VampyrKnight said:
That's a good point about the questions they asked ultimately being their flaws. Perhaps a better version of that question is, "What do you believe?" You can't stand for either side unless of you believe in that side's beliefs, and then every side has subgroups that believe a slightly different version of it than the other groups. Judeo/Christian/Islamic sects demonstrate this perfectly. Take, for example, Catholicism and the many Protestant sects. Each one has the same general beliefs (Heaven, Jesus Christ the son of God, so forth) but each practices this differently.
"What do you believe?" is also good, but it is a bit too narrow, because it leads you easily to think of religions. We take sides that can lead to conflicts based on many different other than religion things like nations, political views or as strange and pointless as sport teams.
One thing that came to mind from B5, was the saying that "Humans build communities". Can't really remember who said this, was it G'Kar, Londo, Delenn? Combined with "Where do you stand?" this leads to "Who do you stand with?". Im not quite sure which one I prefer yet.
The more I think about it "What do you want?" would also suit humans very well, shame that Shadows already have it.
VampyrKnight said:
Ultimately, humans are by far the most diverse race of all the different races in B5. Take a look at other sci-fi shows, movies, books, what-have-you, and that's the way it is in almost all sci-fi. All factionalized into ever small groups. Either "What do you believe? or "Where do you stand?" highlight this flaw beautifully. But, in a million years, who knows what humanity will be like.
I think this has to do with the fact that it is hard for sci-fi writers to create a diverse like humans, that still has some distinctive qualities. Instead they use stereotypes, so that the new races are easier for the humans to understand. If you had a sci-fi serie where members of a certain race would always act differently from show to show, people wouldn't be able to form any clear conception about it other than chaotic. It is easier to have pompous Centauris, fierce Narns, honourable Minbaris and mysterious Vorlons. Only after a long while will you begin to see diversion in the races, like in the case of the Minbari civil war or the development in G'Kar. In my coming B5 campaign I will try to make the races more diverce.
Another thing that sci-fi writers seem to like, is to create strong central governments. All of the races I can think of in B5 have some kind of a central government that has strong jurisdiction on behalf of the whole race. In my opinion it would be more likely that there would be some nations among the different races. This does happen in B5 when Mars becomes independant, but here again you have an independant planet, not independant states/nations inside a planet.