The Dead Pool

Okay, folks. Time to pony up. Who do you think is going to die in the signature arcs? Or, if you like, who do you WISH would die? :-p

I've got 500 inf on Manticore.

I feel that killing off signature characters is a bad idea in general, so no bets on my end.

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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 wish Statesman and all his analogues would undergo total existence failure, but that's not going to happen, so I guess my second choice would be Fusionette and Faultline and their analogues.

I'm actually wanting to do this as a real contest... just double checking with the community reps to make sure it's ok, since it's close to being gambling.

None. Killing off actual Sigs for no good reason is a sign of poor writing and desperately grabbing for 'Look at this! Isn't this shocking?!' points. I would hope our writers, who have recently put out some fantastic stuff, wouldn't sully themselves and stoop that low.

Mind you, given the whole background to the Puddle of Annoyance...

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Originally Posted by Zwillinger 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 NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.

It's a comicbook game - death is just kinda like taking a vacation

People still talk about Tasha Yar. As Oscar Wilde said, "It is better to be talked about than to be not talked about."

Put another way:

"Will you ride with me, son of Arathorn? Maybe we shall cleave a road, or make such an end as will be worth a song – if any be left to sing of us hereafter."

Shocking or not, if the death is worth retelling later, then it will have been a good death. It's up to the devs to make sure that it IS "worth a song".

I've seen some of the artwork hinting at Manticore and Back Alley Brawler, and even a few have suggested Sister Psyche...

If someone were to die and have it make an impact within the Phalanx beyond "So, who do we get to replace him?" it would have to be somebody like Psyche or Statesman, the characters who represent the soul and mind of the Phalanx. Manticore is cunning, and he had some nifty representation in the Top Cow comics, and the Wedding Event was interesting, but he still comes off as rather expendable.

Of course, there's also the fact that a lot of different players have problems with the various Signature Characters. While they have their ups and downs, I've never found any reason to jump on the bandwagon of hate for any character, whether it's a contact (I've heard a lot of hate leveled Crimson's way) or a hero/villain (Statesman, of course).

I don't understand the hatred of Statesman as a character. A lot of players still call him by various insults, but I've never seen it in his character speech or behavior. I recall friction with the developer, but I don't see that as reason to dump on the character. The inverse is true, too, since the developer Black Scorpion has been fun with the community and has helped bring us some awesome stuff lately, but the character in-game is about as interesting as a box of limestone rocks.

If a character HAS to die, I hope it's handled tastefully and respectfully. It's going to be hard to make the death have meaning, like what was done with Cyrus Thompson (the guy who has a statue of himself sitting on a bench feeding pigeons in Kings Row).

Then again, it might be Comic Book Death in the end. If we don't see it happen, chances are it didn't. The character might return later for a dramatic reveal, possibly scarred or altered as a result of his journey, but still the same person at heart.

My guess is Sis, purely cos the whole mind riding thing makes it easy to bring her back...

Manticore seems too obvious so if one were gonna die I'd think it would be SP (and that's assuming it's one of the Phalanx), but I have my doubts about anyone really dying, honestly.

Statesman. I'll openly admit I despise more than is justifiable. I'm sure a lot of it is based on my initial reaction to seeing him with his wannabe Magneto helm. For such a signature character, his look comes across as being mailed in. The fact that he has been classified in lore as kind of a jerk isn't helping. Add in Jack taking on the name and being the spiting image personality wise of States and well, it was just too many nails in the coffin. Love the name to the point of being jealous and wished there was a better character in there.

I still hope they drop the ax on Miss Liberty. I never have liked her.

So, what, no wagers? 500 inf, that'll buy a couple of green inspirations and you know how good those taste...

5000 inf on Sister Psyche.

She's one of two women in the Phalanx (the other of whom is a player-named-by-contest ghost), married to the Batman clone of the FP, and has already had a full lifespan despite looking like she's in her 20s. And there's only room in IP for one Phalanx member. If she buys it, Manticore can go full vigilante like he should have from day one, and finally stare at Swan without worrying his head's gonna get vaporized.

She can go.

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite