Anime/Manga expansion pack?

Tell that to Billy Mays.

He's faking it. Just like MJ, Eddy, and whats-her-name from Baywatch. It's all a big stunt for a musical they're planning.

We've been saving Paragon City for eight and a half years. It's time to do it one more time.

Or, we could satisfy two needs: Anime pack AND female huge body types!

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Just like MJ

[/ QUOTE ]Speaking of...

Oh god, I think I'm gonna puke!

We've been saving Paragon City for eight and a half years. It's time to do it one more time.

ok, to desperately try to rein this thread back into sanity rather than talk about tri-gu...looks at fleeting, i mean trigun. I think the term anime is a little broad, but i think generally there are a few kinds of costume that we could use that are common in anime.

the chinese cheongsam dress for one, a kimono top, the ability to use popular kanji symbols as chest decorations, a single oni horn, and possibly male and female tiger skins for oni themed characters. and maybe the ability to put "chest" symbols on backs, as you sometimes see in martial arts and some feudal era animes.

I think we have the powersuit animes pretty much covered, heck, i remember seeing pretty convincing knight sabers way back in issue 1. and the "real world" anime's costumes can be mostly replicated here, often the difference is that a lot of anime characters are incredibly slender, far more than you can get here even with sliders at minimum, but that is just s stylistic difference you are never going to get around.

so i dunno, one thing i would like and have suggested in the past was a anime/manga themed zone, accessed by oroboros which takes you to a future version of japan where environmental and economic situations have brought in large numbers of korean and japanese residents (as a justification to get in chinese and korean mythological creatures and costume bits) you deal with both high tech ghost in the shell styled criminals as well as having supernaturally controlled areas where you fight various yokai(japanese ghost-monsters, basicly) and chinese monsters.

Take the Magic: The Gathering 'What Color Are You?' Quiz.

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so i dunno, one thing i would like and have suggested in the past was a anime/manga themed zone, accessed by oroboros which takes you to a future version of japan where environmental and economic situations have brought in large numbers of korean and japanese residents (as a justification to get in chinese and korean mythological creatures and costume bits) you deal with both high tech ghost in the shell styled criminals as well as having supernaturally controlled areas where you fight various yokai(japanese ghost-monsters, basicly) and chinese monsters.

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While I can't see a full on futuristic anime zone in Paragon or the Rogue Isles, I could see them expanding upon the Tsoo to possibly pick up a few of these archetypes. Reading ParagonWiki's reprint of the CoH file/bio on the Tsoo it mentions some being interested in the latest fashions and it does mention women participating during their blood sports so adding a few female enemies and adding a few "modern" enemies wouldn't break the canon.

notice how i mention oroboros, right? i figured that placing it in "real" world continuity would limit it, but it its set in some future time of interest and accessed through a time portal, then things get easier.

I do like the tsoo, but they are explicitly hmong, they do not seem to have dealings with chinese or japanese groups, in fact, in the backgrounder they seem to have chased the triads out of paragon, and i vaguely remember hearing they dont deal well with the yakuza either,so there would be a limiter there unless tub ci suddenly gets more open minded.

Take the Magic: The Gathering 'What Color Are You?' Quiz.

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I do like the tsoo, but they are explicitly hmong, they do not seem to have dealings with chinese or japanese groups

[/ QUOTE ]Hmong includes China, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and Burma

This topic was making me right up until the point the trigu^H^H-gun Silliness with fleeting Whisper started up. So kudos on saving the topic, in my decidedly unhumble opinion.

So, I'll try and look at this sort of thing analytically, and I'll try and address the parts of this topic I didn't rage over, are ignoring because I don't have a good response, or just didn't read.

1. Anime themed zone: I'd personally not be happy if this was introduced. Anime is such a widespread genre that one zone trying to feed each anime trope or idea would feel mish-mashy, and secondly zones appear nontrivial to add to the game. So, I'd rather the devs did other things than make an anime zone.

2. 'Rage' Temp power. I have never played a Superstrength alt high enough to pick up Rage, but from what I've heard it's quite potent. So, it would have to be a nerfed version, and I'd much rather have something truly weird and unique like the last two powers. Self destruct KILLS you and Tarot has a completely random buff, two things that to my knowledge we've not had in game before now. I'd like to see these fun innovations brought into the game with the packs. Having a repackaged, weak version of an existing power doesn't seem quite as fun.

