Craftable pets in I9!
(one can hope, right?) 
Playstation 3 - XBox 360 - Wii - PSP
Remember kids, crack is whack!
Samuel_Tow: Your avatar is... I think I like it
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I honestly don't think you're giving the players enough credit through creative license ICF_Zombra. If one were to keep a polarized view about what kind of pets heroes should and shouldn't have based solely upon secular storyline content, there would be little to no variety in pet options, IMHO.
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Wellll, that's fair. If I said that no hero should have these pets ever, I hereby retract it. I'm always happy when a good RP justification can be found for anything, no matter how counterintuitive it is at face value. But I still think that the face value of these pets is pretty darn counterintuitive.
Really, to make another generalization, I don't see most people really going the extra mile to make a cool rationalization like any of yours. What we are going to see are hundreds of superheroes running around with demons fluttering along behind them for no reason other than that they look kinda cool. Can we rationalize it if we really apply ourselves? Probably. But the fact is, taken at face value, these pets do not make sense and are immersion breaking.
Again, as I said in my reply to _Castle_, if they all have descriptions that do the rationalizing for those players who can't be bothered, I will have no problem with it. I have no fundamental problem with heroes running around with little hologram generators in their pockets that make projections of evil gnomes. It's pretty weird, but the hologram explanation is enough to pacify me. It certainly beats the hell out of "You have a pet Red Cap."
As far as "variety", I'm all for it. I was very happy when the CoV costume elements were ported to CoH for example. But right now the pets all look evil. That ain't variety in my book.
Nisse (or gnomes) are part of Scandinavian folklore. According to here: "In Scandinavian folklore, a "household spirit" responsible for the care and prosperity of a farm. A nisse was usually described as a short man (under four feet tall) wearing a red cap with a tassel."
He fits *perfectly* with my Norse Viking!
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Spoilers follow.
The Clockwork are not actual robots; they are hunks of metal animated by the mental power of the Clockwork King. Having a Clock hang out with you would require the King's complicity. Or I guess building a working robot yourself that just looked like a Clock. But why would a hero do that?
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Re: Why would the Clockwork King allow you to have a pet "Sprog" (It looks like a Cog and a Sprocket combined)? If you've been to "New Faultline" on test, you'll notice the Clockwork aren't necessarily the "bad guys" in all cases. Obviously the CWK may let you have a pet Sprog for a reason known only to him.
Or, you know, it could just be a fun little reward for your characters which has absolutely no impact on gameplay.
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It's also worth noting that the Clockwork King is TOTALLY INSANE. His personality is fractured, and each clockwork represents a part of his mind. It is entirely likely that some parts of his fractured psyche is fascinated with heroes (instead of hating them all for his "death") and the tiny, almost powerless parts of his mind create clockworks to follow around the heroes that fascinate him.
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Really, to make another generalization, I don't see most people really going the extra mile to make a cool rationalization like any of yours. What we are going to see are hundreds of superheroes running around with demons fluttering along behind them for no reason other than that they look kinda cool. Can we rationalize it if we really apply ourselves? Probably. But the fact is, taken at face value, these pets do not make sense and are immersion breaking.
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Yeah, but you can't really blame Cryptic for a player's lack of creativity. However,
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But right now the pets all look evil. That ain't variety in my book.
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I do agree to an extent. However, heroes like to collect war trophies as well; I think these pets are an extension of that.
I will agree that we need more variety though. Perhaps a small Cataphract robot, miniature police drone, a cherub, mini-catgirl, etc. Enemy pets are nice, but some ally-centic pets would be nice as well.
Perhaps we'll see more pet variety before or after I9, which should be around the time we'll start seeing many long-time vets start having pets (myself included).
Obsidius wrote:
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Yeah, but you can't really blame Cryptic for a player's lack of creativity.
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The American court system proves otherwise. Many users have sued manufacturers/providers for reasons arguably out of their control. And have won.
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Enemy pets are nice, but some ally-centic pets would be nice as well.
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STATESPET!
--NT
They all laughed at me when I said I wanted to be a comedian.
But I showed them, and nobody's laughing at me now!
