freedom phalanx = meh

I finished the 4th SSA and have to say the problem with it is the Freedom Phalanx.

These are not people I look up to, the are squabbling children, incompetents, who are best at standing around training people while Rikti, zombies, and anyone else invades.

What made the SSA a fail for me was that it was not only watching someone else's soap opera, it failed the basic rule of a story. It did not have a beginning, a middle, and an end. It seemed to assume you knew about the characters and some of the story before you started. And it did not make you care for or about any of them - it assumed you already did.

First Ward was much better in that the whole story was there (at least at the beginning). I was introduced to the characters, learned the story, and was part of it. Then they started bringing up existing characters I'd always ignored and it lost it's appeal.

I like much of the content that is done in the game - but please tell a whole story. Don't try to bring in recurring characters that we may not know anything or care anything about. Don't make the story be about those other characters with us just standing watching them argue.

I want to be the hero of my own story. If I wanted to watch other superheroes squabble I'd just watch the Avengers on Netflix (it's on streaming).

I'm more interested in how you've managed to stream a movie on Netflix that won't even be released in theaters for another 5 months.

That would be the Avengers cartoon, not the movie.

Here I was thinking he meant the Emma Peal Avengers.


Regardless, if you don't like it, play the rest of the game. I thought 4 was the best written one so far, it included a lot of little references and actually bothered to tie plot elements together unlike most of the rest of the game, and it did actually bother to fill us in on bits we didn't know, but you've probably just ignored it so you can whine you don't know.

And I'd rather they use the characters so we actually get some development with them instead of keeping them useless static cutouts.

Since I did not give a positive example - I like the storyline in Faultline so much more. I did not know any of the characters ahead of time (I think they were invented for it), so I got all of the details as I went.

Ironically enough, killing off the Statesman might be the smart move here, because he's pretty much the epitome of everything that's wrong with the Freedom Phalanx in general. The Statesman is the Mary Sue of City of Heroes. He's the greatest that ever was, the greatest there ever will be, he's the one that shows up as a level 54 AV when you rescue them, he's the one we'll never be greater than... And yet he has all of ONE appearance in the entire game.

Well, that's how he used to be. He's showed up a few more times and been brought down a bit, but the point is that these characters are the development team's babies. Almost every Lead Something has a red name named after one of them. Matt Miller created Positron himself, I believe. These guys are favoured, but like the Statesman, they never get any characterisation, and when they do, it's pretty much the worst comic book angle of a group of jerkasses who can't stand each other and have more character flaws than a parody of the game would.

We don't know much about these characters, and what we know about them is not endearing. Manticore kidnapped his future wife naked out of her bath tub and handed her over to Arachnos as part of some ridiculous Batman gambit. And yet we're supposed to care that these people could die? Meh. Kill 'em all. Get them out of the game and replace them with someone who has background to him in the actual game. Alexis was probably the best example of why this is a problem. Prior to her getting killed, I didn't even know she existed.

I don't like emotionally manipulative sensationalist storylines to begin with, yet it's somehow even worse when they involve characters that players have had no reason to care about.

Quote:

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.

My opinion about the Freedom Phalanx is summed up perfectly by the OP title.

Doom/Batman in 2012

The Resistance has boobs too, and better hair!

Here's the problem with writing a story about the player character: Every player character is different. Most people are going to have different idea's or background concepts or stories for their characters, or in the completely opposite direction, not really care at all. The best they could hope to do is create a story based on your actions since the start of the game, assuming you did this mission or ran that task force. It would be very broad, and generic. They simply can not write out a story for every single character. They might be able to create stories based on basic AT, but that'd still take a ton of effort.

On the other hand, you have the in-game characters. You have these people who are important to the world and who have been there for a while. It is far easier to write a story based around set ((I use the term loosely)) cannon and characters, and then write in the character as an important part of that story.

The problem is the entire "Me me me!" attitude. People want to be the central character in CoH, people want to be the most important person, people want to be stronger then Statesman/Lord Recluse/The entire Freedom Phalanx combined, and they want the devs and the game world to acknowledge that. The way I see it, we're all a part of this world. We all have a part to play, we all have something we do. It's not that I don't think we should be important...I just think people need to stop crying out for things to cater to their personal desires so much.

Yes, but the WWD is not just not about you, you are a side kick at best.

They try to talk up how important you are, but they make all of the important decisions and you just have to go along. Everything goes badly and you just watch and try to pick up the pieces.

A game is not a movie. They can't write a movie, have you watch it in between beating people up, and call that a good story for a game.

I agree with the OP as well. I used to think the FP were super cool when I first started playing the game. However now? Not so much. Especially with Incarnates out, theyre kinda obsolete as top dogs.

I own and have read both novels The Web of Arachnos and The Freedom Phalanx and in turn read them to my wife when she started playing (she likes when I read 'cause I 'do the voices'- a trait I've started to do with Story Arcs and TF's from time to time for the rest of my SG at 'most of' their request ). Having read those gives me a lot of the background behind those characters, so yes, I care. For some more than others, of course. Positron and Synapse in particular.

These SSA's reference those books a LOT, and also reference the City of Heroes comics (which you can dowload for free here!) However, while these resources are available most folks, especially newer players, have no clue they exist. I think it would be nice if more of this was somehow incorporated into the in-game lore before leading up to this for those who didn't read the books. However, you can run some of the arcs through the Menders in Oroborous, but they don't give a lot of information if you haven't read the stories first (Except the Smoke and Mirrors one by Troy Hickman, which is awesome!)

Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is that there's lore out there for those who care enough to look, though I agree I wish there was more, but I'm sure there's a whole 'time and development' thing about that too.

Funny thing is, they try and incorporate them into the storyline, like Manticore in the Shining Stars arc, and folks complain about that too... Damned if you do, damned if you don't, I guess