Take the fight to the Rikti

[MsSmart]

Was thinking of a new ARC, that is sponsored between the Vanguard and Portal Corps...

 

Essentially the Vanguard found the "coordinates" to the Rikti home world!

 

So we have Dark Watcher recruit a team of brave super powered folks to do an information raid series of missions. Missions could be to capture a Rikti communications officer, break into rikti facility and hack a computer, capture a Rikti beacon, protect the beacon from being recovered by the rikti, protect the beacon from being stolen by the Malta,  defend the portal at portal corp from rikti assault team.

 

Once the mission/task force has been completed, Dark Watcher remains as a contact for powered folks to do missions in the lines of Mayhem missions, were the humans go to the rikti world and "vandalized them". plant bombs in their research facilities, breakout captured super folk from rikti jails, break into a research facility to capture technology, sabotage a facility spaceship fueling station, etc.

 

Sue

[Greycat]

Trying to remember if we actually found that, lorewise. I think the teams just used an existing portal.

 

Again lore-wise, though, I'm wondering if that wouldn't be problematic. After all, (again, as I recall,) we make peace with a faction of Rikti who actually start helping. Where "fighting the other side" is acceptable, "we're going and wrecking your home" might... not be seen in quite the same light.

 

Granted, not all Primal groups would see it the same way, so going in to stop *them* in order to keep the war from exploding again would keep people busy.

[Grouchybeast]

The Rikti end up dividing along Hero/Villain lines, with the Traditionalists making peace with with Paragon, and the Restructurists allying with Recluse.  So you could actually have parallel arcs, red and blue, with missions to strengthen their respective factions.

[MTeague]

27 minutes ago, Grouchybeast said:

The Rikti end up dividing along Hero/Villain lines, with the Traditionalists making peace with with Paragon, and the Restructurists allying with Recluse.  So you could actually have parallel arcs, red and blue, with missions to strengthen their respective factions.

Just please please please when Redside content, writers should keep in mind "Team Evil" is not very team-centric.

 

Lord Recluse wouldn't give two spits what becomes of the Restructurists in principle. It's not "Enemy of my Enemy is my Friend". It's "Enemy of my Enemy is a Useful Stooge".  Recluse should only send forces to aid them if he stands to benefit in some way.  Now sometimes, that would be preventing Vanguard from forming a lasting peace treaty, to keep things shaken up so he has more room to move, and keep Vanguard's forces occupied.  Sometimes, that might be because he sees a good opportunity to nab some tech for Arachnos.  Sometimes it might be because he sees an opportuntiy to assassinate someone on the opposing side who's been a pain. 

 

But it should never be to support the Restructurists JUST for the sake of doing so. There should always be an ulterior motive.

 

For that matter, as much as possible, the missions should also be written to provide an ulterior motive of personal benefit to your redside character.

Sure, RECLUSE may want to use them in his game of chess against Statesman Lady Grey.

But why would my stalker give two spits what Recluse wants, or what benefits Arachnos? What's in it for me??

 

Redside content that doesn't cover those angles would barely be worth playing. 

[srmalloy]

17 minutes ago, MTeague said:

Lord Recluse wouldn't give two spits what becomes of the Restructurists in principle. It's not "Enemy of my Enemy is my Friend". It's "Enemy of my Enemy is a Useful Stooge". 

To quote from the series "The Journeys of McGill Feighan", an appropriate aphorism would be "The enemy of my enemy is my fall-guy."

[FoulVileTerror]

Bear in mind that Recluse doesn't even need to enter in to it for Redsiders.  There are other ways to get to alternate dimensions, after all.

And really, if -any- Archvillain would hire Villains to go to the Rikti Home Dimension and cause mayhem, it would be Nemesis under the guise of some lackey.

[Llewellyn Blackwell]

This is really

On 9/29/2020 at 4:20 PM, MTeague said:

Just please please please when Redside content, writers should keep in mind "Team Evil" is not very team-centric.

