Why is it that people with amazing concepts..
By
Ad Astra,
Posted on: 2009-07-03 07:06 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
Sometimes there just isn't a good APP to take. Obviously this wasn't the case with your example, but I'm often frustrated with scrappers only having 3 APPs to choose from. (I'm tired of Body Mastery, dang it!)
...I forgot what experience means.
Because rocket launching witches are AWESOME. That's why.
Almost as awesome as a Robotic Ninja Pirate. Almost.
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Sometimes there just isn't a good APP to take. Obviously this wasn't the case with your example, but I'm often frustrated with scrappers only having 3 APPs to choose from. (I'm tired of Body Mastery, dang it!)
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I've never played scrappers, but nosing about in Mid's I have always been unimpressed with the choices available. Nothing really exciting and it strikes me the devs might have been worried about what to give scrappers due to balance, and so played it down as much as possible.
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Because rocket launching witches are AWESOME. That's why.
Almost as awesome as a Robotic Ninja Pirate. Almost.
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Obviously for the rocket launching witch she needs to ride a vacuum cleaner.
Out of curiosity, why couldn't a witch use a rocket launcher? She's got two hands. Heck even Buff the Vampire Slayer used a rocket launcher.
It's not always simple to balance game mechanics with concept. My main does give up some for the sake of concept. She's DM/DA/DM scrapper. That means I have to take a useless power like Torrent or Petrifying Gaze. It REALLY irks me that at level 41 I have to waste a power choice with something useless just to get to a useful power that matches my concept.
Not everyone want to make the some sacrifice, at least not on every character.
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Because rocket launching witches are AWESOME. That's why.
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I'm going with this.
- Green Lantern
"Say, Jim...woo! That's a bad out-FIT!" - Superman: The Movie
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I miss my Undead Cyborg Pirate sometimes.
Maybe it was part of THEIR concept?
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Why is it that people with amazing concepts
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Concept loss can happen at any time.
My first character was a Fire/Fire Blaster who really had no clal to be conjuring up a sword.
I've always had trouble with Controllers, many of whom don't really fit with having an animated amorphous lump of whatever they control walking around after them. But the pet power is so useful its hard to go without.
I think its cool that Controllers get defence based epic armours, but they're both visually very specific.
Undead Cyborg Pirates and Robotic Ninja Pirates aside, I'm talking more about people with serious bio's and attempts to create a theme which have been seemingly thrown away when EPP's arrived.
I guess by 41 they've lost the vision they started with and are more interested in power.
It might be just me, but I find a rocket launching witch to be an amazing concept.
In any case, I doubt she picked Munitions for überness either. The powergaming trend is usually Force or Elec for blaster EPPs.
Ultimately...
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Sometimes a flawed character who doesn't wipe the floor with everything and does have weaknesses, is a more interesting character to play.
Peacemoon, Mind/Storm/Psi Controller
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These two lines, following each other, made me laugh. I don't mean this as a bad way, it's just that when I look at a mind/storm/psi, I think "tremendously powerful character".
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The other day I saw a blaster who was themed as a witch. A great bio, and electric blast/electric manipulation. Her outfit was pretty cool and her bio was enjoyable. Yet to my suprise when reading her power selection she had the munitions epic power pool. I noted that this witch would apperantly throw out a ROCKET LAUNCHER amongst her electric spells? 
<snip>
P.S I realise that sometimes it is thematically correct to have different elements etc, but you can only stretch it so far.
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Yeah, i know what you mean.
Dr. Todt's theme.
i make stuff...
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It might be just me, but I find a rocket launching witch to be an amazing concept.
In any case, I doubt she picked Munitions for überness either. The powergaming trend is usually Force or Elec for blaster EPPs.
Ultimately...
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Sometimes a flawed character who doesn't wipe the floor with everything and does have weaknesses, is a more interesting character to play.
Peacemoon, Mind/Storm/Psi Controller
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These two lines, following each other, made me laugh. I don't mean this as a bad way, it's just that when I look at a mind/storm/psi, I think "tremendously powerful character".
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Well if you read the bio like I did, you might not think of it in the same way. Then again, people might just be defending somebodies right to do a bizzare setup like this. I'm not saying it should be outlawed or anything, I'm just stating that I find it silly to get to 41 with a great theme and then abandon it for slightly better performance, even when it breaks concept.
This rocket launcher witch did break concept when comparing it to her bio, that isn't the debate. It is why do some people do it, even when it makes their character look rediculous?
