What are YOUR reasons to Switch?

I might try some switching around of sides on some of my more-or-less abandoned alts to get a feel for it at first.

I've got a family of characters across my two accounts where side switching is already in their backstory, and more switching is well within character. Operative Razorclaw, one of my VEATS, is inclined to try and switch sides to prove to herself that her destiny is her own (and out of envy for her sister, who escaped Widow training and its oppressive lifestyle). The parents are constantly chasing the two sisters as well - Frank Razorclaw, the father, chased Emilie down to Paragon City where he now makes an honest living as a hero (he never really cared for the Rogue Isles lifestyle, anyway; though a version of him from an alternate timeline holds the rank of Arbiter and is fiercely loyal to Lord Recluse). The mother originates from Cimerora (she's rather old and infused with quite a bit of Nictus energy, having learned to control it enough to master a shapeshifting technique to appear as at any age) and operates a business in the Rogue Isles and is a well-known assassin, though she'd do just about anything to ensure the wellbeing of her husband and daughters...including work with the "good guys".

Its been said in this thread before....

But my villains ( and I have more than a few) will nearly all make the trek over to be a vigilante at the least. I will not be in a hurry but it will eventually happen. The reason is simple....the market. The red side market is a blasted landscape of a wasteland with the only oasis residing at level 50 IOs. I prefer the gameplay style redside infinitely more than blueside (steamrolling being the norm....missions in same zone....story arcs easier to get to and missions in the same order) but IOing out a toon before 50 is so much more fun than solo playing to 50 that Ill make the change.

A couple of my villains will stay redside because thats where theyre meant to be. But also because for all intents and purposes theyre done with their builds and have been for some time.

I have a lvl 6 Brute I've been holding who'll go Blueside. Partially for story reasons but largely because I just like Blueside more. Lots of stuff in Paragon City makes me feel like my character's heroic but very little on the Rogue Isles makes me feel like I'm playing an actual villain. But, for the concept itself, Brute is the most appropriate archetype as opposed to Tank or Scrapper.

Most of my characters belong where they are, and most of the ones who switch will be doing so for RP reasons. I may switch some 30-ish villains just to avoid the wall of Arachnos/CoT/Longbow missions villains have stretching out to infinity... but for every villain I take hero, I'll probably be taking three heroes villain. Seriously, if my character can solo, I'm not touching heroside with a 10-foot pole again.

How do you craft recipes?

I don't know that I'll switch any of my toons. I don't care too much for red side because as someone else pointed out it really feels like you're playing a villain, I get that that's the idea but I don't wanna be a bad guy lol... that said I may start a villain or two to turn into heroes.

I just wish it could be an opposition without such a distinction between good and evil... for example horde and alliance in WoW *ducks income flame* horde is considered "bad" but if you pay attention to the lore they really aren't. Unfortunately for the setting of the COX I have no good suggestion to make that possible. It's a comic book game... there has to be bad guys lol.

I do have a question regarding this though... anyone know if you switch one to the other if you can go back?

I'll be doing some switches to blue, and some to red, mostly for RP reasons. I like the grittiness of redside, but I don't like outright villainy. I avoid Westin Phipps' arc if at all possible, and when it's not, I run it OOC because even on my redside herd, I don't have anyone that would be that mean. I can't be truly "evil" so I don't try.

Any that *switch* will do so for RP/story reasons. There probably won't be many of those.

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Many of my villains will be migrating to blueside, for both story and gameplay/practical reasons.

Even for my villains, the whole Destined One business and the forced relationship with Arachnos do not fit their backgrounds well. My villains want to be their own people. Some are not all that evil; the truly nasty ones are staying.

Some of my darker or less stable heroes may switch to redside. I think that some redside material might be a lot more entertaining with a real tanker on board, for instance.

<《 New Colchis / Guides / Mission Architect 》>
"At what point do we say, 'You're mucking with our myths'?" - Harlan Ellison

I have a couple of toons redside that I plan on moving because no matter how I try, I just can't play redside. I don't like the story arcs or the overall feel of CoV. I guess I'm just not that evil.

My main, Nakoa, will switch only for the badges, as he is also my only badger. Then, he'll switch back. I have a few toons that may switch based on concept, but it depends on how fun the content is.

I'll probably switch some just to get an AT's power combo to the other side. I'll definitely have several villainous controllers, at the very least, simply because I don't like having to try to comprimise with corruptors and dominators (although each one is a good AT in its own right). I'll definitely take some corruptors blueside so that I can have defender-like characters that can actually damage their targets.

Not that I'm frustrated or anything.

A few years back, I was whining to a psychologist that somebody was mad at me. She asked, "Well, does EVERYBODY have to LIKE you?" I thought for a moment and replied emphatically, "YES!"

I think that's why I can't be satisfied playing a character labeled as a "Villian," even though some of my favorites are my stalker, MM, and Dom. So, due to my own personality quirks/flaws, I'm gonna move them blueside where I'll be heroic and loved by all the good little pixels I'm saving instead of kidnapping.

I have some characters that were designed with the idea that they'd switch since City of Villains came out. In fact, I have a villain I originally created as a Blaster, just in case side switching arrived. So most of the characters that will switch will do so because it's their concept.

One of my mains, Bloodwolf, is definately a Vigilante, and will oppose heroes if needed if he thinks they're abusing their power or going to far. So conceptually he has always been neither a Hero nor a Villain. I created a Stalker version of him as well, and I will probably bring him all the way around the circle to Vigilante, just so he can be identical to the Scrapper version.

I have an alternate version of one of my heroes, Blue Diamond, who went underground to protect himself when his partner was killed. So he's been hiding out in the Rogue Isles, but is not really a villain. I mainly created him because I wanted to try him out as a Brute, thinking it fit his concept better, so I'll probably switch him permanently to blue side. He also has a Ninjas/FF Mastermind who is an ally, she's a detective from Paragon City, so she'll return with him.

As I said, I have a Blaster I will be making into a villain, and he has several other versions (Corruptor and Dominator) and I will probably make the Rogues to open up the possibility for him to team with heroes. He'll stay a villain, though.

And I also have a Werewolf Brute that was never really a bad guy. I'm thinking of making him and his female counterpart as a Brute/Scrapper combo, both Claws/WP.

I think the main interest I have in terms of gameplay is bringing the unique ATs over to the other side. I mentioned the Mastermind I will side switch, and I plan on bringing a Warshade over to the red side as a Nictus. I look forward to introducing redside teams to Cyst spawns. [evil grin]

I will be switching my villainous stalker over. He's really more of a heroish type of guy anyway and I really, after 4 years, still really enjoy blueside better than red. And of course, as has been mentioned, the market on red side blows.
I will skate across borders with one hero "as he sees fit". Not so much as an RP but just that he is mentally deranged and sometimes doesn't make the best choices.

I'm probably going to take my villains at least partially over to blueside because I don't like redside and most of the villains I rolled the first day I had the game have gone sadly unused since.

Depending what incentive there is to not do so, I may have my main go vigilante to pick up at least some of the redside badges. Still haven't decided, and probably won't until GR launches.

That's the only two reasons for me. Maybe I'd have a hero switch sides if it fit their arc, but I generally prefer to play entirely devoted to good heroes, so I doubt the situation would come up.