All I want is a Great Superhero Game...
By
Angry_Angel,
Posted on: 2012-09-18 13:08 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
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Do you use products made by Thomas Edison? Lightbulbs, that kind of thing? Yes? Well that must mean you support the electrocution of elephants then. Because Edison electrocuted an elephant in 1903 in a marketing endeavour to prove Tesla's AC current system was dangerous (his plan was to get everyone to adopt his own DC system).|
Originally Posted by Ironik
Are you also a homophobe like Card?
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Edison also electrocuted dogs, cats, and horses as part of the same marketing campaign. Are you in favour of electrocuting animals to try and sell a product?
I'm guessing...no.
My point? Yes, I do disagree with Card's politics, just as I disagree with Edison electrocuting animals as part of a selfish failed marketing strategy. However, neither of my disagreements take away from the fact Edison was a good inventor, and Card is a good author.
My usual complaints about DCUO normally run along these lines:
1) It is, at it's heart, a Massively Multiplayer Online Arcade Game. Aside from the limited story lines, minimal character development, and "Who needs more than six powers" approach, most of your interaction with the game is left button, left button, right button, hold right button, square, triangle, circle circle X HADDOKEN!
2) Everyone's primary abilities are to either hit or shoot enemies with weapons. Even the energy blasters use weapons. Actual powers with actual special effects are largely saved for special occasions. Of my scores of CoH characters, less than a quarter use any kind of equipment at all. And of the powers in DCUO, everyone's fire blast is exactly like everyone else's fire blast. No visual customization, and not even Champions Online's minimal level of effect customization, (That's an entirely different rant for another time.)
3) DCUO is endgame focused. Endgame group-content grindy focused. While endgame content has it's place, I'll be the first to admit that most of my Incarnates got their salvage from my Elec/Fire tank over on Virtue, where I farmed the higher player base for iTrials, then mailed it all over to the characters I actually played on Triumph, Victory, Justice, etc...
4) All the bloody voice-overs. this means I'm stuck getting information I may or may not need at the game's pre-set pace. I can't leave the dialogue on the screen while I reference something on the wiki, nor can I speed-click through it because I saw the same thing five minutes ago, before my computer crashed. And not all the voice actors involved are suited to their roles.
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He wasn't a good inventor. He didn't even invent the light bulb. He was a pancake who took credit for other people's work, figured out ways to sell that work for profit and tried establish a total monopoly. When other people could outdo him for less, he attempted to destroy them. And your reward for working with him was you got to have both arms amputated and die from cancer.|
Originally Posted by Turjan
However, neither of my disagreements take away from the fact Edison was a good inventor
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.
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Gotta quote this.|
Originally Posted by Johnny_Butane
He wasn't a good inventor. He didn't even invent the light bulb. He was a pancake who took credit for other people's work, figured out ways to sell that work for profit and tried establish a total monopoly. When other people could outdo him for less, he attempted to destroy them. And your reward for working with him was you got to have both arms amputated and die from cancer.
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To each their own when it comes to authors. I find Jordan to be a rambling hack that should be writing fan fic on Usenet. Jules Verne was a terrible author whose stories are both rampant with Mary Sue's, and overflowing with extraneous text.
However, if you like them then good for you.
@bpphantom
The Defenders of Paragon
KGB Special Section 8
When you partner with a famous person to promote your product you take the good with the bad. That's neither fair or unfair, it just is. If you partner with Paris Hilton you do not get to complain that Mensa disapproves.
After reading the comments from the Firefall community regarding this issue, I wouldn't feel comfortable playing that game anyway. The posts read like missives from the infamous Straight Male Gamer episode a few months ago.
Rather than dwell on that I'll just say that CoX as a community has always been (mostly) supportive as a whole. Part of the reason it will be hard to find somewhere new is because of that.
This conversation sure is relevant to the OP
My guides:Dark Melee/Dark Armor/Soul Mastery, Illusion Control/Kinetics/Primal Forces Mastery, Electric Armor
"Dark Armor is a complete waste as a tanking set."
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Of course it is.|
Originally Posted by Nalrok_AthZim
This conversation sure is relevant to the OP
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Somehow.
Probably.
Maybe.
Shut up!
