Ancient Japan!

**DISCLAIMER: I know feudal is not ancient. It's just easier than explaining feudal Japan.**

I think we should eventually add an Ancient Japan Co-Op Zone, complete with battling Daimyo and Samurai.

This area would come complete with:

*Warring Feudal Factions: There would be at least four warring Daimyo (feudal lords) with troops in this island of Kamijima, each with their own contacts:

Seiryuu, the Azure Dragon:

*Reptilian motif, with mostly melee fighters, and the tougher foes have wood-based powers.

Seiryuu, as he has come to be called, was a skilled fighter since childhood, and a master of the Bō staff. He has come here from Kyoto for the mystic artifacts hidden at Kamijima.*(A classic Japanese Feudal lord, with all the classic traits. Very prim, proper, polite, and will pursue a vendetta to the bloody, violent, bitter end.)

Suzaku, the Vermilion Bird:

*Feathered motif, flight, very agile, high-powered foes have fire powers.

A regal and noble Daimyo, Suzaku is from a tropical southern island. He has come to retrieve the mighty artifacts he feels he deserves.*(Arrogant, and Ziggy Stardust-level flamboyant, with a theatrical flair, quite a bit like Captain Castillo.)

Byakko, the White Tiger:

*Nimble, but tough. Feline motif. Swords and claws mostly. Stronger foes have metal-based powers.

An angry warlord from the West, Byakko and his men are searching for magical power, no matter who gets in their way.*(A Ragey McAngryFace with a temper, and the strength to back it up. Like any Troll, only with better speech patterns.)

Genbu, The Black Serpent

*Slower, tougher enemies (Like Turtles) coupled with quick, toxic enemies (Like Snakes). More powerful Tortoise enemies have ice abilities, while the deadlier Snake enemies have a lot of debuffs, fast melee attacks, and DoT.

A calm, calculating Daimyo who knows when to be a tortoise, and when to be a snake, Genbu plots to take the arcane might of Kamiji for his own plans... *(Basically, something of an ancient Japanese Nemesis stand-in, except not as adept. Complete with 'powderpunk' tech based on gunpowder and far in advance of the rest of ancient Japan.)*

* A Task Force centered on finding and protecting Yata no Kagami, the Mirror used to lure the Sun goddess Amaterasu out of her cave after being harassed by her brother Susanō. This mirror is a powerful Incarnate Artifact, and its holder would be blessed with divine might. This TF would give either merits or threads upon completion, with common, uncommon, or even rare tables for very high challenge settings and getting the badges for MO.

*Battle Kappa, Tengu, Oni, and other Yōkai in the wilderness of Kamijima, and perhaps even pick up a drop of incarnate power in doing so.

*More Ancient Japanese styles! A few new hair and costume options, awarded upon completing the new Yata no Kagami TF.

*A special Giant Monster: Denketsu! This big, mean S.O.B. hates when people successfully defend the Yata no Kagami, and is prone to going on rampages whenever this occurs. This giant dragon is bigger and meaner than any other Monster, and will take many heroes to defeat.

*Yingxiong Cheng: A bustling city on the coast of China. Center of culture and trade in eastern China, and chief Imperial trade port, this vibrant city is home to not only many artists and mathematicians, but also many wealthy traders and noblemen, some corrupt, some trustworthy. There are many powerful foes, such as Emo Jiuang, the Demon King. The main hero and newfound protector of this wealthy metropolis is Bao Chu, Savior of the Sun & long-time enemy of Emo Jiuang.

EDIT:

Present-day Kamijima:
Praetorian Kamijima has held off Devouring Earth for years, protecting themselves using technology powered by the Giant Anti-Matter Generator. The attacks have become more extreme as of late, but they're holding up under the relentless onslaught (of level 40-50 content, with Incarnate rewards at 50) by drawing upon resources from both the past and future, using multi-origin time-portals to reach two other distinct periods of temporal significance, both in the Feudal past and a cybertropolis of the future.

