Melancton

*applause*

That is just such great thinking and execution. Bravo.

I was laying trip mines for another wave of attackers in the "Malta Action Figure" tip mission when the big Malta Gunslinger boss leading the attack ported in right next to me... *kaboom!* and Mission Completed. Mine was a happy accident but yours was premeditated. Brilliant.

*more applause*

Hear, hear. *applause*

Even if we choose to never play them, we are paying for them, either via the fee to access or because that part of our VIP stipend is producing these extremely lame SSA episodes instead of something enjoyable.

I hope the next arc is worthwhile. Laying aside whatever technical merit some of the cutscenes may have had, this arc has been terrible.

Well, is your avatar a Bad Wolf?

I remember that guy. And as I recall, he once saved Superboy by changing the color of some Kryptonite to a harmless color (white?).

Personally, I would think that his power would be a LOT more useful in more situations than, oh, say, Bouncing Boy or Matter Eater Lad.

But I have to agree that Shopping Cart Man's push power as depicted by Arcanaville is even more useless than any of those.

In cases where I know I am going to want the set, this is totally cool with me.

Because of Day Jobs, it is actually my preference to roll a hero then park them at the various Day Job locations needed to get some Helpful Temporary Powers before I launch their careers. Since I have a bunch of heroes I play already as my mood strikes me, I really enjoy waiting and thus having a little extra help (along with the perma Vet Powers like the Nemesis Staff) as they fumble about in their low level glory.

Having Tear Gas and a Nem Staff for Melancton Back In The Day would have made the Caves of Atta a MUCH happier experience.

So I will likely park my Beast Mastery MM while I play other heroes anyway. Getting a sale price would be great. I would rather be getting it free, since I do not care for Dark Mastery, but them's the breaks.

...and somewhere a lot of Forumites playing a game all took a drink.

So somebody killed a leprechaun and that is what crashed the servers.

Once they buffed the leprechauns with Invul, the servers came back up.

Works as much as any other theory.

All very well said.

Your gifts at framing and pacing shine as always.

"Veterans of the game know that the character [Statesman] was the namesake of Jack Emmert, who was the lead designer who originally launched City of Heroes in 2004. Jack posted as Statesman in the forums, came up with his backstory, and was instrumental in the character becoming the original poster-boy for the game's marketing. Killing off the character meant a lot of things to a lot of people, but for me it was the ultimate declaration that City of Heroes has grown up and left the nest from which it was born." -- Matt Miller, Intrepid Informer Issue 17.

While that is not precisely the words "Statesman had to die because he was one of Jack Emmert's characters," it still sounds terrible.

That is the unfortunate impression Matt Miller's comments left with me. Statesman (and it looks like Sister Psyche as well!) got the axe primarily because the Devs had wanted to do it for a long, long time, and finally things lined up to accomplish those ends.

Even so, I don't think that would have been bothersome in the final count except that the whole affair seemed so half-baked storywise; you know the drill about Walking Into The Obvious Trap(tm) and the Smiling Corpse who "welcomed his Death" because he was "seeking peace after decades of crime-fighting." On just what was presented, Statesman looked bad from any number of angles: an idiot for walking into the trap, a jerk who smiles when he is murdered by the same guy who just murdered his daughter, etc., etc. Sam sees this as deliberate "humiliation." I don't know if I would go that far, knowing as little as I do about the Devs, but it certainly rises to the level of Reckless Disregard for how the audience would perceive it. It was bad product, and given the build-up and hype, it was inconceivable to me that the story would be that awful when presented.

Another thought occurs to me: I have read the extensive backstory on the CoH site about Statesman's exploits and the virtues he purported to hold out, and I read the "Smoke and Mirrors" arc by Troy Hickman in the comics when they arrived at my door. The depiction of Statesman in those sources is at complete odds with the depiction of Statesman in other issues of the comic. Statesman solely in the game is not a lot to go on.

