Back to the topic at hand: I don't think the OP's complaint is all that common among ES2 players and so probably shouldn't be eliciting any worry of sweeping changes to the game.

Of course the game won't change. No one with a sane mind would touch the fundamentals of a shipped game like that. No one would change already published artwork or narrative. Any discussion related to such things is always just a general feedback that might be taken into account or evaluated deeper by a game designer when making future decisions for addons, DLCs or sequels. Funny part, it's what I do for a living :) 

Also, I am not trying to come across as feeling entitled or anything. I just discuss my perception of the game. That's all really.

Anyone knows if there actually are any new races planned currently?

PS:

I had to smirk a bit when I read this in the "asian are underrepresented" thread:

Cravers slaving and eating everyone, the Vodyani crusade consuming everyone, the Horatio horationing everyone... The pacifist Unfallen is the only one that seems more good than neutral/evil.

Twilight Imperium... I don't remember we ever really finished a game. It's so much time consuming. What made me impressed, is any time you are at the point you think you know who's gonna rule the galaxy, players prove he/she is not. Nice balancing for a board game. Expect the unexpected.

Frogsquadron wrote:

Dreepa wrote:

For instance, in the board game "Twilight Imperium" I love to play the Ghosts of Kreuss, or the Turtles (which turned into pigs in TI4 for some reason) for example. I also loved playing Meklar.

Check this out if you want to dive into TI history, it's really good:

OMG, that's really cool. Didn't see that one yet. *shared*

We just had our first TI4 round last week, lasting till friggin 5 o'clock in the morning.... Next one coming up tomorrow *addicted* :)

They made quite some good streamlining decisions...  (could be more though, it's rather TI 3,5 than 4 I thought)

Dreepa wrote:

Anyone knows if there actually are any new races planned currently?

Well, if we take into account how Amplitude worked with Endless Lengend paid DLCs: there is a good chance that there will be a DLC down the road with a lot of addicional content (it can be stealth and spying, it can be anything really...) and there may be a new faction specialised on this new content.

Very problable, but now they are mostly fixing the base game with free patches, witch is good, so there´s still a long road until we see the paid DLCs and the possibility of a new faction.

Also, there is a chance that the "new" faction may be an "old" faction, since a lot of players here are heavy Vaulters fan.

So I was wondering if it is just me or there is a bit of a lack of "likable" races.

Sophons, sure. Funny, witty. A bit slap stick. The Unfallen, okay, rather straigh forward pacifists. 

That's about it, or?

Are there actually many people that really like to play ugly Cravers, or narcisstic Horatios? I just can't get myself to play such races. As to the United Empire, they seem pretty straight forward, but looking at the protagonist always reminds me more of the 18th century than of a "Star Trekish" Master Of Orion human race (aka diplomats). But I still like them more than the Lumeris, admitted. 

While the new Master Of Orion lacks game-play, in terms of races I even find the bad guys looking cool. They are somehow relatable. Not so freaked out and over-designed. 

I would hope we get to see some more "moderate" race design with some DLCs.

Is it just me, or anyone else feels similar?

Doesn't necesarily need to be humans. Also doesn't necessarily need to be cartoony. That was just an example. The art style in ES2 is perfectly fine. 

For instance, in the board game "Twilight Imperium" I love to play the Ghosts of Kreuss, or the Turtles (which turned into pigs in TI4 for some reason) for example. I also loved playing Meklar.

Surprisingly, I also think the Siphons totally stand out as in "too funny to fit the overall theme". It is all so serious, but there is no "seriously good". 

Serious and killers. (Rather serious) and money grabber. Serious and religious fanatic. Serious and oppressive. Or slap stick in your face scientists-blow-themselves-up while loling doing so.

Everytime I start a new game of ES2 I click through the races and stare at that screen for 10 minutes, not being really happy with either choice I make. 

In a way you are right. I miss something from my pop-culture experience. Is that wrong though? Space exploration is a topic classicaly connect to the curiosity. To get to the moon. To get to mars. To combine all efforts to reach for the stars. To overcome humanities greed and selfishness, to achieve something greater and overcome our shotcomings. The whole topic of space, NASA, families watching space shuttles launch in TV, children's books showing moonbases and how we might survive on a colony. It is a topic of dreams, of longing for the stars, of discussing the possibilities of dreaming about the future.

Isn't that a classic? 

Yes, it does not need to be human. But I miss a "non-freak" race that portrays "seriousness" and "earnestness" with a general positive attitude. Not a "healer" or "guardian" type, but more the "philosopher" in "sincerity" with a non confrontational attitude.

Oh, don't get me wrong, in terms of game-play I have absolutely no quarrel with the races.

Not really comparing them to "Star Trek" overall.... more like comparing them to other 4X space games. It's just natural to compare stuff to your past experiences, I assume.

When I fire up Master Of Orion, just by looking at the pictures and characters, I have an inviting vibe. Even the Klackons, Darlok or Sakkra somehow give me a more reasonable feeling that I do not get with the races in ES2, and I am more eager to find out about them.

Isn't immersion also about being able to intrinsicly relate to the faction you are portraying? 

Anyway, besides how they are portrayed and illustrated...  Most of the faction do seem very dystopian.

In other games you usually also have bad guys, but the balance also swings more towards the good guys, and even the bad guys are not really super bad opressive. Taking MOO as example again, we have Warrior cats with honor, fighting bird-man, self ware tech psylons that are calm and logical. Bulratthi are a warrior race, they conquer, but they still possess care and reason. Even the hive, the Klackons, try to prosper as a collective. 

In ES2, while ofc it is very nice that we have such diverse races as they are in the game, I just feel a lack of races for people like me. Many very polarizing races, and very few moderate races. My gut feeling response to most of them is just that I feel they are "over-designed". Well... but I guess I am in the minority with that opinion. Maybe I am just too old :)