do you use your creativity to work with or against the game?
By
Aggelakis,
Posted on: 2012-03-28 10:14 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
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Thank you, that's EXACTLY what I was talking about. As far as I'm concerned, all of my characters are cameos in the City of Heroes universe and especially in the City of Heroes game in much the same was as Darth Vader was a cameo in that Soul Calibur game. It really doesn't matter whether he gets defeated by Ryu Hayabusa and what shenanigans he gets into with the ladies, none of that reflects back on the Star Wars movies because none of that is really canon with them. Darth Vader simply, uh... Took a vacation to cut up some dudes in between telling Luke Skywalker he was his father.|
Originally Posted by Socorro
I sort of 'compartmentalize' my characters. My characters as I conceive them don't exist in the COH universe, even though they 'play' there.
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I've often asked for stories that are "about" my characters, but when I say this, what I'm talking about is a story in which my character is a protagonist. What I DO NOT WANT is a story which then loops back and tries to backfill my character's personal story without my permission.
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Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.
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Plausibility and verisimilitude (damnit, I use that word too much now) are important.|
Originally Posted by ClawsandEffect
As far as working NPCs into backstories goes, I've done it in the past, but I tried to do it plausibly.
For example: my main is a cyborg who designed his own cybernetic components and then was blown up by Crey, which made the replacement of his own natural limbs necessary. Obviously, since he was a quad-amputee, he wasn't going to be performing the surgery himself, so he called in a favor from an old college buddy....Rick Davies. Yes, an NPC appeared in his backstory, but he was just an old friend who did him a favor. My main's real name is Dr. Alvin Morris, he has a PhD in robotics and cybernetics. he went to college with Rick Davies, but when Rick went on to become a hero (he was the hero Horatio), Alvin went on to become a scientist. It wasn't until years later that Alvin became a hero. The Praetorian version of my main is currently locked up in the Behavior Modification Facility. Neuron and Anti-Matter had his help designing the Praetorian Clockwork, and they had him mindwashed so they could take 100% of the credit for it. I doubt I wil ever create the Preatorian Alvin as a character. |
For example, my namesake, Alpha, has Positron in his back-story. In that Positron kicked the bolts out of him on his initial rampage out of a Crey lab. Given Posi is a hero, that's to be expected. Alpha got his pay back years later when he was vastly improved and had a team of other robots with him. Because that's what Villains do.
Inspector Jen Kerringer, a part cyborg PPD officer has Rick Davies in her back story, in as much as he helped alongside the DATA people to implement her cybernetics after a near death experience. Given Rick helps with tech and tech heroes and tech problems, that isn't too much of a stretch to pass off. No dialogue, just 'he helped implement this advanced tech'. Etc.
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Originally Posted by Zwillinger
GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.
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Originally Posted by Captain_Photon
NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.
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/what he said.
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Originally Posted by FloatingFatMan
Sometimes I use the story as is, sometimes I mod it, and sometimes it's made of such utter dumb that I totally ignore it.
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I will be one of the many to echo this sentiment. I have characters that span the spectrum.
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Originally Posted by FloatingFatMan
Sometimes I use the story as is, sometimes I mod it, and sometimes it's made of such utter dumb that I totally ignore it.
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@Winter. Because I'm Winter. Period.
I am a blaster first, and an alt-oholic second.
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I agree. |
Originally Posted by Techbot Alpha
Plausibility and verisimilitude (damnit, I use that word too much now) are important.
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That's why the Praetorian version of my main doesn't exist as a character, just as a footnote in my main's backstory.
Rick Davies being an old college buddy is plausible and doesn't Mary Sue that much. Being partially responsible for the creation of an enemy group does Mary Sue quite a bit.
I basically only put it in there as A) an explanation for why I use Clockwork costume pieces to represent his cyborg parts, and B) it justifies the use of the Clockwork Lore pets. If not for those 2 things I would never mention it.
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Originally Posted by Dechs Kaison See, it's gems like these that make me check Claws' post history every once in a while to make sure I haven't missed anything good lately. |
I've made characters based specifically off the lore, but I've also made characters that I don't give a crap about whether the lore supports them or not.
Ultimately why should I care? I'm not a Dev. My creations don't HAVE to fit neatly into the existing game world.
@Oathbound & @Oathbound Too
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You keep on using that word. I do not think that word means what you think it means.|
Originally Posted by ClawsandEffect
Rick Davies being an old college buddy is plausible and doesn't Mary Sue that much. Being partially responsible for the creation of an enemy group does Mary Sue quite a bit.