@bpphantom
The Defenders of Paragon
KGB Special Section 8
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Problem is Verne, Dumas, Wells and other writers wrote a number their best known works first as serials for newspapers and only later publish them collectively as novels. The were contractually obligated to fill X amount of space so yes they did get a little wordy.
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Originally Posted by bpphantom
Jules Verne was a terrible author whose stories are both rampant with Mary Sue's, and overflowing with extraneous text.
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Father Xmas - Level 50 Ice/Ice Tanker - Victory
$725 and $1350 parts lists --- My guide to computer components
Tempus unum hominem manet
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lol, all true - Swann invented the lightbulb, Friese-Greene the movie camera, and of course it's Tesla's electrical system that powers our homes today, not Edison's. Edison does have a legitimate claim to the phonograph though. Possibly |
Originally Posted by Johnny_Butane
He wasn't a good inventor. He didn't even invent the light bulb. He was a pancake who took credit for other people's work, figured out ways to sell that work for profit and tried establish a total monopoly. When other people could outdo him for less, he attempted to destroy them. And your reward for working with him was you got to have both arms amputated and die from cancer.
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It is a mystery to me why history hasn't turned on him yet tbh - even if only for electrocuting an elephant and filming it as a publicity stunt.
Perhaps instead I could've said "HP Lovecraft was an arrogant racist, but that doesn't diminish the literary impact of his iconic creation of the Cthulhu mythos" ...even if his writing style is cumbersome and dry. But hey, I still like his stories despite that
But back on topic though...
If it's not CO, DCUO, Diabl-- uh, I mean Marvel Heroes, then really that is it for superhero MMOs. There simply is nothing else out there
And as far as sandbox space games go, the field's pretty thin there too. If Firefall isn't to folks' taste (for either literary, moral, or "Raahhh!" community issues) then that kinda starts shutting down the scifi options too. I play STO and find msyelf liking the Trekness and ship combat, but grumbling about ground combat and the bizarre ingame currency systems (why would a Vice Admiral be hand mining dilithium or running around Starfleet Academy collecting 'exotic particles' to swap for moar dilithium?).
Sad truth is, fantasy MMOs make up 85% of the total out there, and most of them are so similar in mood and feel that they all blur into one huge elf-covered ball released by marketing execs to simply roll over every other literary concept out there.
Hmm, that reminds me...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxFKDzW0qdg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESE-QzPpZ50
That was the launch concept for Global Agenda - here's their site now :
https://account.hirezstudios.com/globalagendagame/
Got a few things going for it - it's scifi, you can fly(ish), has no elves...
There is Wildstar of course...but oh no, hang on - I know who their publisher is, and Carbine Studios are based out of California, so I think the writing's on the wall for that one before it's even released...
The Secret World is where I have landed *because it is not* a super hero MMO. I realize there is a gentleman somewhere yelling, "but this thread is about great SUPERHERO games." I've decided, that for now, City is the only great superhero game for me. That fact has allowed me to open my heart to other things.
I didn't leave City of Heroes for Champions or DC back then and am not attracted to them now. They have evolved, and because of that, I'd encourage others to take a look. They're just not for me at this time.
At first, I felt overwhelmed. Considering there are only three caped titles on the market, only 2 options to scratch off, would mean analyzing dozens of possibilities.
Taking a large step back let me narrow it down. I asked myself what I would want for my second MMO:
- a place to hang my hat for eight more years or one that would last long enough for Matt to make a new game.
- a place where I could create an identity inside and out. Nothing that required my clothes to be cookie cutter gear.
- a place with promise. It could be stark raving naked. The buildings could be plain, the people even simpler - so long as it held promising signs of being able to evolve.
- a friendly place that lives left of Shakespeare and right of LOLchat.
- a modern day or sci-fi setting.
- an environment where I could (even if people tell me I cannot) imagine myself as a human or an alien or an angel or a mutant or a fairy or a giant emporer penguin princess in a human suit.
The Secret World met my list. Most importantly, I'm back to square one with all the knowledge I have now. City was my first game in 2004. I didn't even know how to run forward. I can now lead a team, trial or event with confidence. I have. The City molded me.
Perhaps the last day of City of Heroes will be November 30th of 2024. Perhaps it will be November 30th of 2012. All I know is that I'll have one foot in both worlds until the end.