Shadowe

CB, the point is that he didn't ask for anything at all. He didn't ask for feedback, but neither did he ask for the thread to be left only for him. As such it's just like any of the other creative writing threads here: fair game for feedback.

I will say again: it is an open thread that anyone can read and post in. There was no indication from the OP that it was intended to be closed to him and his "group". At least not until after he edited his original posts to remove their content.

If he was offended by FFM's feedback, the correct course of action was to report the offending post and let NCSoft deal with it. Not to call FFM a troll in public and by pm.

Now, with the OP having stated that he wanted the thread to be closed to a limited group, I'm not commenting at all on the contents of his original posts, but on the way he responded to criticism, which is, to say the least, poor.

I would personally recommend Coupling (make sure you get the UK version written by Steven Moffat (doing the current Doctor Who), not the utterly pants US one). For a taster... Try this. NSFW subject matter, but played for laughs

Don't forget the Christmas Present Inspiration (whatever they're called) that does a PBAoE heal. That one counts, too.

It seems to me that you're attempting to explain why your hero loses the ability to fly for a time after coming to the Earth of the CoH Universe.

Pseudoscience, here we come...

His species are naturally adaptive, and possess human-level curiosity, which has driven them to the exploration of many other worlds, and seeing multiple alternative cultures. Physically, they fit approximately within the range of human norm, with the exception of large wings. Their bodies are constructed of a complex bio-adaptive substance which does the job bone and muscle would in humans. This adaptivity allows their body density to be altered as well as their effective "muscle" strength. It takes a relatively short time for their body to evolve to suit a particular planetary gravitational field and atmospheric density, but over the course of a few weeks they will again regain the ability to fly.

Since this is pseudoscience fudging, there's no need to explain what happens when they go to a world with vastly different gravity and atmosphere to Earth, because all of the worlds thus far visited in CoH are Earthlike. Even the Shadow Shard. But feel free to build on that for an explanation.

tl;dr No "normal" skeleto-muscular system will allow you to do what you want. So make up an abnormal one.

Okay, I'm less than happy to see that some of the stuff going back and forth in this thread is people taking exception to things that other people have said, but I guess that's just human nature.

I'm going to be mildly brave and pick my main to pieces, now, in the interests of this thread, explaining what's balanced and what's not, and generally because he's a prime example of the sort of Cosmically Powered character I think of when I talk about them (so, your Superman, your Silver Surfer. The so-called "heavy-hitters" of the "world" in which comics and this game are set).

Dr Richard Huntington the Third, PhD. Wealthy businessman (think Bruce Wayne/Tony Stark), science nerd (definitely Tony Stark), genius. Specialises in Quantum Mechanics and alternate realities.

Science accident involving an artificial black hole (massing approximately twice as much as the Earth) kills him and, through one of those peculiar twists of superhero fate, his "mind" becomes part of the energy cloud surrounding the black hole. (I'm not going to give the spoiler that explains why this incredibly heavy stellar body doesn't just swallow the planet whole. There is a reason, and a good one. EU players will have to find out in-game, US players, I'll PM you if you really want to know.)

Thanks to the "insert superhero comic book science fudge here" aspect of this whole process, and thanks to that wonderful thing called "Residual Self-Image" (go watch The Matrix for a better explanation than I'm ever going to come up with), Dr Huntington's body reforms.

But he now has superpowers. He can fly, project energy, turn invisible. He has, on numerous occasions, alluded to the ability to destroy the world (factoid: He once thought he could, but he's now figured out that he can't). He can, with concentration, sense the entire electromagnetic spectrum, as well as particles. He looks, sounds, feels, smells, tastes (seriously? I'm only including this to cover all the senses) human. He does not have blood. His body is a delicate balance of subatomic particles that seems human. When he gets cut, sparks fly out of him. He can ignore pain. He cannot be permanently killed. He will reform. He will keep coming back for more. In direct contravention to standard thinking, the more thoroughly he is hurt, the faster he comes back. Paper cuts take days, but the complete annihilation of his body will recover in about half an hour. (And he'll come back naked, with hilarious results.) An infusion of energy from "this" reality (specifically the Unionverse, for anyone keeping track) will speed the process.

