Shadowe

This thread has come about due to a discussion on the Galaxy Girl Thread about the problems with people playing heroes who are what I like to call "Cosmic Scale" characters.

I feel that I'm in a good position to discuss it, since I know that my main is one of them.

Firstly, though, this thread isn't about being defensive about character power, or about lambasting characters that are seen to be "overpowered" - it's just a frank discussion of those characters (in general, please try to avoid negatively commenting on other players' characters), the problems with them, the ways of dealing with them and the ways of playing them.

This is not an advice thread from me, since I'm well aware that I'm unlikely to be able to match some of the other roleplayers around in terms of giving good, generic advice.

So, to start with: What is a "Cosmic Scale" character?

Well, to me, a cosmic scale character is one whose powers and abilities theoretically (or actually) make them "too powerful for the game". Essentially, their purported abilities vastly exceed the game-mechanics that City of Heroes allows. So having a character who is utterly immune to all damage would meet this criterion. Having a character who can destroy the world is another example.

I have observed (quite a lot, particularly where my main is concerned) that a large number of people make the assumption that, because a character says he can do something, then the player wants the character to be able to do it. For example, my main has mentioned several times that he is theoretically powerful enough to destroy the whole world, if he wants to. He can't. Despite being a pretty "true-blue" hero, he has lied through his teeth about his capabilities in that regard. He has a good reason for having done so. A few characters have now, after 4 years of me RPing him, learned enough to know how vulnerable he really is, and why that level of destruction is simply beyond him.

The truth of the matter is that IC =/= OOC and OOC =/= IC. What a character says and what they are actually able to do may be vastly different things.

To me, the simple fact of the matter is that while we may introduce reasonable "flange" abilities to our characters (things that the game is incapable of representing, like super-hearing, or the ability to sense parts of the electromagnetic spectrum outside of visible light), we are also limited by two important things:

1) What the character is capable of in-game.
2) What other players will "let us get away with".

The first one is fairly simple. If your character is (allegedly) immune to all forms of damage and can destroy anything with a touch, then the instant anyone sees you soloing the Kronos Titan, they will have to assume, IC, that you overstated your capabilities, because I am pretty sure there's no build available in the game that will let you one-shot one of those puppies, and nor are you guaranteed to take no damage at all from their attacks. That's the nature of the game, and is a game-mechanics reason that anyone wanting to play a Cosmic Scale character must set limitations on their capabilities.

The second one is a lot harder, because no two players are alike, and while one player might let your ultra-telepath read their character's mind just because you say they have to be able to for concept reasons, another player might just flat-out refuse to let you. This one is a lot harder to handle, because it is entirely subjective. The onus is on the players involved to explain why their characters interact in a particular way. One player simply stating "it must be thus because my character is awesome" is god-moding.

Now, importantly, I'm not saying that Cosmic Scale characters are a bad thing. I am merely saying that they must be approached with extreme caution when it comes to playing them. There is certainly a place for them in the roleplaying world we create in the game, but it is important to be mindful of the limitations we all have to abide by, to avoid roleplaying becoming a childish game of "I win!"

Thoughts and comments, please.

Had a blast on Union! A big thank you to everyone who turned out, the lag was immense, but I'm taking that as a sign that the EU servers aren't dead.

Oh, and a big thank you to all the people from the Union Roleplayers chat channel who thought my suggestion of a cleanup at the Yellow Line in Steel was a good thing to do, and to everyone else who turned up to assist.

Merits, badges and fun. Awesome.

In case you've vaguely forgotten my general enthusiasm for community plots: YES, PLEASE!

Characters available for plottage include (but are not at all limited to):

The Huntington Household
Richard Huntington
Samantha Huntington
Helena Huntington
Julie Slater
Kara Sloane

The independents
Calas
Liz Ross

Done, but I have to agree with everything that Ravenswing says above.

Yes, I empathise with characters in games, yes, I feel strong emotion when playing games, yes, thos feelings have stayed with me - it is interesting to note that most of the time those emotions are positive ones: Times when I've laughed aloud and couldn't wait to tell my wife about how excited I was while playing.

Further, as another roleplayer, it is not at all uncommon for my emotions to become engaged when playing CoH.

I agree that the questions all seem to point toward a bias on the surveyer, since there is very little questioning positive aspects of emotions in gaming, and I fear that "strong emotion" may solely be taken to mean "strong negative emotion". I have been utterly honest when answering, but I do feel that a scale question "what sort of emotion do you feel most when playing computer games?" ranging from "strongly positive" to "strongly negative" would allow you to tighten the data.

