woo woo first post! maybe i should work on a story...
Maybe...
cheers,
Arctic Sun
Bah! If only my blaster was high enough to actually know about these guys!
I really wanna right about them but I can't cause I know squat. Aside from whose double they all are.
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.
As Khellendrosiic, I know almost nothing about them. 
I'm fighting Mother Mayhem as we speak. BLAST YOU FOR MAKING IT A DEFEAT ALL....BLAST YOU.
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Bah! If only my blaster was high enough to actually know about these guys!
I really wanna right about them but I can't cause I know squat. Aside from whose double they all are.
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My feelings exactly!
-D
Darkonne: Pinnacle's (unofficially) mighty Dark Miasma/Radiation Blast enthusiast!
Be sure to check out this mighty Arc:
#161865 - Aeon's Nemesis
Oooooh, Arctic, you have no idea what you have unleashed. I have been dying for some motivation to write the story of my hero versus his Praetorian!
4500 words, eh? I guess I can paraphrase some sections. 
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Maybe...
cheers,
Arctic Sun
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ZOMG ARCTIC_SUN PROMISED THEY ARE GOING TO NERF THE RSF HEROES WHOOHOO!
Oh, wait...maybe that isn't exactly what he said. But I think that is what he was hinting at!!11!! 
Maybe I'll finally get you a Story like I promised at the Cuppathon Arctic.
Who cares about these story submissions, give us stuff about I-8 already!!
I came. I saw. I totally chewed gum. How many more words do I need ... ?
Praetorians?
Who or what are they?
Does anyone even know?
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Praetorians?
Who or what are they?
Does anyone even know?
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ever seen/heard of the episode of Star Trek called "Mirror, Mirror"?
Totally not an attempt at being rude, Artic_sun! But, er, well.. if we are discouraged from creating Bizarro signature game personalities, AND nobody will understand a Praetorian of one of our own in-game characters.. what makes one of the submitted characters stand out as a Praetorian other than that..... he's from that dimension?
Isn't it a better thematic shock to see a familiar character behaving as his opposite?
When's the deadline? I want to try to give this a whirl, but I procrasinate quite a bit.
In the Arena of Logic, I fight unarmed.
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Totally not an attempt at being rude, Artic_sun! But, er, well.. if we are discouraged from creating Bizarro signature game personalities, AND nobody will understand a Praetorian of one of our own in-game characters.. what makes one of the submitted characters stand out as a Praetorian other than that..... he's from that dimension?
Isn't it a better thematic shock to see a familiar character behaving as his opposite?
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You're not discouraged from it at all. I'm trying to set out my expectations clearly, and to explain the obvious hurdles.
The story we are using for issue 16 involved a player's character, and her encounter with the Praetorian version of Atlas. It was very poignant in a short amount of space.
There are a lot of Praetorians already named - Tyrant, Chimera, Anti-Matter, Neuron, Dominatrix, etc. That's a large cast to work with and to select from. The guidelines are for when you want to go off course. (And as mentioned, the first story did that, and did it well).
And for those looking for more info on the Praetorians, check out Warcry's Information. It's a good starting place.
cheers,
Arctic Sun
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Praetorians?
Who or what are they?
Does anyone even know?
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Think evil dopplegangers from another universe. While they each have a backstory similar to the Paragon City characters (up to the Rikti Invasion), some small or not-so-small part of their history has changed. The "Heroes" are instead twisted, vile, and wierd (for example, "Neuron", the evil Synapse, gained his powers through self-experimentation, and only is into science to impress Tyrant, their Statesman), while well-known villians like the Carnival of Light and Crey are working to protect people and fight the Praetorian 'heroes' (as opposed to our world, where the Carnival of Shadows steals human souls to feed their mistress, and Crey is the quintessential evil corporation).
Praetorians have the ability to create portals into our dimension at will, and we have similar capabilities. Technology-wise, they are at the same or higher level.
It's not really clear what major event caused that universe to change in this fashion, unlike the Nemesis or Banished Pantheon universes, so I can't really help on that.
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Praetorians have the ability to create portals into our dimension at will, and we have similar capabilities. Technology-wise, they are at the same or higher level.
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actually they dont have this ability.
its mentioned in a few of the mission story lines.
The only thing keeping me from writing a story is not knowing what Praetorian Arachnos would be doing, since the character I want to use has heavy ties to an Arachnos project.
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actually they dont have this ability.
its mentioned in a few of the mission story lines.
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On the capture of Anti-Matter and others, it's mentioned on mission completion text that they were 'portaled out' of the Zig. Antimatter's own description states that he's 'cracked Portal Tech.' They are not always accurate, and not all individuals can, but at least some of them seem quite capable of making portals.
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The only thing keeping me from writing a story is not knowing what Praetorian Arachnos would be doing, since the character I want to use has heavy ties to an Arachnos project.
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a friend of mine theorized they were running a freedom-fighting operation out of the Etoile' isles, lead by the heroic Brown Recluse. Of course, they weren't called Arachnos... My friend named them S.P.I.D.E.R., refering to the old, dropped name of Arachnos.
Of course, its all up to you what you want to do- and be aware, Manticore might nix your ideas, because he already has his own.
Tygara - 50 Claws/Regen/Power Scrapper, Virtue- Member of Kitties on the Prowl.
Shadeburn - Dark/Rad Defender, Virtue- Member of Catch 'Em Crew
Nature Boy' - Elec/Ice Blaster, Virtue - Member of Young Phalanx
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Praetorians?
Who or what are they?
Does anyone even know?
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The simpliest concept to explain the Praetorian is this: They're not exactlly mirrors, or exact opposite, or just "Evil". Rather, in their world, different ideals became the popular ones: Instead of the concept such as freedom and democracy taking root, the heroes we know and love embraced the concepts of Fascism: the strong should rule, survival of the fittest, things like that.
