The difference is the Japanese are human beings, an actual race. Not a separate species juggernaut that literally singlehandedly ravaged a portion of the galaxy. They have a (well deserved) reputation for being sneaky, back-stabbing and murderous. This is literally a genetic part of them, not a learned thing. Even the 'civil' Florans are still relatively savage. GREENFINGER showed signs of his own savagery and cunning any number of times, and he is arguably the most civil Floran that's ever lived canonically. The problem is that everyone treats each of the races as though they are Human. This is understandable. We've only ever BEEN Human, and have never interacted with other truly sapient beings. But Florans have literally evolved to be the apex predator of apex predators. The peaceful (even relatively speaking) ones SHOULD be viewed with concern and fear until they prove otherwise. Even then, Florans are often seen behaving in peaceful, cute ways so that it becomes easier to kill their prey later. This isn't a red-haired Apex hating a brown-haired Apex over the color of their hair. This is a group showing legitimate concern over the fact that Florans are terrifying. LITERALLY terrifying. As a whole, they have evolved to be terrifying. If they were real, you could not pay my way through life to get me to stand in the same room as one for half a minute.
See, the thing is everything you have said about florans there, you could replace floran with human, and say the same thing. Look at human history and all you see if savagery. We might not eat each other, but we do far worse things to each other, just saying
Really? Just, really? Are you saying a human's sole goal in life to kill the biggest, baddest thing they can? Do humans eschew learning anything not directly related to hunting? Do all humans strive to be the "Bessst Human ever"? You claim that humanity has done "far worse things to each other" Yet I fail to see what humanity could have done that is worse than decades/centuries of interplanetary genocide for no other reason than sport.
Humans didn't evolve to literally kill and eat all animals. Or maybe we did... The point is, you can't defend Florans as pretty daffodil snowflakes when the majority of the lore codifies them as cruel, abusive, slaving and otherwise the vast definition of 'war criminal'. I get that people are attached to their favorite race. Hell, I love me some Avians. And while IC I would defend their sacrifice and such, they have a brutal religion that has been in place for thousands of years. I'm saying that none of the races are perfect. And in a lot of cases, people are justified in having a bigoted fear and/or hatred of individual races, whether through reputation or experience. Really, it's about taking a step back, remembering that characters and players should be separate entities, and considering that just because someone calls a Floran a 'weed' or a Flightless Avian a 'cultist' doesn't mean they're trying to directly insult you. That's the way their character would react.
I'm not sure why think I am taking IC insults OOC. It's just that it is official lore that there are floran outcasts that have left their tribal ways and are ostracised for it. I mean hell, have you read the Floran character introduction codex, and the ''Meet the florans'' official introductory post by chucklefish. Both indicate the florans general behaviour is more of a cultural thing rather than genetic. It's just that physiologically florans are extremely well adapted to their tribal lifestyle.
Since human civilisation began humans have been at war. There hasn't been peace on earth ever. Have you read about some of the shit Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan did WWII, and other groups throughout history. Humans are extremely tribal too really, even now. People kill each other and riot over sports game results, being of a different religion, race, sexuality. Humans are fucked up yo. I'm no Misanthrope, and we have achieved plenty of great things. But the reality is humans are pretty savage themselves.
This seems to be where a Floran starts in terms of tribal life. http://starbound.gamepedia.com/A_Floran_Introduction http://starbound.gamepedia.com/A_Floran's_Goal And one of the possible ways they end up leaving their cocoon kin. http://starbound.gamepedia.com/A_Floran_Journey_Begins We must still remember the Floran is still a hunter even in the codex which says they have given up their race's savagery and have honor and literacy now (whatever a Floran considers those to be). According to the sprout armor and several codices, every Floran goes through brutal trials at a young age to "weed out" the weak. There is no room for soft Florans who have never harmed a living thing in their life. Also dude. You're taking the actions of the few to represent the many. Most of the billions of people on the Earth aren't trying to murder each other currently, and the majority of the human population has, throughout history, just tried to survive and be happy.
If we have to believe 100% to Chucklefish in everything, 1 floran can easily kill at least 7 people by itself in a fight. And playing their 'leaving tribal ways' as 'I'm a cute floran' in several different ways, it doesn't make much sense. And sadly, that is an approach widely taken, among others, which makes most florans of server seem... strange, in the least. Point is they are a young race in space terms, and have just recently have the outcasts going 'peaceful' which are trying to understand the other cultures. It's already been stated that even Greenfinger, being an unique floran, shows some of his own tribal reminiscence from time to time.
The flaw with that codex is we don't know what the apex guards were armed with. Was it an unarmed fight? A fight with basic melee weapons? Both of these a Floran would have immensely more experience with. Did the Apex have guns? Probably not.
My 2 cents in the continued discussion is that, those who wish to RP a more "civilized" floran should still understand that at the core, they are still floran. As an example, my character Petaldancer, while usually non-hostile, has numerous cultural barriers. Things such as -Idioms or slang phrases -The concept of why not just kill troublemakers and be done with it? -Table manners, or complete lack thereof -Able to see violence as the easiest solution whereas any "normal" person would try to talk things over i.e. someone harassing you? Just stab them -Being a general fish out of water in many situations, has been slowly learning over the course of the months i've played her While she isn't savage or "stereotypical", or even "true" as some might say, at the end of the day, she is still floran. That, I have been told by others, is an example of how it can be done well. But if your floran has literally nothing to differentiate it from being a human besides being made of plant matter, you might wanna rethink it. Also, to all those who play a floran, even if more peaceful, and are upset OOCly at being treated with hostility... Get over it, you're RPing one of the most hated and feared races in the universe of Starbound. People will look at your character with suspicious stares and weapons off safety until your character proves otherwise, and I, for one, applaud that. It helps enrich the experience of overcoming social preconceptions.
oh my word the ic floran racism schtick is a legit ooc mindset i i-i need to go somewhere else now. excuseme.
I don't think there is much referenced about the Apex's prefered combat style. I assume the florans had melee weapons ((or throwing weapons)) as there is mention of a floran with a spear. Also of note. florans must be pretty competant with guns too, since they have their own racial guns.
Apex prefer daggers for some reason (probably a joke about cloaks and daggers in there). Examine weapon stands and ceremonial weapon objects as an Apex. It's also worth noting the Floran guns are rather rudimentary compared to plasma or laser rifles wielded by the Apex.
Cloak and dagger makes sense. The whole joke about the Apex's combat style, which you can see in their armour sets, is that their combat style seems to be based around Guerrilla (Gorilla) warfare. And yes,while the florans do have rudimentary weapons, I wouldn't say that necessarily makes them less effective. Florans have the needler for example, whuch looks organic and fires what looks like organic wood needles. However it is lore that florans are capable of growing plants as strong as metal, so getting hit by a floran needle may be like getting hit by a metal bullet.