I take it that you're connecting to the EU test server, from that comment?

Anyway, somewhat beside the point - if memory serves, edit the shortcut you're using for test, put quotes around everything that's there and then add -test after a single space after the final quote mark. Dunno why, but that's what mine shows.

Also, if my assumption about which test server you're accessing is correct, make sure that anything you have points to cohupdater.eu.exe (if you do not have that file, copy cohupdater.exe and edit the copy so it's called that).

I'm sure there are more technical minds than I who can answer, and probably will explain why everything I've just said is wrong, but the above works for me.

Edited original post to remove malicious link, following the advice above.

Oh, and...

A friend of mine received the following mail from (allegedly) support@ncsoft.com, with a subject of “NCsoft-Account Check”. (I haven’t checked the mail routing, so can’t verify the source at this time.)

This mail has been reported to NCSoft, but it seemed worth mentioning to you all.

Welcome to the game and the forum!

As many people have already said, it's tough to mess up a build. There are a lot of ways that you can optimise a build, though - for those, go and look in the Archetype section of the forum.

My first character ever was an Energy/Energy Blaster, and he is a whole lot of fun to play, still - just to warn you, though, as a Blaster, you will spend a fair bit of time munching carpet/concrete/cave. Don't let it get you down! Have fun, go nuts, pick the powers that sound fun and interesting! It's a rare team that will turn you down for anything but the most esoteric tasks (so-called "Master of..." Task Force runs spring to mind as those needing certain powers, and they're late-game content).

To give you few pointers on things you might want to seriously consider:

At level 6, you unlock Power Pools, which are basically powers that add capabilities to your character. You can have a maximum of 4 power pools, each of which has several powers in. At level 6 you can access either of the first 2 powers in the pool, at level 14 you can get the third power (as long as you have one of the first two) and at level 20 you can get the fourth power (as long as you have two of the first three).

Why has Shad said all this? Well, travel powers are in the power pools, for one - they all unlock at 14th level. Flight is very popular on new characters, but is (relatively) slow; Superjump is awesome and pretty quick, if a little riskier than flight; Superspeed is fast but lacks vertical movement capability; Teleport is fast but requires constant attention.

Also, one thing you'll find when playing the game is that you'll run out of Endurance. Probably a lot. Endurance management is the real trick, especially when you start to come across foes that drain it. One of the most popular ways to help your character manage your Endurance is through the Fitness Power Pool, to get Stamina at level 20. It's not a necessity, but it is extremely useful.

I'm still waiting for the OP to realise that anyone with that recipe memorised is making profit on any sale that goes through for 240,001+ inf.

Sounds like those ebil, ebil people with crafting badges are trying to price people out of the market!

You must get a Hero to 50 to unlock Kheldian EATs, and a villain to 50 to unlock Soldiers of Arachnos EATs.

I sniggered. I sell ALL recipes for 5 Inf. All of them. People pay me to take them off me. Profit. I cannot see who is losing out, except those trying to push prices higher. I sell common and uncommon salvage for 300, rares for 5555. The only people who can dislike me doing so are those who I've undercut, because they care more about profit than I do. I shed no tears.

That is extremely cool - I'm only mildly concerned by what appears to be a conspicuous bulge in Richard's trousers...

I'd love to see an action shot of the three of them, to be honest - so much potential for amazing visuals of the "come and get it" variety.

Is Shanna's head in proportion? It looks a little large for the rest of her, to me.

As for the rest of it, I think I'll leave any further comments up to Fea to wing your way.

I certainly like it.

((Using this opportunity to move forward a plotline that's been in the offing for a little while, as well as simultaneously explain why Richard didn't get Otrera's call.))

{Somewhere in Paragon City, 31 March 2010, Approx 11.30pm}

"Thank you, my dear. It's late - you should get some sleep. We can deal with this Barry Botherton in the morning, I think. Come around to the manor first thing. Good night, and take care."

The cultured English voice was smooth and laden with relief, and the call ended.

Clearing his throat, that man who had spoken lapsed into a broad Southern accent, still speaking into the phone.

"Thank you, Helena. Please delete records of that call from your database, do not inform anyone that it took place, and wipe these instructions from your memory."

He leaned back in his chair, stretching his back gleefully, and almost giggling at the parting words of the artificial intelligence.

To himself, he murmured, "Got you now, Huntington. Your turn to watch someone you love burn."

* * * * *

{Huntington Manor, Paragon City, April Fool's Day 2010, Approx 11.40pm}

In the depths of the Helena Huntington artificial intelligence, data was rapidly deleted. A corner of her mind knew that something was wrong, but all the correct override codes had been given and she was unable to defy her programming, no matter how much she wished.

