(Villains only) How evil do YOU want to be, really?
You know what? I feel it was a capital mistake to tie CoV's infrastructure to Arachnos so completely. We rez at their reclimators, we shop at their Quartermasters, we train at their Arbiters, we fly on their choppers, we confer in their Fortunatas... This is not good, people! Why can't I train with some underground unofficial sensei down in the sewers? Why can't I shop for enhancements from the "connected" neighbourhood bartender? Why can't I resurrect in the shanty town illegal reclimator? Just ANYTHING that doesn't tie me to Arachnso! Then we wouldn't have stupid arguments like "Yeah, well they can just turn off the reclimators and you're dead!" Now that's a narrative cop-out if ever I saw one. |
A game is not supposed to be some kind of... place where people enjoy themselves!
I think maybe the idea was to show how tight Recluse's grip on the Rogue Isles is - like Arachnos is everywhere.
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
Which is just what they shouldn't have done. But this is an example about how you could have a functioning infrastructure in game even with no central power whatsoever.
A game is not supposed to be some kind of... place where people enjoy themselves!
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
But then heroes would have just gone in there and cleaned the place up - Arachnos has to be there as a plausible reason why the Rogue Isles are off limits for heroes, otherwise, it'd be just like Paragon City.
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This is why Grandville rankles so badly, in my opinion. After progressing through several islands liberally populated with competing factions of which Arachnos is one among many, the entire villain endgame takes place in an Arachnos-controlled fortress city, working for or on behalf of Arachnos. If anything, the progression should be in the opposite direction: the hand-picked Destined candidates should begin in the heart of Arachnos controlled territory, surrounded by Arachnos propaganda, drilled by Arachnos soldiers and agents, and only then allowed out to the wider world. The progression should be from few choices to many, and instead it's from many to one. GR looks like it might be reversing that concept, and I'll be very interested in seeing whether people like it better.
@SPTrashcan
Avatar by Toxic_Shia
Why MA ratings should be changed from stars to "like" or "dislike"
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You should have waited to finish the second arc before making this thread.
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"I'mma build a facility that can create cool stuff!"
"I'mma infiltrate it."
"Yeah? Well I'mma infiltrate YOU."
"Well, I'm, uh... I'm, infiltrating more..."
"Whu-argh! You're just doing what I just did! Fine. I shoot you."
"This game is stupid, and I don't want to play anymore. *Knocks down Lego set*"
"Wai-why!?"
*shrug*
"Fine. Bank."
"Wut?"
"I go to the bank and make things very inconvenient for you."
"How inconvenient are we talking here?"
"Rather."
"You ***!"
"You started it."
... It's not exactly stabbing babies for no reason. I would rate it around a 5 on the evil-o-meter. Just because you have the option to through a hissy fit in public doesn't really mean that we've hit the epitome of evil here.
Again, loved the story. Just deconstructing it in the context of this specific conversation.
At the risk of committing one of the classic blunders - that being getting into a sidetrack argument with GG - I think it's worth pointing out that heroes haven't exactly managed to "clean up" Paragon City, where their efforts are desired and supported by the government, the police, and the majority of law-abiding citizens. Arachnos doesn't have to be overwhelmingly powerful in order to prevent a hero invasion, and indeed its overall presence is significantly less than 50% of the game - it has a fortified base on every island, and soldiers patrolling the streets in the vicinity of that base, but it could hardly be said to be in control of most of the Etoiles. Hell, there's a major Longbow base smack dab in the middle of Nerva, in direct violation of international law let alone the will of Arachnos!
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This is why Grandville rankles so badly, in my opinion. After progressing through several islands liberally populated with competing factions of which Arachnos is one among many, the entire villain endgame takes place in an Arachnos-controlled fortress city, working for or on behalf of Arachnos. If anything, the progression should be in the opposite direction: the hand-picked Destined candidates should begin in the heart of Arachnos controlled territory, surrounded by Arachnos propaganda, drilled by Arachnos soldiers and agents, and only then allowed out to the wider world. The progression should be from few choices to many, and instead it's from many to one. GR looks like it might be reversing that concept, and I'll be very interested in seeing whether people like it better. |
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
But while crime's still a problem in Paragon City, the villains there are very much on the back foot - like apart from a few areas...
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I know that that is in part due to game mechanics, and the Jackanist way the game was built (I love that turn of phrase) but even so.
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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I know that that is in part due to game mechanics, and the Jackanist way the game was built (I love that turn of phrase) but even so.[/QUOTE]
I think it's the most reasonable way to explain why you can't go visit the other side - if there's no open world PvP, then there has to be some reason for heroes and villains to be kept apart - and Arachnos works just fine for explaining why we can go over to the Rogue Isles and force the villains underground.
