Staying True to Alignment?

I'm very impressed with GR so far - but I am beginning to get the impression there's one rather large omission from it - but I've not explored every aspect and it's possible I'm missing something.

If I am, then I hope I'll be corrected but if I'm not, then I think this is an oversight - but to me, an important one I feel.

I cannot yet see any point in remaining true to your original alignment in terms of game reward or any advantage to doing so. A-Merits are available to Heroes and Villains equally so whichever side I start out at, from level 20 I can swap and start earning them at will. The worst penalty for side switching is a slight loss of time available to earn merits.

Yet if I start out as a hero, and I steadfastly remain a hero (or villain as the case may be) then I'm technically penalised - I miss out on content that is available to people who do side switch.

To me this seems very odd - when it's a fundamental tenet of the game that you pick a side from the start. Sure Going Rogue allows you to swap but it's almost forcing you to swap sides at least once - and if you don't, then you're losing out.

I can see there's an argument that says "well the Devs want you to experience the content on the other side" but in an as alt-friendly game of this maturity that CoXGR is it seems highly unlikely that most players who've played for a while won't have experienced it - so that argument's relatively easily countered.

So what's the advantage in game terms (in other words excluding RP/Personal Satisfaction/Other reasons) to stick to your original alignment? If there isn't an advantage, as I suspect is the case, should there be one? It seems loyalty to high ideals or to Lord Recluse is penalised, not rewarded. Switch from Hero to Villain to Hero again nobody bats an eyelid, but to remain a constant Villain or Hero is all a bit pointless perhaps?

"You got to dig it to dig it, you dig?"
Thelonious Monk

Let's say you start out as a hero.

At level 20, you start doing Hero tip missions to enjoy that content. You runn all of them in your level range, then do the Morality mission and stay a hero. You're missing out on all the Vigilante content!

But you can -do- the vigilante content, all the way to the Morality mission, and then choose to keep your own alignment.

You're not missing that content. If you don't side-switch you're missing out on Villain and Rogue content, but if you're planning on the character being a hero, anyway, what does it matter?

There's no great "Reward" for staying a hero, but there is no penalty, either. You don't have to do the tip missions at all, if you don't want to. If you do want to, then go enjoy it! For me it's mainly been a method to get my Dominators Heroside (I prefer them to Blasters) or grab random rolls to sell on the market.

-Rachel-

Other than the time taken to switch - and having to wait longer for the hero or villain power - there is no penalty for staying hero or villain (or switching all the way and staying *there.*

Of course, *during* switching, you can't get most of your new side's content other than newspapers and whatever you can do via teaming. *shrug* The advantage is simply getting the rewards quicker.

And no, there shouldn't be any greater advantage (or a penalty) for staying as a hero or villain. The RP reason is fine - "this is what I wanted the character to be in the first place." It's not pointless if that's where you want to be in the first place.

Frankly, so far, most of mine stay true to the alignment. One or two are swapping. A few stay in the middle. *shrug* It's where I want them to be. That's all that matters to me.

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I have to admit, I don't get the "penalty" idea.

From what I have seen, the hero penalty and villain powers are more useful.

I'm moving new characters to Vigilante and Rogue, so I can see the new content.

Those I want to move, move. Those I want to stay, stay. Seems perfect to me as it.

Why would there be rewards for NOT side-switching? Isn't that like asking for rewards for NOT doing TFs or not playing on teams? It's part of the game. You're supposed to want to do it, at least where appropriate.

The only rewards given are there to ensure that there's any point in being a pure hero or a pure villain. The old argument from pre-beta was that if you can access both sides as a vigilante and rogue and team cross-faction, who would want to be anything else? And so, for being a pure hero or a pure villain, you get hero or villain merits, respectively, and for being a rogue or a vigilante, you get the ability to team with people from the other side.

Quote:

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.

I'm the wrong one.

I really don't see any penalty involved in any of the alignments. Stay a Hero or a Villain and do the tip missions and you earn A-Merits. Go Vigilante or Rogue and earn reward merits.. along with the ability to cross over to the other side and run missions and collect badges (in all but one case this includes earning added merits by getting all the exploration badges in the appropriate zones .. There is one badge in Atlas that a Rogue can't reach because its buried inside the entrance to Recluse Victory and only heroes and vigilantes have access to that side).

There is absolutely nothing stopping a hero or villain from teaming with vigilantes or rogues, respectively, and doing their tip missions.. as long as they ensure they have completed their 5 hero tip missions for the day first. So really the only content they are unable to reach is from the other side (Red or Blue as the case may be) and since prior to I-18 a hero had NO method to even think about exploring villain content and visa versa I really don't see that as an issue. IF you want to explore all the new tip mission content then switch to Rogue or Vigilante.. there is nothing keeping you from teaming with people doing hero tip or vigilante tips (blue side) or villain and rogue tip (red side) at that point.

As far as I can see all 4 alignments offer some form of reward so it just a matter of WHICH type of reward you want.

The hero power is better than the villain power unless you are a dom or MAYBE a brute.

If you stay true to your alignment and run Tip missions regularly and take advantage of those A-Merits, you will end up ahead of the game over someone who switches sides. Not much, but still. They lose 4 days switching sides. In that time you can get your Numina Unique or whatever your heart desires.

They never said there was going to be a penalty and they never said the advantage was going to be substantial and ongoing. A-Merits are the advantage for staying true to a side. They allow you to make significant purchases much more quickly and easily than traditional Reward Merits.

Maybe someday they'll consider adding other additions, but even if they don't the system is solid.

eh, the problem with video games is that rewarding one behavior can have the perceived effect of punishing the opposite. halved debt and miss complete bonuses incentivised people to do mission content, but lead many to feel "punsihsed" for street sweeping. I really have to say that havign started mmo'ing when they were a lot more punishment based...im ok with the lack of penalties for this, it inhibits freedom for those who want to switch and really would defeat the purpose of the expansion. If concept matters, then it matters. rian frostdrake will never go from hero, it fits his theme, my reward, such as it is, is to be able to run the tip missions that really reinforce the concept of being a hero to me, pick up some alignment merits, and have some fun pugging instances. that is the reward, and i dont need any more of a carrot or stick than that. oh, and that power, but right now my temp power list is so clogged, i probably have a temp hamidon pet-summoning power i am unaware of, so really havent used it much.

Take the Magic: The Gathering 'What Color Are You?' Quiz.

Two words: Alignment merits.

Since most of my characters are concept-driven, I don't really have much desire to switch sides. I have so many alts that I don't feel as if I'm missing out on any content anyway - sure, my heroes can't do rogue tips, but that's what villains are for. I do wish rogues and vigilantes could gain alignment merits, though; I do find myself feeling like I have to choose between concept and POWERRRRR on the toons that really ought to be purple, based on their personalities/methods. My Dark/Dark Corruptor is VERY purple, probably vigilante purple, and the Fear Incarnate power would be amazingly thematic for him... but no merits! However, it's less an incentive to make him fully red or blue and more a disincentive to play him at all, with the way my mind works.