Idea for new Epic AT's


Ad Astra

 

Posted

I noticed that the epic AT's are going to be unlocked at level 20. This may or may not open the door for new epic AT's in the future, but regardless it got me thinking about what this could possibly be. Basically my idea for an epic AT is to have something inspired by the Green Lantern Corp/Sinestro Corp in DC comics. Obviously COX would have to avoid any copyright issues, but that wouldn't be too hard.

I wrote a little background on the Green Lantern Corp (GLC) and Sinestro Corp (SC) for those who may not know. It will be the first response.

Now, there are a lot of ways that Paragon Studios could take the essence of GLC/SC (a galactic heroic organization and a galactic evil organization that are opposed to each other and yet mirror each other in powers which their members gain from an object) and do it in their own way. But the core idea is very strong and holds a lot of potential for intriguing storytelling, missions, content, etc.


Powers- How closely Paragon would want to imitate GLC/SC is neither here nor there, but I'll give an example of a fairly similar version that's different enough (imo). Instead of technology based rings, the Paragon Corps (working title lol) use magic based belts. The belts bestow powers similar to the rings such as flight and the formation of constructs. Possibilities for powers are the following:

Basic:
Personal shielding (passive)- minor-medium +res, +def
Personal shielding (togggle)- multiple types
Ranged Blasts- energy damage. 2 single target, 1 targeted AOE
Energy cage- single target hold
Aim
Buildup
Hover
Fly

Advanced Constructs:
Tank Pet- several possibilities here. Phantom army (single) type decoy or perhaps a mirror image of an enemy that attacks it's true version. It would be cool if the powers mimicked the mob as well, but that might be hard.
DPS Pet- shoots random targets with energy blasts
Energy swords- single target DOT. Swords form around enemy, doing lethal dot.
Energy fist- medium range, single target damage + disorient
Energy cages- limited AOE (3-5) hold
Team Shielding- ala dispersion bubble.

Group Fly


Balance- You may be thinking, OMG OP! Here's an idea to help achieve balance: All advanced constructs have a shared cooldown. So basically you can only use one advanced construct at a time. Some might have longer cooldowns on use than others. Perhaps energy fist has a 16 second cooldown while the pet has a 2 minute cooldown. So if you use energy fist, you couldn't summon the pet, energy swords, energy cages, or group fly for 15 seconds. But if you summon the pet, you can't use energy swords, energy fist, etc, etc. for 2 minutes.


Costume- the hero and villain versions would have most costume pieces set and a limited number that you could alter (mostly skin color, face).

Perks:

Global chat channel- an interesting idea would be to do something like Vanguard did with their Psionisists. Namely, they had a global chat channel specific to that class. I think it'd be neat to have one for this epic AT. Obviously, you could turn it off.

Base of Operations- there would be a zone for the group's base of operations. Everyone would have access, but members of the group would have an ability to teleport to the base form anywhere (maybe not a pvp zone???). They might have other perks such as access to an inner sanctum, storage, access to equipment, and vendors.

Weakness: extremely low Hp. without the *belt* they are regular people. Perhaps there could be npc's of both groups and you get extra agro when facing them. heh.


 

Posted

Info on GLC/SC

The green lanterns are a group of heroes created by the Guardians of the Universe. The Guardians are ancient and powerful beings who empower noble yet often superpowerless beings from various worlds with power rings and charge them with protecting a sector of the universe. The rings give the wearers several powers, most notably the ability to create "constructs" which are basically green force-fields emanating from the ring which can take whatever shape the wielder imagines. They can also be used to shoot beams. They allow flight and also serve as universal language translators and a sort of advanced interactive computer/encyclopedia.

Sinestro was a Green Lantern Corp member who became corrupted and turned against the Guardians. He eventually created his own yellow/fear based rings and recruited his own corps.


 

Posted

I was just thinking as far as the cooldowns for advanced constructs, perhaps the global cooldown should be shorter than the individual cooldowns to promote variety. So for example

energy fist-45 second cooldown, 16 second advanced construct cooldown
Phantom tank- 4 minute cooldown, 2 minute advanced construct cooldown

So you could energy fist 2 minutes after summoning phantom tank, but you have to wait 4 minutes to resummon the phantom tank.


 

Posted

Usually this suppose to be in the Suggestion section, but I can understand you want alot of feedback. I like the idea, but I am a sucker for new ATs and more aliens ingame besides Kheldians or Shadow Shard critters. As I said before a comics have used cosmic factions to branch out their universes and I am sure DCUO will do the same, so why not City of get in on the action?


 

Posted

So...basically taking two groups that have nothing to do with City Of, and copying them?

Given we have a lot of rather good groups in the game already that are in canon, this gets an /unsigned. Id rather have a PPD AT, a Longbow AT...anything thats remotely canon, thanks.


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Originally Posted by Zwillinger View Post
GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.
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Originally Posted by Captain_Photon View Post
NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Techbot Alpha View Post
So...basically taking two groups that have nothing to do with City Of, and copying them?

