Kitsune9tails

The drones teleport them to their cubicles.

Yes!

No!

...er, let me clarify that last bit.

I would not mind PvP instances of Perez Park or whatever (or even a PvP open-world server). But no PvP, voluntary or otherwise, outside of designated, gated PvP zones, please.

Earned.

And there's nothing wrong with that. You have that option.

It's just that you have that option and also the option to buy some of the occaisional shinies that may catch your eye.

Indeed, it did not have to be a city of villains and villains, but Arachnos does serve an additional purpose you kind of passed over.

As a recognized sovereign power, it also gives a reason why the heroes don't just wander over from Paragon en masse and clean up the place.

Essentially, the Rogue Isles are Latveria.

Also, of course, it was conceived of as an Expanshalone (a great concept), so there needed to be a place where villain players need never interact with Paragon and its' heroes outside of instances.

The Rogue Isles kind of had to be what they were. But they don't necessarily have to continue to be that.

I don't have a problem with the setting itself. I love the 'cautionary tale' aspect of it. It makes for great unique architecture and feel.

I think the basic problem is the fact that Arachnos is set up as the 'mission backbone'. If there were money in it, there is no reason why numerous other mission backbones cannot be also set up. Rising through the ranks of Arachnos is fine as a default path, but there should be alternate paths that give the player a strong and abiding illusion of making their own way IN ADDITION to all of that.

Let me take over an abandoned warehouse, turn it into a base, steal shipments of high tech supplies, intimidate a fence into working with me, research a super weapon...and let me do all that by choosing among various options/Contacts.

With my next character, let me take over a cave system for my base, research and steal an ancient tome from a powerful magician, summon up a vile entity to demand its' servitude...

I don't think its' anything that can't be done with what we already have in place. All you need is a chain of Contacts and missions leading to the various 'stock ubervillain' endpoints: despot, kingpin, terrorist, etc.

Oh okay. This I understand. I don't agree, but I do understand. Carry on.

But if Freedom never comes out, then you still don't have access to Incarnate content unless you resub.

If it does, then you can resub like you do now and have access to Incarnate content like you do now.

I also have 2 accounts (one of which I very rarely play); how am I screwed? After Freedom, I will have 2 accounts; one VIP and one Premium. I will have gained the option of playing my spare account for free instead of having to pay money to play it.

...but if Freedom never came out, you'd have to resub each time to play them anyway...

Not today...

If you look closely, you see the same thing happening in Watchmen.

On the other hand, I get the feeling that DreamWeaver has a LOT of experience walking in heels. Or perhaps even performing acrobatics in heels. I could be wrong, though.

And in any case, there's always posing for publicity photos

I think that basically comes down to purely the 'voice' of how many of the villain Contacts are written.

Sure I expect the Patrons, Recluse, and Arbiters to talk down to me; they are the equivalents of Luthors and Magnetos, they are going to treat a fellow villain as a peer at best.

On the other hand, there should be plenty of guys to talk to that treat you as a co-conspirator, client or even a feared superior. More missions should be treated as 'your own side project' and not something you are doing to gain points with Arachnos.

However, I think the devs can go even farther and have Contact Trees that 'go all the way up' and treat you as your own being. A guy you go to that directs you to poorly guarded warehouses full of tech, a Contact that helps you research forbidden magics, a source of 'volunteers' for unspeakable experiments, etc.

I'm thinking dialogue/action options like this...

"I don't know who told you I have a shipment of Superadine hidden away, but I can assure you they were mistaken!"

(Threaten her)
(Charm her)
(Offer her money and power)

...that sort of thing.

You most certainly can, cutie

The game can and should let us 'win'. I outlined a few ideas as to how that is possible with existing tech (standard code rant).

That does not change the fact that the purpose of the Rogue Isles in the game is to show why the Phalanx should not just step aside and let Recluse rule Paragon.