If I became a red name, I would be all "and what would you mere mortals like to entertain me with today, mu hu ha ha ha!" ~Arcanaville
I'd be fine with the mekman if he were sporting different colors and lost the Nazi group logo...
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The Clockwork are not actual robots; they are hunks of metal animated by the mental power of the Clockwork King.
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The point in the clockwork at which the Clockwork King's "telekinetic" power ends and the actual technology in their bodies begins has never really been explicitly set.
The Clocks are, however, complicated enough that in the early story arcs, people studying them still believe they are robots. Robots that shouldn't work, but still at least somewhat robot-like. The storyline would be significantly less involved if they were obviously merely articulated scrap metal dolls. Also, some of the bosses speak as though they are somewhat computerized, rather than as if they are drawing on the king's mind.
My thinking is that the clockwork still incorporate some advanced technology ... it's just incorporated by a madman, so it isn't anything like coherent or well-planned, and isn't really functional without the King's mind powers to provide the interfacing and intelligence). No two Clocks are exactly alike in how much or what kinds of tech they use.
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Having a Clock hang out with you would require the King's complicity. Or I guess building a working robot yourself that just looked like a Clock. But why would a hero do that?
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Infiltration of the king's "court"? Nostalgia? Because the Clockwork King didn't invent the idea of a clockwork robot?
How about because they have a history?
In Usurper Dyne's (one of my characters) backstory, he was friends with the Clockwork King when they were fresh out of college, and they researched robotics together (this was obviously before the villain's powers manifested and his subsequent transformation and insanity). Even then, their technology would have been recognizably "clockwork themed".
There are also indications (mostly by way of various alternate earths) that UD has similar psychic powers, albeit untriggered and undeveloped (basically I was implying that there is a deeper connection between hero and villain than their superficial history).
Basically, UD is what you'd get if the Clockwork King hadn't gone insane/evil and given up on real technology.
So it's entirely possible UD could animate a clockwork-style robot of his own, either through "mundane" robotics or by discovering how to mentally control one.
It's also fairly likely that he might find some reason to do so ... UD's brain was installed in a cyborg body that was originally part of their robotics research. It's very clockwork-like. He knows that technology well, so many of the things he builds are clockwork-like as well. He has a history with the clockwork, not all of it involving fighting them. In a sense, UD is as much the creator of the Clockwork as the Clockwork King is, though he certainly doesn't control them.
I think he has plenty of justification for a clockwork pet.
Given my character's setup, it's probably not surprising that I've also interacted with a number of "rogue clockwork" characters. I can see them having a good excuse for such a pet, too.
Heck, I've had a child character that adopted (appropriated) a clockwork Gear and made it her "pet". It kept zapping her and anyone else that got friendly with it, but it being a Gear and her being essentially immune, it was more of a nuisance than a serious danger. If she noticed its viciousness at all, it was mostly to scold it for being "naughty" or thwock it on the head until it settled down.
There's nothing wrong with the existing pets; they just require that you get a little creative. I'm not much interested in falcons and things of that sort, personally, but it might've been good to add some that were more traditionally heroic. Perhaps they can do that later.
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"You can use this power to create a solidified hologram of a Redcap Rascal. It will follow you around wherever you go. Great for parties!"
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Then he needs an H on his forehead!
(sorry, nerd reference)
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Smeghead!
Sorry, just wanted to see if that got throught he filter. 
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red dwarf ftw!
i remember the interview session, where some fan asked the group "what does smeg mean?" good stuff.
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Not like CoV doesn't have enough RD references in a certain storyline though.
Smeee.....
Smeeeeeeeeeee......
You are a smeeeeeeee......
Smeeeeeeg...... Oh sir, I just can't do it.
Hak Inc�
"Justice by the sword since 2005"
"......anyone who read the description of a blaster and actually rolled one up isn't capable of understanding... how to breath without visual aids and an iron lung." - TheMightyScourge
�Love is the triumph of imagination over intelligence.�
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Rubble, rubble, rubble! Why is there no Rubble pet? Unfair!
/c'mon, the model already exists!
