Catministrator

{Warning! This thread attempts to take a subject usually reserved for silliness and tackle it in a semi-serious manner.)

Today, I'd like to throw this onto the table and ask you folk about... Futanari. Goodness; I spend half an hour deliberating on the thread title, and there goes the big one just like that.

Before I get into the heart of the matter, though, I have a little admission to make: We all have our obsessions, and this one just happens to be my deepest. You are reading the thoughts of a... well, bit of a kook, to find the easiest way to put it. I've made characters in this genre for nearly a decade, now, but gauging the thoughts of others has always been a difficult thing, at best. Either it's loved as cheap smut (and I honestly can't blame them, personally!) or it's loathed as "dirty" and "weird" (and you know what? I can't blame them either.); and it's just plain not something that's oft brought out into the open.

Yet, Virtue... and perhaps City of Heroes in general... has one of the most tolerant communities I've ever had the pleasure of being part of. So I hope something may be learned from this, in the end.

That said! Where do I fall in the love/loathe spectrum? I've admitted my obsession - but it comes with a caveat! My greatest interest in the subject is in my interest in writing about it: to take a genre usually reserved for comedic or... other... purposes and turn it into something thoughtful and interesting; even if I'm the only one with a care to read into it. Weird? Perhaps. Enjoyable? You bet'cha.

Which brings me, at last, to the point: I spent nearly six years of City of Heroes telling myself that I wouldn't RP here; it just seems a little too fast-paced for the kind of lengthy, leisurely posting style I'm used to. I didn't write biographies, either - and I certainly never considered bringing my obsession into the game with me. Until recently! And... people have been surprisingly accepting of it... Well. So far. Yet this brings a bit of a dilemma with it... For a character based around character, it might not seem a necessary thing to include the appropriate label - but I like for people to know what they might be getting into should they decide to interact with the character. Still, at the same time, I don't want to confuse people into thinking that just because the character is labeled as 'Futa' that it's meant strictly for a quick lil' cyber. They aren't, in my case - and surely there are others!

So, then, what would be the appropriate way to approach this? To say, 'This darling woman comes with the good ol' twigs n' berries; but isn't interested in cheap advances - and hey, look! A story! Maybe she's just as deep and interesting as any other woman?' without actually confusing anyone?

"Intersex" seemed like the cleanest term... and yet I don't think that's entirely accurate. I believe the problem stems from working with a fictional idea (natural-born or magic/tech/mutant-made women with... a little mix-up downstairs) and attempting to find a real term for it that won't offend any of the good people out there who fall into whatever-the-term's definition.

"Not indicating it all" has been a popular answer from the few I've asked in private... and yet, that seems to defeat the purpose doesn't it? True enough - such a thing would really only be relevant in a romantic context; but even for someone who doesn't quite plan to involve her characters in such a way... it could happen! Even if it didn't... Nobody can say "You did it!" if they don't have any clue as to what it was you did.

What do you think?

Just for fun, I put one up for Eribelle: http://www.formspring.me/GuardianEri

You can see a work-in-progress about her here: http://www.virtueverse.net/wiki/Eribelle - also linked on the Formspring.

Okay, folks. Show us your funny!


"Hey, doll! What'choo doin' later?" *snrk*

Who knew the Tantrum emote atop a counter could result in something pulled right out of a bar?

Oh, I dunno... The potential for good PvP in CoX was enormous. By now? It's probably far too late. Not because the system has been "broken" for too long - but because those who are left enjoying PvP, however many or few that many be, might not take kindly to a complete re-work of the basis for it.

I think it's fair to say that a 'direct combat' approach just doesn't work as well for a game with the kind of design CoX has. Mebbe I'm wrong! It just seems to me like an objective-based approach would be a whole lot more fun all-'round. For instance, instead of all these arena-based tournaments... what if the arena had been designed with extra 'speciality' events? Competitive Mayhem/Safeguards, for example! And yet... something more than just that. Events that follow the Praetorian Zone Event style and work in phases. Using the mayhem/safeguard example again... The first phase might be for the 'attacker' team to stir up enough trouble in the city-zone to draw in the PPD; while the 'defender' team... does something else. The second phase could have our attackers taking on the PPD directly, and the defenders reinforcing them. The idea, thus far, is to avoid tons of direct player-versus-player combat until... Phase 3: Robbery! A direct assault on the bank; a mad attacker-vs-defender rush with time dwindling and the heat racking up.