3. Anime Expansion: A real expansion-esque add-on like City of Villains or Going Rogue that is Anime again is something I feel is akin to a giant platter of delicious sushi. Now, Some of us love sushi and can gobble it up and say that the raw fish gives us happiness and we shoot fruity-oaty rainbows out of our mouth. BUT some people don't like it. So, not everyone is eating from the delicious platter. Which is a problem, especially since our cooking developers would have to set quite a few people to make all the sushi for us, and if not everyone eats it then they've lost out on both time and money.
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What I'm getting at is that something like an expansion pack that's fully anime-d up is indulging a small niche of the population, and really spends to much time and money on something not everyone will enjoy.

4. Anime booster Pack
Now, this I really don't see what the big exploding ninja deal is. The booster packs, I believe, have shifted from 'Nifty stuff' to 'Nifty stuff that doesn't appeal to everyone, so you can buy only the packs you like'. Personally, someone who exclusively loves their Golden Age comics probably wouldn't pick up the magic pack. Or maybe they would, I'm not good with the comic ages. BUT. The point is, if you don't like, say, the wedding pack, you don't have to buy it. I'm thinking that the anime fans in the game are numerous enough that the pack would get people buying it, and thus it's worth the time/money it would take to create it.

5. What specifically should go into such a booster?
"costume parts based on anime series (e.g. series from shonen jump)"

Based on? Maybe. MAYBE. Some costume bits are very much tied to a series, to the point that it's almost like a trademark. I'd rather we didn't get too close to established bits of costumage. Stuff loosely based on some of anime's improbably cool clothes, or bits of costume that seem to run from character to character, would be good to model off of, though. Honestly, what precicely would be good filler for a costume pack like this is beyond me, especially since there are literally dozens of pieces that people would like added and we seem to get maybe ten or fifteen new bits per pack.




Now, some of you have expressed distaste for the concept. I'd like to take a moment to address some of your concerns.


"So we get an addon where we can set different sleeve and pant leg options per appendage and slap on multiple belts where ever we want them and wrap random parts in bandages. "

That's not ALL there are to anime-style costumes.


"Because there arent enough Naruto, Inuyasha, Tri-Gun clones out there already. "

I haven't seen any, personally, although I don't doubt you CAN make them. But, just because the potential exists that someone CAN create a clone of an existing hero is not a reason to remove or withhold costume pieces. As an aside, I remember people complaining about City of Neo when trenchcoats came out and I don't seem to recall a terribly large influx of chosen ones.

"/unsigned just on principle. The game is based on american comic books/superheroes, not japanese ones. "

It's been noted, the two appear to be moving towards becoming more unified and similar. Considering the number of players that can and do disregard superheroic themes and tropes in their characters and make use of the wonderfully robust costume creation we have, I think it's a little impulsive to state that anything that doesn't fit what you consider to be the established theme not something that can or should be supported.

"
Azure,

I wasn't sure it was possible, but you just made me like this suggestion even less. "

Now that's just rude.

"most of the other options, IMO, aren't cool. In fact, I don't find most of them even vaguely aesthetically pleasing."

I absolutely hate that swirly haircut with three spikes on male characters. Hate it. Just because I don't find some things in the game aesthetically pleasing is not a reason not to include them, because obviously quite a few people DO like them.

"I thought it was City of Heroes not City of Anime...... "

It's City of Heroes, Villains, Wherewolves, Robots, ect ect ect. 'Hero' and 'villain' encompass a lot of genres, and a lot of players seem to like using more than just colored spandex in their outfits.

"
And lets see..... cat-ears...check. Sword/Katana.... check. White spiky long hair... check. white robe... check.
Its really easy. Ive seem some impressivly accurate clones... and I cant report them fast enough. "

Didn't Inuyasha have a red robe? Also. Clones of Wolverine are just as worthy of being generic'd as those of Naruto.


Having run out of steam there, I think I'll end post. It's probably unweildly huge at this point anyway.

cool story bro

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I do like the tsoo, but they are explicitly hmong, they do not seem to have dealings with chinese or japanese groups

[/ QUOTE ]Hmong includes China, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and Burma

[/ QUOTE ]i know, but they are an ethnically distinct group with their own customs and practices. Having them suddenly decked out in much of the han chinese outfits and themes i thought would be in the expansion would seem as silly as having a bunch of ainu characters wearing samurai armor and hefting katanas. they are already confused enough with ninjas in their current costumes, no need to tack on more inaccurate characterizations.

Now if you were, as i mentioned earlier, to have tub ci suddenly start accepting work with other existing groups and not just driving them out of paragon and building his own empire, then i would be fine with it.

