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I used to do examples like this a hell of a lot to inform people of what they may be doing wrong in an RP, so I get to do what I do best now...
Example of 'crossing the line'; A tech-user is fighting an army with technically made weaponry, getting hit a few times, but in essence, breaking through the many minions. Now, this is understandable. After all, they are MINIONS. As long as they are not the RP equivilant of a Boss, I don't mind so much. I mean, come on... MINIONS!
However, then the main villain comes out, who had been watching the hero for quite some time. He had studied the heroes powers, and finally found their powers' weakness after many years; The jewel of Mars.
Now comes the overpowering... Suddenly, the hero 'knew' the villain acquired the artifact, and, for some reason, had decided to pick up the jewel's inherent weakness on his grocery shopping trip last week.
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For heroes it doesn't make a whole lot of sense...but for neutral guys and villains that situation makes a lot more sense. Being a villain or anti-hero means you have a lot more enemies than a hero does, so it pays to plan ahead...
As for WHY demons are so annoying...because it seems like everyone and their granny makes demonic pacts for awesome powers. It's cliche! Now, if people would do stuff like have the source of their magical power be something that isn't the darky dark mcdarkton, dark lord of the darkest dark darkness manifestation of magical might, like perhaps nature (I've been working on a shinto-esque character that invokes power from everyday objects...like magic pencil of doom) or something non-demonic.
The game devs themselves are horribly guilty of this cliche: Circle of Thorns, Banished Pantheon, etc.
One last thing: Why WOULDN'T the hero plan ahead for the villain exploiting his/her weakness?
Seems if you make it all the way to the final bad guy and he whips out that stupid trump card weakness, rather than going into hiding and equipping all his soldiers of evil with the weakness, have Jimmy Olsen with a baseball bat smash his head in. After all, most of the time the weakness only works on the hero 
Gonna edit this post as I find more stuff to reply too.
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My own personal What The HELL? is the fact that Essex keeps making friends with every villain she meets. D:
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>_> Granash would be perfectly happy to kill Essex for you. As would Archlich.
And all of Toy's tech is stuff that he steals from other groups, reverse engineers, and tests on Mini Bot or stuff that he buys off the blackmarket and then tests on expendable robot shells or Mini Bot. And Sullivan is only over-powered because I've only got one shot to use him. 
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
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As for WHY demons are so annoying...because it seems like everyone and their granny makes demonic pacts for awesome powers. It's cliche!
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Aww, but everything I come up with is cliche...even if I don't know it.
The demon character I have in the works is a female oni(in game, she's Mistress-Oni....not a very good name but I never have good names). Her main powers are a demonic bow and her ability to control/change into smoke. I decided on smoke/ash because her brother demon uses fire and wind(like the in-game oni). As for her demon ninja, I thought of using tengu(karamatengu and shibatengu) that she conqured and taught ninja tactics to.
There's other stuff but that's the jist of it. How cliche is that?
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As for WHY demons are so annoying...because it seems like everyone and their granny makes demonic pacts for awesome powers. It's cliche!
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Vampires are more cliche than demons. Just about all mythologies treat vampires the same, at least with demons there is a greater amount of variety to work with.
As for ATs, I get annoyed when people insist on not following them because it more often than not leads straight to tank-magery. As a GM it also makes my job more difficult when setting up challenging encounters if one or more characters is a walking plot device who can pull a counter for everything out of his back pocket.
Well, Becky's cloned body is 24 wilst her actual life span has only been about 5-6 months in most of my posts in the forums. She is engaged to my main, Coldfire Kaiser, who is 38ish. He is also a sadomasicistic murderer and has no remourse or any emotion for that matter and only cares about Becky. But that's only mildly odd. >.>
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As for ATs, I get annoyed when people insist on not following them because it more often than not leads straight to tank-magery. As a GM it also makes my job more difficult when setting up challenging encounters if one or more characters is a walking plot device who can pull a counter for everything out of his back pocket.
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Hmmm, very interesting. Two opposing viewpoints.
First you have the guys that don't want their imagination to be limited by in-game confines like AT, AT modifiers, power sets, etc.
Then you have the guys that don't like characters with almighty powers or limitless resources which could cause difficulties with the story and immersion of role playing.
Lastly, you got the guys that try to meet somewhere in the middle(I tend to do this).
Anyone else have an opinion on limiting characters to AT?
