What old plot threads could we pick up on?
By
Adelie,
Posted on: 2011-12-19 15:42 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
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I actually have the first part of that arc, and it bugged me when I got it because of that.|
Originally Posted by Dr_MechanoEU
Well you haven't completely destroyed them in Mercy...
They come back in a 40-50 arc with avengeance, they're tougher, meaner and you face off against the Matriarch of the Snakes (the one who is laying the eggs) who is also suggested to be a minor Incarnate like Trapdoor. |
I don't know if I should be more frustrated that it was a cheap trick to bring back the snakes, or if I should be appreciative that it's faithful to the comic book industry, that they died a comic book death.
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For some we already have a Dev response:
"Oh, those old ideas were someone ELSE's ideas, we want our fresh-faced programming youths to be able to run with their OWN concepts!"
.... which will also be left hanging, or gutted to fit some trial that resembles them not a whit, if the game exists still a few years from now.
Croatoa itself is done. You saved it from being drawn into the spirit world by red caps. It's done, period. There's nothing "more" after that except a task force that used to be overly run and now it seems nobody touches.
Wanted: Origin centric story arcs.
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I'd like to learn more about gadzul oil myself, in the story Martin Henri was investigating the evils of the black blood but then they managed to curse his journal and plant the suggestion that he should go after the french cultists in the isles instead. After praetoria is done with I think the next several issues should be devoted to exploring all these hanging plot points before we go plowing into another swarm of poorly designed trials around the battalion.
There is a difference between retreating and giving up.
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What I'm saying is it doesn't tie into City of Heroes in any way. I'd like to see the Red Caps show up in the game after the Croatoa level range - so 35 and over - even if it's just a cameo or a single mission. I want to know what happened with the Tautha de Dannon and the Fir Bolg. Did they settle their differences? Did they move on? Or did some of them decide to stay behind in Croatoa and actually protect the local people from any lingering ghosts? Maybe they did, and maybe something else will try to invade Croatoa in the 40s and we'll have to go back and learn how things fared after we left.|
Originally Posted by Stormbird
Croatoa itself is done. You saved it from being drawn into the spirit world by red caps. It's done, period. There's nothing "more" after that except a task force that used to be overly run and now it seems nobody touches.
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You're right, there's nothing more that has to be said, but I'd still like to see the place integrated into the game proper a little more.
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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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There are so many... I don't even know where to begin. I wish to God the devs would hold a contest where players could submit ideas for story arcs that build on existing lore, and have them implemented in the game (within the realm of reason - for example, even though God knows HOW many people would love to see Brass Monday, they can't do it because of the sheer amount of art assets it would take to do it properly).
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Heh, that's crazy, right? |
Originally Posted by ketch
You want to fight people with superpowers? I'm sorry, but we've got Mrs. Jenkins from 4-C lined up to throw rocks at you. Oh, she's empowered by the Well or some nonsense. It'll be fun.
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But yeah, I want to fight legit super powered characters in a comic book/superhero inspired game on a regular basis as opposed to just the "big" missions.
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They appear, for no clear reason, in a villain tip mission (30-39 bracket, IIRC.)
| I'd like to see the Red Caps show up in the game after the Croatoa level range - so 35 and over - even if it's just a cameo or a single mission. |
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OK, so maybe not JUST as a cameo |
Originally Posted by Venture
They appear, for no clear reason, in a villain tip mission (30-39 bracket, IIRC.)
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But there are more stories we can tell about them just the same. They're an interesting concept, and it's one of the few that every NPC seems to be sickened by. It's worth more than just Croatoa.
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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 recall when Hero 1 turned up on the EU Test server and was asked about the Coralax, he basically said that it was up to the players to tell their story (this was before AE went live). That sounded pretty much to me like the Devs had given up on that particular faction for whatever reasons, I don't know. |
Originally Posted by Dark_Respite
There are so many... I don't even know where to begin. I wish to God the devs would hold a contest where players could submit ideas for story arcs that build on existing lore, and have them implemented in the game (within the realm of reason - for example, even though God knows HOW many people would love to see Brass Monday, they can't do it because of the sheer amount of art assets it would take to do it properly).
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I'd love to see the Devs do that more often. To say, "we have no further plans for this group, go hog wild with your ideas" and then see some of the better arcs elevated as a Devs' Choice, the closest you can get to being enshrined in lore.
Of course, several years after the Coralax were supposedly abandoned, we have Mr Ross show up in Sharkhead to demonstrate how awesome the Well is by being behind the Coralax all along. *Sigh*
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And that is why my answer to questions like these is always "none of them." If they want to write garbage, they should stick to writing their own garbage, not taking someone else's perfectly good storyline or villain group and twisting them beyond recognition to fit the latest Shiny of the Month.
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Originally Posted by Dante
Of course, several years after the Coralax were supposedly abandoned, we have Mr Ross show up in Sharkhead to demonstrate how awesome the Well is by being behind the Coralax all along. *Sigh*
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I want the construction in Steel Canyon and the similar one villanside to actually complete. They've been building whatever it is for over five years now. Wasn't it supposed to be a spaceport or something? Now that's an abandoned story worth checking out, or at least do something about the construction, it's getting silly now.
