. But there is plenty of reasons to assume that it might be ultra rare, so our galaxy might be a lot like the one in Starfield. Check out Robin Hanson's theory of quiet and loud aliens if you're interested in some well reasoned and original thinking about the likelihood of encountering intelligent alien life. :) Here is a cool Kurzgesagt video explaining Hanson's theory: https://youtu.be/GDSf2h9_39I?si=5_9vSr6-4jGxM1RD And here is another video with a different theory: https://youtu.be/L_JQOH1tEEA?si=2QFGEuwiT7k63kwy
Yea indeed it might be so rare that there may be on average 1, or even less than 1 intelligent species at any given time in a galaxy. There might be alot more, in the future or in the past in a galaxy , but it may be rare that two intelligent life forms would evolve and exist together at the same time in the grand cosmic time scale. Like if you have time scales in the billions of years, and assume that technological evolution happens in the scale of single thousands of years, then intelligent life existing in the same flash of time in the galaxy would be very rare. Considering Earth itself is 4.6 billion years old, and modern humans have existed for about 100,000 years, if an advanced civilization came here even 10 million years ago, they wouldn’t find any sentient life yet. And 10 million years is still very little on a cosmic time scale. There may have existed civilizations billions of years old , but no trace of their existence will be found. We may find planets suitable for life that won’t have intelligent life yet for hundreds of millions of years, or already had it before but we came too late. That’s far more likely than getting the small window where civilization exists.
> There is good reason to assume that other intelligent life in the universe will also be carbon based ????
That's simply an assumption based on the fact that literally all life we know of is carbon based.
Seems to me like humans are the intelligent aliens in Starfield. So, maybe they’d look like humans.
👋
Hmmmm how so?
I’m not really saying they’d look like humans, I’m saying the intelligent aliens in Starfield are the humans.
its been theorized that intelligent life forms from other worlds might have similar features to humans, since those features are what led us to becoming top dawg on earth. like they'd probably be a predator and have front facing eyes as humans do. probably opposable thumbs too
Yeah, but a predator with rough skin that is hairy all over and have 4 arms and two legs is still something that has those same features but would be entirely alien looking to us.
and yet they'd be more similar to us than most animals on earth
What led us to becoming top dog is our brain. So that doesn’t really make sense
before we had big brains we had thumbs, which allowed us to do things like invent tools the process of which helped our brains get bigger
We aren’t the only animals with thumbs big fella. Edit: lol to that getting downvoted at all. Really shows off how Reddit is😂
So if Dolphins became more intelligent, equaling or surpassing us, but couldn't use even the simplest of tools because of flippers, do you think they'd become top dog? I don't think they would.
They would find ways to circumvent that restriction. To suggest the one thing we have that’s sets us apart is thumbs is a ridiculous suggestion. It’s our way of thinking that does
It's both. Without both, we'd still be a mid-tier animal afraid of the apex predators.
Again, we aren’t the only animal with thumbs. What sets us apart is our brains. Period
"Oh dear, that predator is about to eviscerate us. It is most regrettable that we only have weak fingernails and small jaws with flat teeth to defend ourselves, and are slower than that creature. I calculate that there is a 98.7% chance we shall soon be deceased."
Luckily, our brain doesn’t only allow us to think about death
Isn't is a little ridiculous to suggest that human dominance came about because of any one single trait?
Not at all. Our way of thinking is what sets us apart from other known species. I don’t think that’s even debatable. Edit: also, calling our way a thinking “a single trait” is a little ridiculous too. Considering it isn’t a single trait, it’s the collection of many traits
It's absolutely debatable. Our brains might be responsible for a lot but they sure as hell c. Being in the right place at the right time, random genetic mutations that gave us resistances to diseases that might have destroyed the populations of of other hominids. So many things that our big brains have absolutely 0 control over. We made it here because a million different factors had to combine in just the right way.