Personally, I don't like AT limiting or following strict in-game powersets. If you want to make a guy that scraps with psychic weapons and psychic armor, go ahead. I suppose if you don't cross that magic line of dominating plot/battle it's okay but it's more fun when characters have weaknesses and flaws that people have a chance to exploit tactically instead of overpowering others with sheer power.
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I also notice a LOT of people limit themselves to the archetypes. There are a few notable exceptions of course
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I'd like to note now that in my RPs, Coldfire is part tank, part scrapper, part blaster.
...
Just like in the game >.>
The main problem everyone runs into when trying to run an RP is the fact that nobody wants to lose. We're all the main character in our own eyes and the main character always wins, right? Even if he's confronted with his one weakness, he manages to somehow find a way to power through and save the day regardless.
Which is sort of where the limiting factors of ATs come in.
Let's take Archlich for example. In game, Archie is an energy/ice corruptor. In roleplaying, he's an ancient lich that conceivably knows every single spell in existence. Now, faced with the in game version, you could probably kick Archie's [censored] and there wouldn't be a thing he could do about it. But the RP version could pull some random trick out of his hat that would do the exact thing he needs to save himself or take someone out. And he'd be in character while doing it.
On the other hand, there is Toy Dispenser. He's a bots/force field MM in game and a bots/ FF mastermind while roleplaying. The only special stuff he gets are his bots being completely independant and Combat Toy being almost a fully fledged brute in his own right.
And I forgot where I was going with this or even if I was addressing the original point. But, to sum up what I think I was trying to say: The only way to reallybeat someone, is to have them agree to be beaten in the first place. Otherwise, like Ghoul and the Consumed, the fight will never have a victor.
Yeah, something like that.
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
Very well said, and you made me laugh when you said you forgot where you were going with it ^^.
Maybe we should all just sign a pact....a pact to actually lose every now and then.....I'm working on it but sometimes I feel I'm setting my characters up for failure rather than just being outsmarted or unlucky in an RP.
Yeah, that's the way I feel sometimes. But if you don't specifically mention a certain weakness that somebody can exploit, then they'll never notice it.
But it's soooo hard to set your character up to fail! I keep thinking of ways to come up with a neutral way to pick who loses in a fight, but all I can think of is Rock-Paper-Scissors.
Which I just realized we can do in-game....
Hmmmm......
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
problem with losing is sometimes it gets out of hand and escalates to the point where losing would equate to dying. So rather than a pact to lose once in a while, if two or more characters enter into a fight, I propose they actually communicate via PMs or something ahead of time what the intention is and who would win.
It's kinda why I made that "The Game" RP. I noticed that no one really wanted their character to die, and since there's no stat system in place, it's pretty much impossible for one character to kill another unless that character's owner permits it.
For instance, in theory, in the AH101 RP, Soviet_Strike's maltans could have put a tracer on the titan and followed it back to the island. The Maltans are controlled by one person and the island personnel by another. If the two did battle, it'd probably get so insanely convoluted with dodging shooting and drug use, we'd end up with a lost cause.
A few fights i've seen were informed about ahead of time and turned out pretty good, since both writers knew the outcome ahead of time.
. . .
Uh, thanks for that, Leo, but I think I'll stick with the plan of reading what the other guy did to my character and then asking myself "Would this work?" 
I find that to be the best method of deciding things. Some approaches work on my characters, others are doomed to fail from the beginning.
And then there are some that are just plain cheap *leers at Burning* 
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
Yeah, I know. Besides, people can cheat on the dice rolls....I probably would if I lost too many times in a row >.<
Thinking about what Plague said....It seems like all the RPs that have mass amounts of fighting on them tend to be balanced so that one character cant disturb the plot with a characters spectrum of powers. It would probably end up more balanced and fun(not to mention less of a headache on the GM) if people did PM each other for battles and what not. It would also be far more entertaining too, I would say. Your character has some special sensory device, the GM sends you a PM saying Might be able to notice so and so. or some other stuff Im too unknowledgeable to think of.
So.....instead of making the GMs wrack their brains trying to figure out how to stop people from harming the story, they can actually think of more story. And battles can go either way, sometimes winning sometimes losing but everyone always gets away somehow. That sounds nice....maybe we should promote that.....might slow down posts for those that arent speedy too.
OKAY, Im going to bed now....
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For instance, in theory, in the AH101 RP, Soviet_Strike's maltans could have put a tracer on the titan and followed it back to the island.