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Okay, yes, I am always looking for an opportunity to pull out a movie line, even if only partially appropriate
But "Mary Sue" isn't so much a verb as it is a noun. Personally, I don't think the story you laid out about your Praetorian version makes him a Mary Sue at all! He was mind-washed, which means no one, not even himself, knows that he helped create the Praetorian Clockwork. Dozens of other scientists could have been working on the same project, and odds are, Anti-Matter and Neuron had them all mind-washed. Again, no one would know.
A "Mary Sue" always seems just a tad implausible to me. Like if they dominate the spotlight or are too unrealistic or unlikely in other ways. Your character, Claws, as you suggest it does not give me that vibe at all. If he was named something like "Praetor Morris" and his bio boasted about creating the Praetorian Clockwork, or you as a player boasted about it in character (not suggesting that you would), then yeah, I would roll my eyes and write you off as a Mary Sue. But as is? I say make Praetorian Alvin Morris. Sounds like it could be interesting.
@Winter. Because I'm Winter. Period.
I am a blaster first, and an alt-oholic second.
I enjoy creating my characters.. After chosing powers I will create a name and that can actually include going to the web to research... Several have names that utilized an English to Elven translator and one used English to Latin. Every single character gets a bio .. although with some I wait till I play them a while to decide what will go best with their abilities, etc. Anyone that knows me well can tell you I agonize over costumes to give each a look that works.. LOL back when I first started my old Villain SG members joked that I changed my look so often they weren't sure who they were playing with half the time.
All that said .. when it comes down to it I suspend disbelief when playing and simply accept whatever the Devs offer to make my character stronger, faster, better! Someone else said it here earlier in any MMO more than half of what you see is beyond Real Life belief. Let's examine a bit of that..
The entire Invention Origin System .. Okay aside from characters that are either Tehcnology or Science origin how on eart do we "REALISTICALLY" explain going to the lab and CRAFTING enhancements to our abilities? I suppose yu could add magic origin by saying the crafting was actually creating a spell or potion.. but how does a Natural hero explain it? NOW .. I'm sorry but regradless of origin I have no desire not to IO out my characters so they can be as powerful as possible.. anyone else feel different?
Inspirations.. Not to be graphic but we carry around a series of small blue, green, yellow, red, ect items that allow us to heal faster, hit harder, or whatever. We even use terms like POP A RED. Almost sounds like we are all running around taking drugs doesn't it? Now I am sure some of the die hard RPers explain it away as them digging deep inside for that extra bit to get through a hard battle and that's fine but the relaity is we run to our contacts and BUY inspiration. Now I don't know about you but I have no desire to stop carrying around my break frees and whatever to stay true to my character's profile.
Influence, Infamy, Information ... It took years and the advent of the Going Rogue era to finally bring the reality of what these are to light. RPers swear, and many still do, that the influence they earn is the respect they get from the citizens of Paragon City.. or the fear they instill in the Rogue Isles. And for a number of years this was the same stance the dev team took.. Super Heroes don't get PAID to do their job. And then GR hit and while rumor here on the forums was if you switched from being a villain to a hero all your Infamy was lost and you started over earning Influence. Then the issue went LIVE and what actually occurred.. As soon as you stepped from one side to the other your INF magically transferred into the appropriate CURRENCY for your location. Delude yourself how ever you like but INF is CASH and even the devs now refer to it as such. I can buy an enhancement with my influence in Founders Falls, short cut through the RWZ, and purchase inspirations in Grandville. I'm sorry but even before GR the old thinking never made sense... I go to the tailor shop and order a new costume at say 30 level. When its ready I PAY for it with influence? Now run to the mall and grab a pair of jeans and a shirt and tell the clerk you don't have any cash but feel you deserve these becasue everyone in your neighborhood thinks you a great guy/girl. Then wait for security to come and throw you out. LOL
Enjoy the game and don't worry about the little things that seem out of place. I mean let's be REALISTIC here for a second .. we play a game where our characters can shoot energy beams out of their hands or eyes, They can run faster than a car or fly.... I don't nkow about your neighborhood but so far in my town we don't see a whole lot of that in the real world so WHY place RL constrants on a fantasy game? GO HUNT, KILL SKULS hehehe
�We�re always the good guys. In D&D, we�re lawful good. In City of Heroes we�re the heroes. In Grand Theft Auto we pay the prostitutes promptly and never hit them with a bat.� � Leonard
�Those women are prostitutes? You said they were raising money for stem cell research!� � Sheldon
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I do this too. Or the dictionary. Or the thesaurus... |
Originally Posted by Wicked_Wendy
I enjoy creating my characters.. After chosing powers I will create a name and that can actually include going to the web to research...