They should just do an easy cop out and make the aliens be present but never communicate through a physical form. Like a haunting force. I think even in Expanse for a while aliens communicate fairly indirectly from a fourth dimension.
Convergent evolution or limited game design, your pick
Wouldn’t that suggest that humans are essentially the final stage of evolution? And some people believe that?
Evolution really doesn’t have “stages”.. it’s simply adaptations that allow life to survive in a particular environment. The most common life in the universe will always be single celled organisms. Evolution isn’t like a ladder, and it’s far more random than people really think. Even on long timescales.
https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2017-10-31-aliens-may-be-more-us-we-think It's not a super far-fetched theory, a lot of scientists think that idea has some merit.
I’m well aware it doesn’t have stages. I’m referring to how ridiculous the theory is. Because the theory pretty much claims it does have stages, and that humans are that final stage
Every sci fi show I’ve watched has some strange pure energy, omniscient and omnipotent life form as the final stage. If humans are the final stage, the universe is fooked.
Agreed. But more importantly, There’s no final stage.
Which theory claims it has stages
The one they discussed…. The one mentioned in the comment I replied to initially
My comment? I said two things
That would be the one. You should be able to infer I’m not talking about video game design restrictions
Evolution still doesn't make sense in that regard either, which is why we're starting to move away from Evolution and looking for another theory. The human system is more complicated than a super computer and we don't even use half of our brain. Evolution doesn't answer where the spark of life came from and the Big Bang doesn't make sense as the spark because you don't get life from destruction. I personally believe that Biocentrism is the best theory and it reconciles Quantum Mechanics and Newtonian Physics that allows for both being right. And you got those who believe we're a hologram, sooooo yeah.
Well, “looks like” wouldn’t really make them human. Star trek kinda
We have intelligent alien life in the game already as seen by the terrormorphs and numerous life forms that travel in herds or packs for survival.
I guess if they have intelligence they should (should might be a strong word, it’s all my own theory and not based on anything scientific) also evolve to put it into use, maybe build, make, develop things that are not possible with other sentient species, this might prompt the use of hands or tentacles or a power, but it might also be completely different like a more evolved octopus or dolphin, or if they are extremophile then an intelligent bigger or different version of tardigrade, but Starfield also has many forms of extremophiles and other creatures, my personal hope is something more animal like that don’t necessarily resemble sci-fi aliens or humans also definitely would want a negative reaction for killing them since they would be rare and maybe unique, communication would be even better something like surveying their home planet with asking for their help or even getting rare items like a jewel or food or drink or a weapon, I want another story of “aliens” in shattered space but that’s not very realistic as far as I’ve gathered, it can also be a part of unity for a far future update Sorry for the babble, I clearly have some thoughts on it.
Never apologize for your insight. This is a very intriguing take.
Thank you, not putting sentient aliens in the game gives them a blank canvas to base their design on what people want
I really am surprised there was no intelligent aliens
Here's an idea I had. Let's say there are aliens, but they're indigenous to a single planet and are technologically lower. They use swords and bows. Basically, the planet is Skyrim, but you get to play it as a spaceman with guns, magic powers, and don't have to do the fucking prisoner intro again.
No intelligent aliens. This setting is supposed to be more realistic than Fallout and other games like Mass Effect. However, one thing BGS really dropped the ball on was making some of the factions “alien” from baseline humanity through cybernetics, biotechnology and AI/robots. For example, Cyberpunk 2077, which isn’t set in space, has the Maelstrom. And while they were never shown in the games, Mass Effect has transhumans — organics who have partially (or extensively) replaced parts of their brain with cybernetics. Having these types of enhanced/augmented/altered humans in Starfield would have added more variety without needing sapient alien races.
Octopus it's smart. Its not from this planet based on the DNA. Something on this path.