Given we have a lot of rather good groups in the game already that are in canon, this gets an /unsigned. Id rather have a PPD AT, a Longbow AT...anything thats remotely canon, thanks.
Agreed I'd rather have something that is canon than something that has to be introduced.In addition since you can be a bane/crab/fort/widow why can't we be warden/ballista/vanguard/ppd?


 

Posted

we already have 3 EAT's that never happened anyhow.
Incarnates (only in lore)
Coralax (only as a enemy group redside)
Avilans/Avians - i cant remeber how it was spelled as it only made it to the planning stages.

so if you want Color coded Lanterns go wait for DCUO.
City of Heroes already has it's intergalactic peace keeping group, complete with rival opposition group.
they're called Kheldians.


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by MrYukon View Post
we already have 3 EAT's that never happened anyhow.
Incarnates (only in lore)
Coralax (only as a enemy group redside)
Avilans/Avians - i cant remeber how it was spelled as it only made it to the planning stages.

so if you want Color coded Lanterns go wait for DCUO.
City of Heroes already has it's intergalactic peace keeping group, complete with rival opposition group.
they're called Kheldians.
Don't forget the Blood of the Black Stream, which were mentioned as an Epic AT, and had one or two ingame references... and not much else.

Avilans, I believe. And that was canceled because their original purpose was to give access to the wings costume parts, which at the time the devs thought would only be possible with an entirely new AT (probably due to animations issues?). But eventually they worked out how to give wings to everyone, so that EAT was canned. (If I remember correctly)

Also, the Nictus EAT was at one point said to be coming to villains, as their answer to the Heroes' Kheldians. But they were scrapped in favor of the Arachnos soldiers.


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Techbot Alpha View Post
So...basically taking two groups that have nothing to do with City Of, and copying them?

Given we have a lot of rather good groups in the game already that are in canon, this gets an /unsigned. Id rather have a PPD AT, a Longbow AT...anything thats remotely canon, thanks.
Why not expand the cannon-- add something new to the game.

As far as your remakrs about "copying", obviously the COX team doesn't have a problem with that. The whole "Going Rogue" expansion is basically ripping off of the "Destiny's Hand" arc on JLA or the Justice Lords episodes of the TV series. Marvel also did a similar thing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justice_Lords

Quote:
The Justice Lords are an alternate version of the Justice League from a parallel Earth. The roster of the Justice Lords was the same as the original DCAU Justice League — an alternate Batman, Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, Martian Manhunter, Superman, and Wonder Woman — with the exception of The Flash, because their Flash has been killed... led to the Justice Lords taking over the world's governments and ruling with an iron fist. Using their satellite base for global surveillance, the Justice Lords went on to suppress free speech, outlaw elections, and eliminate all crime by lobotomizing all criminals and supervillains (to the point of having a man arrested for complaining about the food quality and incorrect calculation of cost at a restaurant). Although they justified their behavior to the masses as "temporary," and to each other as for the good of the people, it amounted to tyranny in the eyes of the Justice League.

So lets not act like ripping off an idea from another comic IP is a bad thing.


 

Posted

Traditionalist (Hero) and Restructurist/Homeworlder (Villain) Rikti should be the next epic archetypes IMHO. That way, it would balance out both sides with a total of 3 epic archetypes without blatantly copying something from another IP.


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by MGoblin256 View Post
Traditionalist (Hero) and Restructurist/Homeworlder (Villain) Rikti should be the next epic archetypes IMHO. That way, it would balance out both sides with a total of 3 epic archetypes without blatantly copying something from another IP.
I'd be down with a Rikti AT, but again the whole Going Rogue expansion is blatantly copying the same IP.


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Prime_Nighthawk View Post
I'd be down with a Rikti AT, but again the whole Going Rogue expansion is blatantly copying the same IP.
The whole "evil mirror universe" concept was not invented by DC comics. If DC comics thought that the Praetorians were a direct copy of their Justice Lords, they would've brought the hammer down when they were introduced in Issue 1. However, since the Praetorians, while using the same "evil mirror universe" concept, are noticeably different in regards to story and characters, DC comics has no legal grounds to go after Paragon Studios.

There is a distinct difference between ripping something off and drawing from a well-established fictional concept to create something.


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Prime_Nighthawk View Post
Why not expand the cannon-- add something new to the game.

As far as your remakrs about "copying", obviously the COX team doesn't have a problem with that. The whole "Going Rogue" expansion is basically ripping off of the "Destiny's Hand" arc on JLA or the Justice Lords episodes of the TV series. Marvel also did a similar thing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justice_Lords




So lets not act like ripping off an idea from another comic IP is a bad thing.
It's not so much a ripoff of the Justice Lords as it is a common cliche. The whole parallel world where the heroes are the bad guys have been done many, MANY times. The Justice Lords is far from the first, and if we were to consider it in such simple terms, they're surely just a ripoff of something else that came before them. (also, the Praetorians were introduced in the game with issue 1. They're only being fleshed out in Going Rogue).

There may be some homage in there, but it is far from a ripoff.


 

Posted

Sure, the evil twin universe idea has been around, but the similarities extend way beyond the basic "evil universe" idea.

