On the topic of Crixa if the colonies was kept isolated from each other for such a long time. It is totally normal and natural for each of the colonies to develop in different ways. isolation is one of the driving forces of evolution, be it biological, psychological, sociological, and/or culturological. Meaning it is totally possible to have people from different colonies who not only have wildly different would views and ideals, but also wildly different body types and ideas of what is "normal". After all, even things like differences in gravity have both positive and negative effect on the body. And even things like how long a normal day and night cycle is relative to the circadian rhythm has both positive and negative effects on people's minds.
There can be a colony where it is normal for people at birth to have cybernetic implants put into them. In another colony it might be normal for everyone to have an A.I. partner who they view as a brother or sister because when they was born that used brain mapping of them as a seed for each person's A.I. partner making all the A.I. just as unique as the humans. Or there can be a colony that rejects all human augmentation technology for natural healing and adaptation, where people are see there "disabilities" as an badge of honor because they are trained to use them to their advantage and/or work around them. Or there is colony where everyone has genetic engineered bodies suited for a given task or role within their culture. And so on. There are lots of routs you could go with this but lore-wise and game play wise just based on the differences between the cultures and ideologies of each of the colonies.
As for the topic things like immersion in the game and how having to much diversity might not make people want to play the game because it is just reminds of them to much of the real world. Personally I don't see that happening, as I'm in the group of gamers who are drawn to games because of diversity. Yes, it is true that some people play video games as a means of escapism, but that is not true of all gamers. Although we all play games to have fun, different people have different reasons and goals when playing to have fun. And for some people part of that fun is to have a character who looks like them do things in the game world. While for others it is having a character who looks nothing like them doing things they would never actually do in real live. And when it comes to the matter of characters with physical disabilities and certain mental disability, almost everyone falls into one of three camps. The group who sees disabilities as a bad thing and always negative, the group who seen disabilities as a challenge that needs to be overcome, and the group who accepts and owns disabilities as apart of who they are and lives with it while taking advantage of the positive side-effects of some disabilities whenever possible. Because of this, just like in all games where you can make your own characters, some people will avoid making characters with certain traits while others will be drawn toward making characters with those traits. No different from how in games with a size changer option some people are drawn to making really small characters while others are drawn to making really large characters as long as they have to option to do so. It all a matter of perspective and personal taste.
Also on a side a note. I do find it interesting that in a few games they make something that is normally only a cosmetic option in most game actually have an effect on game play. Like how in some games even something as simple as the size of your character matters as there are things small people can do better and there are things large people can do better. I'm not saying in anyway shape or form that Em-8er should go that far outside of what makes sense for the game (example light mass mechs don't use as much energy/fuel to fly and heave mass mecha). But I do like the level of detail some devs go into how the player can interact with the world and how things you picked at character creation can change game play options. Like smaller characters can fit into gaps and holes in walls to get into hidden rooms passages of a dungeon, while a larger character could better jump over gaps and force open some blocked off areas with by knocking down weaken doors and walls. So going by if you are solo or working in a group different paths, short cuts, and loot can had through the same dungeon. All because they made the idea of size and mass matter in their game.
It is always fun to think up new ideas and of new ways to looking into things. But can also be equally as fun to think of how we can find the right balance of things to match the game's style and lore. It is ok if some people don't want to have people with disabilities in the game. This is an open forum after all. But what would be the lore reasons as to why they would not exist in the game? And could those reasons lead to a richer enjoyment of the game through storyline and plot?
