genuine need or company spite? *spoilers*

Ill step into this thread partly IC and partly OOC. Good luck figuring where the line between them is.

2 of my characters really took to the SSA. I made alot of *friends* here on the forums recently pushing the advantages and improved immerssion players can experiance if making Lore Based characters no matter if your in RP or not. While playing through the series as Bentley Berkeley one of the founding members of the Midnighter's, an Immortal, and powerful psychic/wizard dating back to the days of ancient Cimmorea, I had no shortages of moments where it felt like I was THE RIGHT MAN for the job at hand.

From the Circle's involvment, to The Midnighter's, encountering Lourdin whom I had watched with concern for years never trusting in the Mind Witch's so called rehab. Seeing my former student Wade take all he had learned of my war against the cult of the "Dark" to attempt to undue what my old friend the Doctor accomplished so long ago. This was an more then just another evil would be black mage to be dealt with. This was a real chapter in my story unfolding before me.

This IMO meant that the DEVs POSI included had got it RIGHT! They had created a story that if played by a character made to fit within the games campaign setting it would feel like a personal AE story arc. That by the end not only had I the satisfaction of saving the day but doing so in the role of one of the most unsung characters of COH lore. The fact that the new DA and its arcs only add to this whole is just icing on the cake.

If there was true malice for Statesman, I think it only accuratley reflects no few of the players like myself who long saw the Tyrant-State as an abomination and open threat to the safety of humanity. That a being like Sister psyche was nothing more then a mind ****** witch who had stolen years from other women to sustain her own life. She was easily one of the most morally questionable origins of any character in the lore.

To be honest I dont like many of the so called Icon Heroes. The new generation of names like the Dream Doctor dont smack of superiority but rather a peer and for some an old friend good to have back in the world. Characters like Blue Steel and Sister Psyche especially stank of hypocrisy since day one, and getting rid of as many of them as we can over the coming year is IMO a GREAT WAY to evolve the games world.

My oldest character T'Keron Valmaz will truly mourn the day Infernal may fall, but I hope at least that battle is one I can choose to join on one side or another and see his end come in glory.

Likewise Ghost Falcon can always count on Invisible Falcon and Crey Global enterprises to carry on should his day finally come.

I did feel abit miffed when Sister Psyche died. Ok they did give her a proper story, but.... they did forget one thing.
In the mission it is you, Manticore, Sister Psyche ... (wait for it)... Penelope Yen!
Whom is a very strong psychic. Perhaps she did something, perhaps she could have done something?

Well the character had to be somewhere else and fight off the assassin, and thus not there when Manticore shot Sister Psyche.
But what about Penelope Yen?

Whops Demetrios Vasilikos... Oh I quite agree.
What I did wonder about was though, we have Sis Psyche and we have Penelope Yen. Both are strong telepaths, could she not have passified Sis Psyche?

Oh well, done is done. Penelope is now with the Phalanx (Maybe to Fusionette's dismay... or hey, she might even look at what Penelope is doing and act accordingly.) and the player is there to do what the player does best. (most often upsetting the status quo)

I don't see why this is any kind of deal. Killing Statesman was good and it is time to move forward past his death.

Hopefully, this SSA is a learning experience for Paragon Studios, both in how to write this kind of material and in how to publicize it.

My personal feeling about the death of Statesman is that it was unnecessary and it was done for reasons that had much less to do with the game and its back story than it had to do with the feelings of the real-life people who run the game. The problems here with offing Statesman because he represents the old regime run deeper than just getting rid of Jack Emmert. They go to the heart of the neglect that the game has been suffering the last few years in the lore department.

It is my belief at this point that the people in charge could really have their way, they'd just ditch this world entirely and remake it according to their own desires. This goes all the way back to Arctic Sun leaving and the Paragon Times vanishing and half of the lore just vaporizing. This goes to the heart of Matt's decision that he'd be a poor leader if he required current-day employees to stay beholden to eight-year-old lore instead of telling the stories that they want to tell. The "problem", if you see it as such, is not that Matt saw Statesman as a reminder of bad times (which he probably does) but that he saw Statesman and the Phalanx and all of it as old crap (my words, not his) that needs to be swept out to make way for newer crap. Matt doesn't respect the old game; he wants to demolish it and replace it with a new game and that attitude filters down to the rest of the company.

That's how I see the current situation at Paragon Studios, correctly or incorrectly as it may be.

The story itself was alright, but only because they unexpectedly managed to pull a somewhat satisfying final chapter out of their hat. It's a bit telling, however, that the thing that people comment most on is the visuals of chapter seven, not the writing. If you ran the same story without those visuals, I suspect the response to chapter seven would be rather more critical.

My bottom line is based on the $35 price tag of the story. This is a sub-par product, especially if you primarily play as a hero. They put so much effort into making a satisfying and relevant villain story that they made an eminently dissatisfying hero story. My hero is directly involved in the death of THREE signature heroes, and indirectly with a fourth who is arguably having a psychotic break. Why Manticore is loose on the streets instead of in jail or in a mental ward is beyond me. I guess that Justin Sinclair has the best lawyers that money can buy.

In any case, when I compare this story to Going Rogue or Architect, or even any of the booster packs, that $35 price tag just makes me scratch my head in disbelief. I might buy chapter one for the weekly hero merit and I might buy chapter seven just for the cool visuals, but I will never buy the rest unless it's offered as a $10 package for the whole story.

I hope that SSA-2 is a better product.

I would of prefered if the SSA dealt with the entire Phlanax getting their powers removed. Thus enabling them to remain in game, in the same advisory posistion they hold as task force givers.

But who you ask would save us from Arachnos etc?

How about us the player characters? The old guard are still there to teach and advise, but it up to us to hold the torch of justice!

Everyone knows I am a casual lore guy at best so I can understand if those tied to the lore are upset with Statesman getting whacked.

Nethergoat mentioned the fresh new ideas deal and that is where I found myself so I might just have a preference for things moving forward vs revisiting old lore or expanding on it. I thought that they did a decent job with the SSA's, but the ultimate determination on that is how many more they sell moving forward.

IDK, I may just be overjoyed with the balls they showed in not being afraid to whack the old dude and make room for what may come. As hard as I am on these guys I am only after giving them a full chance, especially for stuff like this.

Whacking Statesman ROCKED and opened to door for what is to come. For a casual lore person at best, they actually got me to care about what is to come. I consider that a feat worthy of note since I have played these games from the start and it is increasingly difficult to get me to care about any games storyline/lore more than casually as I have basically seen it all and don't care ordinarily.