Quote:
If DC comics thought that the Praetorians were a direct copy of their Justice Lords, they would've brought the hammer down when they were introduced in Issue 1.
They aren't a direct copy in the sense that you'd run into copyright issues. That's part of what I was getting at.


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by MGoblin256 View Post
Traditionalist (Hero) and Restructurist/Homeworlder (Villain) Rikti should be the next epic archetypes IMHO. That way, it would balance out both sides with a total of 3 epic archetypes without blatantly copying something from another IP.
Do want.

Also, the City of Heroes Universe has more than enough stuff to be getting on with that needs fleshing out.
'Mirror Universes' have been around since comic books started, and science or whoever came up with different dimensions.

The Lantern Corps are, however, DC specific.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Zwillinger View Post
GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Captain_Photon View Post
NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Techbot Alpha View Post
Do want.

Also, the City of Heroes Universe has more than enough stuff to be getting on with that needs fleshing out.
'Mirror Universes' have been around since comic books started, and science or whoever came up with different dimensions.

The Lantern Corps are, however, DC specific.
Space cops aren't DC specific. Jedi/Sith from StarWars have a lot of similarities to the GLC/SC. The Jedi are galactic peacekeepers opposed by fallen members who have similar powers. They use construct-ish like powers, invisible but with many of the same effects. They don't derive their powers from technology, but they do have a signature piece of tech (lightsabre). You've got the Book of Oa in DC, and in StarWars you have the Jedi Archives. Jedi have a code with similarities to the GLC rules of engagement.

The similarites are strong, but there are a lot of differences. You could do the same with the COX implementation. If they can do Going Rogue, they can do something along the lines of what I suggested.


 

Posted

One of the MM robots


@Damz Find me on the global channel Union Chat. One of the best "chat channels" ingame!

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Prime_Nighthawk View Post
Why not expand the cannon-- add something new to the game.

As far as your remakrs about "copying", obviously the COX team doesn't have a problem with that. The whole "Going Rogue" expansion is basically ripping off of the "Destiny's Hand" arc on JLA or the Justice Lords episodes of the TV series. Marvel also did a similar thing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justice_Lords




So lets not act like ripping off an idea from another comic IP is a bad thing.
Umm, excuse me, but the Mirror Universe concept where the hero's counterpart in now eeeevil was old when classic Star Trek did the episode "Mirror, Mirror" in 1967. That franchise used the same trope in pretty much all the later Star Trek series.

That's where we got the image of the "goatee <character name>" as representing the mirror universe, because Spock had a goatee in the mirror universe.

Justice Lords was "ripping off" any number of older IPs (to use your terms, although it's certainly not copyrighted anywhere I know of).


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Originally Posted by SpyralPegacyon

"You gave us a world where we could fly. I can't thank you enough for that."

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by MrYukon View Post
we already have 3 EAT's that never happened anyhow.
Incarnates (only in lore)
Coralax (only as a enemy group redside)
Avilans/Avians - i cant remeber how it was spelled as it only made it to the planning stages.
*points to sig, with link to EAT status guide* That hasn't had to be updated (as far as individual EAT status) in over a year.

Yes, Avilians were confirmed canceled by Positron.
Nictus were scrapped in order to (a) not give villains a "reheat" of the Hero EAT and (b) make something that tied more into Arachnos lore. (Insert my standard VEAT storyarc complaint here.)

Incarnates were, at one point, the "next" EAT they wanted to work on. Then again, they were working on finishing up Nictus when that statement was made. Coralax and BotBS, we've heard nothing about in a long, long time.


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by MGoblin256 View Post
Traditionalist (Hero) and Restructurist/Homeworlder (Villain) Rikti should be the next epic archetypes IMHO. That way, it would balance out both sides with a total of 3 epic archetypes without blatantly copying something from another IP.
I'd love playing with TEATs.


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ad Astra View Post
Umm, excuse me, but the Mirror Universe concept where the hero's counterpart in now eeeevil was old when classic Star Trek did the episode "Mirror, Mirror" in 1967. That franchise used the same trope in pretty much all the later Star Trek series.

That's where we got the image of the "goatee <character name>" as representing the mirror universe, because Spock had a goatee in the mirror universe.

Justice Lords was "ripping off" any number of older IPs (to use your terms, although it's certainly not copyrighted anywhere I know of).

You're missing the point. They borrowed a LOT more than the simple idea of an evil twin universe.


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Prime_Nighthawk View Post
You're missing the point. They borrowed a LOT more than the simple idea of an evil twin universe.
Uh... like what?
It's a mirror universe of OUR (e.g. Paragon) Universe. It has absolutely nothing to do with DC.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Zwillinger View Post
GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Captain_Photon View Post
NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.

 

Posted

yeah! they borrowed Evil Superheroes and Benevolent Supervillians an ... capes ....an stuff!


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by EU_Damz View Post
One of the MM robots
Want. Now.
I'll still root for the implementation of a LVAS


Quote:
Originally Posted by Zwillinger View Post
GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Captain_Photon View Post
NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.