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Originally Posted by Wicked_Wendy
The entire Invention Origin System .. Okay aside from characters that are either Tehcnology or Science origin how on eart do we "REALISTICALLY" explain going to the lab and CRAFTING enhancements to our abilities? I suppose yu could add magic origin by saying the crafting was actually creating a spell or potion.. but how does a Natural hero explain it? NOW .. I'm sorry but regradless of origin I have no desire not to IO out my characters so they can be as powerful as possible.. anyone else feel different?
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Originally Posted by Wicked_Wendy
Inspirations.. Not to be graphic but we carry around a series of small blue, green, yellow, red, ect items that allow us to heal faster, hit harder, or whatever. We even use terms like POP A RED. Almost sounds like we are all running around taking drugs doesn't it? Now I am sure some of the die hard RPers explain it away as them digging deep inside for that extra bit to get through a hard battle and that's fine but the relaity is we run to our contacts and BUY inspiration. Now I don't know about you but I have no desire to stop carrying around my break frees and whatever to stay true to my character's profile.
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@Winter. Because I'm Winter. Period.
I am a blaster first, and an alt-oholic second.
whoever made the distinction between CoH universe and CoH game had a great point.
I too have my characters in the universe, but not the game.
It struck me the other day when I became "entrusted with the secret" not by talking to a mender but by running up to the top of a pillar on Oroborus. That's why they entrusted me wit a secret?
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Originally Posted by dugfromthearth
whoever made the distinction between CoH universe and CoH game had a great point.
I too have my characters in the universe, but not the game. It struck me the other day when I became "entrusted with the secret" not by talking to a mender but by running up to the top of a pillar on Oroborus. That's why they entrusted me wit a secret? |
At that point, don't they kind of have to entrust you? You are standing right on top of their building, after all.
Some "secret" anyway - people open Oro portals right in the middle of Atlas Plaza, and even the newsies seem to know about 'em. I haven't seen such a badly-kept secret since the true nature of the Rikti, known only to those with Omega clearance... or the Malta Group... or the Circle of Thorns... or the Clockwork...
(face it, there are no actual secrets in this game. at best, there are spoilers, and those only for a limited time.)
My characters at Virtueverse
Faces of the City
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This is one small instance that that other so-called 'super' mmo did better. I think it's just better to think of that INF number as resources you can call upon. A mixture of cash, favors and their own prowess expressed in a quantifiable manner.|
Originally Posted by Wicked_Wendy
Influence, Infamy, Information ... It took years and the advent of the Going Rogue era to finally bring the reality of what these are to light. RPers swear, and many still do, that the influence they earn is the respect they get from the citizens of Paragon City.. or the fear they instill in the Rogue Isles. And for a number of years this was the same stance the dev team took.. Super Heroes don't get PAID to do their job. And then GR hit and while rumor here on the forums was if you switched from being a villain to a hero all your Infamy was lost and you started over earning Influence. Then the issue went LIVE and what actually occurred.. As soon as you stepped from one side to the other your INF magically transferred into the appropriate CURRENCY for your location. Delude yourself how ever you like but INF is CASH and even the devs now refer to it as such. I can buy an enhancement with my influence in Founders Falls, short cut through the RWZ, and purchase inspirations in Grandville. I'm sorry but even before GR the old thinking never made sense... I go to the tailor shop and order a new costume at say 30 level. When its ready I PAY for it with influence? Now run to the mall and grab a pair of jeans and a shirt and tell the clerk you don't have any cash but feel you deserve these becasue everyone in your neighborhood thinks you a great guy/girl. Then wait for security to come and throw you out. LOL
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Just as an example, my main, Kastumi, doesn't really carry cash with her as a matter of course. She lived on and punched people on the streets of Galaxy City til it got itself blown up, and now, a few months later, she's punched her way out of the gullet of a death god. She has a crapton of influence, but still doesn't really carry cash or a credit card exactly. But she's gotten stronger and smarter, and has made friends with powerful people. One of her costumes is armor she cobbled together while cleaning up striga, ICly. OOCly? She went to a tailor like everyone else.
Sure it functions as cash, but it's an abstract just like most of the rest of the game. My robotics MM built her own robots and used her own resources to do so. My energy blaster created her own implants to fire energy bolts. Inf is whatever method your character uses to acquire things the way I see it, whether it's the 'favors and goodwill' that's the canon blueside explanation, outright money, scavenging and improvisation or what, it's just an abstract.
Not trying to disagree or anything, just wanted to put something out there about how I see it.
As for the rest of the topic at hand, I have a mix I guess. I have some characters who are expressly from CoH, and others who aren't Some come from paralell dimensions or alternate futures or whatever. Like my Stalker who was born and raised in space around a high-gravity world. When she ended up in paragon, a lifetime of living under high gravity means she moves tons faster in Earth Gravity. Stuff like that.
Some stuff I use or ignore on a character-by-character basis. My Arachnos Huntswoman isn't empowered by the Well when she uses Ion Judgement, she's actually modified her rifle to fire giant bolts of electric pancake. Her Lore pets are actual arachnos reinforcements. And she's gone full hero and has the Arachnos file-pushers convinced she's on a deep cover assignment.
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Well to be fair, the reason you kept all that influence/infamy/information/currency was because the players whined to no end that they shouldn't lose it.|
Originally Posted by Wicked_Wendy
Influence, Infamy, Information ... It took years and the advent of the Going Rogue era to finally bring the reality of what these are to light. RPers swear, and many still do, that the influence they earn is the respect they get from the citizens of Paragon City.. or the fear they instill in the Rogue Isles. And for a number of years this was the same stance the dev team took.. Super Heroes don't get PAID to do their job. And then GR hit and while rumor here on the forums was if you switched from being a villain to a hero all your Infamy was lost and you started over earning Influence. Then the issue went LIVE and what actually occurred.. As soon as you stepped from one side to the other your INF magically transferred into the appropriate CURRENCY for your location. Delude yourself how ever you like but INF is CASH and even the devs now refer to it as such. I can buy an enhancement with my influence in Founders Falls, short cut through the RWZ, and purchase inspirations in Grandville. I'm sorry but even before GR the old thinking never made sense... I go to the tailor shop and order a new costume at say 30 level. When its ready I PAY for it with influence? Now run to the mall and grab a pair of jeans and a shirt and tell the clerk you don't have any cash but feel you deserve these becasue everyone in your neighborhood thinks you a great guy/girl. Then wait for security to come and throw you out. LOL
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So only then did you get PAID with CASH to do the things you do. So I'd say that arguement falls flat to say that's what it always was.
BrandX Future Staff Fighter
The BrandX Collection
influence and infamy can realistically switch over as influence
Annakin switched from Jedi Knight to Sith Lord.
He didn't start at the bottom of the dark side as a thug with no infamy. His fame switched from being famous and good to famous and evil.
Benedict Arnold didn't become a nameless, faceless British supporter when he switched sides. He went straight to the top of the infamy list.
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I justify Natural origin enhancement the same way I justify all enhancement. Even Tech enhancements don't make sense: we obviously aren't carrying around dozens of those things. I assume the enhancement is a metagame to represent general improvement. So tech enhancements are really the metagame way of me improving my technology through invention or construction, not necessarily mapped directly to the trinkets represented by enhancements. Conversely the same slots that represent technological improvement on a tech character represent human ability on a natural character, such that experience and study eventually allow me to unlock those increments of potential and increase my ability.|
Originally Posted by Wicked_Wendy
The entire Invention Origin System .. Okay aside from characters that are either Tehcnology or Science origin how on eart do we "REALISTICALLY" explain going to the lab and CRAFTING enhancements to our abilities? I suppose yu could add magic origin by saying the crafting was actually creating a spell or potion.. but how does a Natural hero explain it? NOW .. I'm sorry but regradless of origin I have no desire not to IO out my characters so they can be as powerful as possible.. anyone else feel different?
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In fact, the metaphor for natural enhancement is actually pretty similar to that of mutation enhancement.
But I see slots as potential. Leveling unlocks potential. Slotting achieves that potential in a particular way. Natural human potential, Technological potential, Magical potential. Which is surprisingly close to what people are probably thinking when they build in Mids. I have so much potential slotting available, and I need to harness that in the best way possible.
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This.|
Originally Posted by dugfromthearth
influence and infamy can realistically switch over as influence
Annakin switched from Jedi Knight to Sith Lord. He didn't start at the bottom of the dark side as a thug with no infamy. His fame switched from being famous and good to famous and evil. Benedict Arnold didn't become a nameless, faceless British supporter when he switched sides. He went straight to the top of the infamy list. |
Just because you switched sides doesn't mean people forgot about you.
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Super heat air so it bends light around you!|
Originally Posted by dugfromthearth
fire stalkers are stupid - no one on fire can be hidden.
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We could call it Mirage instead of hide
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I would like to see a mechanic to enable "secret identities", though I realize it would probably require some major game-engine rewriting at this point. What I envision is, say, a costume slot that is designated "civilian" or "secret identity". You'd design a "non-costume". i.e. an everyday, normal outfit, and a "real name" to go with it. When that "non-costume" was active, the random wandering civilians stop making remarks about your recent adventures/accomplishments, and contacts address you as "Sir" or "Madam" or "Miss", or by your "real name". Additionally, your contacts wouldn't offer missions, because they don't recognize you out of costume, you're simply a citizen trying to chat with them. And of course, this "secret identity" slot would be completely optional if you're green-skinned or a non-human-looking alien or a robot, a "secret identity" is probably out of the question (unless you're some kind of shapeshifter).|
Originally Posted by Zortel
I tend to dislike the CoH column on Massively, and in the most recent one they complained about a lack of an alter-ego/job mechanic in game. I for one am glad there is no 'official' implemented system to handle this. Why? Because as the system currently stands, there are now over the course of 22 updates few mechanical barriers to have my characters do something I want them to do as a job, or be.
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This idea actually occurred to me while playing a certain other MMO, when my rogue entered a shop while stealthed, and the shopkeeper immediately called out "Welcome, rogue! How may I help you?" and I was all, "Dude, shut up! I'm invisible!"
Edit: Actually, closer to the point would be my human paladin or warrior traveling to the other side of the world to visit the elf city where nobody knows him, walking around town in his everyday clothing instead of his armor, and still being addressed by his class name ("Greetings, paladin...") It's like, "Um, I left my plate armor and greatsword back at the inn. I'm wearing leather pants and a shirt. How does everybody immediately know I"m a paladin? Especially in this foreign city where they follow a different religion and most of these people have never left their homeland?"
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Potential, and experience. If you look at many of the well-known superheroes from comics, an awful lot of them actually have just one or two basic powers. But as they've grown more experienced, they've learned/figured out how to use those one or two powers in many different ways, and to use them better/more effectively.|
Originally Posted by Arcanaville
But I see slots as potential. Leveling unlocks potential. Slotting achieves that potential in a particular way. Natural human potential, Technological potential, Magical potential. Which is surprisingly close to what people are probably thinking when they build in Mids. I have so much potential slotting available, and I need to harness that in the best way possible.
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In CoX, you can look at a lot of the power sets the same way. Fire Blast, for example. Are Flares, Fireball, Fire Blast, and Blaze really entirely different powers? Or are they just different ways of flinging the same ball of fire? For the defense/damage resistance sets, you can argue that they're all the same power it's just becoming more effective. Specifically, you'll notice that your character gets exposed to different kinds of damage/effects before you can train the specific power to resist those effects. So you might start out resistant to lethal/smashing damage, and then later, through being exposed to energy damage, you build up a tolerance, which is then represented by training the specific power that resists energy damage. It's not a "new" power, it's your original "damage resistance" getting better.
In real life, where I'm a professional chef, I use the same knife to slice, chop, and stab. One "power", three ways to use it. The same oven mitts I use to safely remove a hot pan from the oven can also theoretically allow me to handle something extremely cold. One "power", two different ways to use it.
Meh, I personally detach everything mechanical from everything narrative in game and characters.
Example; my character Leon DeFeurard is stinkingly rich. Not in terms of 'inf', he just has a nearly bottomless Swiss bank account that was set up many, many years ago and has been accruing interest to the point of him never having to work a day in his 'life' (He's a vampire, so technically undead)
'Wealth' in game is not represented. Inf is a game mechanic used to buy meta-game things. He is a vampire; he is naturally good at what he does. His powers don't rely on incantations or magical macguffins to be effective, they just ARE. From a mechanical metagame stand-point, however, I need to level him up and buy and slot enhancements to make and keep him effective. That has NOTHING to do with his character, and is so totally ignored. It's a mechanic. End of.
