Am I alone in not in a rush to see Statesman die?

This thought occurred to me just the other day when the announce date was confirmed, and after all the hype the community team have given it, all the 'yay, Statesman's dying, he's (insert your derogatory thought or comment here)' posts on the forums and even the promotional imagery.

I'm not going to be in a rush to see Statesman die.


Funny, even as I typed that it seems a bit morbid, because that's what effectively we're doing, even for a fictional character. I know, it's the same morbidity that drove sales for Death of Superman or the new Batman in the 1990's, but I'm increasingly finding that it's not something I find myself attracted to.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not squeamish or perturbed by death in comics; I've probably experienced a bit more real-world death on a personal level than most people I know in the last six years especially, but that's neither here nor there.

I haven't felt comfortable or felt the decision to 'kill off' Statesman was a good one for a while. I also think the various posters who deride Statesman for being a Marty Stu or a reminder of Mr. Emmert or a four-color hero (I could go on and on, but honestly nowhere near the level of some posters) also bother me a bit because I feel like the complaints may well continue on beyond the event, or the event may not be to their satisfaction, and I find that a bit morbid also.

I admit as I type this I have trouble putting my finger on just what it is; maybe it's that I know this character is dying, that I can't do anything about it and that there are some expectations as to how I should feel when it happens.

That it's not something natural and is a genuine reaction on my part.

I've been playing another game, set somewhere far, far away, and even if the stories there are similarly linear, I at least feel I have a choice in my decisions, a choice to react and think about how I feel about them. I think I would at least like a chance to save Statesman, but I know that it won't matter, and that's almost like salt in the wound in some ways.

And maybe that's the heart of it; I'm being asked to care....no. I feel like I'm being told I should. And I actually like Statesman, I've said as such. But this feels....hollow, somehow.

Am I alone in this? Is anyone else just left feeling....not much at all?




S.

I can't be 'left feeling' anything until a conclusion is reached. I'm currently curious as to where they're going with it - the death of a character or characters involved seems to be a consequence of where they're going rather than the actual "destination" as it were - but until that is seen I can't really be disappointed or left feeling hollow or what have you.

I just don't care

I care about Fusionette, Faultline, Flower Knight, and Blast Furnace

but I don't care about the phalanx

Oz, I completely agree. This has the same distasteful feeling of watching a terminal cancer patient die, you know it's coming, you know when it's coming, you know why it's coming, and you also know there's nothing you can do about it.

Personally, I like Statesman. The Statesman from the novels and comics, that is, as he's barely given any role in the actual game at all, even with countless evil alter-egos showing up every couple of issues. Rather, more than fondness for that character's depiction in the game (which, as many have point, could have been handled better), I admire what he represented, an uncompromising old-school hero in a morally decaying society. This is why they're killing him, not because he's a powerhouse, but because hero PCs should be able to do questionable things without having an NPC criticizing them.

If anything, hero players are the Mary Sues of this game, not Statesman. If the PCs succeed, it's because they're awesome. If the PCs fail, the game always sugarcoats it, as they can't be blamed of "failing" when they were simply following a mission's script.

Rejoice, though, it seems the writers are at least partially aware of our concerns, as Dark Astoria's initial contact offers the possibility of being unreasonable and trying to save everyone against all odds. You'll probably fail, though, the timer's pretty harsh, but nothing's stopping you from trying again

I don't care about any of the NPCs in the game. Fortunately, I also don't care about whether or not I care about them, so I remain free to enjoy the game regardless.

Probably.

I only wish I could be the one stepping on his throat and walking over his corpse. That goes for the rest of the Phalanx too.

I am not in a rush to see States die, either. I have nothing against him, but if he has to die for the storyline, then so be it. Just don't play it up excessively, don't rush it, don't drag it out, and for god's sake, let him stay dead. That last point was the most frustrating thing to me about Superman's death. I mean, come on, can't we let Superboy have the limelight for a while? Friggin space Jesus...

I honestly can't say I have any feelings regarding his eventual passing. Partially cause this game is based on comics, so I don't expect him to stay dead. The other part is that I feel I would have more of a reaction had the devs not spoiled it. Instead of "OMG they killed Statesman! What now!?", I feel more like Eeyore: "oh look....Statesman's dead. Exactly like they told us before...."

Pretty much indifferent. He's come across as a bit of a stiff-necked jerk in some of the stories, but he's not actually Jack Emmert, and he's not that important or unpleasant in the overall scheme of the world my characters experience. i care more about Hero One than Statesman.

He could have been handled much better than he was.

I just hope his death is handled better than that of his daughter.

And honestly, the reason I'm kinda "meh" about it is less "Oh it's a shame Statesman's dead" than "Nothing is going to change in the game other than Statesman being out of it."

Now if the game was going through a major revamp as a result of Statesman's death ... more villain groups running rampant through the streets, people losing hope and faith in their heroes ... a zone or two being lost in the fallout of his ending ... yeah.

I don't see that happening.

I don't care at all, now that they told me ahead of time.

And I don't trust them to leave the event with the proper emotional power such a move would deserve. The Well will revive him or some such silliness.

Well, on the practical level, I"m looking forward to another hero merit. I'm also looking forward to seeing where they are going with it. States himself...really hasn't been a major factor in the ingame universe. books and comics, sure, but igame, i rescued him once, and i talked to him while kicking recluses butt, but the game casts me as the hero, i stopped the rikti commander, i stomped nem a few times, I fought the praetorians with a bunch of other heroes, ditto with imperious, rularru in the cathedral and the other major tf guys. Heck, the loss of a big lb'er s character would affect me ingame more than any tf dispenser. on one hand, its cool, rian frostdrake is a hero, and his "supergroup" is liberty server , but it did miss out on oppertunities to characterize the original npcs as well. I care about tunnel rat more than i do the phalanx.

Take the Magic: The Gathering 'What Color Are You?' Quiz.

No, you really aren't alone in not rushing to see Statesman die.

The developers have chosen to remove the most recognizable figure from the game.

They take away the Golden,Silver and Modern age hero all in one.

There are many versions of him, written different ways, different people don't like the character for whatever reasons.

But to me, they are removing the symbol of the game.
No longer really matters the 'why' or the 'how' or even if the character will ever come back.

Just seems so very odd to take the figurehead of the game out.

Maybe there was some long ago deal when Jack left that after so much time, the rights to the character reverts back to him and they are left with no choice. Who knows anymore, even if that were true, we would not hear about that stuff until it was all over.

Oh well.. Statesman is dead, perhaps some other stories can now be finished instead of sitting idle.

Eva,

I think a large part of the problem then becomes 'what now?' for villains after that point. Statesman is the signature hero of the game. There is no cosmic-level equivalent that villains can aspire to take down, and having an antagonist for a villain to keep trying to take down is a necessary staple of drama, let alone superhero stories.

I do feel there's a genuine morbidity (like people, even myself, have when we see a car accident) to proceedings, and I agree with Melancton in that the Phalanx particularly is being ripped apart not so much by their actions but by how they're being written. But that's a seperate issue.

Honestly, I can appreciate a desire to do something new after ten years on the behalf of the Devs; there's a lot of these characters that are their own personal ones and they may well feel ready to move on. In some ways, I think what we're witnessing is CoH's own Crisis on Infinite Earths, based on what I'm hearing about Dark Astoria. Everything and everyone is escalating and I don't think it can be resolved through diplomacy.

That being said, DC's original killing off of Supergirl was moving, heroic and genuinely surprising. This just seems like a wake gone wrong.



S.