TheRetropolitan

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Foreshadow is a Korean Hero that is reborn each generation, but who alternates between good and evil. The current incarnation is just beginning to recall and come to terms with the terrible things that his previous self did.

The Scirocco shown in the trailer is indeed the most recent person to carry the Mantle of the Desert Wind of Destruction. Several of you have correctly identified that he is linked to the Order of the Four Winds. They are an order of Monks who seek out those individuals whose personalities fit the winds of the world. Sometimes those Mantles can be a heavy weight to carry.


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See, that's really cool! This kind of backstory needs to be apparent in the game, and not just to us forum lurkers!

I was thinking the exact same thing -- the less he looks like Captain America, then better. Although he's getting closer to Superman now...yikes!

Coralax Schmoralax!

What's the deal with Statesman's cape?!?!

I also love the idea for a broadcast-level call to arms for jailbreaks and whatnot. I think that would effectively help out with one of the weaker points of the game, which is urgency.

I mean, Paragon's overrun with crime, but not one single person is having an emergency? The contacts never call you, and it's up to you to go find people that need help. I think it would really amp up the sense of immersion to be called to missions, or emergency sites, and things of that nature (and you could ignore, or turn them down, of course). I think it would especially feel cool to have to rush to someone's rescue, knowing that I could fail a mission -- it's kind of boring knowing that no matter how long I wait, those five doofy hostages will still be waving their arms around waiting for me. Even if all the failure meant was that the villain players escaped from jail, it would still add to the excitement and immersion.

Also -- if there were a broadcast for help, I'm guessing that it would be a bad idea to send a blanket call for heroes to capture one villain escaping, or something. Perhaps the call could be for a variable number of random heroes being requested, based on the level/number of villains causing havoc. Wouldn't want to have 200 heroes show up to bag 3 villains -- imagine the lag and disappointment!

Oh, you're right to an extent -- Steel Canyon is a good example of the deco skyscrapers -- but I think the game as it is lacks the retro-deco feeling and look. I guess I should've been more specific than 'deco.' What I meant to draw out was the deco-inspired retro-futurism of the 1930's, the fantastic extrapolation of the deco style, like the bel Geddes illustrations. (Or the Batman/Superman 1990's cartoons.) These were the completely impractical giant buildings, with bridges running between them, airships docking on top, etc.

Now, when I look at Steel Canyon, I think more of a 'realistic' 1980's streamlining of art deco, rather than the 'future of the past' as portrayed in some of the sci-fi pulps. Also, Steel Canyon (as far as I can tell) is really the only place that currently comes close to having that feeling, with the rest of the zones having a more run-down, industrial look.

I can understand not everyone looking for a pulp world to play in, which is why I'd hope for a separate expansion of some sort. Even if it costs me, it'd be worth it!

Since I'm dying for a pulp-styled game to play, I've been thinking. Like many a poster has said, the comics have drawn an immense amount of inspiration from the pulps, and the two worlds are not dissimilar. In fact, mulling it over for a little while, I think a pulp-style COH could be effectively accomplished by just changing the way the world and the characters looked, with a little bit of mission-style alteration.

In the end, the stories are about heroes defeating evil, with the pulps exhibiting more of the whiz-bang! feeling than perhaps the comics were striving for. The essential drama and mechanics are the same, although pulps were generally based more on science-fiction or espionage aspects, rather than all-out super-human beings. In the pulps, if a man shot heat rays, it was probably going to be from some kind of device. (Probably an art deco device, at that.) But there were still heat rays, and still armies of robots, and switching COH from 'Fire Blast' and 'Clockwork' to 'Atomic Raygun' and 'Mad Scientist's Robotic Minions' wouldn't really be a stretch.

Reading old pulps, watching the serials, and listening to old time radio dramas is a hobby of mine, and every time I log into COH I can't help but think that the Shadow taking on the minions of the Voodoo Master is just a few steps to the side of White Volt blasting his way to Dr. Vahzilok. I think it would require new types of missions -- Doc Savage beat up a lot of bad guys, but there was plenty of detective work happening as well -- although by the time that a pulp version of COH got around to being feasible I figure that these missions would've been incorporated anyhow.

I really think that the major difference (aside from explanation of powers, etc.) is the feel of it. Think of a completely art deco Paragon City, bastion of hope and optimism, streamlined skyscrapers arching into the zeppelin-filled sky with the golden glow of the sun causing the 1930's cars to gleam. Newsboys on the corner hawking stories about the new 'Mystery Man' in town, right before the air-raid siren alerts your jetpack-wearing avenger to the giant robots marching through Atlas Park. All the while, something too hideous to describe is created in a dingy laboratory by foreign agents attempting to bully the US into WWII! The music swells! They must be stopped! And it's up to you, your jetpacks and rayguns, and your team of autogyro-flying cohorts to save the day!

Functionally, I don't see it as being all that different than the current COH. In terms of entertainment and overall experience, a whole new world of fun.

A guy can dream, can't he?

Would it sell? If you promise to add pulp features, I'll pay for two copies. Right now. January 10th, 2005, for a promise alone. Full retail.

Please?

Pulp!

Please, please, please, Statesman -- bring elements of the pulps into the COH world. After all, pulps are where the comics essentially came from.

Besides, what's more filled with adventure, excitement, and the fantastic than a pulp novel? They had more intrigue and drama than comics ever will. Plus, they had snazzy covers.

After years of toying with video games, and sticking mainly to the FPS genre, City of Heroes was the first game that ever made me even consider trying out a MMORPG. I was always hesitant about paying a monthly fee for a game, but the more that I read about COH, the more willing I was to give it a try. (And this was waaaay back in the day when Gadgets was an archetype.) I finally gave in about a month or so after launch, and I never looked back.

There are a ton of other games I'd like to try, but I really can't bring myself to NOT devote an hour a night to fighting crime on the streets of Paragon. More than that, I can't stop myself from patrolling the forums all day long, and dreaming up new heroes to play -- this game gives free reign to my superheroic fantasies that I've had since I read my first comicbook. It's fun, it's easy to get into, and it's completely addictive. I know that the gameplay is only going to get more interesting as the world develops, and I look forward more and more to logging in each night.

So, yeah, kudos to the people that created the greatest timekiller of my mid-twenties. Keep up the good work!