/stone tanks unite
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/signed.
I love the pets, don't get me wrong. Only two years to go before I qualify lol. But I really would love to have my own little animated stone. I'm hoping there are more coming. Some of the current ones fit some of my characters fine. But some of my characters don't really have a match.
During one of the DE arcs, I would team regularly with an earth controller. So we'd have me in my Granite armor, her animated stone, and the rock DE (I forget the name) running around. Used to drive the rest of the team crazy lol.
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The Clockwork are not actual robots; they are hunks of metal animated by the mental power of the Clockwork King.
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What about all those Clockwork guarding what's-her-name's store in New Faultline? I haven't done that arc, but I'd wager the Clockwork King has nothing to do with those guys.
Arc #41077 - The Men of State
Arc #48845 - Operation: Dirty Snowball
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Obsidius wrote:
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Yeah, but you can't really blame Cryptic for a player's lack of creativity.
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The American court system proves otherwise. Many users have sued manufacturers/providers for reasons arguably out of their control. And have won.
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This from the same court system that ruled in favor of that lady for spilling hot McD's coffee on her own lap
(looks around for the rolled-eyes emoticon)
The American court system is the perfect measuring stick for the LCD (Lowest Common Denominator).
But I digress. Pets! More discussion!
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Obsidius wrote:
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Yeah, but you can't really blame Cryptic for a player's lack of creativity.
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The American court system proves otherwise. Many users have sued manufacturers/providers for reasons arguably out of their control. And have won.
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This from the same court system that ruled in favor of that lady for spilling hot McD's coffee on her own lap
(looks around for the rolled-eyes emoticon)
The American court system is the perfect measuring stick for the LCD (Lowest Common Denominator).
But I digress. Pets! More discussion!
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So... you want itty bitty lawyers following you around?
Sounds nuts but hey, whatever floats yer boat.
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The Clockwork are not actual robots; they are hunks of metal animated by the mental power of the Clockwork King.
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What about all those Clockwork guarding what's-her-name's store in New Faultline? I haven't done that arc, but I'd wager the Clockwork King has nothing to do with those guys.
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Penelope's Protectors? I think it said that she was a powerful psychic and 'stole' control of them.
@Jimmy Amp
Currently working on:
Jimmy Crush - Kin/Regen Scrapper
"Life writes the best scripts."
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Obsidius wrote:
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Yeah, but you can't really blame Cryptic for a player's lack of creativity.
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The American court system proves otherwise. Many users have sued manufacturers/providers for reasons arguably out of their control. And have won.
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This from the same court system that ruled in favor of that lady for spilling hot McD's coffee on her own lap
(looks around for the rolled-eyes emoticon)
The American court system is the perfect measuring stick for the LCD (Lowest Common Denominator).
But I digress. Pets! More discussion!
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So... you want itty bitty lawyers following you around?
Sounds nuts but hey, whatever floats yer boat.
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Feel the power.... OF ATTORNEY! BIIIIIIIIIRRD-MAN!
@Jimmy Amp
Currently working on:
Jimmy Crush - Kin/Regen Scrapper
"Life writes the best scripts."
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Obsidius wrote:
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Yeah, but you can't really blame Cryptic for a player's lack of creativity.
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The American court system proves otherwise. Many users have sued manufacturers/providers for reasons arguably out of their control. And have won.
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This from the same court system that ruled in favor of that lady for spilling hot McD's coffee on her own lap
(looks around for the rolled-eyes emoticon)
The American court system is the perfect measuring stick for the LCD (Lowest Common Denominator).
But I digress. Pets! More discussion!
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So... you want itty bitty lawyers following you around?
Sounds nuts but hey, whatever floats yer boat.
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LMAO - mini-lawyers, the most vile, evil pet!
5 stars
I want a mini-warwolf.
Just take the warwolf, shrink him down, and stick him on the Rikti Monkey frame.
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I don't see most people really going the extra mile to make a cool rationalization like any of yours. What we are going to see are hundreds of superheroes running around with demons fluttering along behind them for no reason other than that they look kinda cool. ... The fact is, taken at face value, these pets do not make sense and are immersion breaking.
