City of Heroes: Live Forum Archive

The Dead Pool

Amy_Amp

By Amy_Amp,
Posted on: 2011-07-20 24:41 in CoH and CoV General Discussions

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bright View Post
"Bimbo" is probably the kindest thing most of my Praetorians and red-side characters might call them. 'Not exactly a lot of love lost, there.
Let's just say that I play Blueside 80% of the time and that's about the kindest thing I've got to say about Ms. Liberty's new "krew".

 

Posted

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Originally Posted by Golden Girl View Post
This Megan hate will get you nowhere
Short of odd that you'd defend a character who basically does everything you say a hero shouldn't do.

As to whether or not a major character should be killed off, I don't know if its what they're doing in this arc, but how else are they going to establish the coming storm as a plausible threat?

 

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Originally Posted by SlickRiptide View Post
Let's just say that I play Blueside 80% of the time and that's about the kindest thing I've got to say about Ms. Liberty's new "krew".
Yeah... 'Know that feeling, too. Most of my hero-side characters are involved with Vanguard. If you've run the War Zone arcs, you know how that goes. (I'll admit I was fond of Sefu, though. I make an exception for him.)

@Brightfires - @Talisander
That chick what plays the bird-things...

 

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Originally Posted by Shadow State View Post
Short of odd that you'd defend a character who basically does everything you say a hero shouldn't do.
She fights villains - that's the right thing to do

@Golden Girl

City of Heroes comics and artwork

 

Posted

Hoping for Statesman. He is probably in my top 10 for most hated video game characters of all time, just because his name comes up everywhere, in every dimension, and always attached to some sort of superlative.

Then again, I have this feeling that if he died, it would be the Saddest Day Ever In Paragon Ever and we'd have to hear about THAT constantly so... kill someone else, and let Statesman fade into obscurity.

 

Posted

With luck, all of 'em. More likely, none.

Current Blog Post: "Why I am an Atheist..."
"And I say now these kittens, they do not get trained/As we did in the days when Victoria reigned!" -- T. S. Eliot, "Gus, the Theatre Cat"

 

Posted

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Originally Posted by SlickRiptide View Post
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".
This is a fantastic point, and I just wanted to say that.

Quote:
Originally Posted by SlickRiptide View Post
It's possible for death to give cause to recall the life and actions of the deceased and render meaning to it thereby. If you are American and I mention Colonel David Crocket dieing at the Alamo, you probably end up thinking about a lot more than just a guy fighting for his life and losing in the end.\

Now, there's death and there's death, also. Going just by the published comics, the entire Phalanx has died once and Manticore and Statesman have each died twice (each at the hand of Manticore, go figure). Personally, I'd be pretty disillusioned by the old switcheroo gambit but it's not like there's no precedent for it.

Likewise, the death of Cyrus Thompson shows how a throwaway secondary character can practically become a signature character as a result of his death, but moreso because of what that death symbolized about his life and beliefs.

Is there room for bad storytelling? You bet there is. Is it a guarantee that there will BE bad storytelling? No, and I sincerely hope that what we get is a lot more like Cyrus Thompson, or even, if we must, like Manticore sacrificing himself because it was the only thing left to do after he already gambled his friend's life and lost.

My fear is that we'll end up with something like issue 20 of the comic. I give a lot of kudos to Matt and Co. as game designers, but as comic book writers, I'm sorry; they left rather a lot to be desired.

That aside, I think that that relating the death of a signature character (and "signature" does not necessarily mean a member of the Freedom Phalanx or the Vindicators - I have a feeling that a character like Azuria could generate a lot of sympathy if it was written correctly) can also be a way to reflect upon the life of that character as well.
This as well. The character that's killed off isn't important, by itself, it's what that character's death means.

Spock dies in II, but it's a CBD, and he comes back in III. But what a sacrifice, which is exactly how you should go out in a story. Not like Midshipman First Class Peter Prestion, Engineer's Mate, SIR! who goes out for no other reason than to be a foreshadowing of what the entire crew will have to endure later. (although I DID remember the quote. )

So, that being said... who says it *has* to be a Primal character, or for that matter, a Hero/Heroine?

The problem is... who can be gone, doesn't change much of the game and it's lore overall, but still has an impact? Oh, I got one:

Mynx.

That's right, I said it. Mynx. She's a hot head, always trying to prove herself, and doesn't do anything but train heroes in the game.

But she's somewhat renowned, and her death would be fantastic in that she probably would be doing something incredibly brave, sacrificial, definitely martyr-like, but nonetheless endearing, in that she sacrifices herself to save someone else, probably Synapse, if not the entire Phalanx, if not the World, if not the Universe, by golly... by just being her hot headed self.

Reminds me of an already canon character we all know: Hero One. His actions spawned the reason that heroes didn't have capes for a couple of years when the game started. (Contrived, true, to explain the lack thereof in game, but still.) He was so important that when he was brought back as Honoree, it was awesome, yet sad... but still exciting to see the character nonetheless.

Anyway, I'm goin' with Mynx. 500 monies on it.

/Thought about Ghost Widow, but her story wouldn't allow a sacrificial story to mean any thing. The sort of 'oh, at the last, she pulled a Vader/Anakin moment.' thing wouldn't fit.