Take the Magic: The Gathering 'What Color Are You?' Quiz.

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1. Anime themed zone: I'd personally not be happy if this was introduced. Anime is such a widespread genre that one zone trying to feed each anime trope or idea would feel mish-mashy, and secondly zones appear nontrivial to add to the game. So, I'd rather the devs did other things than make an anime zone.

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I sorta of made a post about one, although it more than just anime purposes I wanted it more a chance to branch out from Paragon and the Isles as well as have that Oni you saved during the Darrin Wade arc come back to you as a villain.

Emiya, Japan, sadly the idea was under cooked and ended up getting a lot of flames and I decided it should die.

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Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow City of Heroes is a game about freedom of expression and variety of experiences far more so than it is about representing any one theme, topic or genre.

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Now if you were, as i mentioned earlier, to have tub ci suddenly start accepting work with other existing groups and not just driving them out of paragon and building his own empire, then i would be fine with it.

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Then perhaps it would be better to create a rival gang specifically for the purpose of fitting in these other designs and to actually have some of the enemies the Tsoo have run out.

I have to agree with the Scientist on just about all points stated, which is a load off my mind. This level-headed, largely objective post is something I wanted to write, but it's stated quite well, which saves me some time and effort

I want to touch on the instinctive hatered for anime that I've seen displayed here and elsewhere, though, because it's largely displayed by people who apparently don't have a very good idea what "anime" actually constitutes. Statements like "Oh, sure! Crazy hair and giant eyes and lots of belts!" just reaffirm this belief. I don't know what people get as a mental image when they think "anime," but the genre is INCREDIBLY wide and diverse, and it has plagiarised so many other genres so deeply, it doesn't really have a good, monolithic definition on what it actually is.

Yes, there are crazy things and wild costumes and weird and strange characters. In SOME shows and comics. Others take a much more realistic, much more subtle approach. You have the truly weird on one hand, like Soul Eater and much of Naruto, but on the other hand you have largely realistic designs in shows like Ghost in the Shell, Armitage III or Akira. It's a lot like the distinction between high fantasy, with its outlandish outfits and improbable armour, and borderline medieval simulations like Hard to Be a God, with its largely authentic armour and weapons (minus the rare future weapons)

This game hasn't been based on tights socks and hairless masks pretty much since it was released. It's a mistake to think it's based JUST on American comic books when it's just as based on science fiction movies and even popular cartoons, and it's also a mistake to think that American comic books are based on tights-wearing, caped crusaders for justice, dressed in red, white and blue. The comic books genre is a lot wider than that, and the game is a lot wider than the comic books genre in turn.

Ironically, exactly because not all anime is wild hair and improbable clothes, a LOT of it can be rendered in City of Heroes already. A lot of anime characters have cool costumes that are cool not because of some wild disregard for the laws of physics or fancy-looking shoulderless sleeve, but simply because they're regular clothes, but designed to be really, really cool.

There are a few anime pieces we can certainly use, mostly in the legs department where I feel this game is lacking the most, but a few others, as well. I wouldn't mind oversized options for our current weapons, as well. Sometimes you want something that makes sense, sometimes you want something that's just BIG, and it would be nice if I could use something OTHER than the Legacy Broadsword for that effect. Beyond that, though, "anime" is too loose a term to really be a meaningful suggestion. You may as well say "add more costume options" and you won't be any less specific.

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Originally Posted by Arcanaville Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

*applauds Scientist_16 and Samuel_Tow*

No better way to say it.

And I'd love to see more anime options myself. Maybe something similar to the UN Spacey Gunpod used by the Valkyries in Macross for AR Blasters, or robes/jackets/shirts/etc with the ability to have Chest Symbols on the back, Kanji symbols for chest/back insignias, and more.

Just as a little example, I recently found an old anime movie - 1998's Spriggan - which doesn't really have much of anything of what people would call "anime clothes." Soldiers wear soldiers' uniforms of different colours, the protagonist wears a uniform complete with armour while the antagonist wears a backwards baseball cap and a baseball jacket (like I used to have when I was a kid, no less). About the only thing sufficiently "anime-like" is the protagonist's metal head band and MAYBE one cyborg's armour, though he was just... Fat. Called General Fat Man, no less.

There are still a bunch of things I'd like from this movie, though, nevertheless.

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Originally Posted by Arcanaville Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

Ohhh metalic shiny wings!

Maybe something like Marine had at the end of SMJ Again.

I would like to see anime style faces.