First of all... I get so weary of people calling the Loroi uncreative or incapable of scientific or even cultural examples of their own! The Loroi are not idiot savants... who can only poorly copy the principles of the previous ruined civilization. The Loroi DID get themselves back into space and built a stellar Empire ALL on their own! They may have indeed gotten more than a few clues from the ruins of the Soia civilization.. but point being.. the Loroi are a stellar civilization and despite how grand and wonderful the Soia were.. they are No MORE! All that is left of their 'Grand and so much better than everyone elses' civilization is RUINS! They don't even have the excuse of being destroyed by an enemy superior to them {as far as everyone knows... at least}!
The Loroi of Outsider are based upon the Elarians of the Master of Orion 4x pc game, they both have racial disadvantages towards research, Arioch has stated this multiple times. The Loroi are exactly like the Elerians in that they are low tech blitzers, dangerous at low tech levels from their beam attack and beam defense advantages (and the omniscience, a massive advantage). This advantage is severely limited midgame, when better weapons and targeting computers come into play, better tech that the Elerians and the Loroi cannot research quickly enough to catch up. Outsider verse has entered midgame, and the Loroi have begun to suffer from the tech advantages their foes now have.
Arioch has mentioned many times that the Loroi get their tech from the races that they have conquered or the races that have joined them or from their allies. They have therefore not built their empire
ALL on their own
they are still using lasers on turn 1000+. They are backwards as hell, Arioch has stated that the Loroi also think of mathematics and the sciences as alien and strange, something that must be grudgingly learned. The Loroi are good at fighting, bad at science and this will foil well with humans, who seem to be a creative democracy with a lot to offer the Loroi in terms of non-military tech. If the Loroi were creative, they would have little need for humanity and I don't think the story would get very far.
Loroi who have indeed a complete working knowledge and the scientific skill base to design and build new technology of their own design {wave-loom device...!?!? 'nuff said!}!
That is crappy version of a dumbed down weapon the Psilons-*cough* I mean Historians traded to the Loroi, along with plasma weapons.
4 Exactly... one of whom was pregnant and ready to give birth!
That really isn't much of a compliment when the species has been gene modded to be able to work while in pregnancy. Being amazed by that is like being amazed a space marine from the Warhammer universe can win an arm wrestling contest with an Imperial Guardsman. It's the gene/cyber/surgical mods doing the work there, not the individual. Also I find it curious and slightly alarming that all of the mods I have seen so far are extremely low tech, inexpensive, civilian level modifications that allow the Loroi to labor for longer periods of time (slave race), breed quickly (slave race), mature rapidly (slave race) need less food/water/air (slave race), live for 400 years and maintain youthful vigor (slave race) and have no musculature/skeleton/regeneration/improved reflexes mods. The precursors of the Outsider-verse are believed to have created spaceships the size of moons, when you hit that tech level you can bio-engineer some scary shit. Like things that would give the Tyranids, Zerg, Necromorphs and Xenomorphs a run for their money.
sunphenix I am not trying to insult you or be annoying, I really am not. I just have a very, very bad feeling after going through the GURPS bio-engineering books and picking out, one by one every advantage that Arioch has described to us the Loroi and Barsam possess. These advantages are very low tech, for the Soia were not interested in spending much time or money on their creations, this goes straight from neglectful precursors to "YOU ARE FILTH. WE CLEANSE." precursors.