Is the "Coming Storm" the Shadow Shard?
By
AkuTenshiiZero,
Posted on: 2011-12-23 21:54 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
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'I don't like the look of it at all,' said the King: 'however, it may kiss my hand if it likes.'
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'A cat may look at a king,' said Alice.
The Battalion is literally flying at us from outer space, as far as I'm aware. So that probably rules out them being extradimensional.
We know so little so far that, sure, maybe the Shard will tie into it somehow. But I doubt it will be the source. I'd guess they used that phrase on purpose in the badge text just to get players theorizing - or maybe they hadn't yet decided or were planning something else when that was written.
I wonder if the Coming Storm is going to be a conflagration of events, all which threaten the world and against which humanity's resources may be spread too thin when the Battalion attacks.
Sounds more like a "perfect storm", given the frequency and variety of seemingly unrelated hints, all which point toward this very crucial point in time.
I'm probably wrong (I haven't played as far along in the story as many of you), but my gut has long told me the Coming Storm isn't just one thing.
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I agree with you there, and I think (just my opinion) that the Praetorian Hami, the Shard, and even the Incarnate system itself, along with other factors including the SSA's, are what's going to lead to it. Emperor Cole is just a red herring |
Originally Posted by Captain-Electric
I wonder if the Coming Storm is going to be a conflagration of events, all which threaten the world and against which humanity's resources may be spread too thin when the Battalion attacks.
Sounds more like a "perfect storm", given the frequency and variety of seemingly unrelated hints, all which point toward this very crucial point in time. I'm probably wrong (I haven't played as far along in the story as many of you), but my gut has long told me the Coming Storm isn't just one thing. |
.I honestly see the SSA's as a guide to bring the characters into the mythos itself with the NPC's and the factions so when the Coming Storm arrives they're more invested in the storyline and those in it. It seems they're making more of a push to get folks to learn and care about the world and those in it (with mixed results depending on the forum threads you keep up with).
Wouldn't surprise me if the SSA's are a barometer of sorts, that will reveal more information and become more 'crucial' to the events as the story unfolds and leads to "The Coming Storm".
This is, of course, speculation on my part. However, the current SSA's are establishing a timeline using your leveling as the gauge on the time period, including the conceptualization of the 'Shining Stars' arc. I wouldn't be surprised as more of the SSA's are made, they repeat this to enforce that sense of time. Even Oroborus views it from that perspective, and I imagine as they update old zones and story arcs they'll use the same method, eventually making a more comprehensive timeline for folks to follow. Heck, I've even seen the tips taking that route (where Frostfire starts out as a master planner then learns better and seeks to become a hero, for just one example- though they're far from perfect and make most folks seem unbalanced at best if you ask me).
So, will the Shard play into it? Undoubtably. If Dark Astoria plays into future events, and is being revamped for that purpose, I would be let down if they let the Shadow Shard fall to the wayside, and I think our Dev's are better, and smarter, than that.
Will we like the results? Who knows. For me so far, it's been mixed emotions and a hell of a ride, either way
I just hope they find a way of writing that make the story poignant without feeling like they need to put words into our character's mouths. Though I doubt there's any mechanic they can invent that can fix that and have the story progress. Ya' take the good and the bad, I suppose.
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I couldn't agree more.
Has been a few days since a coming storm thread anyway 
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No, it's not.
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Originally Posted by Ultimus
I just picked up this badge in the Shadow Shard called "Storm Watcher" the description says:
I don't know what we know about the Battalion, but are they from the Shard? Also do we know if the note sender is Mender Ramiel? |
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The Battalion is an alien race from our dimension that, in Twilight's Son's future, will have wiped out the Kheldian race (apparently creatures made of pure energy make good batteries!).
The Shadow Shard is an artificially created pocket dimension created by the Midnight Club to house the shattered remnants of Rularu when they imprisoned him. There are no creature native to the Shard; all the creatures there are fragments or creations of Rularu.
@Roderick
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That's incorrect. There are native human refugees in the shard.
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Originally Posted by Roderick
The Shadow Shard is an artificially created pocket dimension created by the Midnight Club to house the shattered remnants of Rularu when they imprisoned him. There are no creature native to the Shard; all the creatures there are fragments or creations of Rularu.
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The Coming Storm is nothing more than a carrot they've been dangling on a stick in front of our noses for the past 7 years, like we were donkey's on a treadmill, endlessly trudging onwards towards something we'll never ever reach.
@FloatingFatMan
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Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
The "Coming Storm" is this game's answer to the final server shutdown event. If it ever happens, it'll be when NCsoft pulls the plug or when a CoX2 releases, which will naturally be built from the ground up to maximize RMT potential.
/tinfoilhat
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Well, which is it? They're either native to the area or they are refugees from another area. They can't be both.
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Originally Posted by Mazey
That's incorrect. There are native human refugees in the shard.
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Descendants of refugees.
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Originally Posted by NekoNeko
Well, which is it? They're either native to the area or they are refugees from another area. They can't be both.
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'I don't like the look of it at all,' said the King: 'however, it may kiss my hand if it likes.'
'I'd rather not,' the Cat remarked.
'Don't be impertinent,' said the King, 'and don't look at me like that!' He got behind Alice as he spoke.
'A cat may look at a king,' said Alice.
