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I agree, Fans.
My take on it is that everyone is roughly on a par, as far as power is concerned. Richard certainly makes no assumptions about how powerful other people are compared to him, with the sole exception that he is very confident that no one can actually kill him (ooh, look, I use a game-mechanic (no permanent death) but an alternative explanation for it).
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Well I wouldn't want that to pass over to everyone though! People having no real fear of their own mortality would make for some fairly dull RP. After all if there's no personal risk, it's not really all that Heroic!
Goodness me, no!
No more heroic than Superman...
I could go on about Richard for hours - naturally, really, as he's my favourite character to RP - but to him it's not that he's acting heroicly in the risks he takes (he is at risk - he's only marginally more durable than a normal human), but in the decision to use his immortality/ability to recover from extreme trauma/energy projection powers in the defence of other people who are less capable than himself eg. the citizens of Paragon.
He's not a hero because of the risks he takes, but because he's selfless about doing what he can to protect those less able to protect themselves. This comes out a fair bit in social situations - I know that a number of people have commented, IC & OOC, that Richard cares about people. Stupidly so, in a large number of cases. Heck, in my current plotline he has a group of ladies of questionable ethical standing living in his house.
The wisdom of Shadowe: Ghostraptor: The Shadowe is wise ...; FFM: Shadowe is no longer wise.
; Techbot_Alpha: Also, what Shadowe said. It seems he is still somewhat wise 
; Bull Throttle: Shadowe was unwise in this instance...; Rock_Powerfist: in this instance Shadowe is wise.; Techbot_Alpha: Shadowe is very wise *nods*; Zortel: *Quotable line about Shadowe being wise goes here.*
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with the sole exception that he is very confident that no one can actually kill him (ooh, look, I use a game-mechanic (no permanent death) but an alternative explanation for it).
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Jason Caine is based entirely on that mechanic. I thought "hey, why not create an immortal in this game... I mean, its not like anyone can actually die..."
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.
The Security Level thing (I'm assuming the Security Level vs Power Level debate is settled by now) is occasionally useful, and occasionally needs to be ignored. I can recognise that Doctor Bindweed (level 23) has not yet had his security status reviewed and reclassified to a point that will allow him to travel unhindered to and from the War Zone, which, necessarily, is a secure zone whose perimeter is secured by Vanguard and the PPD. I can't justify IC why he can't go to Brickstown, which is a residential zone crawling with civilians who regularly commute to and fro on the Green Line. So, to echo Shadowe, this is a clear case for me where player canon wins over game mechanics.
Basically, just about all RP is about storymaking and fudge. Sometimes game mechanics help it along, sometimes it doesn't and has to be worked around. I've had the good fortune in this game that almost all RPers I've met help that along with imagination, patience and humour. We all share the same bizarre virtual space and generally we all try and understand what one another are trying to do. Before I tried RP in CoH, I'd heard all kinds of stuff about "RP nazis" in other games. I've not even sniffed one in CoH. that's how come we can have good humoured debate like this on these forums. And that's very cool. 
As for the "uber" characters - sometimes that's an issue, sometimes it's not. My own issue with "uber" characters would come from things like forum RP, maybe like the recent Attack on Unity Plaza thread: Liberty Girl seems pretty useless in situations like that when the best she can do is occupy a few bad guys by engaging in painful and bloody fisticuffs while the assorted controller/defender/blaster types were disintegrating whole battalions with a flick of an eyelash. It could be frustrating to try and Forum RP a scrapper under those circumstances, but in the event it turned out to be a very handy catalyst for some ideas for RP about Libby's notions of her own self-worth in a city populated by what she considers to be demi-gods. I don't have an "uber" character that I play regularly, but I imagine that having fun with one is hard unless you create elements within the character's story and persona that impose limitations on them. I don't have any uber-characters but my guess is that they're harder and less fun to play if they don't have limitations and flaws created for them.
Is that why there's so much angst flying around at GG?
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I don't have an "uber" character that I play regularly, but I imagine that having fun with one is hard unless you create elements within the character's story and persona that impose limitations on them. I don't have any uber-characters but my guess is that they're harder and less fun to play if they don't have limitations and flaws created for them.
Is that why there's so much angst flying around at GG?
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Hahahahaha!
And yes, you're quite right. That is why there's a lot of angst flying around the place. Or at least it's a contributing factor.
