MMmmm..point, but a good deal of all characters is built on what they perceive during their lifetime; so why ignore the tough bits to concentrate on, when you could be losing a rich source of new experience.
I know from personal experience that when they 're-modelled' Lusca, Weasel actually started feeling sorry for her as she was left lonely in IP... and as he flew past, he could hear the muted wailing as if the Giant Octopus was crying. In wanting to become feared, she had learned that fear brings it's own loneliness.
Sometimes the tough bits actually create far more character.
Yes, and I can make silly things like that up too. That's character background colour.
(Anyway, she's less lonely now, she always has two friends.)
What I don't need to do is try to justify spending an hour defending the Terra Volta reactor to gain "a respec". Particularly when I'm a magic origin. I don't really want to spend time running around collecting pointless components for some nerd to give me a Dr Vazilok reject body part and tell me I can now glow. I don't need Serge to tell me I can now buy a second costume.
Roleplay missions are fun, but I think they get taken to extreme. Example: Full team wipe, we spend the next 30 minutes trying desperate ways of getting out of a CoT prison block. Question once we finally get out: "What do we say happened?" Now, since my character wasn't there IC and he was the one with SS, Hyperphase and Recall Friend who actually pulled them to safety, I'd have said "let's just forget it happened." I did say that, IIRC. But no... Hey ho, I didn't have to put up with the IC consequences.
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Hmmm..I wouldn't call it silly if it affects your characters judgement.
Terra Volta? The Artificial Womb you've been placed in was designed to restrict all flow of energy except through the pipes; as you get closer to the vault you find your magical energy being sapped; unless you can get out quickly then your powers will be gone.
As you reach the sunset, the first fingers of dawn fill you with the magical spirit oncemore, but this time you know how to channel it....
Aura? The Good Doctor needed equipment. I asked "Why me?" and he told me that he had word from Serafina (or whoever) that she knew of a way to let your inner confidence shine out; all he wanted in return was bits to build his crazy machines....
Serge? He was in debt to those damnable Tsoo, I'd already seen them robbing artefcats on the Streets of Talos; perhaps by getting him as a friend I'd finally manage to strike deep into their heart. And if I didn't, the friendship of a good tailor is always handy considering the amount of clothes I go through.
Work with it, not around it 
No character can ever choose what their parents think of them, so for a character to evolve they have to do things 'THAT THEY WOULD NEVER DO'.
Have a try sometime, if you don't like it, don't do it.
You talk like I haven't rationalised this kind of rubbish before, SW.
The point is: Do it when you want to, not just because some random event happened on an RP mission and it's an RP mission, so it happened IC, so I have to angst over it for the next ten hours (IC and OOC).
RP is supposed to be fun. When you have to spend all your time coming up with fantasies that largely don't fit the facts, I don't think it's fun anymore.
Now, your Terra Volta example is fine... ignoring the fact the Weasel probably ought to keel over and die just from setting foot in Terra Volta (the zone, never mind the reactor). I generally use magicians as my characters. They look at Terra Volta as an interesting application of science which has about as much effect on magic as throwing tooth-picks at a demon (who is, I might add, not vulnerable to a thrown tooth-pick). I'm sure I can justify saving the TV reactor, I'm not sure why I should bother coming up with a reason why that should make my powers change. I am sure I don't need to, because my toon is a magician, and can simply change the spells he commonly uses.
Having to justify every in-game event IC is going to stretch credibility, a lot, and I really doubt you do it all the time too.
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I'm not saying you have to do it, or you haven't done it before; and I'm definitely not saying you spend 10 hours angsting over it. Jeez..*shudders*
(BTW, Weasel's been caught out like that before so his suit has a pocket of concentrated earth concealed within so that he can draw power when desperate..helped when I was in Space )
I just think that having to suddenly rationalise something instead of planning it all out is part of the fun.
*thinks* I don't remember ever 'not' doing it, but most of my characters adapt quickly. If Weez is narked off, then he's charging every purple he sees. If he has to genocide the Hydra, then he switches to KO blasts and silently says sorry. And he still gets scared and shivers near the Portals.
The game world is where you were born, so War Crow Junior will have had to grow up in Paragon, or it's shadow; so he's already had to live through some of these 'problems'.
Agreeing with Augury and Ravenswing here.
Silver Weasel, if you decide that everything you do in-game should or could be treated as IC, then you're asking an -awful- lot of suspension of disbelief, even from a superhero game.
Terra Volta: Why does it keep getting attacked, and never having its security imporved? How do you explain a Natural hero going in there and being changed? And what on earth has lead shielding used for a reactor core got to do with restricting magic? Most of the theories behind magic in fiction put forward that magic is either energy found everywhere in the world, regardless, or comes from within yourself.