As for Peacemoon, I never designed him to be super powerful, I just went with theme and it slotted together well. He does have his drawbacks, especially when it comes to anything psi resistant (Robots, zombies, Nemesis bots who are sleep,stun,confuse and fear resistant). However in my view, I enjoy those weaknesses and that is what I would expect him to have. I also enjoy finding creative ways to combat them. In my view his power comes from me playing the game too much and being a good player who can think outside of the box and appreciate the usually disregarded powers that get a bad stigma.
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Out of curiosity, why couldn't a witch use a rocket launcher? She's got two hands. Heck even Buff the Vampire Slayer used a rocket launcher.
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I think the OP's point was that the character was "magic" and not "tech".
Of course, a witch could use a rocket launcher. I guess and example may have been better if a "tech" character took an epic pool to cast "magic" spells.
Back to the OP's question ::
I would hope that a character conception player would try to make their powers fit throughout their existence.
Maybe it was a 2nd build?
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Sometimes there just isn't a good APP to take. Obviously this wasn't the case with your example, but I'm often frustrated with scrappers only having 3 APPs to choose from. (I'm tired of Body Mastery, dang it!)
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I've never played scrappers, but nosing about in Mid's I have always been unimpressed with the choices available. Nothing really exciting and it strikes me the devs might have been worried about what to give scrappers due to balance, and so played it down as much as possible.
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APPs are intended to grant capabilites that an AT doesn't normally get through their primary/secondary. Hence Blasters get armor toggles and mini-T9s, Tankers get controls and blasts, and Scrappers get set mules and concept powers.
*shrug*
My Energy/Energy blaster has the Munitions pool also; I actually created him shortly before epics were introduced, and got to the appropriate level shortly after they came out.
My reasoning was fairly simple; his powers had nothing to do with forcefields (the 'logical' choice for Energy/Energy), and he wasn't stupid- why not invest in a set of lightweight Body Armour and some backup weaponry?
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Because rocket launching witches are AWESOME. That's why.
Almost as awesome as a Robotic Ninja Pirate. Almost.
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Obviously for the rocket launching witch she needs to ride a vacuum cleaner.
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Acknowledging this reference since nobody has yet. 
Anyway, I mostly agree with the OP. In fact, part of the reason I don't have more high level villains is because none of their choices are thematic. Dark, elec, tech, and sharks? Where's the fire, energy, ice, earth, plant, psi, and natural choices?
All my current villains over 40 managed to get a thematic epic, or just don't have one. For instance, Necro/Dark/Soul works. My Brutes and Widow don't have an epic, and my Crab is using mace. I have several characters, like my Fire/Thermal, who I don't want to level because there's no appropriate epic.
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Originally Posted by PRAF68_EU
Dispari has more than enough credability, and certainly doesn't need to borrow any from you.
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People are invoking Joss Whedon to support a concept?
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Do not doubt the mighty powers of Joss Whedon!
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I'm just stating that I find it silly to get to 41 with a great theme and then abandon it for slightly better performance, even when it breaks concept.
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Myself, I find it silly to quote someone only to disregard everything he said. At the very least, you could start with "I believe you're wrong" or the less polite "[censored] noob", but to just ignore it like it never happened while you're quoting it... What?!
Again, I doubt anyone would go with Munitions over Force or Elec for power ; again, I think a rocket launching witch is an awesome concept and saying it's silly while forgetting that same witch has been shrugging off bullet shots, ran as fast as an athletic sprinter for hours and jumped at superhuman levels of height, as soon as level 1 is, well, rather silly.
Finally, if you like not only to crap on other people characters but to crap on the replies you get, I can play the rude game too.
Mind/storm/psi is a very strong combo and, except for lowered damage against a few foes (which isn't such the hurdle it is on other combos thanks to Confuse), has pretty much no weakness if built and played well. Between controls, ST damage, AoE damage, ally heal/mez prot, debuffs, buffs (steaming mist), pets (Tornado, LS), mez protection they really have tons of options. The Psi EPP is picked by tons of folks who want the easy mez protection ; having the ice EPP would make the character unique and probably still in concept (ice and storm fit well).
Really, to me it sounds like your character is just a cookiecutter concept, just like Inv/SS tankers or Energy/energy blasters. I've seen plenty of Mind/Storm/Psi, I've never seen ANY Elec/Elec/Munitions, and certainly not a rocket blasting witch, which, again, sounds insanely cool to me. If you can't wrap your mind around something that isn't just the cookiecutter Storm or Superman, don't blame others for it.
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Yeah, I don't care at all about this kinda thing. I've done an ITF with a stalker who had no status protection and used jump kick in his attack chain and kept my mouth shut. I'm definitely not going to think ill of someone who has a character that doesn't fit my idea of theme playing their game the way they want.