The key to playing an 'uber' character, as you quite rightly say, is to humanise them. Since we can't have an all-too-human foil character to contrast them to (at least, not easily), we have to explore the human side of their nature. The more powerful, the more it affects them, and therefore the more angst you get. Which is why characters like Richard and Ellie seem to be angst-magnets - because they can (to a certain extent) laugh off things that other people would be afraid of, it takes a delve into their psyche to find out about their hopes, dreams and fears.
The wisdom of Shadowe: Ghostraptor: The Shadowe is wise ...; FFM: Shadowe is no longer wise.
; Techbot_Alpha: Also, what Shadowe said. It seems he is still somewhat wise ; Bull Throttle: Shadowe was unwise in this instance...; Rock_Powerfist: in this instance Shadowe is wise.; Techbot_Alpha: Shadowe is very wise *nods*; Zortel: *Quotable line about Shadowe being wise goes here.*
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This comes out a fair bit in social situations - I know that a number of people have commented, IC & OOC, that Richard cares about people. Stupidly so, in a large number of cases. Heck, in my current plotline he has a group of ladies of questionable ethical standing living in his house.
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Hee! I know what you mean, but that's just "A nice guy" Superman is a little mortal, if he fights the non world ending types you can bet Kryptonite will turn up at some point!
Selfless acts like rescuing people from burning buildings and plane crashes also count, but CoH we don't seem to do that much.
Wierdly that you say that people say Richard' a nice guy, Horizon recently has pretty much come to the conclusion recently that Richard's far from it! Not sure how it came about (Although his alter ego and Cass' didn't help!)
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Before I tried RP in CoH, I'd heard all kinds of stuff about "RP nazis" in other games. I've not even sniffed one in CoH.
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They're about, and usually im proud to wave the banner myself, but i've found the "RP Nazis", or elitists, in CoX are more prone to correcting you when you make a mistake, and helping you improve, than going "YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG! GO DIE SOMEWHERE, SUCKY NOOB! WREEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!"
It's rare that a newbie is considered beyond hope of improvement that the community shuns them, but there are some puff tailed flop eared examples of this.
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As for the "uber" characters - sometimes that's an issue, sometimes it's not. My own issue with "uber" characters would come from things like forum RP, maybe like the recent Attack on Unity Plaza thread: Liberty Girl seems pretty useless in situations like that when the best she can do is occupy a few bad guys by engaging in painful and bloody fisticuffs while the assorted controller/defender/blaster types were disintegrating whole battalions with a flick of an eyelash.
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Pretty much my point! There does seem to have been fairly big power creep on the player side of RP and I've no idea where I come in to have a character who's fun to RP as a bit of a scrapper. it's hard to do when the fights either over in a second, or way beyond you!
Im pretty sure thats "I'M A <insert puff tailed example>! LOOK AT ME!!!!!!.... STOOOOOP LOOOKING AT MEEEEEEE WHYYY ARE YOU LOOKING AT MEEEEEEEEE!"
I try to either build the level advancement in to my Toon RP life .. Or more often .. only use the char once they are at the level , and have the powers that i feel the character has ..(( which is a pain as i level char's very slowly ))
mind you this then tend to mean i stop leveling that character ...
as for Uber Character ..they can work , i agree best with limitations .. fun limitations ...
best defence vs Uber heroes .. demand they exersise the uber powers all the time ..save the world now , sort out all the worlds problems , and arrsst all the villians.. and make very one happy by the weekend ..
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As for the "uber" characters - sometimes that's an issue, sometimes it's not. My own issue with "uber" characters would come from things like forum RP, maybe like the recent Attack on Unity Plaza thread: Liberty Girl seems pretty useless in situations like that when the best she can do is occupy a few bad guys by engaging in painful and bloody fisticuffs while the assorted controller/defender/blaster types were disintegrating whole battalions with a flick of an eyelash.
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Pretty much my point! There does seem to have been fairly big power creep on the player side of RP and I've no idea where I come in to have a character who's fun to RP as a bit of a scrapper. it's hard to do when the fights either over in a second, or way beyond you!
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My own uber, War Crow, would not cause you issues, certainly not currently. He was always pretty much a Scrapper, it was just that he developed fairly godlike abilities which were mostly of use out of normal combat situations. They were specifically designed to take time (except when it didn't matter) so that they were out of the question in combat.
He's even more like that now, having taken away his own ability to do that ind of thing.
