Slaunyeh

More resistance lies. Or, are you admitting to be guilty of herding civilians into the waiting arms of the Devouring Earth? That's low, even for a primal. The Great Leader will drive you out of Praetoria and restore peace and prosperity to the lands you have ruined, villain!

No righteous defender of mankind would enjoy seeing the destruction and the civilian casualties caused by rabid primal invaders.

Though what my recent elbow injury has to do with this injustice, I cannot say.

...I don't think I want this zeus helmet, after all.

Humanity will never cower before your lies. The Great Leader will see us through this time of senseless aggression from our primitive inter-dimensional cousins. He will soothe your anger, and bring you into the warm light that is Praetoria.

Just you wait and see.

I am referring to the black cape. You know, the superhero equivalent of the black hat. Also, you are standing in the rubble of Nova Praetoria. Not exactly subtle.

I hope you feel good about destroying humanity's last beacon of hope in the multiverse.

Fiend.

The so-called "beta server" is clearly a Resistance lie, meant to weaken our resolve against inter-dimensional assassins eager to destroy the last hope for mankind.

We see your vile propaganda for what it is: the vanguard for the Coming Storm!

You even dress like a villain. C'mon, you're not even trying!

Your face is a dirty villain. I'll have you know, my Crab Spider has his armour thoroughly cleaned at least daily. You wouldn't believe how much gunk get into the gears when you are out there, bringing deceit and injustice to the masses. Crushing hope is hard work!

I bet the Battalion is an entire race of Statesmen. They originated on Statesman Earth, and have slowly been taking over the multiverse.

So... yes?

There has been at least three instances of "confirmation" (that I remember): Ned telling (or suggesting) her identity to Robert. Lord Iforgethisname telling Arya when she's with the Brotherhood. And Davos being told while at the Three Sisters.

Not all of these stories agree, however, so, take them with a wheelbarrow of salt. Especially if someone did work actively to make up a cover story.

We'll make a loyalist of you, yet.

There, fixed it for you. I think, what you consider the "roleplayer" problem, is really an "other people" problem. The solution should be simple: single-player games are notoriously free of people who are not you, bothering you with their not-you'ness spam.

If they want you to realistically challenge Recluse and his organisation, it can't be a story that ends somewhere before level 20. If they want the rest of the game to still make sense, it probably shouldn't end before the late 40s, either.

To quote the Rogue Island Times: "Hope Ends For Many"

Of the 30+ active villains I have on virtue, I don't think it works for any of them. And even if there is one or two who might just be greedy buggers, why squabble over petty cash when I can knock over a bank any time I like?

When the difference between hero and villain dialogue boils down to adding the sentence "...I will pay you" as motivation, it's just lazy (or worse, ignorant) writing. No, I'm not going to rescue your cat from a tree just because you wave a 20 in my face. That's what Hero Corps is for.

(I might, however, set fire to you, your cat, and the tree, just for asking )

What's funny is, we're actually all agreeing. Yes, a vague objective/motivation would give a lot of freedom to the player. However, money isn't a vague objective. It's an incredible specific objective, that all but eliminates character freedom. It forces you to playing a greedy character who is only motivated by money. You don't have to play Sam's goddess to find this very limiting.

In a game that doesn't actually have or use money, a goal to earn money isn't just vague. It's downright silly. Sure, I can knock over a bank because that's what low level villains do. But if I steal the dagger of Ereshkigal, I really don't need the game to tell me that I'm going to sell it.

If they like not being paid in non-existing currencies so much, they can go play rogues. I hear those guys are even more not-money grubbing than villains.

Sam. Really. This is like complaining that you can't do missions in IP when Lusca is there, because then the harbour looks different. Or refusing to play when it's night time in Paragon City because the buildings have a slightly different hue.

C'mon. This is a theoretical exercise, you're free to imagine that the changes would be on a level that doesn't make you want to dig your eyes out with a spoon. Or, I suppose, you can just assume the worst.