... Maybe it's just me, but if PvP had been given that kind of focus from the beginning... I dunno. 'Super Powers being too superpowered' might have been less of an issue.

I'm pretty sure they simply convinced that poor nurse that she would be tending after a super-hardcore LARPing community.

Note: I threw this in the Screenshots section due to the primary factor in this being the 'look'. I'm trying to strike a balance between damage-dealing and looking awesome.

Now, concept-wise... this is a goofy character. If the look alone doesn't tip you off enough on that. Thankfully, this means I have a range of options that would fit her thematically. Regretfully, this also means that I have a range of options that would fit her thematically!

My first pick was Energy Blast. She's an Empathy Defender - kind of the over-the-top, go-get-'em team-supporter type. Energy fit nicely - especially with some of the new animations on the Beta server. Big, over-the-top blasts for an over-the-top character. But, playing with it... I'm just not sure this is the secondary I want, gameplay-wise. Now I'm stuck between my other choices - and taking suggestions.

Assault Rifle is a new option. I completely forgot that Defenders had access to it. The animations aren't exactly as exagerrated as I might want... but on the other hand, the Vanguard Rail Rifle itself is just oversized enough that it might work.

Radiation Blast is an option, too, thanks to the new animations... though I've already done Rad Blast quite a few times - and the powers have kind of a 'soft' feel to them; which isn't quite what I'm after.

Sonic Attack is another choice... but it falls into the same category as Radiation: I've done a few already.

.. Really, almost anything is an option at this point. Energy was, as I said, fantastic for it's look and feel - but having room for only one AoE - and making do on teams with naught but my three main blasts and Energy Torrent left me feeling a little... empty, I suppose.

Obligatory screenshot:

I've done Merc/Traps, Merc/TA, Merc/Poison, and Merc/Dark extenstively (can you tell what my favorite Primary is yet?) - and I'm currently working on a Merc/Storm. I've dabbled in Merc/Therm and Merc/Pain - but I think my overall favorites were Traps, TA, and now Storm is becoming a contender. It really boils down to what you want to do with your Mercs, though!

/Traps has a more... mini-RTS style. Make your plan, lay your traps, and watch it all come together in a beautifully-made mess. This is my current favorite just for that reason alone.

/Dark and /Poison are similar in style - but Poison is more active, and is better suited to tough, individual enemies while Dark excels in mass carnage.

/TA is similar to Dark - but without the heal. Medicine is an excellent pool choice, here. /TA is also more offensively-minded than /Dark. Debuffs galore - but not much to aid you and your pets directly. It's kind of like a mobile version of Traps, really - just without the Force Field Generator. And, as Dark Respite said - Oil Slick Arrow is quite possibly one of the most fun, effective powers in the game. At least in my personal, biased opinion. C'mon - it's Ice Slick - except you can set it on FIRE!

/Storm is... Well, I'm only level twenty-five with it so far - and Smiling_Joe said it better than I could, I think. Hurricane meshes beautifully with your pets' preference for range (even if it's currently a bit buggy, and they often go charging into melee after they've spent their ranged attacks).

Ouroboroses are red, Ramiels are blue,
Sometime next year, there's a Storm coming for you.


... It's late. I got nuffin'.

Naw, I had a moment like this as well - just after the Origins pack was released. I searched frantically for that 'Snow' aura I'd sworn I'd heard about for a good hour before I finally remembered that it -and one aura I can't remember at the moment - were coming with Issue 19; not with the Origins pack.

I don't mind the 'oddball' knockback power here and there - Knockback does have some very handy uses, after all. What bothers me the most, personally, is a set like Energy Blast. Knockback is a situational tool for all but the soloist - and here you have an entire set in which every single attack has two things: damage and knockback. That's really about it. This can really hurt on a team - or if you happen to be a Defender or Corruptor of several types. (Other gripes are included in earlier posts.)

Sleet, Tar Patch, Twilight Grasp, Snow Storm, Radiation Infection, Enervating Field, Liquefy, Freezing Rain, Disruption Arrow, Oil Slick Arrow - there are many, many location/toggle-based powers that really shine when the enemies are grouped up in one place and stay there. And you're going to knock them right out of it with almost every attack you have, without some tricky positioning first. And even then it isn't quite guaranteed. There isn't always a handy wall nearby - nor are they quite certain to fly neatly against it every time. Particularly with AoEs.

