Melancton

Let me also give a big thumbs up to ViKtoricus for that attitude. That tells me you will do just fine in this game. Mistakes get made-- you learn and move on and do better the next time.

Exactly so, Electric-Knight. We might not think anything of it and just wait. Other folks might be offended when none is intended. Or the Leader may thereupon demonstrate that he WAS barking an order, you clod-hopping moron. Oops, look at the time, gotta go.

The vast majority of my teaming experiences have been fun. A good number of them involved some pretty good banter and lively teamwork. There have been many, many teams I was sorry to see disband, because we were rocking the house.

"I assure you, my good man, Nemesis is most definitely 'down with the street'. Word up, my homie, as it were."

This has been a common sentiment among a number of different threads. Whatever concepts each player may bring to each hero they make, shazam, it was all the Well of Furies, and beyond lvl 50, you have to be the Incarnate of someone.

Personally, I do not think the Devs are using a shoe-horn as much as a cannon ramrod with the Well. My robot lab assistant hero would be what, the Incarnate of an abacus??

Don't forget "insane!"

"It's just a harmless little bunny!"

"But... look at the bones!"

As I recall, this quote is from somewhere in the official City of Heroes materials on Dark Astoria, either in the online history of Paragon City that came out with the game in 2004 (which I read when I started playing in 2005) or one of the zone background articles that came out in what, "The Paragon Times" or whatever the official Dev publication was?

I took it to be an example of overly dramatic writing and/or a HUGELY jaded perspective. I think the more accurate and plausible narrative would be to reverse the above two sentences in that quote:

The army of Husks and Shaman ravaged the zone, tore the ground apart and sacrificed every man, woman and child in their efforts to wake the god Mot. The city authorities and Heroes, already reduced in number and staggering from the Rikti onslaught, had no choice but to relinquish the area to the Pantheon and wall it off.

Otherwise, you get into a really weird situation where nobody tries to evacuate or help, and in fact, they seal the zone up and prevent any escape by the doomed citizens, which cuts totally against the grain of the theme of "City of Heroes." So I always took it to be a "really big typo" instead of the official posture on what happened. Besides, how accurate can it be without any mention of Recluse's earwax, eh?

I thought he was shooting straight with me, but I thought a bit of caution and verification was in order.

When I had met him, we chatted a bit and when I seemed to know something about British military history, he showed me his beret with his unit insignia on it and asked if I recognized it. He about passed out when I replied, "The Royal Scots Greys--Sgt. Ewart takes the Eagle at Waterloo." I don't think he had ever met an American that knew about that before. Ultimately, I wound up with a copy of Lady Butler's "Scotland Forever!" hanging in my office.

He was working as a liaison to a large American corps, and told the story about how he had announced to the HQ unit that they were deploying for a training exercise into the field, "so all you clerks pack up your papers, pencils and rubbers, because you're going to need them!" and it escaped him as to why the entire unit broke out into laughter.

Of course, announcing to a British unit that appearance is important, and all pants had better be pressed with a sharp crease in them would presumably bring the same reaction.

"America and England, two nations separated by a common language" is how Mark Twain is supposed to have put it.

In the six years I have been playing, there were a few threads on this topic. Whether they are lost themselves, I dunno, but briefly:

There is a plaque in DA that reads: "When the Freedom Phalanx became an officially recognized Super Group in 1953, the hero Vambrace made a pledge. 'Dark Astoria will be restored to its natural state,' he said. 'The Freedom Phalanx is commited to saving every part of Paragon City, even those that may seem lost. "

Someone has pointed out that in the LGTF, Infernia says, "I'm sure dad kept the family place in Downtown Astoria."

So Astoria is dark and needing restoration in 1953, but Infernia lives there as of the Omega Gambit in 2002, but as of 2004, DA is as we now see it.
My concise take on it:

The Freedom Phalanx succeeded in restoring Astoria in the mid-50s, but when so many superheroes died in the first Rikti Invasion, there was nothing to stop the forces that had plunged it into darkness before from returning (or perhaps a new, worse group) and DA is again in darkness. That would explain why we have the same architecture and Vanguard signs in DA: it went dark again after the 2002 invasion.