Only those last couple of parts are out-of-game-mechanics fudging. So far I've not said anything particularly game-threatening, since the game mechanics actually allow recovery far faster than that.

The only ability I've given him that is game/plot-breaking, as far as I can tell, is an ability (represented by use of the Phase Shift power, in-game) to enter a particular alternate reality, in which he can pass through solid objects and is effectively invulnerable. Considering the duration of Phase Shift, I came up with an IC reason that he wouldn't want to stay in that alternate reality, which is that it scares the bejeezus out of him. He calls it "Hell" or, more commonly, "my own personal Hell". And, for interest, he can take other people with him. I am very careful about the use of this ability, usually only using it a) in my own plots when it helps move the plotline along a bit, or b) when I am confident that the use of it will not adversely affect someone else's plotline.

Okay, so that's the "power" side of him. The downsides are almost all personal, since his physical weaknesses are as negligible as anyone else's.

First, and most importantly, the fact of his true nature (come on, he's a black hole) is deeply disturbing to him. He's been angsting for years about it, and worrying about whether he's really human or not. That ain't going to change any time soon, no matter what his friends may tell him.

Secondly, the accident that "created" him killed (utterly accidentally) a dozen of his closest friends, but he still feels guilty over it. That's something that some inroads have been made on, because the more time passes, the more he realises that it wasn't something anyone could have done anything about, and borrowing guilt is a waste of time.

Third, he is as physically vulnerable as a normal human being. While he can ignore pain, delivering enough damage to cripple a normal human will cripple him. The fact that he can fly through the power of thought alone means that it's not overly limiting, in many respects, but if he loses an arm, he's lost an arm, until it grows back (an hour or so). Also, just because he can ignore pain, doesn't mean he ignores it all the time. Case in point: Two events, recently at the Galaxy Girl RP meet. First, a police detective needs an effective demonstration of Richard's persistence. So he quite consciously focuses and takes a headshot. Boom. Bye-bye skull. Cascade of energy, but he just keeps on functioning. In a limited fashion, yes, until he heals up, but the fact that his head has been blown half off does not directly disadvantage him. Second, a new meta-human's powers manifest, to the surprise of everyone, and he gets a set of metal claws punched through his chest. It hurts. His breathing goes to pot. He's in serious pain, even though it's not life-threatening, because he didn't have the chance to prepare himself for the damage. Because it takes an effort of will for him to ignore pain, he tends to do it before entering a combat situation, but he can be hurt.

Now, other downsides to the character as an RP toon include his wealth and resources, since I know that many people frown on the "super-rich superhero" model. He owns a big house, has several cars, and a big technology company. He's loaded. The most frequent time this impacts on RP is if someone needs a place to stay. He's got a flat in Galaxy City that he lets people stay in when they need to. But not everyone. His personality quirks come into play in that decision-making process. I also fudge nigh-constant recording of everything going on around him (oh, hello chat logging).

And that's the point - most of his abilities are covered by game-mechanics. Things I can use to explain why he interacts with the game-world in particular ways. The one significant diversion from that is the other reality he can enter, and I have taken great pains to ensure that I will never use it as a "get out of jail free card".

And that's the point of this thread - I have put very specific limitations on my character, through his own motivations, in an attempt to ensure that the one game-breaking ability he's got can't be used to wreck plots run by other people.

44 distinct Temp Powers on my main (thus not counting duplicate Rocks and Build Snowbeasts). Yes, I've included Ourob portal and the lowbie ranged non-temp thingy. So, 42, really.

I am a temp-aholic.

It's very interesting, really - I've been involved in this sort of discussion before, and it does tend to go the same way:

Some players insist on the right to play whatever power level they want, and others insist that the game-world should set strict limitations on character abilities.