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
I don't see them actually controlling any large areas of the city
Quote:
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The problem is, they then go and ruin it by tying nearly all your contacts into Arachnos. Project Destiny, the Arbiters, the Quatermasters, all that schtick. Thats not 'Go, be a great Villain, just dont mess with my plans!' and more 'Go, do as I say, and dont question me, or you die! Mwahah /e moustache twirl'
Last I checked, Recluse didnt have room for a moustache. I always imagine him being much more enigmatic, a bit like Lord Vetinari or Dr Doom. He certainly sounds it in the CoV CGI trailer. Then they go and ruin it a bit in game, which is a shame.
Curse you, Jack...
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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I thought the overall storyarc of CoV lead to yuo defeating Recluse? So I think it makes sense that as you progress, you get deeper into the heart of Arachnos.
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There's nothing wrong with the villain plotline including a confrontation with Lord Recluse. He is the dictator of the Isles; all paths to power must go through him eventually. The problem is that the confrontation with Recluse arises from following his plan, not yours. The story should not end with Recluse acknowledging his defeat; that should be the beginning of the true villain endgame, when you use your uncontested freedom and power to build your volcano fortress, or prepare your laser death ray, or enchant your mystic superweapon, or defeat the hero who mocked your hairstyle, or whatever it is you want to do. Of course, there would have to be a limit to your range of options, but it'd still be more properly villainous than defeating the greatest obstacle to your plans and then retiring without ever actually implementing said plans.
@SPTrashcan
Avatar by Toxic_Shia
Why MA ratings should be changed from stars to "like" or "dislike"
A better algorithm for ordering MA arcs
Yeah, I don't mind Arachnos being the big-bad. IMO, it does work, and fits with the 'So long as you dont mess with them, they dont care about you' thing.
The problem is, they then go and ruin it by tying nearly all your contacts into Arachnos. Project Destiny, the Arbiters, the Quatermasters, all that schtick. Thats not 'Go, be a great Villain, just dont mess with my plans!' and more 'Go, do as I say, and dont question me, or you die! Mwahah /e moustache twirl' Last I checked, Recluse didnt have room for a moustache. I always imagine him being much more enigmatic, a bit like Lord Vetinari or Dr Doom. He certainly sounds it in the CoV CGI trailer. Then they go and ruin it a bit in game, which is a shame. Curse you, Jack... |
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
It might go against the grain to have the suggestion that being an individual doesn't get you anywhere, but by the same token an illusion of free will should be suggesting and guiding you to a thought that working with/for x is a 'good thing'. I think the thought of factionalising Burke as a 'mercenary collective' leader wouldn't be a bad thing here. Even though the system still requires you to make a relatively linear choice, the illusion is there that you're getting to make your own way, and I daresay the contacts available would let you do so. The only part where it'd fall apart currently is the Patron Pool Power arcs, and Grandville. That'd require some rethinking and decisions on how to approach that, given that Sirocco is probably the only one of the Patrons that isn't directly Arachnos-driven.
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It's not a question of choices. I don't think it ever was. It's a question of general game attitude. The game regards us as pond scum who exist solely to serve other, better villains. We're constantly serving SOMEONE, fulfilling THEIR plans and forwarding THEIR ambitions. We are, in essence, feeding off the crumbs of the real villains. In this story, Recluse and his lieutenants are the antagonists. We're somewhere between Miniboss and Boss in Mook's Clothing. Servants of Arachnos.
I don't want the story to expect me to side with Arachnos, but give me an out if I REALLY want to. I want the story to expect me to side WITH MYSELF. So when Arachnos play along, the story should have me playing nice with them. When Arachnos try to double-cross me or abuse me, I strike out against them. I want the game to treat ME as the protagonist and other people as "other people." As it stands right now, it feels almost like I fell over backwards into someone else's comic books and the writers are struggling to find things for me to do. Kind of like the Predators in most Aliens vs. Predator games.
Basically, I don't specifically want real choice as long as the "but though must" path is crafted in such a way as to demonstrate that my character can think for himself, has ambitions of his own and won't put up with being stepped on. Because that's what most of the BIG villains in comic books and other media are. They're the ones who commit the evil, not the ones who take lip from punks on the street.
Gimme' and office and have contacts come to ME. That might be a good first step.
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.
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You're missing the point. I don't WANT the game to be "guiding" me towards picking a faction. I don't want to "belong." I don't want to be "with" the main bad guys. Quite on the contrary. I want to BE the main bad guy. Not necessarily in terms of the main bad guy on the isles, but in terms of the main bad guy OF THE CURRENT STORY. Someone tries to talk down to me, I kneecap him. Someone tries to use me as a pawn, I double-cross him. Someone tries to recruit me, I take his followers for my own. That sort of line of thinking.