I'm seriously confused at why this would bother anyone at all. A witch with a rocket launcher is one well-prepared witch. Maybe their character has a well-developed RP backstory involving others that completely justifies their choice. Maybe they are farting around with the power, seeing what they think. Maybe their bio doesn't include every little detail about their character's concept. Maybe it's nobody's business but theirs why they picked the powers they did. And as previously noted, although the OP accuses people of lusting for power after 41, if that was the case, munitions wouldn't exactly be the go-to choice.
/shrug
Don't really know what else to add, but maybe even witches need some kind of 'oh crap' thing to whip out when things get tough?
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..completely ruin the theme sometimes when it comes to Epic Power Pools?
Now don't get me wrong, I'm NOT telling anyone how to play at all. However it just strikes me as so odd when someone has obviously put a lot of thought into a character, their primary/secondary powerset, bio, character name. Yet come up with the most rediculous EPP. It is such a shame I think.
The other day I saw a blaster who was themed as a witch. A great bio, and electric blast/electric manipulation. Her outfit was pretty cool and her bio was enjoyable. Yet to my suprise when reading her power selection she had the munitions epic power pool. I noted that this witch would apperantly throw out a ROCKET LAUNCHER amongst her electric spells?
Why is it that when people reach 41, their idea of concept sometimes flies out the window?
Sometimes a flawed character who doesn't wipe the floor with everything and does have weaknesses, is a more interesting character to play.
Peacemoon, Mind/Storm/Psi Controller
P.S I realise that sometimes it is thematically correct to have different elements etc, but you can only stretch it so far.
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I think it's the result of a change in the players' perceptions that occurs after they've been playing the game for a while.
When a game is new, the genre and lore and gameworld are all new to the players. UO had people coming up with names fitting into the genre, as did EQ and others. Once the newness wears off, and players have been in the game for a while and everything is familiar and not exciting anymore, the focus shifts to the inner workings of the game..... the mechanics of the powers, behavior of the mobs, the numbers behind the world. So keeping within the genre, even if it's your own "concept character" isn't a priority. Sometimes, it's not even a concern at all. Since a player can't respec out of their primary and secondary power sets, when an older player does a respec, it's very easy to choose a different EPP to give you the numbers you're looking for.
I've long felt that you should be able to choose an origin for each individual pool. You should be able to have separate origins for your primary, secondary, pool powers, and EPP. This would allow much greater flexibility in customizing your character concepts. You can have a mutant fire blaster who got their /mental secondary as a result of a radiation accident during an early mission. You can have a technology-based Assault Rifle blaster who backs up their attacks with some magic based Fire Manipulation.
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I have a level 41 Archery/Nrg Blaster.
The character's story is that she was a D&D Geek living in Skyway City. For -some- reason her DM went Missing and all the other players in the game were turned into their characters. So now instead of Sarah Whitman, High School student and Manga Fangirl, she's Lianna Siannodel, Elven Arcane Archer and Wizardress.
Wanna know what Epic pool I'm taking for her? Munitions.
Not sure I'll take Rocket Launcher, But Body Armor has proved a -massive- boon to her survivability. And Sleep Grenade will mean she can -finally- have a Sleep spell. Albeit an Epic Level Sleep Spell >.>
It's either that or Surveillance... Does Surveillance force you to draw the stupid Gun? I'm pretty sure Sleep Grenade does, but not 100% on that.
-IF- I take the Rocket Launcher it'll just be Meteor Swarm or some similar spell, in my mind's eye. =-3
-Rachel-
..completely ruin the theme sometimes when it comes to Epic Power Pools?
Now don't get me wrong, I'm NOT telling anyone how to play at all. However it just strikes me as so odd when someone has obviously put a lot of thought into a character, their primary/secondary powerset, bio, character name. Yet come up with the most rediculous EPP. It is such a shame I think.
The other day I saw a blaster who was themed as a witch. A great bio, and electric blast/electric manipulation. Her outfit was pretty cool and her bio was enjoyable. Yet to my suprise when reading her power selection she had the munitions epic power pool. I noted that this witch would apperantly throw out a ROCKET LAUNCHER amongst her electric spells?
Why is it that when people reach 41, their idea of concept sometimes flies out the window?
Sometimes a flawed character who doesn't wipe the floor with everything and does have weaknesses, is a more interesting character to play.
Peacemoon, Mind/Storm/Psi Controller
P.S I realise that sometimes it is thematically correct to have different elements etc, but you can only stretch it so far.