Ura Hero

Originally Posted by TonyV

So even if it's not literally at Dragon*Con (since it's probably way too late to get anything officially sanctioned by the convention), I was thinking more along the lines of maybe just having a meet-and-greet at a restaurant in or around Atlanta Saturday night or something during Dragon*Con weekend? Or a picnic at Stone Mountain? A World of Coca-Cola/Georgia Aquarium tour? A romp through CNN Center? I'm not a big fan of Buckhead or the club scene.

Originally Posted by Arcanaville

Personally, I don't subscribe to the entire EvilRyu rant above (in particular the "pre-nerfed" part) but I do think the red side experience is hampered by two critical flaws:

1. The PvE content is significantly harder on the red side, and specifically in ways not conducive to attracting new players. Consider that the red side sees far more endurance drain in the early game than heroes do, and endurance drain is notoriously annoying in a number of ways. If inherent stamina is intended to be attractive because you get enhanced recovery from the start, the red side is almost the equivalent of having inherent anti-stamina. Its also much more mez-happy, and critters statistically have a slightly higher number of attacks (critter offensive threat is almost directly proportional to the number of attacks they have, because unlike players they can't slot for recharge: the more attacks they have, the more offense they have, almost proportionately).

2. The red side content doesn't - at least overall - revel in being "evil" its more a caricature of evil seen through good's eyes. Evil almost never actually wins, and when it does it does in a way that makes the skin crawl on probably a majority of the players. The way I put this to the devs recently is that the red side doesn't range from Magneto to the Joker, it runs the gamut from Cartman to the Human Centipede.

I can see myself being Magneto. All I have to do is believe one thing: if I stand back and do nothing but hope for the best, all of my kind will one day be put on trains and disappear. Again. I could even revel in being the Joker: I'm nuts, and I'm out to prove everyone else is just as crazy as I am.

I just cannot relate to Phipps. This is a high level contact asking me to crush a school teacher. And whoever wrote the arc - which is well written for the most part, by the way - wasn't writing an arc intended to make the player happy. Here's what the souvenir says:

Yeah: this is someone who thinks people should enjoy being a villain. I say its well written because I honestly believe the writer really wanted me to feel ill after "succeeding" in this arc, and I did. Well done.

As long as the writers don't believe in it, the players won't either. And this arc is an example of my belief the writers didn't really truly believe in the red side being legitimate.

Originally Posted by Zwillinger

Perhaps I should have said, I've experienced from the dev side .

IOW, waaaaaaayy off the mark.

Originally Posted by InfamousBrad

In the spirit of Olantern's reply, which is an easier format for me than trying to pick best and worst, let me give my lasting impressions of Freedom Phalanx, the Vindicators, and the Arachnos patrons:

Manticore: A+. The details really make this one, for me; there's a sculptural aspect to this costume that really works for me the way Nite Owl 2's costume does in Watchmen (which it more than a little evokes).
Statesman: A. For what it is, cannot be improved on. I guess I'm the only one who likes the hoplite-helmet half-mask.
Ms. Liberty: A. The color scheme really works for her.
Numina: A. Visually striking, and really convincing for a magic-origin character.
Valkyrie: A-. Looks like what she is. Could use a smidgen more color contrast, and once titan weapons are in-game, could really stand to be upgraded so that she actually uses her spear, but I think she's fine.
Back Alley Brawler: B+. Love the gloves, think he succeeds at looking like what he is, which is basically a hero brute. I just cringe at the ethnic stereotyping that the only black main character is only good for punching things - a less tattered costume, one more suggestive of a detective than a street gang member, would have worked better for me.
Woodsman: B+. Remarkably good costume for such a minor character; love the helmet.
Infernal: B. For a generic costume, it's very suggestive. I'd give him a really spooky-looking shield, to address Olantern's complaint, but I don't think he's all that bad.
Positron: B. Update this one so that the glowing bits on the armor actually glow, and give him back his helmet when you see him in combat, and I'm all for it. (And as a trainer, not in the helmet - shouldn't his hair have grown back by now?)
Mynx: C. Fits the character reasonably well. The costume's a cliche, but then, so's the character.
Synapse: C-. Pattern tights and cheap sunglasses? Boring.
Citadel: C-. Also suffers from lack of detailing, it's a terribly dull costume.
Luminary: D. Needs more structural detailing or more color contrast or something; at the very least, needs a livelier looking face. This is supposed to be one of the most sophisticated androids ever built, no?
Malaise: D-. Suffers from the same problem Synapse has, only more so: two-color patterned tights are basically impossible to make memorable.
Aurora Borealis: D-. Boring. And suffers from the "white tops w/skin" problem to some extent, although at least she has a contrasting skin color. (See next entry.)
Swan: F. As drawn, one of the best costumes in the game. But in-game, suffers from the problem that the game engine does a horrible job of rendering white masks and white tops with skin, making it one of the worst costumes in the game. At the very least, needs bump-mapped edge seams to make it more obvious that she's wearing a costume.
Sister Psyche: F. Olantern speaks for me on this: a 60+ year old psychic with the attitudes of a woman of her time does not dress in a stripperific costume. There's nothing wrong with it as a costume, but it completely and utterly clashes with the way the character has been written.

Ghost Widow: A+, for all of the reasons everybody else gives. She's also the only Arachnos service head to wear something that is recognizably related to the uniform of those who serve under her, for which I give even more props.
Captain Mako: A. Looks exactly like he should look -- although in my mind, I imagine him as a little taller than he is in-game.
Dr. Aeon: A. Looks exactly like what he is, a mad scientist in power armor. The gloves are just detailed enough and just barely big enough to make him look distinctive.
Lord Recluse: A-. Love the imposing height, the spooky helmet, the cape, and the arms. Hate the fur trim.
Barracuda: B. I love the Coralax design overall; I just feel like, at her rank, she should look less generic.
Scirocco: B-. Somehow, he (a) doesn't really look Arabic to me, and (b) doesn't look all that intimidating - although it's possible that latter could be fixed with better idle animations, I don't know. I'm also not crazy about the tights; he seems to me like a character who would wear robes. And he should also be wearing his sword when he appears as a contact. Some of the detailing is nice.
Black Scorpion: C. Love the armor, hate the weird scarred-up head, since there's no canonical explanation for why he should look anything but ordinary.
Ice Mistral C-: It's an okay-looking costume, but nothing about it says "mystic" to me. A blue female version of the Mu Mystic costume, open-faced, with those same shoulders, would work better, imho.

Originally Posted by Zwillinger

I...

uh...

*blink*