Remember Lucas' Lesson! (Longish)

I think he means they now have neon signs to advertize their unspeakable horror

You can also paint yourself with thick layers of eyeshadow and mascara if you think it's cool. That doesn't mean that other people will think the same. Nobody is stopping you, but your efforts may not necessarily be appreciated and may elicit unfavorable comments. Nobody is infringing on your freedom to make your character and powers look as you want, but that doesn't mean that there are good and bad ways of doing that, and an easy way of getting it wrong is overdoing it, or colorizing something just because you can.

Eh. It may be relevant at this point to consider that roleplaying existed long before MMORPGs and was largely a non-visual medium (and in this form, still is). I'm really not happy with the sloppy terminology that calls everything that isn't raw game mechanics "roleplaying". Visuals or game lore are aspects that can contribute to a roleplaying experience, but can also be totally separate from it. Warcraft games had lore long before there was either an MMORPG or RPG for the world, and video games, regardless of the genre, have actual graphics instead of stick figures, yet that doesn't mean that you are roleplaying. These very forums allow you to customize your avatar, yet we are not roleplaying here.

Personally, I rarely ever roleplay in CoH (I find the environment to be not conducive to creative make-believe games, and prefer tabletop games instead). But I still appreciate the visuals, for completely roleplaying-unrelated reasons.

Actually, I've toned myself down with PC - I dropped all the regen effects, and made the MA flashes less noticable

Leia scores higher on the curviness scale. Padme had a personality I found more appealing. In this man's opinion, tie

Unless Leia was wearing the Slave Girl costume *drool*

I disagree completely. It's a matter of taste, obviously, so I can't criticise you for having your own, but I feel completely the opposite way. To me, "normal" movie lack something quite special that makes animated movies unique - they're limited to what normal actors can act out. I've been watching normal people my whole life. They are, plain and simple, not interesting to me, not even the good actors.

To me, the more "normal" a movie looks, the more I'm reminded that these are actual people pretending to be doing and feeling these amazing, unusual things. That just ruins the mood for me. On the flip side, the less "real" something feels and the more it encroaches on the uncanny valley, the more I can relate to it and the more interested I am in watching about it. Even if it's something as simple as a realistic person rendered in 3D.

As a matter of fact, I dislike the encroachment of this photo-realistic, super-detailed style of 3D animation that's been overtaking game CGI and even in-game graphics in the recent years. They're well made, but they're just not interesting enough to watch about. I just can't sympathise with the the people in something like the latest Resident Evil games. On the flip side, having watched Monsters vs. Aliens just last night, I'm a lot happier with the the stylised, cartoony people, and even with the grotesque monsters

I'm a firm believer in the Rule of Cool. I can watch Dante stop falling out of the air when he fires his guns, and not question that for a second. I can watch a movie about a 50-foot-tall woman running through steel walls, Juggernaut-style and not bat an eye. I can watch a movie about kung-fu fighting giant talking turtles and not consider it odd. Personally, I don't want a movie that keeps trying to convince me it could happen. I want a movie that shows me things that are ABSOLUTELY not going to happen, yet seem to make sense within the confines of the movie, itself.

It's a little like City of Heroes, in this regard. Anything goes. Vampires teaming up with werewolves to fight alien invaders? Pirate ghosts fighting ninja sorcerers? What other game can you say this about with a straight face and yet still claim it takes itself seriously?

For the past 20 or so years, people have been telling me, alternately, that I should grow out of cartoons and that I'm too old to watch cartoons. I've been consistently telling these people to go to hell. It's taken me a while, but I realised that I simply enjoy animated and 3D movies more than live action movies, and by a very wide margin. I simply enjoy the character designs a lot more, and I have to say - 3D models can act better than any actor I've ever seen.

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.

Yeah, Dr. Vhaz has been making visual abominations since 2004, at least.

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.

Pretty sure that has more to do with the fact that Capcom's writing staff is behind that game than anything else.

I say Leia, but maybe that's because I sympathize more with Han than Anakin as for how my life is going right now, so "I have a chance" with Leia

And coming up with some back story saying you're a woodland pixie isn't going to change that one bit. The (OP's) logic is simply invalid, the conclusion does not follow from the premise (in addition to the assumptions being sketchy). You do not need to come up with a story to dictate your power's appearances... but you can if you want to. You don't need to come up with a back story for anything about your character... but you can if you want to.

I know a lot of people in game that doesn't give a damn about back stories for their characters. They play the game because they enjoy the leveling system. Because they enjoy the enemies. They enjoy the Dev created content. They enjoy the ability to customize their outfits. They enjoy the social life. They enjoy all sorts of different things, none of which requires you to give a damn about the reason that your energy blast is green instead of blue (because, you know, energy is blue!... oh wait, no it isn't! energy is every color and no color at the same time, 'cause every single thing in the universe is comprised of energy and nothing but).