Her parting words to the caller mocked her until they vanished from her memory.

"Of course, Master Andrew."

* * * * *

{Somewhere beneath the surface of the Sun, April Fool's Day 2010, Approx equivalent time in Paragon City 5.30am}

The boiling, bubbling storm of energy and plasma poured around a tiny sphere, which every now and then gave off a burst of darkness that was swept away in the maelstrom.

If anyone could observe that sphere, they would have noticed that it seemed to ignore the turbulent swirling motion of the matter around it, staying fixed in place.

It might have been there forever, or perhaps for only a few hours.

Suddenly it twitched, effortlessly breaking free of the Sun's gravitational pull, and accelerated at a phenomenal rate. If an eye could follow it, the witness would have noted it made a beeline for the third planet.

* * * * *

{PCU, Steel Canyon Campus, April Fool's Day 2010, Approx 6.00am}

Richard Huntington sat, waiting. He wasn't naturally patient, given to impulse more often than not, especially when his emotions were engaged. It was a calculated personality trait, one that he knew infuriated those around him. That was more in the nature of an unfortunate side effect than anything else.

Still, here he sat, waiting as patiently as he could. Waiting for Cassandra Baudin to arrive, so he could do something. Anything. Even if it was just to read through musty old books, or have someone to banter with. Someone with a connection to Shanna.

To pass the time, he solved complex multi-dimensional puzzles in his head. It was the only way he could reasonably distract himself, stop himself from running off on wild goose chases. There were so many things he wanted to tell someone, say, and it was tearing him apart.

So he waited, feeling useless. Unwilling to go home, because it would remind him of things he didn't want to remember right now: Things said; thoughts shared; idle comments made.

A corner of his mind wondered if Cassandra would show up first, or if it would be Rauri. It didn't matter. Not a whole hell of a lot mattered right now.

He would wait. He would be patient. And when the time came he would teach someone, somewhere, what it meant to cross...

It almost felt like a voice whispering in his mind, but that was ridiculous, because Sam would be screaming in his head if someone intruded. So it must be his own thoughts. After all, it couldn't be anyone else, could it?

"Richard Huntington is dead," he murmured into the dim light of the corridor. "There is only Shadowe."

And Shadowe wasn't weak. Wasn't restrained by simple matters of morality. Wasn't going to let anything stand in the way.

"There is only Shadowe."

Okay, I was going to ask what you're doing up so early (or late), but your recent Ask A Dev responses make it clear that you get up at stupid o'clock, so that question's pretty much a bust...

We know that with the (effective) closure of the NC offices in Brighton, the EU community team is now based in your neck of the woods, and that undoubtedly puts a severe crimp on things, but I have to ask if there is any likelihood of NC doing any events in Europe again?

Oh, and as for Omega Sektor (since you asked) - they went out of business and closed down, which was probably the harshest thing, since it was such a great venue for gaming events in the UK.

Silly question time (since you've taken the time to poke your nose into our secret lair):

What's the funniest thing you've wanted to include in CoH that you've not been able to do so far, and now that you have the lead design role, do you think you'll be able to sneak it in?

What's the most exciting thing you know is coming that we can't hear the details of yet? (Be as cryptic as you like with an answer)

What's the most exciting thing coming that we can hear the details of?

Do you ever get a chance to get in game and just play it? How often? Ever considered using an EU account to sneak on at lunchtime to have a peek at what's going on?

In a similar vein, if you do play the game as a player (and no, I'm not going to ask silly things like your global name), have you a) played many Architect story arcs? b) written an architect story arc, published it and had it rated?

What's the most "Oh, that would be so cool!" thing you can remember in the game's history that has actually appeared?

What's the most "Oh, that would be so cool!" thing that hasn't appeared?

Now, I know that there was recently your Ask A Dev slot, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask, since you're here, and we've kidnapped you (and I didn't actually spot the ask a dev until it was too late).

And FPATMARNOTF, again. We must stop meeting like this.

Thank you, War Witch, for taking the time to come here and talk to us, even if it's only to say "I dunno! Gimme some time to nail it down! Sheesh!"

You are well known as being the EU's favourite dev (and you are - by a long shot, especially since you're so utterly awesome in person), and we appreciate you taking the time to come and chat to us, especially here, in our little corner of the forum.

Edit: Oh, and aren't I meant to say FPARN, or something? Well, FPATMARNOTF (First post after the most awesome red name on the forum).