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Yeah, but you can't really blame Cryptic for a player's lack of creativity.
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I can and will blame them for building an environment that requires creative rationalization to make any sense or fit with the previous world concept. By your logic, Cryptic could give a veteran reward of fresh fruit costume pieces, where you could turn your character into a giant flying pineapple, watermelon, or bunch of bananas, and it wouldn't be immersion breaking because a sufficiently creative player could explain it away. It's their world and they can do what they want with it, but introducing nonsense and inconsistency, and making me work that much harder to suspend my disbelief, is not a good way to keep me invested.
Heroes are good guys. Having them hang out with demons from Hell is a very powerful strain on my immersion. I can make it fit if I scrunch up my forehead real hard and puzzle it out, but wouldn't it be better if it just fit, right out of the box?
That said, I will repeat that Castle's post reassured me a lot. If all the descriptions do that good a job* of dealing with the issue, I'll be completely satisfied with VR pets.
*And it isn't even that brilliant. "It's not a real Red Cap, it's a hologram of one!" It's kind of along the lines of, "Whenever anything like that happens, a wizard did it." And yet it answers my problem quite adequately. If all the VR pets are described as "just holograms", I'll shrug my shoulders and say, "OK, fine, that works. It's weird, but it works."
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Mutant - ?
Natural - ?
Magic - Red Cap, Demon
Technology - Clockwork, Robot
Science - Rikti Monkey (I guess, but it could also go under Technology)
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Maybe spoiler, but a low level one.
Clockwork are not really robot, they are pile of junk metal looking like robot that are extension of the clockwork king mind. So it technically doesn't make more sense than a redcap. the list of pet per origin(and not archetype) would look like that :
Magic : Demon
Mutant : Clockwork(since they are animated by the psychic power of their mutant king.)
Natural : Gnome(Just call them normal gnome and consider that they are a natural hidden race of earth.)
Science : Rikti Monkey
Technologie : Mekman
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The Clockwork are still Technology origin, as anyone starting the game out as a Technology hero will tell you. They are still hunks of scrap metal cobbled into robotic shapes; they owe nothing to inborn genes that code for super powers. It is the Clockwork King alone who is Mutation origin.
And the Redcaps, like everything else that is native to Croatoa, are Magical.
Storm Summoning is great because it makes you better than everyone else in the game. - Camma
Knockback is mitigation. It won't be removed just because meleers ***** and moan. - Chaos Creator
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The Clockwork are not actual robots; they are hunks of metal animated by the mental power of the Clockwork King.
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What about all those Clockwork guarding what's-her-name's store in New Faultline? I haven't done that arc, but I'd wager the Clockwork King has nothing to do with those guys.
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No idea. I never heard of this before this thread. I'm sure there's a good justification for it. I'm waiting for I8 to go live to do the new Faultline.
See, that's all I'm saying. As long as there is a good justification for it built in to the game, I will have no problem with it. If there are now "good Clockwork" that I never heard of before, sweet, the Clock pets make perfect sense for heroes.
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I don't see most people really going the extra mile to make a cool rationalization like any of yours. What we are going to see are hundreds of superheroes running around with demons fluttering along behind them for no reason other than that they look kinda cool. ... The fact is, taken at face value, these pets do not make sense and are immersion breaking.
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Yeah, but you can't really blame Cryptic for a player's lack of creativity.
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I can and will blame them for building an environment that requires creative rationalization to make any sense or fit with the previous world concept. By your logic, Cryptic could give a veteran reward of fresh fruit costume pieces, where you could turn your character into a giant flying pineapple, watermelon, or bunch of bananas, and it wouldn't be immersion breaking because a sufficiently creative player could explain it away. It's their world and they can do what they want with it, but introducing nonsense and inconsistency, and making me work that much harder to suspend my disbelief, is not a good way to keep me invested.
Heroes are good guys. Having them hang out with demons from Hell is a very powerful strain on my immersion. I can make it fit if I scrunch up my forehead real hard and puzzle it out, but wouldn't it be better if it just fit, right out of the box?
