Why is the Malta Group out in the open?
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Posted on: 2011-10-12 09:01 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
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| Speaking of enemies that talk a lot more than they should, does anyone else remember a really old mission, maybe as far back as release date, that specifically stated that the Clockwork don't have any capability for speech? |
There is no such mission. Clockwork have been capable of speech since Day One.
I figured out the Big Secret back around launch playing one of the one-off Clockwork missions in (IIRC) the 15-20 bracket because it had Clockwork talking about how much they hated my character.
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Ah. My mistake then. Never mind.
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Originally Posted by Venture
[/B]There is no such mission. Clockwork have been capable of speech since Day One.
I figured out the Big Secret back around launch playing one of the one-off Clockwork missions in (IIRC) the 15-20 bracket because it had Clockwork talking about how much they hated my character. |
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The Knights of Malta are not merely "the old guard," they are an Illuminati/Knight's Templar conspiracy within Matla itself, ironically enough using the Malta group as their own puppet so that they can control the world as the shadow masters of the shadow masters. Malta itself has a board of directors, but I don't recall it ever being mentioned to have factions.
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Originally Posted by Lazarillo
I've just figured from the beginning that there are a variety of types leading Malta. IIRC, one short arc does imply some strife between the new guard and the old guard, so that implies there could be some tough rebels taking leadership positions. And really, we've only seen three out of seventeen in-game (and that's assuming Gyrfalcon is a director...which...is kinda hard to say, given the lousy writing in the Reichsman TFs), so having one or two as an Arch-Villain isn't too bad.
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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.
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What you're thinking of is the fact that they simply never used to talk. The most they'd say is "Bzzt." Then, all of a sudden, there's "I hate Samuel Tow!" and your contact is like "Wait, what?" They could talk, they just rarely did, and I'd prefer if they went back to doing that.
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Originally Posted by M_I_Abrahms
Ah. My mistake then. Never mind.
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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.
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I'm not sure how they "talk" given that they're not even functional robots, presumably it's all a psychic projection and you just *think* they're talking.
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Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
What you're thinking of is the fact that they simply never used to talk. The most they'd say is "Bzzt." Then, all of a sudden, there's "I hate Samuel Tow!" and your contact is like "Wait, what?" They could talk, they just rarely did, and I'd prefer if they went back to doing that.
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And yet Axis Amerika is plastered with 5th Column banners.|
Originally Posted by Mr_Grey
-And before anybody says it, there is no ruling body calling itself the Fifth Column in Axis Amerika. They are Amerika Korps, they have no reason to be a "secretive organization of hometown traitors."
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Also, there's a 5th Column banner in Council Empire Earth that didn't get replaced.
I think this thread is a pretty good example why the Devs need to look into a lot of revamping beyond just starter content.
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Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
City of Heroes is a game about freedom of expression and variety of experiences far more so than it is about representing any one theme, topic or genre.
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That might be their plan |
Originally Posted by AzureSkyCiel
I think this thread is a pretty good example why the Devs need to look into a lot of revamping beyond just starter content.
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No, I think it's a good example of why Posi's take on game writing is problematic. It takes a lot less work to just do the research and make sure new canon doesn't explicitly or implicitly contradict old canon than to revamp the entire freaking game.
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Originally Posted by AzureSkyCiel
I think this thread is a pretty good example why the Devs need to look into a lot of revamping beyond just starter content.
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Well, that too.
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Originally Posted by Eva Destruction
No, I think it's a good example of why Posi's take on game writing is problematic. It takes a lot less work to just do the research and make sure new canon doesn't explicitly or implicitly contradict old canon than to revamp the entire freaking game.
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Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
City of Heroes is a game about freedom of expression and variety of experiences far more so than it is about representing any one theme, topic or genre.
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They are led by more than one person.|
Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
Malta itself has a board of directors, but I don't recall it ever being mentioned to have factions.
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Therefore, there are differences in opinion among the leadership.
They are a highly secretive organization that knows what is best for everyone.
Combined with the differences in opinion among the leadership, that means factions.
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Hmm... *writes down Blackwell for later*|
Originally Posted by Mr_Grey
I've asked what Blackwell was before. Honestly, I always figured somebody would come along and say that they were a Private Security/Military Company (i.e. mercenaries) acting as a Malta Group front and that the soldiers we keep fighting are actually Blackwell troops.
