SSA 5 Discussion (And countdown till its live!)

Hey everyone,
Let me first say... that I am *not* a fan of Statesman dying. I think that the developers should have told Black Pebble NO. Pure, simple, and clear cut answer to his thoughts of killing the face of the game.

Statesman is/was/should have represented the 'true hero' thing.
Alas, that did/didn't happen depending on your own perspectives.

The process of how he died was revealed through the cutscene.

More than a few people have tried to point out what could be viewed as major flaws to how it played out.

For the moment, let us presume a few things.
1. The spell was designed to rob him of his powers.
2. The location seemed important as well.
3. Wade was able to kill him while he was without his powers and a normal man.

1. The spell itself removed his powers from him.
Statesman was supposed to have possessed Super Strength. Not Kryptonian level, but still Super enough to have done the many things he has. Certainly Super enough to kill another powered person if he chose. He was also reported as being Invulnerable to a high degree. Stories of taking a Nuke and downing a Rikti ship come to mind.
Lets take a man who during 80 years has had to face off from any new villain trying to make a name for himself to Lord Recluse (per comic books often mentioned).

Perhaps.. and this is just Perhaps....
They gave him the attitude that Superman has. Being so hard to hurt, he often lets the villains take the first shot. The cynical "Oh I would always do it this way" people say that is being a chump or something along those lines.
Whatever they may think, it isn't uncommon for those with a degree of Invulnerability to often just take the first shot. From experience they have known they can take it. So perhaps that is how Statesman 'dealt with villains, letting them take the first shot'.

So, we have the spell designed to remove his powers. Wade got off the first shot which... removed his powers. Forgone conclusion it would... since it has before.

2. Location...
Many have pointed out he 'walked into the spot'. I would say, that it didn't need to be the 'exact' spot he walked into. It could have been anywhere in that temple area. As much as it pains me to say this. He was attacked in that exact spot so that it was center camera and was the most clear of debris. That allowed the camera and cutscene to play out with him 'center focus'.
This was done purely for the camera angle and nothing more. It could also as easily been done on the altar but that wasn't center shot.

It could have also needed to be that area as well. Wade if you notice sort of responded right when he was at that spot. Stopping Statesman from walking out of it. Either way.. he ended up in the middle. Both ideas work and sadly..
it still ends up with him being center focus which is what they were wanting to have happen in that 'scene'.

3. Wade was able to kill him while he was powerless and he 'just gave up'.
At first while viewing this scene.. I was thinking to myself.. States shouldn't have just given up at all. He should have said "No, I still have work to do" etc etc etc.
Then.. I thought about it from a different angle and while more philosophical it also taps into the human idea that as we are dying.. we want to know of the comfort on the 'other side'. To think or hear our past loved ones calling us home.

Take into consideration this.
At this point, it is no longer Statesman there. He is without his powers. That is Marcus Cole there now. How hard is it to kill a man? Wade drained him of life, smacked him with energy, burned out his body with weird light?? Doesn't really matter. Wade hit a normal human body with enough 'something' that it was able to kill him.

Did Statesman 'give up' or did a man in the last few seconds as his life was being drained/destroyed 'see his life flash before his eyes'???
Did Marcus Cole simply see what everyone would want to see as their life is fading from their body?
See those he has loved and think that his life is over and it is 'ok'.

Perhaps.. just perhaps that is what that part of the cutscene was supposed to say and represent.

I do not believe that Marcus Cole had any chance at all to resist being killed and 'fight back' against Wade at that point. He wasn't Statesman then, he wasn't Superstrong, Invulnerable and an avatar of Zeus wielding lightning and etc etc that he had. He was a man, who was being killed by someone wielding powers and abilities beyond a normal man.

Statesman died facing a person who he didn't know had the knowledge and power to defeat him. Marcus Cole wanted to bring him to Justice for killing his daughter and did not, could not know that he never stood a chance.

For as much as I dislike the idea they killed Statesman in this story, I can 'see' how it was done and it wasn't performed poorly or with having Statesman be a chump for doing something stupid.

Far too many people say they would never have just walked into it. They would have known it was a trap etc etc etc.
Truthfully, can you really disconnect yourself from being the person who knows what would happen and insert yourself into knowing only what Statesman would have known right at that moment in time?? I honestly believe that no, a person could not. Many who claim to have acted differently might not ever have lived long enough to get to the place Statesman had. It is easy to say "I could have done it better", but not always as easy to actually do it better.

For the record... I do not agree with the course of action CoH has taken regarding Statesman but they seemed to have tried to make him stick to the principles they have established for him.

