Fodder for the Canon: Ask your lore questions here

CaptainAmazing · 06-06-2009 02:49 PM

Dear Mr. Manticore
*scribble sounds*

Hello, how are you? I was wondering something. What happened to Stefan in Tyrant's world? o.o

Secondary question

How do you feel "Web of Arachnos" and "The Freedom Phalanx" came out in the end in relation to our in-game canon and your bible? Are they representative of our current canon or an Elseworlds?

Regards,
-C.A.

Attache · 06-06-2009 05:08 PM

QR

Every franchise has its rules of canon and I'm assuming that City of Heroes is no exception. While I'm very interested in the lore of the City, I'd first like to know what sources are considered canon. The game itself is a given but are both volumes of the comic canon? The novel(s)? Heroclix info? Trading cards? Are any licensed products so far off the mark that they have to be ignored?

Also, if a player asks a question that has no real definitive answer but you (you being Manticore) decide to speculate, is that speculation canon? Will you be deciding certain details of the lore on the spot or are you limiting yourself solely to sourced material, even if it is unpublished developer's notes?

I'd just like to know the guidelines here, if you don't mind.

EDITED: For clarification

Attache

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DumpleBerry · 06-07-2009 09:32 AM

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Greetings all,

This thread is being opened up for lore questions. This is the place I will start looking for each weeks Canon Fodder questions. I will work with the rest of the devs to put together as many answers as I can each week.

The game is afoot!

~M

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*cough* "each week" *cough*

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Oh good, I thought I had been imagining things. So we get two this week, then?

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PKDauntless · 06-07-2009 10:19 PM

Quote pyramid removed.

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I've never seen the plans to a nuclear sub, but I know perfectly well how every power generating turbine in this universe must operate.

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But City of Heroes doesn't transpire in this universe.

I'm not going to argue the science with you since I don't have the background or the knowledge. I pointed out the nuclear sub example only as a reminder that steam power does not always have to mean huge engines belching steam and coal smoke.

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So for the specific steam engines we're discussing, Nemesis automatons, if they don't somehow vent their steam, then they need another heat sink of some sort.

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I don't believe it has ever been established that the automatons run on steam. Most historic automata were driven by clockworks and powered by whatever means was convenient for the specific machine.

Making the assumption, for the moment, that Nemesis developed a parallel technology of steam power, it is possible that he developed something that compensates for the laws of thermodynamics specific to the City of Heroes universe. Personally, I think the Nemesis Automaton is powered by a super-efficient spring system, not much different than a wind-up toy.

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The quote at the apex of this little pyramid implies to me some sort of closed system in which the steam is re-condensed somehow without a heat sink. This is where my thermodynamics quote came from.

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This quote?[ QUOTE ]
A really efficient steam machine wouldn't need to expel the steam, but would instead allow it to cool and condense internally and re-use the same water again.

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I don't see anything here that implies a closed system. I'm not saying either of us is wrong, just that I didn't interpret it the way you did.

And now, I'm gonna attempt to stop with this threadjack. Seriously. Gonna make that effort. No more threadjack. Got it.

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Miuramir · 06-08-2009 06:55 AM

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So for the specific steam engines were discussing, Nemesis automatons, if they dont somehow vent their steam, then they need another heat sink of some sort. (Say, has anyone else noticed that Dan eats a lot of ice cream at his desk and makes frequent trips to the restroom?) If not, they quickly would stop working.

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My thought is that they have two modes; "mimic" and "combat".

In mimic mode, as they're pretending to be just another office worker, their energy needs may not be significantly higher than that of a real human. They can use many of the same methods that humans use to deal with it. (Some numbers , some other numbers)

It's not particularly unreasonable that a genius-designed automaton in this setting would be more efficient than a human, and therefore easily capable of "idling" without blowing its cover. Having a trendy-looking bottle of distilled water on their desk to sip from occasionally wouldn't even be particularly unusual.

My other suggestion is that they work sort of like the bots from Black Magic M-66, and vent steam when they need emergency cooling in or after combat, when stealth isn't a concern. A logical design might have a reserve coolant tank that is passive in normal idle mode. For short periods of moderate exertion, it's used as a heat dump, with small amounts seeped out through a capillary network to cool by transpiration (same general mechanism as sweating). For heavy exertion, enough heat is dumped into it to boil it and steam is vented. Given the likely very high working temperatures of a super-tech steam engine, the steam may be significantly superheated, thereby pushing a lot more heat out of the system per unit mass expended than you might think.

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Venture · 06-08-2009 08:34 AM

But City of Heroes doesn't transpire in this universe.

There is a thread on this in the Mission Architect Stories and Lore section, which is probably where this should be redirected.

However: since the City universe looks like our universe, except for the addition of superheroes, it must...M-U-S-T...be the case that the laws of physics in the City universe are a proper superset of the laws of physics in our universe. That is, anything true in our world must be true in that world as well, but that world has some extra principles that allow superhumans to function.

If this were not the case then the City universe would look nothing at all like ours. It would not have cars, or computers, or houses, or life forms that were identifiable as human or any other form of life with which we are familiar. If you change the laws of thermodynamics the resultant universe will look nothing like our own.

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InfamousBrad · 06-08-2009 09:27 AM

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MST3KMantra

Venture · 06-08-2009 10:38 AM

That's not an excuse for bad writing. The audience is not required to buy every bit of codswallop that comes down the pike.

Current Blog Post: "Why I am an Atheist..."
"And I say now these kittens, they do not get trained/As we did in the days when Victoria reigned!" -- T. S. Eliot, "Gus, the Theatre Cat"

DojhromTRW · 06-08-2009 11:05 AM

A few items that have never been explained [although I might through personal arcs]

- Children: 5+ years of being a hero and we have yet to see a child.

- Animals and other critters: One thing that should be abundant should be scavengers since they thrive on ruin. We do see flies, moths, and roaches, and birds. Time to see some sharks, Lusca babies, Dingos, etc!

- Weather: It's either time to add it or time to explain the war walls are damaging the ecosystem ...