Anything that has to do with a characters story can easily be considered as a piece of role playing, but this tangent is nothing but a semantics argument which'll never go anywhere, except a circle where we both reiterate the exact same points using slightly different language with each iteration.

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

Originally Posted by ShadowNate ;_; ?!?! What the heck is wrong with you, my god, I have never been so confused in my life!

You're going to be frozen in carbonite?

If we go for looks, I like Padme(or is it Padmé?) better. Although Leia had her moments

He was? Maybe being a guy makes me biassed, but I found Anakin to be repulsive in a very physical way. I can't speak about sexapeal (all men look ugly to me, myself included), but he is written as such whiny brat I just can't stand him. Oh, woe is me! Luke found the charred remains of the only parents he ever knew, and yet he still managed to avoid hitting every cliché in the book.

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.

There must be some misunderstanding here, because I've never said anything about judging the game-world rationale behind colorization schemes (or other aspects of character customization), tying them to backstories, or whatever.

I am talking, quite frankly, about players who create the visual equivalent of Vogon poetry. If you look at the particularly weird colorization scheme some players choose for their powers (neon green sonic effects, shocking pink electricity), maybe 1 out of 10 has chosen that scheme because they knew what they were doing. The others will have done so just to be different, to specifically create shock reactions, or because they simply lack the ability to translate a vision of their characters into an actual costume.

Ooh boy

Their desire to have 'shock-value' is just as valid as your opinion of what makes makes an overall costume 'look good'

noone here has ever shown me a valid Fashion Police badge yet

No, it isn't. Or rather, neither of those options is "valid". Choosing something for the express purpose to offend is not acceptable, and neither would be me policing what other people do (which would be ineffective, anyway).

There's no policing going in here (nobody has the power to police the costume choices of other players). But the total relativism you advocate is a cop-out, too. Some people put together ugly costumes or color combinations because they don't know better. Some even do so intentionally, because they enjoy the irritation they cause. They still have the freedom to do so. And I have the freedom to say that they lack taste (and in the latter case, good manners, too).

Bad taste and bad manners are not hard and fast rules. They are personal opinions, which you are entitled to. But you're throwing them around like you own the place, and that strikes me as 'bad manners' in it's own right

Well, there is that crappy writing and the fact that Chris Redfield's neck is about twice the size of his head, but I actually did like the character of Sheva. But still, everyone is just... I don't know. People in different clothes. And not even cool clothes, mind you. Just mostly military spec-ops drab, and the occasional drab cream suit. Again, I like Sheva's tank top design, but that might have something to do with the fact that she's the only woman in the game for the majority of its screen time.

I've always been much more able to sympathise with anime characters and their specific, stylistic, often even absurd costume design. Even something as simple as a large red trenchcoat, an impossible hairdo or an oversized weapon is enough for me, and I'm pretty sure I could describe at least a handful of characters with each of these. Yes, even the red trenchcoat - Vash the Stampede, Dante and Alucard come to mind immediately, and my brain isn't even in gear.

The point is - and this is purely a matter of opinion - that the more regular, believable and... Well, plain a character looks, the less I am able to care about them. Of course, there are certain points where looking regular can be an irregularity in itself, such as the notion a friend of mine holds that "end bosses" should be BIG and IMPOSING. And they should, so when you see a small guy in a suit being one, that IS memorable.

Personally, I watch movies for the fiction, pure and simple. If I watch a movie about space, I'm watching it for the zero gravity and vacuum atmosphere first, and anything else second and down. I don't watch dramatic historical re-enactment movies. When I do watch documentaries, it's for the fact and the history, not the drama and the mystery. I keep my facts in my facts folder and my fiction in my fiction drawer. And when I watch fictional movies, I want them to have something that isn't possible or doesn't exist in real life.

I'll give you an example - I recently say a trailer for Avatar (on Trailer Failure, no less, but that's besides the point) and I gotta' say, I'm going to see this movie even if it turns out to be the worst piece of garbage ever. It seem to have quite a nice mix of things that are blatantly unreal, and yet look very recognisable and, dare I say it, very, very cool.

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.

Some what of a tangent... but no... actually, that hair is possible, I've seen hair you wouldn't BELIEVE in the trendy areas of Tokyo! Hair that says '[CENSORED] YOU!' to the laws of physics... It's quite a sight to behold!


But yes, abnormally stylistic characters are awesome

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

Originally Posted by ShadowNate ;_; ?!?! What the heck is wrong with you, my god, I have never been so confused in my life!

Yes, countless times. If you've ever SEEN red, you've seen red light

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

Originally Posted by ShadowNate ;_; ?!?! What the heck is wrong with you, my god, I have never been so confused in my life!