Now, I'm not saying that any particular version is more correct than any other, but since we RP by consensus (generally speaking), it's an interesting thing to consider.

Take my main, for example - if we consider the different versions of him that I have sitting on Union, he's got over a hundred levels. Does that make him more powerful than any level 50 toon out there? Not by a long shot! I try to play his capabilities within the bounds of the game-world (in fact, in some respects he's weaker than the in-game representation of him would suggest).

There is no quick and easy ruling that anyone could make that will determine if a toon is as powerful as someone chooses to represent them (though I would goggle at someone playing a Level 1 toon claiming to be "teh most powurful being alive"), and we don't have the right to try and enforce some arbitrary limits on anyone.

However, the game itself sets limits. We are limited by our powers, powersets, power pools, enhancements and so forth. I've lost track of the number of times I've been tempted to say "okay, back that up" /arenalist.

There are Cosmic Powered toons that are for full-on RP, and that's good, as long as the player remembers that they've made the choice to ignore the game-mechanics and focus on characterisation, and there are toons that can stand toe-to-toe with Reichsmann and win (okay, I'm guessing here - I've never actually seen an RP toon do this).

At this point I'm going to introduce a term that I've tried to avoid using too much because it is a loose phrase, but it strikes to the heart of the matter: God-modding the world.

I define this term to mean "any character whose abilities allow them to do things break the limits set by the game world". This means either game-mechanics or lore.

Here's an example: Phase Shift. By rights, Phase Shift should allow a character to walk through walls. However, that's not true, in the game. You can walk through other characters, no problem, but you can't pass through objects. But any character can say, for RP purposes, that their phase-shift ability lets them walk through walls, but that effect is not replicable in-game.

Please note, super-senses tend not to fall under this category, since everyone has a 200 foot radius "I can hear/smell/taste anything" effect, defined by local chat range. Sight even moreso, because that's a limit of your draw-distance. I don't know of anyone who has ever said "I can see what you're doing all the way over there outside my visible range". It's up to individual players to delimit their own characters to what they think their character can do, within those boundaries.

Another example of god-modding the world would be a character saying "my character is Statesman's long-lost, more powerful, twin brother". All of the game-lore says this cannot be true, but you can bet your bottom dollar that someone, somewhere, thinks it would be a good concept to play.

With the huge story holes that exist, it's quite easy to find a way to introduce any character you'd care to mention into CoH, and that's not a bad thing in its own right. It potentially becomes a problem when the player starts reinterpreting the game-world to suit their own needs.

For example, one thing that's been brought up on Union many times is the so-called "Hero License". I'd been rping for quite some time before Fanservice brought up the fact that there is no such thing. Heroes register, to be compliant with the CCFA and FBSA regulations, but registration is not a license. That required quite a paradigm-shift in my own appreciation of what my heroes were actually doing. They're not strictly fully deputised law enforcement officials. They have simply registered their abilities with the appropriate government department, and have the tacit agreement of the law to act as they see fit to prevent lawlessness. They have the right to arrest criminals, and a legal protection that prevents them as an individual being sued by criminals for harm they cause to those criminals when they act in their heroic identity. But that's it. They neither have the obligation to fight crime, nor any specific right to do so, beyond their right to arrest.

On Union, though, for the longest time, there were many people who referred to their "Hero License" as if it were a free pass. Some still do. This is game-world modding at its most subtle, because it looks like it should be true. But it isn't.

There are a huge number of other "game world modding" situations out there - pretty much as many as there are players - and because of this, we all have a responsibility to try and make sure our characters fit within the boundaries.

Someone might think "Well, what's the problem if my character can walk through walls?" and the answer is simple: Prove it.