There would also be a Primal Earth version of the zone set in the contemporary timeline, sharing Past!Kamijima. Here we will find that Rose Star, using technology from Delusion, Inc., has opened a rift to Praetoria in an attempt to damage Emperor Cole's war efforts through infiltration and subterfuge, against the wishes of W.I.S.D.O.M.'s team leader Foreshadow. She and Spark Blade have failed to check in however, and Foreshadow went after them... Now he's missing, and Mirror Spirit seeks your help in finding her lost team.

Future Kamijima:
In the years since the Time incident, Kamijima has grown into an enormous metropolis know as Saiba City. The local police, in an attempt to fight superhuman crime, have augmented their officers with cybernetics. In addition, they are trying to expel their internal corruption. The Freakshow have moved in, along with interdimensional criminals, and the battles between the two threaten to destroy the city. Will you help stop the madness, or take advantage of the chaos?

Praetorian Future Kamijima: After the Time incident, the denizens of Kamijima eventually rebuilt...but what they didn't know was that the Hamidon's beasts, even after decades, were never completely gone. Beneath Kamijima resides horrible, mutated beasts, remnants from the Devouring Earth. They have learned to move, think, and kill as one being. As more and more people disappeared, Kamijima found aid in the past...Will you help defeat these plagued beasts, or pillage what remains of Kamijima?

Story arcs ensue. {SPOILER!}Foreshadow{/SPOILER!} dies, but that's ok, because in the Saiba City), he's been reborn as a bad guy, and he's running the Syndicate, which have allied with a future Primal Tsoo. Spark Blade is stuck in the past, acting as Genbu's primary Lieutenant, based on Genbu's promise (lie) to help him find and save Rose Star, who he lost track of during a great battle between the Four Lords of Kamijima. She actually ended up back in Modern Praetoria, and got captured by Cole's forces... but instead of killing her, Cole intends to brainwash her, remaking her in his image, believing she'll be a superior heir compared to his {SPOILER!}dead granddaughter, Praetor Duncan.{/SPOILER!}

All 5 versions of the zone use (approximately) the same geometry, even if the appearance is drastically different. This is done via phasing technology, so as players advance through storylines associated with the zone, they end up in the time/dimension they need to be in (preventing the need to zone back and forth repeatedly). It also opens up options to alter the potential outcome of the storyline, and the fate of the zone, based on the choices players make during the storyline, leaving the potential for:

1) Feudal Kamijima to end up in the hands of any of the Four Lords, or remain at war,

2) The potential for Praetorian Kamijima to continue resisting or fall to Praetorian leadership, or even be destroyed by the Hamidon,

3) For Saiba City to be the future world capital, or to never have existed at all, being nothing but overgrown ruins populated by Devouring Earth monsters and a few hard pressed surviving tribes fighting for their survival.

4) Primal Kamijima could remain at relative peace, or the rift to Praetoria could shatter, leaving the island to be overrun by warring factions between the past, present, and future.

and 5) Any member of W.I.S.D.O.M. could end up dead or of different alignment by the end of it all.

Future Enemy groups:

+Primal:
*Saiba-Keisatsu:
Robotically enhanced Police Officers, with energy weapons and tough armor. They are very sturdy, but they can be defeated if their delicate synaptics are damaged (Stun), or their batteries are drained (End. Drain). The bigger they are, the more enhanced, and the tougher they get. As they move up in tiers, however, they become more susceptible.
*Tsoo, Incarnate-Level, often found chatting with Incarnate-Level Syndicate.
*Freakshow, Incarnate-level, with far more threatening (and ethnically diverse) enemies.

+Praetorian:
*Incarnate-level Resistance and IDF
*Incarnate-level Devouring Earth
*Incarnate-Level Syndicate
*Ekibyou:
People infected with a bizarre, mutated version of the Tellurian Plague, making them into grotesque creatures, free from Hamidon's influence, but possessing a feral, animalistic Hive mind. They have the ability to confuse foes, and, despite their misshapen appearance, they are quick and deadly enemies.

