Who do we look up to now?

So with States gone, who is a shining example of all that's good? Sure we have people who we can hope to emulate in terms of power and ability, but who is the moral centre now? Who is the heart of Paragon?

States was our Superman, the guiding force, the one that, no matter how bad things got, if you as a civilian saw him arrive on the scene, you knew you were going to be saved and everything would be ok. Now, of course, there are plenty of heroes who can save the day, but there is no one person to exemplify the ideals of the heroic side.

I understand the desire to kill him off. I do. I know that with the introduction of Incarnates, we are intended to really become the pre-eminent heroes of the CoH universe. But, frankly, the game still doesn't allow it the way it would for an NPC. No matter how many pedestrians walk by and say "Character X fought the Tsoo and saved that news reporter!", we will never have our characters go accept medals from the president, or even the mayor. We'll never hold press conferences. We'll never give speeches before dozens of the next generation of heroes. We'll never stand on a dais, sharing our wisdom to help someone level up.

No matter how you might feel about Statesman as a player, the everyday people of Paragon should sleep a little (or a lot) less comfortably now.

So given that we are supposed to become the biggest and the best of all heroes, who amoung us will stand up to be a Paragon of Virtue? And will the game really allow anyone to notice, beyond a few random pedestrian remarks?

Me.