August 31, 2012. A Day that will Live in Infamy. Or Information. Possibly Influence. Well, Inf, anyway. Thank you, Paragon Studios, for what you did, and the enjoyment and camaraderie you brought.
This is houtex, aka Mike, signing off the forums. G'night all. - 10/26/2012
Well... perhaps I was premature about that whole 'signing off' thing... - 11-9-2012

 

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Well, put me in the camp with SlickRiptide: The Devs have crafted a fantastic game, but boy can they be hamhanded with the stories.

I am leery of a Joss Whedon Move, where someone is killed just to kill someone and be all dramatic, without advancing the plot or having much sense.

Cyrus Thompson was mentioned, and rightfully so. This looks like a job for... Troy Hickman!

Yeah, in my dreams.

The only good news (if one is fearing the JWM as I noted) is that nobody STAYS dead in comics. Geezo Pete, even Bucky showed up doing a Monty Python "I feel much better" after what, 50 years or something?? Abin Sur realized it had only been a flesh wound decades later, etc., etc. If "Moby Dick" had been a comic book, you KNOW Captain Ahab would be back.

"How do you know you are on the side of good?" a Paragon citizen asked him. "How can we even know what is 'good'?"

"The Most High has spoken, even with His own blood," Melancton replied. "Surely we know."

 

Posted

I'll say Synapse. He'll have a good Leroy Jenkins moment run in, die, and give us all a good lesson to look before we leap.

Not to mention he's had about zero done with him, is not plastered over any part of any COH material I can see, and is a general jerk. Yeah I'd go with Synapse.

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Golden Girl View Post
This Megan hate will get you nowhere
Don't mistake Longbow hate for Megan hate. I like Megan. I despise Longbow. I think she needs Statesman to give her a good talking to, though; not that it would actually do any good.

 

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I hope they will kill off Manticore so we can get a better Batman clone.

 

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Originally Posted by That_Ninja View Post
I hope they will kill off Manticore so we can get a better Batman clone.
This. Also, not an archer.

 

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Sister Psyche will be casually killed and stuffed in the fridge by a brand-new villain to establish him as a bonafide threat. When Manticore finds her, he'll go on a futile roaring rampage of revenge, butchering a number of not-entirely-innocent bystanders in the process. He'll be thrown out of the Freedom Phalanx for his actions, and will spend his time cutting his way across the Rogue Isles in the search for his wife's killer. Sister Psyche will quietly vanish from the story, except when everyone needs a reminder of why Manticore went bad.


A few years from now, when everyone's forgotten about her, Sister Psyche will be brought back from the dead in an appropriately ham-fisted way. It's how comic books work, after all.

 

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Originally Posted by Shadow State View Post
... but how else are they going to establish the coming storm as a plausible threat?
By making it drop Incarnate Salvage/Merits.

Oh .. sorry, was that out loud?

 

Posted

500 on numina

otherwise she can just rez the other heroes

 

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Originally Posted by Dark_Respite View Post
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.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Katie V View Post
Sister Psyche will be casually killed and stuffed in the fridge by a brand-new villain to establish him as a bonafide threat. When Manticore finds her, he'll go on a futile roaring rampage of revenge, butchering a number of not-entirely-innocent bystanders in the process. He'll be thrown out of the Freedom Phalanx for his actions, and will spend his time cutting his way across the Rogue Isles in the search for his wife's killer. Sister Psyche will quietly vanish from the story, except when everyone needs a reminder of why Manticore went bad.
Yeah. It'll be super extra tragic because oooh, they just had a wedding last year. Really *hoping* it doesn't go this way, because it would be terrible, but cynically I can't help but expect it.



Character index

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by HardRider View Post
500 on numina

otherwise she can just rez the other heroes
Isn't she already a ghost? I mean, it would be pretty hardcore if the new threat is so powerful it can kill people who are already dead.

 

Posted

however people feel about it... the Devs plan is working... because it's got the community talking at length and speculating.

I would guess it's not going to be somebody with a TF because that could be tricky to manage - which would (sadly) preclude the death of Synapse (tho I actually like his TF)

Statesman isn't gonna die... he's the signature character.

BAB has no role with the revamp of Galaxy - and with Chris Bruce who took his name on the boards gone, then he could well be a candidate for the spanish archer. He also has no TF to worry about.


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

 

Posted

I'll put my 500 inf on BAB going out in style while defending Galaxy City.

UNION @Flitz 50, Lead Hose 50, Red Rag 50
DEFIANT Rose Bloodthorn 34
VIGILANCE Captain Caledonia 20 - Yeah, I made toons on the French server coz we only had 4 back then (might have to transfer/recreate them on one of the US servers)
..and many more!

 

Posted

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Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow View Post
I feel that killing off signature characters is a bad idea in general, so no bets on my end.
Agreed. Whenever they do it in the comics it results in really poor stories, so I am entirely against it. Unfortunately it often results in high sales so the phenomenon (sp?) won't go away

This is a song about a super hero named Tony. Its called Tony's theme.
Jagged Reged: 23/01/04

 

Posted

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Originally Posted by That_Ninja View Post
Isn't she already a ghost? I mean, it would be pretty hardcore if the new threat is so powerful it can kill people who are already dead.
Never heard of the Ghostbusters

 

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Originally Posted by Mr_Grey View Post
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.
Ignoring the whole issue of the Developer for a moment, I find the character in-game to be highly arrogant and annoying. So I am not surprised that in other dimensions he is a vicious tyrant. Much like Superman in that regard.

This is a song about a super hero named Tony. Its called Tony's theme.
Jagged Reged: 23/01/04