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It's not a question of choices. I don't think it ever was. It's a question of general game attitude. The game regards us as pond scum who exist solely to serve other, better villains. We're constantly serving SOMEONE, fulfilling THEIR plans and forwarding THEIR ambitions. We are, in essence, feeding off the crumbs of the real villains. In this story, Recluse and his lieutenants are the antagonists. We're somewhere between Miniboss and Boss in Mook's Clothing. Servants of Arachnos. |
I don't want the story to expect me to side with Arachnos, but give me an out if I REALLY want to. I want the story to expect me to side WITH MYSELF. So when Arachnos play along, the story should have me playing nice with them. When Arachnos try to double-cross me or abuse me, I strike out against them. I want the game to treat ME as the protagonist and other people as "other people." As it stands right now, it feels almost like I fell over backwards into someone else's comic books and the writers are struggling to find things for me to do. Kind of like the Predators in most Aliens vs. Predator games. |
Basically, I don't specifically want real choice as long as the "but though must" path is crafted in such a way as to demonstrate that my character can think for himself, has ambitions of his own and won't put up with being stepped on. Because that's what most of the BIG villains in comic books and other media are. They're the ones who commit the evil, not the ones who take lip from punks on the street. |
Gimme' and office and have contacts come to ME. That might be a good first step. |
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
A concept I enjoy is that of the anti-villain. One who is "evil" for the sake of being the whetstone on which the heroes hone themselves. A prolific and powerful, but "lesser" evil than what could come to bear should that power ever wane. A gadfly and a goader, who threatens to destroy, but really just wants to see others being creative.
But in roleplay and game immersion, I have villains of every kind. Over 75, at least. Some are sadistic. Some are masochistic. Some are misguided. Some are trapped (for now. Thank for almight Devs for Going Rogue!) Some choose to be where they are. Some are simpletons. Some are grand schemers. Some are just thugs for hire. Some are selfish. some are selfless. Some don't even have a concept of "self." Some are amoral. Some have their own morality. Some are even immoral. Some see themselves for what they are. Some don't.
When it comes to content in this game? "Everything for everybody."
I don't want the Devs aiming their villainous content (or ANY content, for that matter) at some arbitrary "average." I want content for every conceiveable villain (hero, vigilante, rogue, and others). The amount of content, understandably, should reflect the amount of demand from players for that particular kind of content. To that end, since the latest Villain Arcs in Issue 17 really hit the mark, moving forward, more content should treat Villain Characters with this level of respect.
More, but not all. All the content should range in variety and give us the opportunities to pick and choose. Content should be all manner of DIFFERENT experiences, not just more and more of the same catered to the "average."
And I want it all.
A concept I enjoy is that of the anti-villain. One who is "evil" for the sake of being the whetstone on which the heroes hone themselves. A prolific and powerful, but "lesser" evil than what could come to bear should that power ever wane. A gadfly and a goader, who threatens to destroy, but really just wants to see others being creative.
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And I want it all. |
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
"Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking of them."
I'd like to see the mission mechanics for letting a full team of 8 doublecross each other
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Welcome to a life of villainy - you'll always be serving those who are stronger than you - it's the way evil wroks |
And even failing that a villain doesn't HAVE to work for anybody but himself even if he's not the strongest Last I checked Nemesis didn't have any taskmasters Dr Doom didn't answer to anyone and Lex Luthor typically did his own thing Even someone as relatively lower down on the scale of villainous success as the Lizard manages just fine without serving anyone unless a writer here and there forget who they're writing about
But Recluse and his oganization are too strong for the combined powers of the heroes of Paragon City to take down, so it's not really possible to have a single villain do it - just do what the propaganda posters say - obey and live |
Unless you want to have an argument beyond :Pbecause I said so:P I remain unconvinced of their supposed powers For all I know the Isles are populated by deadbeat idiots who are easily taken over The populace certainly doesn't give ME any trouble so conquering and ruling them doesn't earn Recluse any points
But if you're not strong enough, you will be stepped on by those villains whoe are strogner than you, and if you were the strongest, then you'd be ruling the Rogue Isles. |
Powerful villains can coexist perfectly well as the constant bouts between Rikti Council Nemesis Crey Freakshow and Devouring Earth easily demonstrate This stupid idea that :Pyou'd be crushed:P has no merit
You already have a base and the phone numbers of your contacts |
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.
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OH GOD, SAM! IT BURNS! IT BUUURRRRNNNNSSSS!!!
. . . and I don't think Golden Girl will take the fskin' hint.