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In theory, which is why I stated in the intro for AH101 that such devices will not work.
No one wants their character to die. I tried doing it a couple times and always ended up resurrecting the character somehow within a story or two.
In my old group there was only one guy who always made a new character for each adventure, even when the new one was a direct sequel to a previous one and staring the same characters as before. Either he'd kill them off at the end someway or have them ride of into the sunset never to be seen again.
I get attached to my favorite characters and like to see them continue to grow. Plus I'm too lazy to write a new one all the time. It's one thing to roll a bunch of new characters in the game to try out different ATs and powersets, it's another to try to give each and every one of them a good name and thorough backstory.
The thing that boggles my mind is seeing the same characters in every RP thread at the same time. I could see this working in threads that are in alternate realities or 'What If?' types of settings, but not in threads that are supposed to be occuring at the same time or later in the same universe as the others.
It makes me wonder how you keep all the character development and relationships from becoming a muddled mess when you're participating in multiple sequels and prequels for a story that has not even ended yet.
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Yeah, I know. Besides, people can cheat on the dice rolls....I probably would if I lost too many times in a row >.<
Thinking about what Plague said....It seems like all the RPs that have mass amounts of fighting on them tend to be balanced so that one character cant disturb the plot with a characters spectrum of powers. It would probably end up more balanced and fun(not to mention less of a headache on the GM) if people did PM each other for battles and what not. It would also be far more entertaining too, I would say. Your character has some special sensory device, the GM sends you a PM saying Might be able to notice so and so. or some other stuff Im too unknowledgeable to think of.
So.....instead of making the GMs wrack their brains trying to figure out how to stop people from harming the story, they can actually think of more story. And battles can go either way, sometimes winning sometimes losing but everyone always gets away somehow. That sounds nice....maybe we should promote that.....might slow down posts for those that arent speedy too.
OKAY, Im going to bed now....
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YES! EXACTLY!
Most of the huge post frenzies are for quick conversations anyway...I notice that some major battles take a while for people to post (primarily duels)
If fights were talked about and scripted ahead of time it'd definately be less of a headache.
and if you REALLY wanna duke it out...could always try an arena thread
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And then there are some that are just plain cheap *leers at Burning*
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You have your talents, I have mine Besides, if you're going against a certain two individuals who's dialogue has shown little intelligence, you can expect them to know just as much about a fair fight
And I think 'you know who' would have rather died and not let the pain of a certain attack continue for the next few days.
And you didn't even give me a chance to use a power I really wanted to reveal of Muck and Guck's against Mnemonyev.
.... Oops...
Aaaaaaaanyway. I read a lot, I mean a lot, of Forgotten Realms books. That's where half of my ideas come from for fight scenes and spells.
Examples are Grime's multi-colored ball of doom. In FR, that's a popular spellcaster, 'take this down quick' move.
Blightlord's reconstructing his pocket dimension was based off of it.
How my characters scry is mostly my own idea, except for Blightlord's mirror. That was a concept I could never get out of my head, and it eventually got put in.
As for the magic vs tech spell debate, magic can do anything tech can, and it is all even if both sides are willing to agree on a few 'rules'.
A weak spell-caster can't cast a spell that will halt time for a short period, just like someone who's only moderately experienced with tech is unable. Basically, if your char normally wouldn't understand how to use that device, he shouldn't have it. Just like I'll never have Pstorm cast that multi-colored light spell, cause she's inexperienced and it would backfire.
Another thing is, while characters like Archlich and Grime could do the spell that would rip someone's skin off like in Buffy, they won't cause that's basically a one hit kill that can be done from anywhere, if they're really strong.
Just like Acid won't launch anymore nuke-style weapons, especially ones that phase until 20 meters before contact or something along those lines.
And I try to stay in the AT, but get creative with the powers. My only really good example is Danica. She doesn't just kick things, she goes all out with any Martial Arts move I can think of.
And Blightlord has more types potions than the set. There are hallucinogens, sleepers, decomposers, ones that enchant things like his mirror, and a couple more that sleep is preventing me from thinking of.
I play certain 'minions' stronger than they are, at least in Final Fight, because I think Essex is the only one who has a char that isn't likely or hasn't already betrayed Blightlord. His allies are all my chars, except the Maltans, but I haven't seen them at my nearly destroyed city yet.
So, I have Blightlord's 'real' minions played up a notch. Grime plays like a Corrupter with some hero Epic Powers, and a few Power Pools.