Would that have been so hard to do? So... That way, instead of saying "You're fighting Malta." they could have said "The operation has Blackwell security, so be careful..." But, then again, there's no real concrete explanation of what Blackwell is. It's just a billboard with an ominous, corporate setting sun symbol. I've heard explanations from Private Security to "Think Tank." No missions, no dialogue, no plaques to explain what they are. It's just an omnipresent company with no bearing on the plot. Just like Scherazade (though that's supposed to be an homage/shout-out). |
I was under the impression that Scheherazade within CoH was a clothing store. I say this because for enemies that casually sit on boxes or stand out on the street, it occasionally has the Scheherazade logo and a picture of a dress. Then again, since logo is in the same font as Borders book stores it's possible that it's a department store sells a little of everything (in-game version of Sears perhaps?).
Sadly, I'm afraid the days of content actually mattering to the majority of players is behind us now.
As much fun as I'm having playing with all the new arrivals, not a single one has read a clue, mission description or even the info on enemies... This is in the 20-30 level range.
When I realized I was leading a team of free players, still learning the game, I decided to take it slow. So they could have ample time to read the enemy bio's and etc. After pointing out the boss in the 2nd mob I realized they didn't even know about the info screen.
The pace of gameplay these days, combined with the 'Just wanna bash skulls' mentality that accompanies the free crowd, leaves very few of us to care about lore.
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Well, I'd say that in some ways the devs reap what they sow. At times it seems like more is being done to support bypassing things than being engaged with the overall story. I have to wonder how many new players don't care and how many may have an interest but are caught up in the momentum that causes them to go with the crowd.
Actually when you come right down to it.. They have always messed up the covert nature of Malta. Long before Malestorm or the latest deal with the Skyraiders developed we had Malta roaming the streets of Peregrine. About as covert as the Skulls hanging around and trying to break into parked cars in King's Row. Granted there aren't as many of them as there are Carnies, COT, Nemesis or Rikti but they are there and in some spots even battling other villain groups openly .. like two street gangs battling over turf.
While that looks fine and makes perfect sense in Steel Canyon where Outcast battle with Trolls or you may find a back alley with Skulls squaring off against Vahzilok... We are talking about a covert organization founded by and funded by billionaires to alter the political atmosphere of ... the nation.. the world ..... What are they doing roaming the streets looking for someone to mug!
The simple answer, not a "realistic"one based on their backstory, is that the devs needed to continue their tradition of sprinkling villains on the streets for us to deal with between running from door mission to door mission. While it makes perfect sense from the Skulls, Trolls, Outcast, Hellions and even the Freakshow to be roaming the streets causing trouble.. its completely rediculous to have Malta doing the same thing.
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So their plan is to do away with all the older contacts and turn the entire game into a 1 line theme park ride?|
Originally Posted by Golden Girl
That might be their plan
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You are a Director in the Malta Group, right?
There is no such thing as an "innocent bystander"
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Well given that most people aren't even doing the starter content, they're just farming DfB from 1-20, it's hardly surprising. People don't want content, they want to get to level 20 (for some inexplicable reason that they're unable to properly articulate) as fast as humanly possible. I don't even really get why as Freebies only have 2 character slots and can't do Incarnate stuff, so it's not even as it they can roll loads of alts or just play endgame stuff.
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Originally Posted by MaestroMavius
Sadly, I'm afraid the days of content actually mattering to the majority of players is behind us now.
As much fun as I'm having playing with all the new arrivals, not a single one has read a clue, mission description or even the info on enemies... This is in the 20-30 level range. When I realized I was leading a team of free players, still learning the game, I decided to take it slow. So they could have ample time to read the enemy bio's and etc. After pointing out the boss in the 2nd mob I realized they didn't even know about the info screen. The pace of gameplay these days, combined with the 'Just wanna bash skulls' mentality that accompanies the free crowd, leaves very few of us to care about lore. |
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Because a lot of them come from other MMOs and they're conditioned to want to powerlevel to the end and do end game stuff until their brains leak out of their noses. That's one reason why I keep saying MMOs need to innovate sooner rather than later, because the market right now is so stale you can swap MMO brand names and still be playing the same basic game.|
Originally Posted by The_Spad_EU
Well given that most people aren't even doing the starter content, they're just farming DfB from 1-20, it's hardly surprising. People don't want content, they want to get to level 20 (for some inexplicable reason that they're unable to properly articulate) as fast as humanly possible. I don't even really get why as Freebies only have 2 character slots and can't do Incarnate stuff, so it's not even as it they can roll loads of alts or just play endgame stuff.
