First Ward First Impression (Possible Spoilers)

How interesting. I was about to make a post on a similar topic. I've just run both First Ward and Night Ward back to back and although I was entertained, I left the zone asking, "So what?"

The problem I found was that both zones, if you'll forgive the abuse of the metaphor, fall between three stools. In trying to write one story for three different alignments, the Devs have failed to make it engaging on any front.

Primal heroes have no business in First Ward. We're recruited to help the poor people of First Ward but the majority of what we see out there has nothing to do with protecting the innocent and more to do with facing whatever foe is causing trouble next. The people in the zone make it quite clear over and over that you are an outsider and that you don't belong there. Through all the story arcs, none of them have any relevance to Primal affairs. Are you helping to diffuse the war between Primal and Praetoria? No. Are you recruiting their help? No. Are you taking down the machinations of Cole's regime? No. The only real 'Cole-aligned' presence in the zone are D.U.S.T. who are pretty much redshirted by the Apparitions the moment you meet them.

The story arcs never even try to suggest that anything you're encountering might be a threat to Primal earth. We know from Dark Astoria that they will be but there's nothing to suggest that in FW or NW. Plenty of opportunity, especially as the missions even send you back to Primal earth to speak to people who could warn you of the danger the Talons might become. But no, not even a squeak. In trying to make FW a continuation of Praetoria, they alienate any outsiders, making the whole affair irrelevant to Primal earth concerns.

Praetorians have no business there either. From any the four alignments in 1-20 Praetoria, FW and NW ignores at least two of them, possibly three. None of the returning contacts remember you or your actions (i.e. whether you betrayed them or helped them) and it's broadly assumed that you're there to help them, even if you consider that Cole was right to send all these people into oblivion. In trying to make the story open to outsiders from Primal, it fails to follow up on the great promise of 1-20 Praetoria where your decisions made a difference and makes massive assumptions about your motives for being there.

Primal villains have no business being there either. This one is enormously irritating to me. Aside from a few minor options to be more brutal towards your foes, both zones don't even try to cater to villains. There's not even the chance to seize power for yourself or the desultory offer of payment should you help. In trying to keep the story mostly heroic, villains are simply forgotten about as if they never existed.

Finally, and this is the most frustrating thing, the zones are beautifully crafted, the arcs fun and challenging and the characters (mostly) well written for a change (Master Midnight can die in a fire, permanently this time). Had these zones been part of Paragon or a contested island between the city and the Rogue Isles, it would have been far more relevant, far more interesting. But because the writers are trying to cater to all players, they end up catering for none. Had the zones remained co-op but had arcs for all three alignments, they could have been so much better. But instead, I just left them feeling that it was as if I had temporarily placed my character in a post-apocalyptic game rather than a superhero game for a short period.

My apologies if that came across as a rant but I do feel hugely disappointed in both zones. Just as I did when Cimerora came out, I remember that I play City of Heroes (and Villains) to be just that. The whole of Praetoria just seems to be the Dev's Folly and a huge waste of resources. A real pity.

So far, what I've done with First Ward, I've enjoyed more than any other story arch I've done. As far as the contacts not recognizing you, I've always gotten the feeling that FW is set in another dimension, so these characters are mirror images of those you knew before, not actually the same person.

I've enjoyed the plot twists, the not really knowing who is on what side... it's all a matter of taste, I suppose.

I kind of like First Ward, if it hadn't been for Praetoria they'd have been my favourite arcs.

BUT after Praetoria they feel like a throwback, yesterday's way of storytelling in COH. They feel like the old COH arcs (albeit better written) but with none of the bells and whistles we had in Praetoria. (like persistence of choices, etc.)

Wow, yeah that protect the midnight mansion mission is a pain. I did fine until the 2 elite bosses showed up and just shredded my pets and proceeded to manhandle Ward. It should really just spawn -1- EB on basic settings ;p

I'm generally enjoying Night Ward as a continuation of First Ward, just started Sir Bedwr so interested to see how the story runs. I like the Animus Arcana and the zone has some interesting flair.

I am a little sad that it lacks -any- kind of tailored content for loyalists/resistance. First Ward at least had the 'newspaper' missions. This just gives everyone Sir Lionel and Atherton Cromwell, who -really- should've been split between hero/villain, cuz Cromwell really has -no- business being a hero contact.

First ward was... Weird. It used recurring characters from 1-20 Praetoria, but it played them like completely different characters, or possibly as written by someone who's only ever heard that 1-20 Praetoria exists but never actually played them, getting all their information about a character from their models' in-game Info fields. It feels rather like how Donna Troy came to be, when a writer saw a cover with Wonder Woman and her younger self together, and assumed the "Wonder Girl" was her sidekick without actually reading the book.

I honestly feel that First Ward should have used brand new original charaters and not tried to One More Day existing ones, because it REALLY isn't working. People who don't know who Katie Douglass or Noble Savage or Vasilokos are aren't going to care that they're included, and those of us who played through the story arcs regarding these characters are left scratching our heads like chimpanzees.

*edit*
Just because I've always wanted to play that clip, having run First Ward and stopped to reflect on it made me feel a lot like the Spoony One reacting to the G-Man FPS X-Com game. Because... Honestly, Katie especially but all the others as well, are just a betrayal of their characterisation in 1-20 Praetoria... And I fear this will stick and only get worse in future storylines.

Quote:

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.