For myself.. I would have started my conversation while 'arresting' Wade ....
from the sky with a few lightning bolts and ended it with my hand around his throat asking him if he surrendered listening as he tried to gasp out the answer. But.. I am not Statesman and I would have wanted to end his life for killing my daughter.

Statesman was written as a hero and he died being a hero. I can't fault him or the writers for that.


Cos

PS: Dark Respite... Michelle.. Great shot video you did!

Yeah, for everyone claiming he walked into an obvious trap?

1) It's only obvious because we, the players, and omniscient. We have the advantage of being the audience and seeing things from the outside. Our characters didn't know it was a trap until Wade's lair and even then, it was obvious we showed up several seconds too late to save Statesman.

2) That Statesman was standing in the middle was just coincidence. As mentioned above, the middle happened to have the best vantage point for the camera and the cutscene.


As far as the rest of the arc:

- I figured out early on Wade was going to find a way to use the second obelisk, though ICly we weren't aware a second one existed until again, it was too late.

- Wade trying to Dr. Doom Rularuu (sp?) did come as a bit of a surprise. So Darrin wants to summon him...but doesn't want him to end existence? Isn't that a bit contradictory? What's the point of summoning him then?

- Darrin obviously intends to assault Psyche next. ICly my character was (predictably) left in a murderous rage, demanding action be taken. After all, he's sick of waiting for the bad-guys to hurt someone before fighting back, and now he knows Psyche is in danger. There's no reason to wait for Darrin to strike.

I definitely liked this arc.

So much fail and so little time....

While the end cutscene had a few nice touches, I have thus far been thoroughly unimpressed with the SSA's. They feel forced, rushed, and underdeveloped. They are filled with plot holes, this last one greatly lacked power and emotion, and were a tad confusing. All of the "twists" seem like really weak attempts at making sure that the arcs don't actually have a permanent affect on the players.

Given the quality of the new DA arcs, I'm really surprised to be so let down by these.

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder," as the saying goes. You say Tomayto, I say Tomahto. If you liked the arc, well, you are right for the only audience that matters.

Regarding the notion that Statesman "just did not see it coming." That did not work for me because various members of the Freedom Phalanx had been attacked, and Synapse SPECIFICALLY attacked with something capable of draining his superpowers. He had faced all sorts of dangers as others have noted as a soldier, criminal and 80 some odd years as a superhero. My problem is that the actual writing laid down no believable prerequisites for Statesman acting as he did. It was too big a stretch for me; it seemed too out of character. Likewise him not resisting. But reading the explanations of some of the posters makes at least a prima facie case for the events of the arc being at least reasonable to them, and I respect their effort.

The folks that liked the arc have added a TON more exposition for those various positions than the original writer(s) did. I have also read a few scenarios for Statesman's death that would have been eons more heroic to downright inspiring. Both groups did a far better job than the Devs did, and that is a shame.

So, randomly, here's a bit of my thoughts on how the last fight scene probably should have gone:

Scene starts up as usual, Wade springs the trap and nothing happens. States man then holds up a shattered chunk of the obelisk and basically informs Wade that he is NOT and idiot.

Wade summons Rularuu soilders and flees. Player then links up with States and helps him fight the Rularuu.

Once you beat them, Wade reveals his back up plan. The first part being a binding spell to stop you from further help/interference. The second is he's had another method of draining Statesman's powers the whole time that he's kept secret just for this occasion.

Cut scene of States' death begins normal, but ends with two differences. Monica points out to Statesman that the player can take care of the rest and how well they've done and how much they've grown. We don't fully see Statesman accept. only the ritual ending, and us breaking out from Wade's binding spell as he stalks forward with intent to finish the player, Wade is shocked that we could break free from it.

Fight proceeds as normal, this time when we check on States, we find out he's not dead just yet and gives us a bit of a farewell speech before finally passing.

Okay, so maybe that's not much better than what the devs already have. but in my mind it gives a little bit more credit to both Statesman (for recognizing and disabling a trap without even tipping the villain off he had until it seemed too late) and Darrin Wade. (who was able to prepare for a seemingly impossible scenario, and when it was needed, just shrugged and moved onto plan b)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow City of Heroes is a game about freedom of expression and variety of experiences far more so than it is about representing any one theme, topic or genre.

NOOOO! Say it isn't so....... *crys*


<== Check out my new avatar.

It's pretty much the whole "Who would win in a fight, Superman or Batman" argument. The answer almost always comes to "Superman, unless Batman had enough time to plan, set a trap, choose the place of the battle, yadda yadda".

Wade had 10 years to plan, set a trap, and chose the place of battle. The end. Looking forward to how the rest of the story plays out.