Lusca: So your character didn't feel sorry about the thing being blasted to submission repeatedly by hoards of heroes then? 
Playing along with everything you see in the game is all well and good. But it can -only- work, believably, either solo or in a small group of roleplayers who only team with each other. Once you are exposed to another group, who've been doing similar things or even something completely different, you break the illusion.
I've done it, and it was fun. But eventually, you realise that most other heroes you meet aren't roleplayers, and the ones that are, and are doing the same as you, have just been infected with the same Vahzilok disease that you were, and even though you kept a sample of the antidote, you can't help them. Eventually, it becomes so much more enjoyable to leave the missions OOC, and run your own plots.
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The game world is where you were born, so War Crow Junior will have had to grow up in Paragon, or it's shadow; so he's already had to live through some of these 'problems'.
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You totally lost me with that one. Sorry. 
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Hmmm...
First of all, I can fly. That's suspension of disbelief from the very start before we go into Stealth in bright light
I don't think it is that difficult to rationalise everything, and if not rationalise, then at least use the crux of it. The idea of ignoring anything you can't fit in to your story just feels 'wrong' in some way....It is a shared universe.
Terra Volta : Kendo threw aside his bright orange suit in favour of his close fitting outfit. Time after time he had warned them of the Power Station producing wormholes. Time and time again, the top brass would inform him that it was 'Working as Intended'. No matter, they would come and he would kill them. Every time he was close to these giant eggs though, he would feel strange...He could have sworn he had a brother at one point..Why could he not remember his name? Where was his dog? When had he started liking sushi?
This time must be the last.
Lead shielding : Given that Lead is the oldest cliche in the book; it 'can' stop anything I think the Terra Volta reactors have something far more sinister inside....Hell, Steel plates would stop me...
Lusca : No, and I used to pummel her. Perhaps why he feels so guilty now?
See, I think you're just taking it too seriously. Maybe the Vahzilok serum you got was dodgy?
Why spend all that energy fighting against the world when you could just be having fun within it?
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The game world is where you were born, so War Crow Junior will have had to grow up in Paragon, or it's shadow; so he's already had to live through some of these 'problems'.
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You totally lost me with that one. Sorry.
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War Crow was born (I assume) in the same world that Paragon City and the game exist in; therefore, he'll have gone to school learning about Reichssmann & Statesman's titanic battle, and probably knows where he was on the day that the Rikti Invasion happened. Therefore, there's always threads from his pre-creation life that can be brought in to keep the plot back on track.
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First of all, I can fly. That's suspension of disbelief from the very start before we go into Stealth in bright light
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I was talking about believability within the setting, and I stated as much. I can appreciate your argument, I even conceded that I did enjoy doing as you suggest, so please don't patronise me when I'm trying to engage in an intelligent conversation with you, okay?
And don't get me started on how everyone with Superstrength has glowing hands when they punch. And when was the last time you saw Superman start to glow like a Christmas tree when bullets bounced off his chest? Do you also RP that every power has the same visual effect like that?
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I don't think it is that difficult to rationalise everything, and if not rationalise, then at least use the crux of it. The idea of ignoring anything you can't fit in to your story just feels 'wrong' in some way....It is a shared universe.
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The very fact that it's a shared universe is why you have to change details or ignore some, otherwise it becomes a joke. Nearly every player has, at some point, done the Vahzilok Plague story arc. Does that mean every single hero in the city has contracted the disease? Of course not! That's absurd.
I don't see it as taking it too seriously, I just don't see the point in trying to explain why the lusca appears each and every day, even though I once saw her being killed by a group of heroes. And if it wasn't killed, why is it not in containment somewhere? It's a huge great octopus, it's not like it can slip away without being noticed, while our backs are turned, is it?
I'm not saying I expect the lusca to appear once and once only, never to be seen again once beaten. What I am saying, is that there is so much in the game that does not add to the depth of roleplaying you can accomplish, which indeed can detract from the enjoyment of roleplaying, that a lot of it has to be glossed over.
I mean, can you believe I once had a guy talk to me in character, who insisted that yes, our characters' names do in fact float above their heads?
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War Crow was born (I assume) in the same world that Paragon City and the game exist in; therefore, he'll have gone to school learning about Reichssmann & Statesman's titanic battle, and probably knows where he was on the day that the Rikti Invasion happened. Therefore, there's always threads from his pre-creation life that can be brought in to keep the plot back on track.
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Ah, right, got it.
Oh, no, you lost me again. I have no idea why that was relevent to the topic we were discussing.
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Why spend all that energy fighting against the world when you could just be having fun within it?
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Um, you're fighting it, mate. I just ignore it. You're the one seems to feel you need to justify patently stupid events because you want a stunning RP environment from a game design incapable of providing it.
Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.
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I mean, can you believe I once had a guy talk to me in character, who insisted that yes, our characters' names do in fact float above their heads?
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How do you think Glory does it?
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Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.
Quiet you!
*stuffs Birdy in a closet*
Hmm... There wasn't actually patronisation involved there Wordy. The basics physics of 'this' Universe means I shouldn't be able to fly as I do. Similar with Stealth.
What I am saying is that you can take the things that are game-balance based and use them in a normal way. Powers flow in different ways, but just because I glow when I aim doesn't put me off an entire story arc.
I'm still confused on why it's absurd that every hero had the vahzilok's Plague though...Everyone had the Legacy Virus didn't they? Everyone's had a bad case of flu before...
Lusca is 'driven off' not defeated. Weasel's no idea how she got harder, but she did. He's no idea how the Crey DNA clone of him has access to his powers, but it did.
As for the guy with the names, I suggest you check out the bad_RP'ers_suck community on LJ. There's FAR worse than that
All I'm saying is, it's a shared universe, and there are some things that you, as a player can't understand, so just don't let your character understand them either.
I'm quite happy RP'ing with Radioactive Pudding Man, but I'm not gonna believe his background. Doesn't mean I have to gloss over it.
Ok..
Warcrow has grown up with the stories of Lusca re-appearing, the chance he may have been told not to go into the Hollows as the bad men live there etc.etc.etc. If you gloss over background, you're losing out on a rich vein to be tapped.
Now I don't think they're stupid. I think they're odd. Big difference. If they matter to Weez, he'll explore why and form his own conclusion. If they're not, then Meh...who cares.
The stunning RP comes from ideas, and that's what the game gives me. The game system may restrict me, but I just imagine round any obstacles.
But I don't ignore them.
Ah, well, War Crow grew up in mid-Wales, had never heard of Lusca or the Hollows until after he moved to the US. Now, this is one of my rationalisations of the poor RP environment. I do exactly the same in LARP, because an alarming number of people won't provide basic background information on a world because you "have to roleplay to find stuff out."
So, I deal with it via a rationalisation. My hero/wizard/grunt trooper, doesn't come from around here. That's why he doesn't know much about the Hollows, or Kings Row, or the local legends of pumpkin men in the woods. Or, for that matter, the religion commonly held by the natives of the place he's living in, much about local geography, who the king is... Roleplayers can be such snobs at times. 
His idea of Paragon City history is what you could expect to get in a tourist guide (which is about what Cryptic have published) or from learning 'History' in school in Wales. World events are covered, yes. Local detail isn't.
But that's a rationalisation, or accomodation. I created the toon that way because you have to go through the content, read all the History plaques, play the game, to find out half the stuff you would need to know to play a native of the city.
Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.
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Roleplayers can be such snobs at times.
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Oh and How!
This is why I find it easier, as I tend to frequent the non-enlightened(
) that I go along with the game so I understand the idea of people saying LOL etc.
War Crow is computer Literate though (I think); so he could have got as much information on Paragon as you could have got by trawling game posts; and if not, there's always a travel-agent.
Neither of which is really accomodating the game; it's just working around a game obstacle (Need to know); so there's a vein to tap in 'How he found out about Paragon, and what aspects are wrong'
Fine. Going to stop now.
You think you have to accomodate everything that happens in the game, and you think it's fun to do that.
I'd rather simply ignore events I don't find fitting for the character than have to worry about rationalising things that are simply going to come over to me as stupid, so I don't.
And the argument has, I think exhausted its supply of interest. *waves*
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Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.
You choice of phrasing indicated you were calling into question how I could state that certain things call for too much suspension of disbelief in a setting where a person can fly. And you said it in a manner I found to be patronising. If that wasn't your intent, I apologise.
Powers do not, however, manifest in different ways. Why should a perfectly natural hero glow when they use Martial Arts or Super Reflexes? Are you also saying if you saw Nevermore using Superjump, IC, you wouldn't accept that I roleplay that as using a grappling line? That's working around the power, ruling that it's something which it is not.
With the amount of firepower available in Paragon City, lusca should be sushi by now. End of story. I can't think of any character I've met who'd actually let that thing just be "driven off" to come back another day.
Yes, everyone's had the flu. I can't comment on the Legacy Virus, I don't read Marvel. But getting the flu is a lot easier than getting the Vahzilok disease, which has to be contracted from contact with infected corpses. And always in the same manner, because of the mission. Without working around what the game tells you, how can you justify the fact that still, your contact never warns you about the chance of infection?
And here's another one: Say your character's a robot. Completely artificial, no organic or biological parts whatsoever. Why does the disease affect him?