In addition, Each present-day version of Kamijima will have its own Task forces:
Primal Present (Unlocked after rescuing Rose Star/Destroying the GAMG): Rose Star(Hero)/Mu'Vorkan(Villain) Task force: Fight enemies across time to gain ancient Incarnate secrets/Cement Mu'Vorkan's position and gain favor with both him and Recluse by destroying Loyalist Installations and brainwashing heroes!
Praetorian Present (Unlocked after capturing/freeing Rose Star): Praetorian!Foreshadow(Resistance)/Praetorian!Mirror Spirit(Loyalist) Task Forces: Fight opposing forces to control the Praetorian future!


And anything more we might be able to think up.

Personally, I am so sick of Asian themes everywhere.

Africa FTW.

An open letter to NCsoft

This is a pretty good idea And we have a basis for it in place through the Tsoo and their relationship with their Ancient Spirits. Set something up to time travel back, again through the Midnighters club (more on why in a sec) and we arrive in ancient japan where a War Lord is attempting to unite the various Tsoo clans to make them more powerful. the result if not stopped could be a complete change in the history of Japan and the Tsoo being much more powerful and more of a threat in modern times than they are now. [I used the Midnighter Club as a starting point because the Tsoo do practice magic so who better to ask us to help stop them].

A Coop TF could pit us against various Tsoo leaders (AVs) and ultimately a battle against the War Lord himself. Now here's a twist ... in Cimerora we discovered 5th Column and Nictus causing the unrest and creating the situation that makes it necessary for us to go and stop Romulus. In this zone how about we utilize Darrin Wade and a group of Ex-midnighters. Darrin is described as an Ex Midnighter himself that left with a number of stolen artifacts. Along with his associates he has traveled back in time to aid the TSoo and form an alliance that ultimately could allow him to destroy the Midnighters in our present. Depending on when all that would take place it could have even greater effects since most of the Omega team that stopped the Rikti invasion were Midnighters.. no Midnighters Club .. No Omega team ... and we are all Rikti slaves!

One more suggestion.. Let's add a new Giant Monster to the zone. The Japanese view dragons as a source of power and magic so let's add a dragon with fire and some magic attacks. Before the posts start.. Yes I know the Devs say that adding animals that walk on 4 legs isn't feasible, or whatever, but not all dragons walk on four legs.. I have seen plenty of drawings, ect where a dragon walked upright on two legs similar to a man. Heck some dragons have even been depicted as shape shifters that can assume human form.. How about we make the War Lord in the TF a shape shifting dragon. Defeat him once and when he arises he takes on Dragon form to battle the TF again. Then have a similar dragon, the Spirit of a defeated war lord, appear from time to time in zone to be battled seperately.

Quinch Sorry but there just are not that many comic books or cartoons that revolve around super heroes in Africa. About the only one I can recall is the old Phantom cartoons and those were never as popular as Batman, Spidy or Superman. Thanks to Anime there is just a lot more interest in anything oriental.

i suggested something similar a while ago, to flesh it out a bit, it would be nice to put it in oroboros, like cimoria. my iunitial suggestion was for it to be more futuristic ghost in the shell type megatokyo with the oppositional group being a union of futuristic elements represented by violent yakuza and traditional fantastic elements with a group of hostile onmyoji with yaokai on their side, with the heroes being futuristic super scientists/police units and traditional samurai clans and fanciful presentations of mikos. of course, id go for africa and mayan too. heck, i have been nagging for "world of heroes" since issue 2 ish. india is somewhere i always felt was underutilized, the gods and demons of the ramayana and mahabharata could easily fall into the concept of great superpowered beings. and of coures, i have a few ideas for costumes, david cheryl and jay can put the restraining order out on me now if this idea ever happened, because i have some pages of suggestions .