Certainly, you could try and work with your resident Defender/Controller/Corruptor/Mastermind to hold on their debuffs until after you've knocked things silly into a more manageable spot - but more often than not, this simply isn't going to happen.

This is, specifically, what led to me thinking about this in the first place.

On a lighter note - my favorite uses for knockback:
- Knocking things out of my squishy face.
- Knocking things out of my squishy -teammates- face. This is one of the odder things I've ever been thanked for.
- Keeping things in a neat little pile when there's a nice corner nearby.
- Sending level 1 Hellions flying for a few blocks at level 50.
- Sending level anything anythings flying off the top of buildings. Especially in Praetoria, which seems to have a higher ceiling.
- Knocking things on their **** so I and/or my team can make a safe getaway.

How's about it? We have IOs that buff knockback - so how about one that debuffs Knockback magnitude; effectively turning it into knockdown? They'd be sold by the truckloads! Or perhaps make it a set bonus of some sort.. that would be an awful lot of slots to give up for, say, an Energy Blaster who wants to do knockdown.

Assuming it's actually viable, tech-wise.

Interesting tidbit about Mercenaries: Once upon a time, City of Data had the Commando listed as possessing the old Gun Drone power - before it was turned into it's current incarnation. I vaguely recall someone having once stated that the Commando did, in fact, have said power at some point - but it was removed because his AI just wasn't capable of using it.

What if, then, the new Gun Drone was given to him (or a lesser version to both Spec Ops along with a tweak to their crowd control abilities, turning them into more dedicated utility specialists)? It could be 'summoned' in the same way that the Bots summon their Seeker Drones, I imagine. You might even consider a Traps power or two - a watered-down Triage Beacon for the medic, and/or an Acid Mortar replicant for the Commando/Spec Ops - perhaps in place of the Gun Drone.

I've always had a fondness for Mercs because of their consistency. Until they began running into melee at every turn, I could always count on them to stay where I put them and unload from one particular point. Something like the above would help that 'mobile tactical battlfield' vibe I've always imagined them having - and might make them a little more interesting than just another damage pet, I think.

Another thought - this one in the 'boring damage' department: Offer Spec Ops the 'Stealth Strike' ability that the SWAT come loaded with. It wouldn't do much for the utility of the set - but it would give Stealth a reason for existing, and provide a little extra damage output.

Far-out-there thought: Implausible as it might be to implement - having the ability to swap the ammo types of all your mercs using Dual-Pistols-inspired toggles would be interesting.

Last-minute thought: In fact, any of the above could be turned into a click power and made into a Serum replacement.

Edit: Further Serum Idea: Or, perhaps, you could turn it into a targetted AoE - an Artillery Strike/Air Support power that rains down one of multiple types of explosive - styled after some very watered-down versions of the Warburg Nukes; and even more impressive to watch.

I bought the origin pack specifically to do this:




Also in progress for the same character:







I just need to figure out which exact colors to use, and what sorts of tops/jackets/pieces I can add for each 'season'.

Definitely the Community. I'm a 54-month Vet, going on 57-month - and I'd likely be a lot higher than that if it hadn't been for those months I wasn't able to subscribe.

And it still amazes me. It's rare enough for me to stick with any MMO beyond a month or two - but CoX has always had me coming back. I know that I can log in at almost any time of day, find a team of folk I've never met before, and have a good time. Maybe even make some friends out of it!

But even more than that... Customization. Customization has always been the first thing I look for in an MMO. I make a hobby of designing characters and thinking up personalities and/or stories for them. I don't write these out, or Roleplay... but watching these things in action is one of the most enjoyable experiences for me. Only one MMO I've played beat CoX in this area - but the Community point over there made CoX the clear winner.

I still take breaks every few months, and I have my eye on one or two upcoming MMOs - as I always do. I'm always hoping for that one that will do CoX one better. Even when it does - you know I'll still be here on the side, 'till the day the servers go down and Paragon Studios launches CoX2.

Is there anyone in particular us pre-purchase folk should PM for beta forum access; or are we simply waiting for an all-encompassing 'switch'?