This argument is just going in circles. You're obviously not going to accept that we find it far more enjoyable to ignore the aspects of the game that don't quite fit into how we roleplay. Comics do that all the time.In No Man's Land, Superman could probably have rebuilt all of Gotham on his own. But he didn't. He appeared in two issues relating to No Man's Land, and only in one did he actually try to help. Why? Because Superman sweeping in to save the day doesn't work in the kind of storylines featured in Batman titles.
Certain things don't fit into every character's story. You cannot, unless you're really just trying for the sake of it, incorporate every in-game even as being an IC one.
But that's the crux of the argument Wordy. You, I or Ravenswing could rationalise anything happening against one of the 'rules' put down in game; therefore why not rationalise to work 'within' the game?
Fly still works with it's own set of physics; but the physics in this game don't support how fly is supposed to work within the game. That's why it's there as an example.
What you are doing though is looking at things from a 'Wordmaker' PoV, rather than a character PoV.
How does your character know that everyone in Paragon has had the Vahzilok Virus? Maybe your contact did know, but knew you'd be able to get rid of it, perhaps for his own reasons.
If your characters a robot, perhaps he's only faking the disease to get closer to Doctor Vahzilok. Perhaps he has organic components? Perhaps, as the Dr. Zombies are cyber-organic, it affects metal as well?
I'm not saying that I don't accept you find it enjoyable to ignore chunks of the game. I'm just a little curious to find out why, when there are seprate plot threads there waiting to happen.
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But that's the crux of the argument Wordy. You, I or Ravenswing could rationalise anything happening against one of the 'rules' put down in game; therefore why not rationalise to work 'within' the game?
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Because doing so allows us more time to come up with our own plots instead of re-hashing why we're trying to retrieve all the pieces of the Wheel of Destruction for the sixth time?
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Fly still works with it's own set of physics; but the physics in this game don't support how fly is supposed to work within the game. That's why it's there as an example.
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But it's an example completely unrelated to the discussion.
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What you are doing though is looking at things from a 'Wordmaker' PoV, rather than a character PoV.
How does your character know that everyone in Paragon has had the Vahzilok Virus? Maybe your contact did know, but knew you'd be able to get rid of it, perhaps for his own reasons.
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Actually, my characters have seen and heard of several people contracting the Vahzilok disease, or talking about how to cure it. Even when I RPed that Nevermore had it, I ruled that it was a variant strain, and was actually injected -into- him by one of Vahzilok's servants.
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If your characters a robot, perhaps he's only faking the disease to get closer to Doctor Vahzilok. Perhaps he has organic components? Perhaps, as the Dr. Zombies are cyber-organic, it affects metal as well?
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I already pointed out that the example robot didn't have organic components. And how exactly can a disease affect metal? Chemicals, physical damage, that affects metal. And diseases that cause physical damage tend to cause excrutiating pain.
(point: I'm not sure if we should be calling it a disease, really. Is virus a better word? I'm honestly curious, I always get it mixed up)
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I'm not saying that I don't accept you find it enjoyable to ignore chunks of the game. I'm just a little curious to find out why, when there are seprate plot threads there waiting to happen.
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Yes, there are many opportunities to use what's in the game. But not enough to keep up variety among a group larger than about five people. I think that's one of the key things for me, variety. I want my hero's actions to be unique, his victories to be personal. If everyone else and their puppy has beaten Dr. Vahzilok, my character's victory is lessened, because it's not special anymore.
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point: I'm not sure if we should be calling it a disease, really. Is virus a better word? I'm honestly curious, I always get it mixed up
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You're thinking of baceria and virus, Wordy. 'Disease' is a generic term that covers both.
Considering the effects of the disease, it seems likely it's actually a retro-virus, something similar to HIV.
That was a technical note. I fail to see why you two are still at this.
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aaaaaaah....so it's less about the structure of the game and more about the repetition. Got ya
As for Fly; You need to accept certain axioms for fly to work; but these axioms are then overturned by in-game occurences; so the suspension of disbelief is collapsed twice. (E.G. Caltrops affecting you)
I'm with you on the Vahzilok thing as well; I tend to call it a Virus as the Doc is a Tech MM controlling Magic Minions. So I'm sure there's a perfect reason for a robot, a mermaid, an energy being, or a golem to have a 'Virus' planted in them.
I tend to keep my own alts separate, and I find arcs come about at different enough times to let each character shine with a slightly different re-telling of the story.
Maybe you should just create a character just to be different, and see how it takes you?
I just don't like this idea of ignoring material; sticks in my throat as a writer
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That was a technical note. I fail to see why you two are still at this.
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Because we find it interesting? Always good to appreciate a fellow RP'ers differing view
I'm with Augury on that one.
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Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.