It's much more fun playing relatively normal people, however. The reason I don't play Crow these days is that he's not that normal. Plus, I rather enjoy playing Nitoichi, who's a normal human girl, even if she can do some really quite amazing things.
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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Which is why characters like Richard and Ellie seem to be angst-magnets - because they can (to a certain extent) laugh off things that other people would be afraid of, it takes a delve into their psyche to find out about their hopes, dreams and fears.
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Absolutely spot on. Ellie IS pretty overpowered. That's what 3+ years of RPing will do to you, so it's counterbalanced by her being a creature of high emotion. She has several weaknesses which are a direct consequence of what she is, and these can be extremely debilitating, even potentially fatal. She's also somewhat unstable as well, not being as resilient of mind than your average hero; hell, during the Requiem War she ended up having a breakdown due to shell shock. Things like this enable me to make it a lot harder for her to break peoples plots, as if it looks likely, I just break her.
And of course, right now, she's REALLY broken... Almost terminally in fact... Thanks SG! 
@FloatingFatMan
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
I have always tried to stay within canon to avoid grief and because I think the world needs limitations. I have never played a "godmoddy" character as it doesn't interest me. Non game mechanics powers sure, but nothing earth shattering. Also if I don't have superstrength as a powerset I don't RP that my too has it, that to me starts to feel too "godly".
Regarding Nitoichi, RW, I find her much more fun to read about too. Though I still miss Daffyd
I've found I can defuse a good bit of angst and mopiness merely by calling people on their bull pucky with Horizon or just getting out an uncomfortable truth or miscommunication people are dancing around. She's no nonsense like that.
Of course it only works if people actually listen to her, but that's an entirely different gripe!
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Also if I don't have superstrength as a powerset I don't RP that my too has it, that to me starts to feel too "godly".
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That's actually a little bit of the reason Fans changed from SS/Will to Fire/Ice. It seems practically everyone has Superstrength anyway! Of course a desire to watch thing BURN also helped :>
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Of course it only works if people actually listen to her, but that's an entirely different gripe!
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*waits until the Winter event for anyone who hasn't experienced the terror of Chalet RP*
The wisdom of Shadowe: Ghostraptor: The Shadowe is wise ...; FFM: Shadowe is no longer wise.
; Techbot_Alpha: Also, what Shadowe said. It seems he is still somewhat wise ; Bull Throttle: Shadowe was unwise in this instance...; Rock_Powerfist: in this instance Shadowe is wise.; Techbot_Alpha: Shadowe is very wise *nods*; Zortel: *Quotable line about Shadowe being wise goes here.* Terror of Chalet RP?
Think of putting all of GG into a room with all the PD regulars.
Chat spam, hooooo.
Ahhhh...yeah I recall that
*shudder*
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Absolutely spot on. Ellie IS pretty overpowered. That's what 3+ years of RPing will do to you, so it's counterbalanced by her being a creature of high emotion.
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Sorry, Floaty, Ellie was massively waced from day one, being both terminally overpowered and about as stable as a Francium atom. You don't get to plame anyone but yourself.
Frankly, being very mean, but to myself as well, Ellie and Jessica, and to some extent War Crow are bad examples of uber characters. They are uber because their owners thought that would be cool/wanted them to be uber. In my defense, when I relaised I'd made Crow totally unplayable, I IC retconned him to not be. FFM and SG still play their characters as pretty much gods.
Shadowe is different, and there are probably more examples, but I happen to understand this one currently. Shadowe is uber because his concept says he is, and it's a pretty cool concept. He really doesn't fit into the world the way it is, single entities aren't that powerful, but it would be a shame to lose him, and the way he's played maes him not too much trouble.
If anything, the worst thing about Shadowe is not his nature, it's his wealth and technology.
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.
Not his endless libido?
I've played an Uber character. Ulala. Who was a literal god of a planet.
However it was on the other edge of the universe and all she really was in Paragon, was a projection of herself and a very weak one at that. So i'm not sure it counts! It's not like anyone could have gone to visit.
Ooooo la la?
Yes. I made a bad pun.
It's what I do.
I agree, Fans.
My take on it is that everyone is roughly on a par, as far as power is concerned. Richard certainly makes no assumptions about how powerful other people are compared to him, with the sole exception that he is very confident that no one can actually kill him (ooh, look, I use a game-mechanic (no permanent death) but an alternative explanation for it).
The wisdom of Shadowe: Ghostraptor: The Shadowe is wise ...; FFM: Shadowe is no longer wise.