Most folks apparently have not read the CoH website background nor "Smoke and Mirrors." Their association with Statesman is Statesman=Jack, one of the uglier versions of Statesman presented or the not-much characterization of just the game. Indeed, there is a lot to be picked up on Historic markers and such that most folks have likely never seen.

So I realize that the reason that Statesman getting the pathetic send-off that he did (whether it was malice or just wretched writing; I cannot say) bothered me because I liked the Hickman Statesman, who seemed to be the guy I had read about on the website. If I had not seen those sources, it likely would have been "Big Whoop," as many appear to feel about it.

But let me say something else: I would be just as exercised if, should Matt Miller ever depart, somebody came after him and greased Positron in the same half-baked fashion just to be rid of him. Whether or not that would constitute deliberate humiliation would remain to be seen, but at least a noble and heroic death would be in order... not the sorry fate of Statesman.

I think the problem is having Matt Miller phrase things as he did. At that point, if this were "Castle" or "The Mentalist," the fact that Statesman and Psyche were both creations of Jack Emmert and are now dead would be linchpin motive that has Our Heroes exclaim, "Aha!"

From the standpoint of dealing with Jack Emmert, I am in no position to begrudge any ill feelings. He may have deserved every bit of hostility ever expressed by anyone. I can also understand Matt Miller's perspective in the sense of "opening up new possibilities by cutting ties to the past" sort of way.

The execution (pun semi-intended) of the death of Statesman left so very, very much to be desired, for all the reasons I shall not repeat. Coupled with the Miller comments, it made the entire enterprise look very mean-spirited. Perhaps, as I said, deservedly so to Jack, but what about the folks, such as myself, that had no identification of Statesman=Jack?

I never knew Bob Kane. I like Batman. I never knew Lee Falk. I like the Phantom. I could go on, but the point is that even if Kane and Falk turned out to be utter swine as people, Batman and the Phantom still appeal to me. In the case of Statesman, he was generally depicted as an arrogant, aloof and non-perceptive swine in the comics... EXCEPT when Troy Hickman got a chance with him. The Hickman Statesman was TREMENDOUSLY appealing to me and fraught with all sorts of possibilities as a character.

The Hickman Statesman, if he HAD to die in the Paragon Studios scheme of things, deserved an openly explicit noble and heroic death. There are folks that have filled in the blanks in the story to come to the "noble and heroic" conclusion, and I have noted their efforts. But the story, as presented, shows an experienced, veteran hero walking into an Obvious Trap(tm) and dying at the hand of his daughter's murderer with a smile on his face.

I am a VIP. I am still here. There is so much else to enjoy about CoH, and I do. But I am directly paying for the SSAs whether I ever play another or not. I cannot "vote with my pocketbook" because VIPs pay regardless, and going Preem or Freem means I cannot play all of my heroes, etc., etc. I seriously doubt if my non-participation in further SSAs will make a blip in any data-mining that the Devs do. But "still being here" does not equate to "I am still watching" in this context. Bad form, Devs, very bad form.

And just what sort of in-game situations would be doing THAT, hmmmm?



I am sure You Have No Idea!

Perhaps his Mama made it for him.



EDIT:
As indeed it should be!

Doctor Minerva, I think you and a number of other folks have provided very plausible scenarios regarding any number of the questions left open in "Who Will Die?".

The problem for me is that the Devs should have been the ones doing the plausible explanations. As you note, "we don't know."

Was Statesman 1) grieving 2) over-confident 3) complacent or 4) a total idiot? We don't know. We can infer what we will, for good or ill, but the Devs have simply left the door open and departed.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as they say. Some folks will, as you have, fill in the blanks so that the story does not shut down the suspension of disbelief. Others will point out the holes and cry foul over any number of problems the holes raise. Both sides are "right" in their reaction.

For me, it just never comes to this when a piece is well-written.

ftp://ftp.coh.com/comics/topcow/comic_01.pdf
Page 4

Statesman and Sister Psyche
created by Jack Emmert

Positron Created by Matthew Miller

Manticore, Synapse and Lord Recluse
created by Sean Michael Fish

Thanks, TJ, that is the sort of thing I need to know!