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Honestly I agree, and yet I also want to see more of certain ideas. Honestly, I also like my experience from 1-50 to be different so what would be good is just more storylines using existing groups at the appropriate levels. At the atlas park/Mercy level I should be able to pursue the Snakes, Longbow, Skulls, Hellions, Galaxy-city fallout, sewers vahz, clockwork or RIP storylines to the next zone level.... so basically just the original Origin contacts but better written.|
Originally Posted by Party_Kake
Now personally I think there are concepts that SHOULD end after specific level ranges. I thought it was awesome that the snakes just stop appearing after mercy island, with very rare appearances in port oakes. It's cool that you can say you helped completely destroy them, and that they only exist within a certain timeframe. This game's "level range equals time" mechanic is very cool and it's one of the things I like most about leveling. You actually CAN get the message "Sorry, you took too long, someone else handled it or it never got done" or somesuch message. That's neat. I like that. And sometimes entire groups of baddies can be classified that way too. |
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A million times yes to rescuing the lore. I say the same about the zones. New issues don't always need new zones. Content can just as easily be put in existing zones. This has been done to Talos a few times. Do it more.
And the idea that new writers should have totally new characters makes little sense to me. Batman, Superman, Spiderman, the X-Men have all had dozens of different authors writing their stories.
I'd like to see the "bored gal" from Dr Kane come back for revenge!
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Did they even end the Ritki story? I did the RWZ arcs and I felt it was still open and unfinished. Yeah we know who was behind it, but then what? What happened to the Ritki on their world and here?
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No, they did not. We solved the plot thread of the Second Invasion, but the Rikti storyline is still open. Now, you have to recognise that in an MMO, you can never really "end" a storyline because these enemies will keep showing up in the overworld, and you need to explain why that is. Thus, Hro runs back to the homeworld, tail between his legs, where he'll be fighting a political fight. But the Rikti here still have a large stockpile of weapons and troops, so they can keep on fighting for some time. In this way, the plot thread ends, but the faction's presence is still justified.|
Originally Posted by LegionAlpha
Did they even end the Ritki story? I did the RWZ arcs and I felt it was still open and unfinished. Yeah we know who was behind it, but then what? What happened to the Ritki on their world and here?
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That said, I'd like to see a storyline where we travel to the Rikti homeworld and negotiate with their leaders directly, possibly expose, oppose and foil an attempted coup by Hro, possibly even getting caught in the midst of a civil war as news of the Batallion reach the people. We can then actually divorce the Lineage of War from the Rikti high command entirely and paint them as a separatist paramilitary group which split from the main Rikti society and now exist either as exiles on Earth or as clandestine operatives on the Rikti homeworld in a similar fashion to how the 5th Column exists on our Earth.
That could be an interesting story to follow, especially since it will feed on the underlying political situation on Rikti Earth, as well as feed off what history we know about them.
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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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You arrest the Petrovic brothers, many of their lieutenants and the bosses and lieutenants of the opposing Hellions in the midst of a gang war the two gangs have over a magic cloak. The contacts who give you the arc are Lorenzo DiCosta, Wes Schnabel and Willy Starbuck, all in the 10-14 range.| *The Skulls and the Petrovic brothers. I may be misremembering, but I understood that the Petrovic brothers are the founders of the Skulls. I don't know if they show up anywhere, but I haven't seen them. I don't know why they decided to start a gang, I don't know if they had black magic powers before they did, I don't know how they found them, I don't know what they want... And considering the Skulls just sort of "stop," it might be a good story to tell. |
If you don't remember it it's because the arc really isn't all that memorable. No special dynamics, ambushes work as you would EXPECT the ambushes to work (I click this glowy, and they'll come get me...), not even enemies fighting each other (REALLY fighting each other; you get to see a couple posed battles which you've probably already seen plenty of times).
It's an arc that could definitely use some retooling (and maybe a dedicated contact who doesn't also send you on a bunch of "Learn the Mechanics of City of Heroes!" missions; we've got Twinshot for that now! Get rid of them!).
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I remember the Bonefire arc just fine, but I don't remember anyone ever mentioning leaders of Skulls or Hellions in it. The mechanics aren't the problem, the story of it is. Bonefire is essentially "Hellions stole a cloak, Hellions kidnapped a mystic, Hellions are moving in on the Skulls. Kill skuls. And Hellions. The end!" I don't recall the arc really elaborating on the gangs' methods, ideologies or identity. In fact, I'm pretty sure you can swap the Skulls and the Hellions in that arc and it'd make about as much sense.|
Originally Posted by Mr_Grey
If you don't remember it it's because the arc really isn't all that memorable. No special dynamics, ambushes work as you would EXPECT the ambushes to work (I click this glowy, and they'll come get me...), not even enemies fighting each other (REALLY fighting each other; you get to see a couple posed battles which you've probably already seen plenty of times).
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Nothing in Bonefire seems to build up to anything, and I don't recall it having much of a finale, at least not one which appears to have resulted in from the actions you took in the arc prior to it. It's a lot like the Hollows arc. "Go do random stuff for a while. I have just discovered where Frostfire lives on my own, so your previous missions didn't really amount to anything." If it's a story arc, it needs to follow some kind of plot where all missions are at least relevant to it.
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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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And I agree - if we bring Bat'Zul into it, especially as his bindings weaken, that could make for pretty interesting Solo Incarnate content. That's actually more or less exactly what I feel Incarnate content should be - messing with the kind of divine and demonic powers that have shaped history and which could pose a massive threat if actually released. I like that idea a lot.
http://na.cityofheroes.com/en/game_i...y/luddites.php
The Know Your Adversary links on the home page. I really paraphrased it from my foggy memory of their story, so if you want the full run the link is there. All that back story, and I can't think of a single story line for the guys.