Now, I have a character who can walk through walls (in case you hadn't guessed, I'm using that as an example for a good reason). I cannot prove it. I am as guilty of god-modding the world as anyone else, for this simple ability. Why did I bother? Well, partly for concept reasons - the character was always meant to be able to do it, but with a price. That price is quite personal to him, and not one that will affect any other character, but the simple fact of the matter is that he is scared of doing it. As a result of this, he avoids doing so, and only tends to do it as a last-ditch resort option. He can theoretically do it in combat situations, but I hand-wave away his inability to do so by saying that in a fight he's too focused on the here-and-now situation to remember that he can.

That may be me trying to justify an ability I have no right to claim. I'm really not sure. As long as I'm careful to avoid breaking plots, it's not going to negatively affect anyone. But I do appreciate that it's a plot-breaking power.

Which brings me to the point of this rambling, which is to ask what people think are problems with game-world modding. Feel free to post specific examples, but as usual, no naming and shaming, and if it's possible to disguise the characters and players you're referring to, that would be good. I don't want this thread to turn into "he said" "yeah, but he said..." situation. If you have something you want to bring up regarding another player, it might be an idea to PM them first and get their agreement to be entered into this discussion: I'll just blanket say now that I have no problem with anyone saying anything they want about any of my toons. I will defend them, their characterisations and their powers, but I hope that I will avoid being defensive about it.

Congrats on the Levelling Pact!

So, you've had the wed-ding...

May your last "ding" be many years from now

Check the weekly maintenance schedule, which is every Thursday, starting 12 UK time for a couple of hours.

Okay, going to try and write a meaningful post in about 10 minutes. Let's see how this goes.

If you're running a plot, there are, essentially, three ways to handle Cosmic Power characters who want to get involved.

1) Tell them they can't join

Pretty much what it says - state clearly and up-front that the plot isn't designed to handle Cosmic Power characters. The advantage to this is that it allows you tighter control over the power level of the bad guys in the plot, but with the downside of actively excluding a number of characters (and possibly their players, if they only play one character, or all of their charcters are CP toons).

2) Tailor the plot to both Cosmic and non-Cosmic characters

This is a standard piece of plot-mastering advice - give everyone something to do! If you have some threats that need CP toons to deal with and other threats that non-CP characters can get their teeth into, then you have the opportunity to keep everyone engaged. Case in point is my current plotline on Union (not many posts about it, but a few), where there are two linked issues - one is that a large number of Paragon's citizens have started getting "spaced out" on a frequent and regular basis, the other is that a CP-level threat (my main villain, Psychonova) is back in town, causing trouble. At the moment, though, any character can easily get involved in any aspect of the plot, because the "threats" to characters aren't extreme or even particularly significant. Doing this has the advantage that CP characters can focus on the CP threats, while non-CP characters can handle the non-CP issues. The downside happens when the "wrong" toons try to deal with the "wrong" problem.

3) Go with the flow!

Wing it. Make it up as you go along. Play to your current crowd. If you currently have non-CP toons only, ignore elements of your plot that would need a CP character to handle them. If a CP toon turns up and gets involved, create a problem for them. Do whatever it takes to tailor each problem to the specific combination of CP and non-CP toons that are around.

The advantage to this is that it guarantees that your plot will fit the capabilities of the characters involved. The downside is that as the characters change, plot elements may shift, quite drastically, and this could throw your plot into disarray. This option is not for the faint-hearted, as it requires hugely dedicated commitment from the plot-master, the ability to be flexible with the plot, and the will to wipe out entire tranches of plotline as things change.

My prefered option, in case you hadn't guessed, is 2. It's possible to focus on the aspects that the characters present are best-suited to dealing with, and shift the focus around as the situation changes, somewhat like 3, but with a lot less effort and risk to the plotline.

It's also worth noting that any plot against a CP foe should have a non-CP solution available. If the villain is immune to all harm, make it possible to beat him with vibrant persuasion - for my current plot I've come up with three ways to resolve it, just off the top of my head, and I know for certain that the players involved will come up with something else to win the day.

But really, everyone should remember the golden rule: No plot survives contact with the players.