Sludge is a sort of special kind of Dominator, who can phase shift quickly.
Muck and Guck, I use as Scrappers, (just like the game seems to) and have thrown in a few extra things as a twist.
And I know I'm guilty of not wanting to lose. I cling to every last back-door that's with in reasonability, even some that are borderline.
In fact, I think I've killed mysef as many times as I've let someone kill me >.>
Arc ID: 475246, "Bringing a Lord to Power"
"I'm only a simple man trying to cling to my tomorrow. Every day. By any means necessary."
-Caldwell B. Cladwell
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And I know I'm guilty of not wanting to lose. I cling to every last back-door that's with in reasonability, even some that are borderline.
In fact, I think I've killed mysef as many times as I've let someone kill me >.>
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I feel you don't have to let your characters die to lose. Running away is as good as losing if you ask me....although I would find it difficult to find a way for Ian to escape death if he were defeated....no travel powers....
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Just like Acid won't launch anymore nuke-style weapons, especially ones that phase until 20 meters before contact or something along those lines.
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OMG did he really do that ?
Okay, I'm *REALLY* going to bed now.
No, but the Gigapol cannons were like a nuke, they just didn't phase. Although I didn't think I'd be able to leave the city unscathed by it and just lose a shield around it.
Arc ID: 475246, "Bringing a Lord to Power"
"I'm only a simple man trying to cling to my tomorrow. Every day. By any means necessary."
-Caldwell B. Cladwell
Haha, sorry about that then, but I figured with all te crud Mnemonyev's been through in tht fight over the whole city:
AA dark attacks + general fire + Lich spells + alotta Grave Knight swords + all manner of traps + building falling down on him + Muck, Guck, Wei-Li...
= a whole lot of damage. The guy's a tank, but he's not invicible. Sooner or later it gets too much. Something's gotta supply power to those wings of his, and when that's gone, they're gone.
But on the discussion of the Gigapol cannon...yeah, in order to actually explain how that thing works, it takes an equation in 5 dimensions with 13 varables. The VERY basic idea: it makes a nuke appear inside things.
Since it can fire up to the equivalent of 5000 gigatons of TNT, I decided it was severely overpowered for any thread here and have only used the smallest caliber of half a gigaton so far - and that'll probably disappear when the armies in Final Fight go the way of the dodo, which should be happening very soon. 
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
*L* Oh, poor big M. I feel so bad now...
*MASSIVE PUNISHMENT COURTESY OF BURNING*
Wei-li: *poke* XD
Mnemonyev: "HAX! X_x"
Oh well. That's the one thing I'm confident in about my own roleplaying. Marginally underpowered/average characters FTW!!
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
Heh. Experiment dies ALL the time. He will go for a cheap shot if he is about to die, but that never works. For instance, GoCC, the first time, Experiment injects himself with 'OMGSUPERMODE' serum, and promptly is executed by Balsk. Oh, no, that was the second time. First time was being sniped in the head.
Final fight... He has not died. Yet. He will most likely be an idiot and get himself killed promptly.
Of all my characters, Balsk and Granash are the ones that refuse to bend to any one AT. This is mainly because I haven't created them in game yet and because their origins span long before I started playing CoV. Which is why Balsk is all steathly but can kick [censored] with his sword and sling spells while Granash is like a stalker except sort of a scrapper and blaster remix.
And how did Balsk promptly kill Experiment? I can't remember.
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
Experiment turns into beasty thing from an injecting. Balsk proceeds to slash and stab. I can't even remember if 2.0 bled to death, fell of a cliff, or ran away. I remember Balsk and Experiment dueling at first though, before 2.0 started using a load of cheap tricks. None of which worked, mind you, but still...
I used to do examples like this a hell of a lot to inform people of what they may be doing wrong in an RP, so I get to do what I do best now...
Example of 'crossing the line'; A tech-user is fighting an army with technically made weaponry, getting hit a few times, but in essence, breaking through the many minions. Now, this is understandable. After all, they are MINIONS. As long as they are not the RP equivilant of a Boss, I don't mind so much. I mean, come on... MINIONS!
However, then the main villain comes out, who had been watching the hero for quite some time. He had studied the heroes powers, and finally found their powers' weakness after many years; The jewel of Mars.
Now comes the overpowering... Suddenly, the hero 'knew' the villain acquired the artifact, and, for some reason, had decided to pick up the jewel's inherent weakness on his grocery shopping trip last week.