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4 years. And you're wrong, Prometheus has specifically said that the Battalion is the Coming Storm, I wouldn't be at all surprised if they're next after we defeat Tyrant.
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Originally Posted by FloatingFatMan
The Coming Storm is nothing more than a carrot they've been dangling on a stick in front of our noses for the past 7 years, like we were donkey's on a treadmill, endlessly trudging onwards towards something we'll never ever reach.
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It's likely that when the shadow shard and references to 'The Coming Storm' the devs themselves hadn't really decided just what the 'Coming Storm' referred to. More recently Prometheus has stated explicitly that the Battalion are the Coming Storm and that the well itself is more than a little worried about how things are going to work out.
I see three most likely ideas of what the coming storm will constitute.
1) The Battalion is the coming storm and Rularuu is uninvolved. It's possible that the Shadow Shard is largely abandoned lore. The appearance of the Rulu-shin in the WWD storyline does show that the devs haven't given up completely on the big R.
2) The Battalion are unrelated to Rularuu, but their invasion causes enough chaos that Rularuu is able to break at least some of the magic keeping him in place and he adds to the problem.
3) The Battalion are in fact related to Rularuu. They may be his worshippers/servants or (worst possible case) his fellow Elder Things/Members of his Species (I don't recall anything from lore that indicated Rularuu is a truly unique individual) and that freeing him is a major objective of their invastion.
PS My money is still on The Center being the letter writer. Either him or Miss Francine.
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@Inquisitor
The Battalion (who are aliens, and inter-dimensional!) couldn't even beat the Rikti, so I'm sure we'll be fine when the Earthbound Rikti join our side for the asskicking extravaganza to end all time.
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@Starflier
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Well the Rikti in their home dimension are nothing to laugh at. The only reason Primal Earth won the Rikti War is that they put up a big wall to keep the Rikti out.|
Originally Posted by Starflier
The Battalion (who are aliens, and inter-dimensional!) couldn't even beat the Rikti, so I'm sure we'll be fine when the Earthbound Rikti join our side for the asskicking extravaganza to end all time.
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Also, nothing i've seen so far indicates the Battalion are any more interdimensional than any other faction or entity that appears in parallel dimensions. The natives of Rikti Earth fought their Earth's version of the Battalion. By that standard every character in CoH, the 5th Column, Marcus Cole, the Circle of Thorns, all the members of the Freedom Phalanx, the Freakshow, Nemesis, and almost every other thing in CoH is interdimensional.
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Prometheus makes it sound as though the crises to be addressed by players are, in order: Tyrant, Hamidon, The Battalion. Which, if reflective of the narrative plan for The Coming Storm by Paragon, means we are still only in phase one of the overall story.
In addition, the notion that defeating The Battalion requires heroes and villains to set aside their factional/moral differences suggests that the devs recognize the failure of the red side of the CoX game to live up to initial hopes/expectations and that the first step in returning the game to a single play environment in which "alignment" is purely notional and not functional will be taken in this Coming Storm storyline.
What they have planned after all this is anyone's guess, but the game engine will be 10 years old, or close to it, by then and ready for retirement.
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There really isn't anything in the game lore-wise (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) that indicates the Battalion the Rikti fought in their dimension are on the same scale powerwise as the ones in our dimenion. Take our Hamidon (who is fairly well contained even if we haven't figured out how to really kill him) compared to the Praetorian Hamidon (who controls practically the entire Earth and is only letting Emperor Cole have a bit of land to play with as a sort of Ant Farm) as an example where the 'same' being from two different dimensions can have massively differnt strength between versions. An even better example is the Clockwork King. In our dimension he's a relatively minor threat (mostly because he's too nuts to realize just how powerful he is) but there is another dimension where he is literally the only living thing left on Earth.
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Originally Posted by Starflier
The Battalion (who are aliens, and inter-dimensional!) couldn't even beat the Rikti, so I'm sure we'll be fine when the Earthbound Rikti join our side for the asskicking extravaganza to end all time.
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@Inquisitor
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U'Kon Gr'ai is pretty much testament to that fact. ****** hits hard.
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Originally Posted by Schismatrix
Well the Rikti in their home dimension are nothing to laugh at.
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The devs have also heavily hinted at a thrid way to Incarnate power that doesn't invovle the Well or helping Prometheus, so that could be tied in with the Coming Storm too.
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Originally Posted by Schismatrix
Well the Rikti in their home dimension are nothing to laugh at.
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Originally Posted by Scythus
U'Kon Gr'ai is pretty much testament to that fact. ****** hits hard.
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Until the Coming Storm actually DOES arrive in game, it's nothing but a carrot on a stick; so get walking, Mr Donkey... Gotta follow that carrot. |
Originally Posted by DarkGob
4 years. And you're wrong, Prometheus has specifically said that the Battalion is the Coming Storm, I wouldn't be at all surprised if they're next after we defeat Tyrant.
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@FloatingFatMan
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
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Well, there were some rather large hailstones that fell on Galaxy City recently.
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Originally Posted by FloatingFatMan
Until the Coming Storm actually DOES arrive in game, it's nothing but a carrot on a stick; so get walking, Mr Donkey... Gotta follow that carrot.
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@Inquisitor
And some big hints that DA will reveal who the Mysterious Letter Writer is.
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
I just picked up this badge in the Shadow Shard called "Storm Watcher" the description says:
Also do we know if the note sender is Mender Ramiel?