I work with the game world, its narrative because that is where the characters are. They are a part of that game world. The enhancements and Inf and slotting and Inventions are all NOT a part of the narrative game world. They are a metagame mechanical necessity that happens to have a vague bit of flavour. What they ultimately are are [Enhance Damage Slot] and [Enhance Accuracy]. Because this is a game and an MMO and those are a part of that genre and style of game. As a gamer, I use them because I want my characters to be able to be 'better' and fight tougher stuff and etc etc. As a writer I completely ignore them, because they make no sense in the games narrative world.
Hope that simplifies that down.
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Originally Posted by Zwillinger
GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.
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Originally Posted by Captain_Photon
NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.
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Nicely put.|
Originally Posted by Techbot Alpha
Meh, I personally detach everything mechanical from everything narrative in game and characters.
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It's really the only way to go about it without spending most of your time het up and grinding your teeth over this or that 'ridiculous' mechanic.
The Nethergoat Archive: all my memories, all my characters, all my thoughts on CoH...eventually.
My City Was Gone
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I'd say this is one instance of game lore and game mechanics not matching up, and further proof you can't not seperate them (And they should of been from the start).|
Originally Posted by Megajoule
Some "secret" anyway - people open Oro portals right in the middle of Atlas Plaza, and even the newsies seem to know about 'em. I haven't seen such a badly-kept secret since the true nature of the Rikti, known only to those with Omega clearance... or the Malta Group... or the Circle of Thorns... or the Clockwork...
(face it, there are no actual secrets in this game. at best, there are spoilers, and those only for a limited time.) |
Ouroboros is suppossed to be this big secret! And then there they go having a newsie spouting it off.
The newsie is of course spouting it off so players who don't know, find out! But it's just one of many things they should change in the game. Seperating game mechanics from the story.
BrandX Future Staff Fighter
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This is me 100%. I couldn't have said it better myself. Now I'm wondering if I'm not, like your characters, you with a different history. |
Originally Posted by Arcanaville
For me personally, I tend to play the game making two assumptions:
1. The world is what it is. Its not a poor imitation of our world, or a comic book world, it is what it is, period, and I have to live in it. 2. My character is what I conceive her origin to be, but in all other respects is me. I don't roleplay someone else: I tend to roleplay me with a different history. 95% of the time, that works fine. Gameplay conventions tend to be easily ignorable. Sometimes it glitches a little, usually when game presents situations that are contradictory even within its own world, but that's usually not a problem either. Occasionally, like when I side switch for badges, its highly confrontational. Badging is itself a meta-gaming activity, and side switching requires proceeding through content that is often highly morally objectionable. I can't be me but different in them. Me but different usually wouldn't run them. So I have to turn my brain off and tell my hands to do it without me. You can only pretend to be mind controlled or possessed or drugged or insane so many times before your character would probably just kill herself already. Both interestingly and disturbingly, SSA7 demonstrates the devs do not seem to intend to keep a Chinese Wall between the mechanics of side-switching and the canonical storytelling of side-switching. From a game design perspective I'm intrigued. From a player perspective, I'm personally disturbed. In any case, the direct answer to your question is that in general I see the game as an environment I choose to enter, and I obey its rules once I do. I fit into the game. I do not see the game as a tool to instantiate my own environment. I do not write my story. I *act* my story, within the limits of the game. I'm perfectly fine with other players seeing the game as a canvas to create their own story, such that everything that isn't a tool is an impediment, but that's not how I see it. |
As far as working NPCs into backstories goes, I've done it in the past, but I tried to do it plausibly.
For example: my main is a cyborg who designed his own cybernetic components and then was blown up by Crey, which made the replacement of his own natural limbs necessary. Obviously, since he was a quad-amputee, he wasn't going to be performing the surgery himself, so he called in a favor from an old college buddy....Rick Davies.
Yes, an NPC appeared in his backstory, but he was just an old friend who did him a favor. My main's real name is Dr. Alvin Morris, he has a PhD in robotics and cybernetics. he went to college with Rick Davies, but when Rick went on to become a hero (he was the hero Horatio), Alvin went on to become a scientist. It wasn't until years later that Alvin became a hero.
The Praetorian version of my main is currently locked up in the Behavior Modification Facility. Neuron and Anti-Matter had his help designing the Praetorian Clockwork, and they had him mindwashed so they could take 100% of the credit for it. I doubt I wil ever create the Preatorian Alvin as a character.
See, it's gems like these that make me check Claws' post history every once in a while to make sure I haven't missed anything good lately.