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City of Heroes is, as of right now, one of the very few non-WoW, non-EQ models out there, so people treat it like those anyway as that's what they're used to. If more MMOs innovated to the point where playing a new game felt like playing a NEW game, more people might actually approach this one as an actual new game, rather than as just a WoW interface skin and map pack.
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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.
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Was on a PUG yesterday with a level 23 dual blades scrapper who didn't know why a circle was showing up around one of his attacks.
Yeah.
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It's because the new stories aren't engaging. There is too much yakking and people go on text overload. There are too many custom mechanics that put the action on pause for too long and too often. Praetoria had about the right mix of reading and killing stuff, fancy mechanics and straightforward maps full of bad guys, but the starter arcs and the SSAs are more "look what we can do!" than "how can we tell a good story and make it fun to play?"|
Originally Posted by Zamuel
Well, I'd say that in some ways the devs reap what they sow. At times it seems like more is being done to support bypassing things than being engaged with the overall story. I have to wonder how many new players don't care and how many may have an interest but are caught up in the momentum that causes them to go with the crowd.
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Originally Posted by The_Spad_EU
Well given that most people aren't even doing the starter content, they're just farming DfB from 1-20, it's hardly surprising.
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| People don't want content, they want to get to level 20 (for some inexplicable reason that they're unable to properly articulate) as fast as humanly possible. |
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I dunno about that. I like some of the new stuff including the SSAs and Sandra Costel's arc. Part of what I was meaning was that if you don't have the star you only get half the story, the average player doesn't know about the Mission tab, and that admittedly most stories work better solo while players like to team. That last part also runs into hivemind/groupthink situations where even if you disagree with a group, you just go with the flow until you lean towards their style of thought.
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Originally Posted by Eva Destruction
It's because the new stories aren't engaging. There is too much yakking and people go on text overload. There are too many custom mechanics that put the action on pause for too long and too often. Praetoria had about the right mix of reading and killing stuff, fancy mechanics and straightforward maps full of bad guys, but the starter arcs and the SSAs are more "look what we can do!" than "how can we tell a good story and make it fun to play?"
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I typically want to get to 22 ASAP for SOs, but I use AE for that if I can (alot easier when you don't need a full team to start [while DFB has a smaller team requirement, no one is willing to start it with less than 7])
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Originally Posted by The_Spad_EU
Well given that most people aren't even doing the starter content, they're just farming DfB from 1-20, it's hardly surprising. People don't want content, they want to get to level 20 (for some inexplicable reason that they're unable to properly articulate) as fast as humanly possible. I don't even really get why as Freebies only have 2 character slots and can't do Incarnate stuff, so it's not even as it they can roll loads of alts or just play endgame stuff.
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Originally Posted by Shubbie
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A dismaying number of people just don't like to read. In games, or at all.
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THIS. Back in my 24/7 TFing days I honestly tried to learn the story of a new-for-me TF as I played it along (either as a leader or as a player.) It never worked. Click-click-click, no time to pause and read, teammates are waiting. Or back in those 3 days right after release when such thing as "AE story teams" existed... The main issue with them was that without the star duplicating all the mish text in chat, no one understood what the heck is going on anyway.|
Originally Posted by Zamuel
admittedly most stories work better solo while players like to team.
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So, if you want to explore the world, you solo. I did solo a lot as a new player, I really read descriptions of every new mob I met, and sometimes just flew around sightseeing. So, of course, new players who team alot miss most of the lore. It's not because they're conditioned by some World of Clichequest desire to "get to the raids," some of them are, some of them aren't. DEFINITELY not because they're all semi-literate yahoos. It's because it's simply not the sort of thing done in PuGs for very practical reasons.
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