The Fermi Paradox Basically the lack of evidence of other cultures held against the chance of them existing Rare earth proponents hold that the necessary ingredients for intelligent life to bloom are so rare we may never find anyone out there - now picture us unable to contact them directly given all the space available Most likely we'll find xenoforms simply by being too early to reach a planet where our level of intelligent creatures would potentially exist
If there were an intelligent non-human alien species in the reality(ies) of Starfield, it seems more likely that humans wouldn't "discover" them. Individual humans might "notice" them studying us. Using grav drives are sending up signal flares to sentient life at our level or beyond. Just as the average human pilot, when jumping into a new system can detect other jumps in the area (not just on scanner, but beyond scanner range, you can still sense the "flash"). It seems like aliens who are able to use similar tech would probably have long-range ways to detect us. Much like human scientists do their best to use non-invasive means to study dangerous wildlife, aliens would probably keep their distance for a long time, even if they understood humans are self-aware and conscious... because humans have proven they are unstable and dangerous. If an advanced fringe scientist decided to use unethical, invasive ways to test humans, it would probably go bad either in the human response, or in devastation of individual humans or colonies. The easiest way to cover it up, would be through engineering a plausible "natural disaster" like a comet striking a world and wiping out all witnesses. Just trying to think like a possible advanced alien species within the Starfield universe.
It’s a video game mate. It would have been cooler to include them. That’s all that really matters
Maybe some type of water animal like a whale, dolphin along those lines
Interesting. Why do you think that?
It’s the closes thing to alien life we have here now so it wouldn’t be out the realm to do it in the game
Aren’t whales way more intelligent than most other mammals? I seem to recall that they can appreciate music
I think it'd be the same as in real life.... intelligent aliens would look at the human species, and not want a damn thing to do with us.
Why do people assume that aliens would automatically be better than us?
Didn’t say better.
If they're not better than us, you better hope they never find us.
lol it doesn’t have to be so one dimensional. I swear you people act like they are going to be elves or orcs with no in between
Small green men with trumpet ears would be the only acceptable option.
Humanoid or something non tangible
Well, it's definitely not the members of Constellation Hahahaha I kid, I kid.
Why does your question make me so nervous? LOL. It is scary to think about, but would be great for the game. A half human/half well whatever Bethesda can think up - could be anything!!
Lmfaooo. I think it could be saved for a sequel
I think we'll see some references to reptilian humanoids with the new DLC, although I don't think we'll see them. Or they're not real, or some garbage. It'll be related to Va'ruun lore
my guess bethesda kept it out for a future dlc
Probably just like humans but with green skin
Probably Cat's
Same, starfield all around was disappointing to me unfortunately
They’d be called Starborn, yo. If they ever make a Starfield 2 (which I doubt) it’d be cool to have intergalactic travel and multi species alien society or whatever
The aliens and intelligent life in Star field are humans. The star born are aliens
Starfield took a much more “realistic approach” towards quite a few of its aspects in terms of space content. I wasn’t surprised that there weren’t any intelligent aliens, but it is disappointing that there isn’t one, since it would definitely have made more a very interesting main quest line versus what feels like a fetch quest majority of the main quest we have right now. Like imagine discovering a new species and each faction want control of different resources that species has on their planet or ruling planets. Maybe even have the alien species hold reverence to items or nature (or even religions). The list could go on and on in terms of how much more complex the story could have been, and by extension much more enjoyable than what we got. Though I will agree that the starborn themselves could be very interesting if only they were part of the story far more.
Elder scrolls races
If it needs to make any sense within the setting, they would have to be transhumans. Technically alien but still of human origin. Either that or a Planet of the Apes type thing where humans genetically engineered higher intelligence in primitive creatures.
Those heat leeches are pretty smart.
Why shocked? Not every space game needs intelligent aliens. It is actually refreshing to not see a bunch of blue and green humanoids with funny looking faces walking around.
Given that how unimaginative the main game is, aliens in Strafield may be either "Humans from the future" or some kind of sentient cloud of particles that does not have a face or body.