oh and wendy, i like your ideas, perhaps to get around the 2 legs thing, we can use the animation rig for tier 2 demons, they kind of run on 4 legs, a good bit more convincingly than beast run (though i still like it, no slight to the animator) and a dragon that moved like that would be acceptable in my book. otherwise, i sign your idea heartily, and any other that gets me more dragons into the game.

my only issue with the tsoo is they are specifically linked with the hmong people, a ethnically distinct group from southeast asia, and according to their backgrounder, they initially chased the yakuza out of paragon. not really a great fit for a strictly Japanesse setting.But, as i said in the recently re closed anime suggestion thread, a story where they linked with the triads and yakuza in an emergency alliance of convenience, hey that would fix it for me.

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

I like all these thoughts, but I felt that I must technically add that the Tsoo are Chinese, not Japanese. China and Japan did, in fact, interact often, but not during the Tokugawa Shogunate, due to the fact that the nation was closed to outsiders. I can imagine Proto-Tsoo warriors trying to break in and get their hands on local artifacts.

I especially like the Dragon Monster/AV idea, and while it would be good to see a little more gender diversity amongst AVs, but due to the rather...<ahem>... misogynist culture of Japan, powerful and respected women were few and far between.

I would also love an Aztec zone, and maybe even a chance to visit the Rikti world someday (and get Rikti Costume Parts) would also be something I would ardently rail for.

Sadly, yes. Yokunai.

Not sure about strictly Japan, but I'd definitely get behind something Asian-influenced, especially if it picks up on Foreshadow and Mirror Spirit some more. I really like their concepts, but the sudden cut-off of their involvement story-wise always did leave a bad taste in my mouth.

In fact, now that I think about it, a zone representing a land under attack by Foreshadow during one of his evil incarnations would be pretty cool - especially if it gives players a chance to turn him good or have a hand in the 'creation' of Mirror Spirit.

Of course, the converse would be pretty awesome too, heh. Go Team Evil!

yer a meanie-head.

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

well, i would love to run around jumping from rooftop to rooftop in ancient japan, i never found any game where i could do just that.(MMO's like this anyhow)

one addendum to this idea, another idea that has floated is reoing some of the dead space in steel canyon with a "little tokyo/hong kong/seoul" type area where immigrants in the past bonded together in a tight community and still show traces in the architecture and culture of the area, that might be a way to introduce the content, on a scaled down level, while not spreading the community even more thin.

and yeah, they would have your roofs youn might be a good time for some additional( and in the case of ma BETTER) animations to ma/kin melee, wouldn't it

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

I would be perfectly happy with a generic "Ancient Asian" zone accessed though the Midnighters Club. Perhaps an amalgamed zone who's history has already been destroyed by whichever chosen evil badguy group. Heroes and Villians would be fighting cooperatively to make that reality remain alternate and prevent it from becoming our (Earth Paragon) own past.

Take a little bit of Japan, a little bit of China and a splash of Southeast Asia and mash it all together!

Praetorians might make great badguys for this one.

I dunno...I don't think that would be very fun, and it might come across as a bit lazy, seeing as the cultures of Asia are very distinct, and they didn't squish together Greece & Rome in Cimerora. What I think is that we may just have two zones: Kamijima (Japanese) and nearby (Although separated by the sea) Yīngxióng Chéng (A bustling Medieval Chinese city on the mainland.).

Yingxiong Cheng:

A bustling city on the coast of China. Center of culture and trade in eastern China, and chief Imperial trade port, this vibrant city is home to not only many artists and mathematicians, but also many wealthy traders and noblemen, some corrupt, some trustworthy. There are many powerful foes, such as Emo Jiuang, the Demon King. The main hero and newfound protector of this wealthy metropolis is Bao Chu, Savior of the Sun & long-time enemy of Emo Jiuang.