That said, I will repeat that Castle's post reassured me a lot. If all the descriptions do that good a job* of dealing with the issue, I'll be completely satisfied with VR pets.
*And it isn't even that brilliant. "It's not a real Red Cap, it's a hologram of one!" It's kind of along the lines of, "Whenever anything like that happens, a wizard did it." And yet it answers my problem quite adequately. If all the VR pets are described as "just holograms", I'll shrug my shoulders and say, "OK, fine, that works. It's weird, but it works."
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Until Castle posted the info on the RedCaps, I figured I'd just say one followed me home from a mission or something. Like one was confused or bonked on the head or something. And now it's my puppy... uhm.. err... whatever.
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Obsidius wrote:
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Yeah, but you can't really blame Cryptic for a player's lack of creativity.
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The American court system proves otherwise. Many users have sued manufacturers/providers for reasons arguably out of their control. And have won.
[/ QUOTE ]
This from the same court system that ruled in favor of that lady for spilling hot McD's coffee on her own lap
(looks around for the rolled-eyes emoticon)
The American court system is the perfect measuring stick for the LCD (Lowest Common Denominator).
But I digress. Pets! More discussion!
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So... you want itty bitty lawyers following you around?
Sounds nuts but hey, whatever floats yer boat.
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Insurance company propaganda. McDonalds lost the case because the plaintiff showed that this sort of thing had happened hundreds of times before, and McDonalds had made a conscious decision to continue handing out scalding hot coffee. The amount was probably larger than reasonable, but the story was not so simple. It rarely is.
However, the idea of having pet lawyers is really Evil! Think of the emote and petsay possibilities. Perfect for CoV.
Rend this space....
Ok, fine. Our beloved LiquidX has started a suggestion thread for new pets to be added. Come help it grow.
Red link to thread
Blue link to thread
I guess breakage of immersion is dependant upon the player. For me, the biggest thing that breaks my immersion are bad names (fictitious example: Ult1mAteBlastr3) and clone characters (oh look, another Superman clone). Sometimes these are one in the same, depending on the name and avatar.
Seeing BananaMan slide down the street whiping out crime? Eh, I've seen worse, like a mothman who keeps getting mistaken for a rabbit 
As far as:
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Heroes are good guys. Having them hang out with demons from Hell is a very powerful strain on my immersion. I can make it fit if I scrunch up my forehead real hard and puzzle it out, but wouldn't it be better if it just fit, right out of the box?
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There are comic references for heroes (or antiheroes) conniving with the underworld (Spawn is the first that comes to mind). Dark melee, dark defenders, heroes that use lethal weapons - are these also concepts that break immersion? Just depends on one's point of view I suppose. OTOH, there are comic book references for such heroes.
But if all else fails, you are correct that the basic "wizardry" explanation _Castle_ delivers is enough for players who may not be as imaginative as others, or who are just bad at making backstories, etc. It's the "easy out", so to speak - it delivers the most basic way to explain why it is what it is, which obviously will work for a lot of players.
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A demon? Are you kidding me? Um, that's about as pure a symbol of evil as you can get. I don't care whether it's unintelligent. You can't "domesticate" demons to be cuddly and nice. They are supernatural manifestations of evil, period.
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I'm going to RP my demon pet as a homunculus. Obsidius is a gargoyle (a construct as far is his story goes), so the homunculus is just a smaller construct that follows him around aimlessly.
Really, one can RP pets any way they want. This is an MMORPG, right? Why not leave the pet's origin to the player's creativity?
Perhaps a psychic hero found a way to mimic the Clockwork King's abilities in a limit capacity, thus animating a cog pet?
Perhaps a tech hero found an abandoned 5th Column robot, which he salvaged to follow him around to take PR shots with a built-in camera?
Perhaps a deranged scientific villain is studying rehabilitation of Red Caps through electroshock therapy?
I honestly don't think you're giving the players enough credit through creative license ICF_Zombra. If one were to keep a polarized view about what kind of pets heroes should and shouldn't have based solely upon secular storyline content, there would be little to no variety in pet options, IMHO.