One of my own heroes was born and raised in Astoria. He went out of town on business and returned to find Astoria as it is and everyone he cared for gone. He has vowed to again lift the darkness in Astoria.

That is my fast explanation on it.

I had wondered for years about "Pull the other one" from the opening scene in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," especially since King Arthur replies, "I am."

I ran into a Colonel in the Royal Scots Greys who verified in America, "Pull the other one" translates into "You're kidding." I had suspected that it was roughly shorthard for "You're pulling my leg. Go ahead and pull the other one while you are at it." He confirmed this, and said that where he was from, if they were really sure you were kidding, they would say, "Pull the other one, it's got bells on it."

Of course, he may have been pulling my leg on that last bit... should I have asked him to pull the other one?

Back as a Level 1, we picked an Origin, say, Science. Your actual origin and backstory was up to you. You filled in the details.

For me, it is now as though if you pick Science, then your character is an escaped, failed experiment by Crey, period. That is the only story allowed. You can merrily ignore it, but it is irksome. That is pretty much the ground I covered in Where Is The Amorality of the Well Taking Us? There are no choices, just a deific Well.

And as you say, there is just a "wrong feel" going on.

And, as noted, you can avoid IOs and such and still participate successfully in the same content any other player can. Now, unless you go the Well route, you cannot participate in some content.

As others have said, I like being a Hero in a City of Heroes. I would prefer not to be shoehorned into the Well business as it is being presented. Of course, I would also prefer that Troy Hickman and David Nakayama would helm a revived City of Heroes comic, too, for what that is worth.

Myself as well. What considerate hosts, providing for any potential need for their guests!

This is a possibility, but the Well has currently been singled out as "the" way to become "Incarnate" as I interpret the presentation. You could be right, but I also do not sense the Coming Storm as being particularly different morality-wise from the Well.

I think this is my own biggest objection. The Well is "it." The Well is "the" source.

And yes, I "Mystery Science 3000" that aspect, but I am not happy that the official lore makes the ultimate force of the universe the Well. It does not officially affirm Good nor Evil, but just the desire to have Power. I think the Devs figured that makes it "Neutral," but by favoring Cole, I cannot see how that does not make it "Evil."


Well, I am, and I suppose a lot of folks are. But at some point, the game may well go over a line officially that endorses things that will make me too uncomfortable to go on. To use an extreme example: I will not play the Grand Theft Auto series because of the official presentation of a number of crimes and other acts; it is no good trying to ignore it and pretend it is really a Smurfs adventure.

I have no problem with game mechanics that allow Vigilantes and outright Villains, because they are on parallel tracks to the same general level of power. You are not shoehorned to a particular moral decision in order to hit level 50, say. Not so if you want the next level of power, which the Devs have unfortunately presented as it stands.

The Well of Furies previously was something non-sentient and passive; simply "a" means of becoming Super. Two guys found it, drank from it and the uses that they made of the abilities that resulted were guided by their respective moralities. That is different from a sentient Well making what are ultimately moral choices by favoring the evil Tyrant above all. Further, we are told that the Well has to be "resisted" or it will take you over completely. While this is all presented as not having any particular morality, and thus "amoral," I would agree with those that have concluded the Well is acting in an Evil fashion, and if Stupid is as Stupid does, the Well is Evil. And the Well is running the whole show as it is presented. So I ignore that aspect for the moment, since it is incompatible with my own lore. I am just getting antsy that the Devs will push this further and further to where participating at the highest level will mean having, if I may draw the comparison, to wear some form of an armband that I do not ever care to wear.

This is very well played all around here. Rather than possibly ruin this Souffle of Humor (or a masterful Set and Spike, if you will) with any additions, let me just quietly Golf Clap.

*Golf Clap*

Come to think of it, the Clockwork King is likewise a brain in a jar, capable of animating thousands of minions simultaneously. Is Paragon City big enough for two brains in a jar?

Or are there even more?

Is it common among the ladies laying out on the beach to comment to one another, "OMG, it's one of those Brain in a Jar Dudes staring at us!" ?

Further complicating things is the fact that a good number of the female heroes running about are Guys In Real Life.

It just gets so complicated for a Brain In A Jar Dude...