SSA 5 Discussion (And countdown till its live!)

And some more stuff:

I liked it. I played it on Thea Anastasis, my scrapper.

After I collected my hero merit off Statesman's corpse, I went to Fort Trident to cash it.

Just finished the heroside arc.

The Buildup and the Effect: Color me unimpressed, but then, the devs did their best to ensure that we would be. They tell us what happens in the title, and who it happens to in an intentional spoiler weeks ago. What am I supposed to say when it finally arrives? "OMG?!? I don't believe it!" The advertising blitz ruined the story itself. This could have been an intense, engrossing and even shocking experience, if only a little restraint and subtlety had been applied.

Early Missions: There were a lot of big names in this arc. Too many of them. I'd have loved the option for my team to go at Captain Mako and Crew with just BAB for support. As it was, I could just stand back, munch popcorn and move on. Same with the Three Stooges.

The Clues: Did you really have to italicize the word "kill" every time it appeared? I was honestly fighting not to giggle.

The Final Scene: My question, how do you live nearly a century as a hero in a world full of danger when you're THAT oblivious? It's a blatant trap, he walks right into it without a thought, poof. He looked like a buffoon that was being led around like a dog on a leash. A little action in the scene, trying to fight his way free or being lured into the right spot before getting zorched might have at least given him a bit more dignity. His little flashback was neat but seemed a little weird as he has barely shared a private word with anyone before. Why would we know what he was thinking?

If I were doing this last mission, you would catch up and fight beside Statesman against the Aspect of Rularuu that Wade has summoned to protect himself. As it falls, Wade springs his trap, then you fight the empowered Wade until he flees, admitting that he may not have full control over the power yet, but next time... As it was, I felt like I needed a set of bleachers to sit on while I finished my popcorn from the early missions.

It was neat getting to see a pre-Spider Lord Recluse. Otherwise, I honestly hope this whole mess is a learning experience for the storytelling crew.

I have mixed feelings about SSA5.

I don't often get emotional about this game - after all, it is just a game - but I had a different reaction after the end of SSA5: "I want me a piece of that slimy, smarmy little b******."

I can see the "lameness" of Stateman's death leading to the dissolution of the Freedom Phalanx - it's REALLY demoralizing.

That said, Darrin Wade is actually an interesting antagonist; a pencil-necked geek who manages to pull off what even Recluse couldn't - and it makes me wonder in what direction the devs will take Recluse. I can imagine Recluse sitting in his private chamber: "If he can kill Marcus, I may be next." Moreover, will Wade go after Praetorian Marcus Cole?

So, while SSA5 had its difficult points, it also has its areas of promise.

I don't anyone to think I didn't enjoy the arc. I really did, I just had problems with it. I whine because I care.

That said, here's what me and a friend came up with that would have been a way better way for states to go.

Darrin is at the ritual site, chanting and whatnot, building up power and starting to open a rift to the shard. Statesman tries to stop him, but gets blown back and stopped over and over. He lands a punch on Darrin, which doesn't do much before States finally gives up on Darrin, and instead uses his link to the well, countering everything Darrin is doing and burning out his body. As he's using up his life-force to counter rularuu, we get the sappy cutscene of "Daddy, can you fly to heaven?" and then he says "I'm on my way..."

Big flash, Darrin wade flies away having picked up a tiny bit of Rularuu's power, States falls over dead with a content smile on his face having saved the world one last time.

While you should never say "Never" (just ask Sean Connery), the red names have made it abundantly clear that they intend this to be the True Death.

God, I hate Rularuu. I lost count of the number of hospital runs I had to make after tunnel after tunnel full of Rularuu. Which, frankly, is all this segment was: tunnels full of Rularuu punctuated by a couple of mass combat scenes with a bunch of named characters.

And then ... yet another climax where I get to be a spectator. In fact, this time I'm not even in the scene, I can't do anything to affect it, and I might as well have not bothered to fight my way through all those Rularuu for all the good (or bad) I do. Yank my emotions with Li'l Miss Liberty going "Gwandpa, can you fwy to heaven?" all you want, but I don't play this game to sit on the sidelines and munch popcorn while big things happen.

Also: "no where to run"? "Clich"? "Defeat Positron, Indigo, and Viridian" (on villain side)? Seriously, devs, hire a copy editor. (20 years of experience here, reasonable rates.)

Statesman
=
Pwnt

Wade for President

I have to say I'm disappointed in the devs hyping that the HOW Statesman died when it's just a magic spell. Honestly I found it more interesting that we learned that it was how Imperious and Romulus died, or rather that they died together. If you can boil it down to 'a gun' or 'kryptonite' or 'a really big rock' or similar when you're explaining a death, you probably -don't- want to say the 'how' is really important.

So, ya, I think the spoiling was a major misstep. I think it would've been a huge surprise that the plan actually worked and leaving us wondering up until the end instead of just going on this big 'Yup he's definitely gonna die now'. It wasn't written in a way that still makes an impact if it isn't a surprise. So, sorry guys, you fouled up with this call.