In short, the otherworldlly freedom phalanx have conquere dthe world, and rule it, for the simple reason that they can: no one's powerful enough to stop them. Admitedlly, the people in our world we know as villians now resist them, though its unclear if this is out of nobility, or simple self-interest.
And now they seek to conquer our world for the same reason- the only thing stopping them? Same thing as always, the heroes of paragon.
Tygara - 50 Claws/Regen/Power Scrapper, Virtue- Member of Kitties on the Prowl.
Shadeburn - Dark/Rad Defender, Virtue- Member of Catch 'Em Crew
Nature Boy' - Elec/Ice Blaster, Virtue - Member of Young Phalanx
Maybe I missed it, but I didn't see a "deadline" on this submission request... basically, how long do I have to get something together? I can rhyme off 2k words in a few hours, but I need to know where I'm going with it and if I have time to really look at it and polish it up.
Brother of Markus
The Lord of Fire and Pain
The Legendary Living Hellfire
Fight my brute!
From OP:
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I'll be reviewing Praetorian-themed stories until I get enough, so get 'em in early, but right now there is no official cut-off date.
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Hi folks,
Last month I did the first call for Praetorian stories - I selected the first for Comic 16, but I'm looking for more! There's spots for stories in issues 17 & 18 still, so write, write, write!
[From the original post, and slightly expanded]
...t's time for me to stir up those creative embers and get you thinking about powerful, deadly foes - the Praetorians!
I want stories that feature the Praetorians, that meet them, confront 'em, and maybe defeat them. Give us your Hero's (or Villain's) view on the dastards from Upsilon Beta 9-6!
NOTE: I'm looking for *slightly* longer pieces here, than can be easily serialized over 2 or 3 parts (that means 1000 - 1500 words per section, total limits of 3000-4500 words acceptable). Normal one-off contained stories (at 1000-1500 words) are fine, too.
The best stories will be published over a few issues, starting as early as issue 16.
I'll be reviewing Praetorian-themed stories until I get enough, so get 'em in early, but right now there is no official cut-off date.
Please submit fan stories and art to cohsubmissions@plaync.com.
Official guidelines found here:
http://www.cityofheroes.com/communit...uidelines.html
(see this link for the fine print and more precise details, please)
To sum up:
Comic Book Fan Fiction:
* Be as creative as you want, but keep it PG-rated.
* Submissions should be in .doc, .rtf., or .txt format
* Suggested length 1000 - 2000 words.
NOTE: If your writing is very good, I will consider longer pieces (or breaking them up). But long pieces will still likely be published in 1000 - 2000 word parts, so some sense of rhythm and dynamic pacing is very important. Likewise, the longer the piece is, honestly, the less chance I'll have to read it thoroughly.
* Screenshots encouraged!
* The by-line can be your real name or a character name (or both). Be sure to let me know!
Comic Book Fan Art:
* NOTE: If you're really ambitious, send us your versions of the Praetorians!
* Send us your best City of Heroes-inspired artwork. Any original medium is acceptable (pen & ink, digital, oils, etc.) as long as you keep it on a PG level.
* Let us know if you want credit under your real name or a character name.
* Images should be in JPG format. The full image should be between 100 x 100 and 2000 x 2000 pixels and be less than 380KB in size.
NOTE: We may also ask for a higher resolution (300dpi) image in .tiff format so make sure you save a high-resolution version of your submission!
FAQ
Q: Can I create new Praetorians based on other Cryptic characters like Blue Steel)?
A: The answer is a very tentative/iffy "yes." It won't automatically disqualify you, but if Manticore has plans for Blue Steel's opposite, then he might nix your story. That's the risk you take if you feature a signature hero (as opposed to using them as a guest star).
Q: Can I create Praetorian of *my* character?
A: The answer is a much heartier "yes," but the one major issue is that since no one but the creator knows about their personal character, there's no way for the reader to know that the Praetorian-world version of them is a flawed reflection of their normal character (or an improvement, for villains), unless the author shows us somehow. That's not insurmountable, of course, and it could be interesting to see how the submitted fiction gets over that hurdle.
Q: What style to write in?
A: Style -- think short story. I don't want comic scripts, but prose fiction. Usual "rules of good writing apply." If you want to see what stories I've selected, you'll see my first community section in the PDF of comic #8 (available now off the comic page), and also see the short pieces (Clockwork, Outcasts, Carnival of Shadows, etc.) I've written (or that Awry has, for that matter) for the website.
Q: Is there a particular format you prefer?
A: Please send stories in RTF (Rich Text Format), DOC (Word), or TXT format. RTF is preferred.
Use usual good sense - proofread, spell-check, and proofread. And proofread your *cover letter* also! Nothing turns me off faster than obvious mistakes.
Do not embed text in email (yes, lots of people do this, and it won't disqualify you, but it's more of a hassle for me).
Do *not* send in stories in all caps, or with heavy formatting. Stuff like that.
Q: Do the comics have villain stories too or just heroes?
A: Villain stories would also be fine, although will likely be harder to pull off (striking the right balance of sympathy and wicked badness).
Q: If it gets selected, will we be told what Issue and if we are getting a copy mailed to us, or if we still have to purchase (Never say never but if It does get published, I want to know where to get myself a hard copy)
A: If it gets selected you will be notified in advance which issue it is slated for. I am looking into the possibility of a comp copy for contributors, but no promises at this stage.
This doesn't mean you can't submit a different type of story, but Praetorian Stories will receive my foremost attention.
I'll annouce a new theme in roughly a month.
cheers,
Arctic Sun