No matter what you plan for, no matter how complex your plot, the players, no matter how powerful they are, will be able to come up with a way to get round it that you haven't thought of. Don't reject this out of hand. Embrace it. Let the players drive the plot as much as you do. Say "Yes" to their ideas and see where it leads. A plot isn't a story: You don't get to decide the outcome ahead of time. If a CP toon solves it all in a millisecond, you've learned something. If a "street-level" toon takes a week of solid investigation to learn something you wanted to hand out on the first day, you've learned something.

Don't be afraid of players with CP toons, but neither do you have to completely pander to them, and nor do you have to let them ruin your plot. But be aware that they're around and might be able to if you're not careful.

Let me tell you a little story. I woke up today, quite early considering I have the day off work, switched on my computer, and downloaded my emails.

I have them set not to display images, so I get to see the image tags instead, which at times affords me some amusement, but never more so than when someone like NCSoft makes an error.

They want me to prepurchase what?



Yes, this is the official Issue 17 release email.

Yes, even NCSoft believe that they have an expansion called Going Rouge that you can prepurchase.

Thank you, NCSoft for the fun!

((A series of - apparently - unrelated articles from Paragon's Press))


Cup o' Joe's is Cup o' SLOW.

This popular coffee shop in Steel Canyon, located just down the street from one of the FDPC Station Houses, has seen a slump in business recently when its customers realised that the staff were paying them no attention at all

Lost and Found.

A group of Lost have been found, beaten to a pulp, in an abandoned warehouse in Skyway City. No heroes have come forth to claim responsibility for the arrests.

Get of ma lawn!

A group of civilians from a housing project in King's Row drove several groups of the Circle of Thorns away from the area near the yellow line station, yesterday.

New Hero, or New Threat?

Fears that an unregistered vigilante with something against Hellions have become more pronounced. Not less than forty of the magic-using gang were found trussed up in the car park beside the GCPD station this morning.

Respect the Family? Hell no!

Citizens of Independence Port, apparently fed up with the constant harrassment and deal-brokering of The Family, have taken steps to clean the mob from the streets. Dock-workers, shop-owners, warehouse operative, even an accountant, are reported to have been seen chasing crowds of smartly-dressed mobsters through the streets. Rumours of some of the civilians apparently using superpowers are unsubstantiated, though it is quite possible that a couple of superheroes were amongst the crowd.

Zig Zag.

A citizen of Brickstown, angry at the constant reports of escaping prisoners and the dangers posed to the innocents in the shadow of the world-class Ziggursky Penitentiary, has begun a one-man campaign to "Catch the Crooks".

Toby Morris (37), an unemployed trucker, originally from Dallas, TX, has been picketing the prison every day for the last fortnight.

Some wild tales suggest that Mr Morris has demonstrated some form of mutant weather control powers, calling down lightning and rain on prisoners who are attempting to break out of the heavy security of the penitentiary, but Mr Morris roundly denies any such abilities.

"I'm just a man who's tired of running scared around that blot on the landscape. If enough people agree with me, maybe the City will do something about it!"

Scared of Spiders?

Not the construction workers in Northern Overbrook! These hard-working labourers have been tirelessly making the city a little nicer by rebuilding some of the splendour of Overbrook, despite persistent interference from the illegal activities of the Etoile Islands organisation known as Arachnos. Recently, though, some of the braver souls in the crews have been actively chasing down the heavily armed and armoured intruders. There has been no loss of life, but a couple of injuries. When questioned in hospital, one of the men had no memory of charging down an energy cannon-wielding soldier with a crowbar - nor of knocking the brute off his feet with one swing! Hopefull the amnesia will be temporary, but there is something of a conspiracy of silence between the workers - any further details of their exploits are not at all forthcoming.

That, then, is the challenge:

+2/x8, Players Debuffed, Enemies Buffed, ITF must be completed in under 2 hours - who gets the most Deaths Per Minute (DPM)?

Let the good times roll...