Overall though? I did like it. I like seeing the Signature characters getting some spotlight so that they're actually characters instead of these big cardboard cutouts that hand out missions, especially seeing folks like Indigo and Crimson or the B-lister team, the Vindicators. I tihnk that's probably the best thing about the Signature arcs is we're going to see these characters actually involved in stuff. The more you can show them off the better.

And ya, Statesman's last moments thinking of his wife, etc, were pretty touching.

I was surprisingly touched by this. Especially the scene with Recluse. The rest of the arc wasn't especially strong, but the end-game cutscene/flashback was very well written. Thank you for giving Statesman such a wonderful send-off. He's been such a big part to the story of this game, both pre and post beta. It's a powerful statement to make: it's no longer his story. It's no longer City of Sidekicks. We're the heroes now.

Other good stuff: Player character was upsold throughout in all the dialogue. No over-emphasis on Positron or any of the NPCs. Fantastic new maps. No praetoria / well of the furies. Nice one!

I hope this lasts. It feels good to be able to say nice things about the CoH story direction. (CoH's biggest strength has always been its lore IMO.)

Ran the heroside version and really enjoyed the arc. I liked the new maps and loved the fact that the Rularuu were in it. The final cut scene I found reasonably somber and it worked well enough for me.

Although the triumphant mission completion music at the end was a little silly.

Looking forward to acts 6 and 7.

Very cool cut scene. The rest of the arc was rather weak and just a time-killer, IMO. Many of these segments in each arc just seem like filler.

Honestly, I thought killing off States would have been a lot more epic. I wonder how Wade will conclude his scheme. It feels a bit odd being beaten by Wade and being suckered into that 'spell' or 'ritual'. I think it may have been better if you got into an epic battle fighting with States where he is weakened and then he chases Wade and then enter that cut scene. The players would have felt far more involved.

THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheJazMan Very cool cut scene. The rest of the arc was rather weak and just a time-killer, IMO.

I agree. I had to chase the guy through 3 maps just to finally watch him die...

Speaking of his death: Statesman has been around for the better part of a century. In all that time he must have read many books and been privy to plenty of television and film media. Do you mean to tell me that he never learned that when the hero pursues the villain to a significant-looking location and steps into the center of said location, that a trap is usually sprung!? Honestly, I'm watching the cut scene (which, again, I liked) and I'm watching him step across that middle circle thinking all the while, "Aaaaaaand queue magical trap!"

Ahem... so that was a bit frustrating. Ironically, I disliked this part of the arc the most of all of them, mainly because there was no "To Be Continued scene" at the end. All of the others left us with an idea of where we were heading next, but now, I'm left saying, "Sooo, now what?"

I very much wish there had been some memorial stills of the Freedom Phalanx, or some other sort of reaction denoument to the third mission. For the death of such a significant character, it felt somewhat inconclusive, in an unsettling sort of way (as opposed to a left-me-wanting-to-find-out-more way).

Some might say [who?][citation needed] that killing off you main superhero is jumping the shark.

Am I the only one that thought the inclusion of Mako in this arc was a stroke of pure genius?

Why yes, I did jump over him during the fight and say
" Eeeeehhh!!!!"

As for the rest of it, I agree with many here that saw the last scene and said "Wait he can't possibly be stupid enough to walk right... oh wow."

That said I thought the actual death scene was touching and a fitting.

The fight was hardly epic, the death however, I thought was. And again, the inclusion of Mako, whether for reasons of comedy or simply by coincidence was just pure, unadulterated awesome.

I really didn't think it mattered where States was going to step. Wade could cast that spell and location wasn't a huge deal (I could be wrong).

Anyway, the sad thing about CoX is it has many weak/boring factions. The Rularuu stuff is decent and all but not that great. I think having various mobs of factions in place seems out of sorts. Perhaps more battles against small teams of EBs or something; other supers. I don't know...the same group just getting in your way over 3 segments and making it feel like filler is kinda meh.

Having said that, way to include so signature characters in this one. That was a bit more fun and we could have replaced the monotonous mobs with a few more new supers or something. Too often in these SSAs the first 2 segments feel unnecessary; these should have been a bit more significant.

If you're an RPer and have the opportunity to do this IC, take it. It will be all the more epic. After a bit of fruitless attempts at revival, and shouting and yelling at the sky (just a little bit--we weren't that bad), and swearing murderous revenge, the eight of us came to our senses and committed to filling Statesman's shoes and upholding his principles. Years ago my namesake Captain-Electric was sort of "cursed" with a permanent sense of optimism after his science accident, so he doesn't often experience misery, but even he was grief stricken. One member of the team planted his shield in the ground where Statesman had fallen and laser-engraved a "last stand" message on it. Then Captain-Electric used his powers to solder it permanently to the earth and stone.

Then I took off my cape and draped it over the shield. Yes, I was prepared! Ha!

Some people hated it. I'm not speaking for them. I'm speaking for me, and what I observed in my SG's reactions. We were moved by it. Some members even became teary eyed! I don't know about epic, but I don't believe "epic" was the intention (that's for later ), but it was pretty damn moving. (DISCLAIMER: IN MY OPINION!)