In my personal case, even though all of my various villain characters want to win, me as a player fully acknowledges that if they DID win, they would indeed leave the earth a dystopia or a wasteland. That is part of what it means to be a villain.

If you had a method of improving the world that did not have catastrophic drawbacks, or a nihilistic endgame, and was acheived purely through thoroughly laudable methods, you would not be a villain at all.

So I say: let us win and create our alternate dystopia or wasteland, and let us periodically visit it to cackle maniacally (and let other people go there to see why they shouldn't let us win). Then let us come back to Primal Earth and wrestle with Recluse.

Of course, none of this applies to small-time villains who just want booze and beautiful people of the appropriate gender...

I'm sure this is deliberate and makes sense.

There is a reason that we don't want the bad guys to win; part of Lord Recluse and Emperor Cole's point as story icons is to illustrate why that is: Paragon City may have War Walls, frequent invasions, Hellions stealing purses in the street, and Hazard Zones, but it is STILL (arguably) better than letting the bad guys win.

With Lord Recluse, you live in a Darwinist/Randian/Nietchzian dystopia.

With Emperor Cole, it's an Orwell/Huxley nightmare scenario.

The main thing I would do if I could wave a magic wand over the Villain Zone would be to create some villain-only mechanics and subsystems for the game:

1: A career-long story arc that allows you to create a doomsday device/worldbeating scheme, culminating in a battle against the Phalanx. If you win that battle, you get to create an alternate timeline (an instance that any player can enter and play in) where you have ruled/destroyed the world.

This location would be its' own variation on 'apocalyptic hellhole', and would use AE tech to build the scenario based on decisions made during the story arc. What kind of dystopia would your main villain build, if they won? Control the world via mind/soul-destroying tech/magic, and you end up with sheep instead of subjects. Conquering via fear and terrorism leads to an apocalyptic wasteland or a hellish landscape filled with sirens and searchlights. Many of these worlds could also be used as additional zones for the AE and alternate worlds found via a Portal Corp repeatable mission Contact or perhaps via Ouroboros.

'Cloning' tech would be used to populate the instance with statues and posters of you and the like.

2: Trials and arcs would allow you to overtake Paragon City and Rogue Island spawnpoints temporarily, replacing the normal spawns with minions of your own design, using AE tech.

3: Create career-long story arcs that establish you as working with other villainous organizations besides Arachnos in the capacity of an Arachnos Infiltrator (using Going Rogue tech). You would begin these by seeking out 'hidden' Contacts in various lowbie zones. You would be able to access alternatives to certain arcs and missions, sabotaging Arachnos plans. These would have unique badges that you could use to 'prove' to other players that you are not actually a lackey of Arachnos.

4: A true faction system within Arachnos, with Contact and in-mission choices that allow you to curry favor with various Patrons and/or invite attacks and countermoves by them and their minions. This would have a corresponding blueside system, allowing you to choose 'trees' of temp powers, missions, and the like from various organizations, like the FSBA or Hero Corps.

The bracelet doesn't seem to have any info directly linking it to a manufacturer.

The outfit is definitely designed to make you stand out to the naked eye. Bright primary colors (probably neon red and blue with black highlights, and an attention-getting pattern of some sort. The heels, sadly, are sensible and designed so you can fight in them, but are not totally flat--rather like boot heels. Since they are boots.

Note that the internet capabilities let you spoof accounts so that things cannot be traced, back to you, but you are on your own skills as far as any actual hacking is concerned.

For those of you on the side of villainy:

1: Do you try to build up a power base of trusted individuals, or merely hang around after making a demand, relying upon your intimidating physical presence to get your demands met?

2: What is the 'go-to' crime for purposes of raising capital for your evil schemes, and how do you escape the scene with the cash (perhaps a large white bag with a dollar sign emblem)?

3: Where do you draw the line? Do you refuse to threaten bystanders, endanger hostages, harm cops and security guards, kick puppies?

Reminded me of Death Note.

I could totally see a series of stories with this premise.