Which I implied where Last I checked, players didn't take missions from each other
Your logic does not work unless the power curve is a perfect circle where it loops back to the weakest one when power goes off the charts SOMEONE needs to be the strongest and I'd like to see a game that puts ME in that position for a change And even failing that a villain doesn't HAVE to work for anybody but himself even if he's not the strongest Last I checked Nemesis didn't have any taskmasters Dr Doom didn't answer to anyone and Lex Luthor typically did his own thing Even someone as relatively lower down on the scale of villainous success as the Lizard manages just fine without serving anyone unless a writer here and there forget who they're writing about After I've killed thousands upon thousands of Arachnos soldiers destroyed raided or even saved literally hundreds of their bases trounced them in the street everywhere I've seen them beaten up their strongest HAND TO HAND I dare say :PArachnos are too strong:P begins to ring really hollow Unless you want to have an argument beyond :Pbecause I said so:P I remain unconvinced of their supposed powers For all I know the Isles are populated by deadbeat idiots who are easily taken over The populace certainly doesn't give ME any trouble so conquering and ruling them doesn't earn Recluse any points You have no concept of villain operations then Because of that were true then Malta would be ruling the Isles because they're stronger than Arachnos Oh wait maybe they're not Then Malta would have been wiped out by Arachnos. I mean what with them stealing Arachnos tech and all Powerful villains can coexist perfectly well as the constant bouts between Rikti Council Nemesis Crey Freakshow and Devouring Earth easily demonstrate This stupid idea that :Pyou'd be crushed:P has no merit Read what you quoted again and come back to me Here let me repeat it :Phave contacts come to ME:P Come to me as in come to my office show up in person and ask me to work for them This doesn't happen Even if I have a base and their phone numbers I need to call THEM and even then they don't :Pcome to my office:P It's a question of respect an authority I won't go over there to speak with them If they want my help they'll have to come to me And if they're too proud then they can go to hell |
total kick to the gut
This is like having Ra's Al Ghul show up at your birthday party.
None of my villains are really evil... Because I'm lame.
I'm the guy who always goes for the Neutral Ending in SMT Games.
I'm the guy who will probably having every single one of his villains undergo an alignment shift to Rogue or Vigilante.
I'm the guy who likes Red Side content more than blueside content because I can't stand those first 20 Hero Side levels. (Thank you GR...)
I'm vanilla. I just can't do evil...
But I still don't like Longbow. Those guys can go suck a gun. OverZealous Candy Canes...
Which I implied where Last I checked, players didn't take missions from each other
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Your logic does not work unless the power curve is a perfect circle where it loops back to the weakest one when power goes off the charts SOMEONE needs to be the strongest and I'd like to see a game that puts ME in that position for a change |
And even failing that a villain doesn't HAVE to work for anybody but himself even if he's not the strongest Last I checked Nemesis didn't have any taskmasters Dr Doom didn't answer to anyone and Lex Luthor typically did his own thing Even someone as relatively lower down on the scale of villainous success as the Lizard manages just fine without serving anyone unless a writer here and there forget who they're writing about |
As a villain, you're powerful wnpugh to work on your own, but there has to be a limit to how high and how far you go, as every other players will be doing the same thing - there has to be a limit to how independant you can be, otherwise, the game simply wouldn't work.
After I've killed thousands upon thousands of Arachnos soldiers destroyed raided or even saved literally hundreds of their bases trounced them in the street everywhere I've seen them beaten up their strongest HAND TO HAND I dare say :PArachnos are too strong:P begins to ring really hollow |
People can choose to play MMOs in their own little solo bubble, which is totally ok, but they can't really expect the game to be built around that style of gameplay.
Unless you want to have an argument beyond :Pbecause I said so:P I remain unconvinced of their supposed powers For all I know the Isles are populated by deadbeat idiots who are easily taken over The populace certainly doesn't give ME any trouble so conquering and ruling them doesn't earn Recluse any points |
You have no concept of villain operations then Because of that were true then Malta would be ruling the Isles because they're stronger than Arachnos Oh wait maybe they're not Then Malta would have been wiped out by Arachnos. I mean what with them stealing Arachnos tech and all Powerful villains can coexist perfectly well as the constant bouts between Rikti Council Nemesis Crey Freakshow and Devouring Earth easily demonstrate This stupid idea that :Pyou'd be crushed:P has no merit |
Read what you quoted again and come back to me Here let me repeat it :Phave contacts come to ME:P Come to me as in come to my office show up in person and ask me to work for them This doesn't happen Even if I have a base and their phone numbers I need to call THEM and even then they don't :Pcome to my office:P It's a question of respect an authority I won't go over there to speak with them If they want my help they'll have to come to me And if they're too proud then they can go to hell |
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork