I can't see any way the Shivans could not "have motivations". Even if they're robots, they'd be programmed to accomplish some goal, or to seek some sensation, etc. They're not like, say, a black hole, which is an unthinking but still potentially dangerous object.
You are thinking too much in human terms. Humans have motivations... that doesn't mean everything else must "function" like us. We have a certain way of perceiving the world and by our own nature we are limited in the ways we can perceive the world. That doesn't mean the world, universe or its inhabitants are limited in the same way.
Matter of fact, I'm writing a horribly boring paper right now and have to contend with Luhmanns general systems theory. It actually relates to the issue however. One of the statements you will find when exploring Luhmann is that "psychological systems" (i.e. that would be you and me) as systems who operate with "meaning" as a medium are by their nature unable to understand systems that do not. You can label such systems, give them names, but understand them ? Nope. Because operating the way we do is what makes us what we are and how we perceive everything around us..... who said everything else had to be like us again ? Who says the Shivans even have a "psyche" as we understand it ?
The Ancients speculated they came from subspace... so we can't even guess whether they "evolved" in our universe... they could as well be the product of "devolution" of higher/more complex beings from another universe, that had nothing in common with our own, or something else entirely.
A Virus could wipe out humanity. Does it have to have a motivation ? A virus is designed to do what it does, but does it "have to" reflect on what it is and does and consciously set itself goals ?
It IS... it can be very dangerous to you, but so can matter of fact be a lot of things on this world or this universe. Humans "need" meaning...... crave "meaning".... "want meaning"... and yes that is why we like or prefer to see meaning even if there isn't or even if we can't see it.... when we don't see it... we want to believe in it: Enter Religion. (Not arguing about religion, after all its just as possible that there is meaning even when we can't see it... enter: belief).
Arguing the Shivans "need" to have motivations is going down a similar slope like stating that "everything needs to have meaning in life". Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't; The whole point, or rather the very definition of "belief" is that you don't have proof and the whole point of the of the Shivans as an artistic device is that you do not know.
Rationalized: The Shivans are an old race - that much is certain. There is no telling if they always were what they were or if they evolved from something different. There is no telling if they evolved or were created.
Do we even know what we ourselves would be like in say, a million years ? (assuming we still exist). Would we still have our own bodies or would we have constructed something else, or modified what we are ?
How can we even begin to speculate what our thinking would be like, considering the whole basis of our biology could have been changed. (Heck, a neandertal would already have a hard time understanding us
)
The whole point however is... that from an artistic point of view "not knowing and speculating" is an integral part of what the Shivans are.
The moment you put them into a box... any kind of box, giving them motivations would be just one option,... they lose that essential quality that makes the whole concept of them so great,
(Kinda how the concept of religion would suddenly become a whole lot less mystical if you actually knew with certainty if there was a higher power or not and what its motivation was - making belief was redundant)
Or in other words: The Shivans concept is very close to that of an unopened present. (except of course that a present is something positive while the Shivans would represent the opposite of the emotional spectrum). Unopened presents are tantalizing us with possibilities. The very nature of it is that we want to know what is inside. By opening it however, you turn it into something entirely else: An opened present. Uncertainity transformed into certainty. The very reason that you want to open the box so much, is the same reason that it needs to be closed from an artistic point of view. Again, the very "point" of the Shivans is not knowing, yet wondering. Understand it, appreciate it. It's what made Freespace have such a great atmosphere. In another metaphor: If you start to unravel every thread you come across... you will just end up tearing a wonderful fabric apart. Sometimes, the only sensible course of action is not to and rather appreciate what is there.
Trying to discover every mystery is beneficial in the real world.... trying to do the same thing in a work of fiction can be quite harmful.
In the case of the Shivans it would simply be missing the whole point of what Volition created and why it worked so well.
... for all we know... Freespace 3 could have ended with the last survivors of humanity (maybe together with Vasudan survivors;)) boarding a sub-light sleeper ship trying to sneak away into deep space to find a planet to settle on in peace and never touch subspace again.
...didn't I just say that?
I though about making some kind of freespace continuation in which the shivans return for one last time and defeat the GTVA causing all Terrans and Vasudans to flee into another galaxy. Exiles in the very end...a temporary plug until the next installment.
Yup you did. My apology.
Except that i would see it not just as a "temporary plug" but rather as a quite possible final end of a trilogy that would actually make some sense in light of the previous games.
As a third campaign from GTVAs point of view it would also leave the Shivans mystery intact and not ruin the original atmosphere of the FS series and would have given Volition the opportunity to really redefine the ways that hubris and overconfidence can be squashed with a final epic "point".
Q.E.D. or whatever lol.