 

Lord Recluse wouldn't give two spits what becomes of the Restructurists in principle. It's not "Enemy of my Enemy is my Friend". It's "Enemy of my Enemy is a Useful Stooge".  Recluse should only send forces to aid them if he stands to benefit in some way.  Now sometimes, that would be preventing Vanguard from forming a lasting peace treaty, to keep things shaken up so he has more room to move, and keep Vanguard's forces occupied.  Sometimes, that might be because he sees a good opportunity to nab some tech for Arachnos.  Sometimes it might be because he sees an opportuntiy to assassinate someone on the opposing side who's been a pain. 

 

But it should never be to support the Restructurists JUST for the sake of doing so. There should always be an ulterior motive.

 

For that matter, as much as possible, the missions should also be written to provide an ulterior motive of personal benefit to your redside character.

Sure, RECLUSE may want to use them in his game of chess against Statesman Lady Grey.

But why would my stalker give two spits what Recluse wants, or what benefits Arachnos? What's in it for me??

 

Redside content that doesn't cover those angles would barely be worth playing. 

I mean I do get your point, your one who feels red siders need more personal autonomy in their arcs to let players be more the villain they want rather then some pawn of prophecy. But that is the hard truth of the very metaphysical foundation of the cohverse. prophecy, destiny, divine possession, and so much more are all baked into the very concept of the multiverse we are playing in, and even if it bothers us, that basically is a verse where Free Will is fantasy not reality.

 

But to try and make it more palatable for such folks, Id probably go ham handed game master red side witha  simple classic approach. Ghost widow has your soul, she has every red siders soul, in a nice neat collection of jars or crystals or something in a bunker somewhere. You all are her bitches, you dont do her bidding your soul is her on her tray as a cookie to go with her milk at bed time. Problem solved, every red sider has a reason to play ball, and its logical within the world setting, and right on par with how the so called good guys ran a bad guy like snake plisken in escape from new york.

[MTeague]

1 hour ago, Llewellyn Blackwell said:

This is really

I mean I do get your point, your one who feels red siders need more personal autonomy in their arcs to let players be more the villain they want rather then some pawn of prophecy. But that is the hard truth of the very metaphysical foundation of the cohverse. prophecy, destiny, divine possession, and so much more are all baked into the very concept of the multiverse we are playing in, and even if it bothers us, that basically is a verse where Free Will is fantasy not reality.

 

But to try and make it more palatable for such folks, Id probably go ham handed game master red side witha  simple classic approach. Ghost widow has your soul, she has every red siders soul, in a nice neat collection of jars or crystals or something in a bunker somewhere. You all are her bitches, you dont do her bidding your soul is her on her tray as a cookie to go with her milk at bed time. Problem solved, every red sider has a reason to play ball, and its logical within the world setting, and right on par with how the so called good guys ran a bad guy like snake plisken in escape from new york.

I get what you're saying. 

But I can honestly say I disagree with you post completely.  prophecy and destiny being part of the world is not the same as "its the sum total of everything".

I can also honestly say, I would probably never play any game you produce.

But hey. Lots of people would not play any game that *I* ever produced.  So there is symmetry.

[Patti]

Poor rikti.   Get invaded by nemesis.  Counterattack thinking they're stopping a dire threat.   Get ruined and forced to survive in hostile enemy territory.  Now that enemy wants to invade again in full force? 

Poor rikti.

[Greycat]

28 minutes ago, Patti said:

Poor rikti.

But they stole Helen's beer.*

 

No mercy.

🙂

 

*Everlasting specific joke.

Edited October 1, 2020 by Greycat

[Patti]

That was also nemesis.

[Vanden]

23 minutes ago, Patti said:

That was also nemesis.

I think Nemesis wrote this thread’s OP, too

[FrauleinMental]

16 hours ago, Llewellyn Blackwell said:

But to try and make it more palatable for such folks, Id probably go ham handed game master red side witha  simple classic approach. Ghost widow has your soul, she has every red siders soul, in a nice neat collection of jars or crystals or something in a bunker somewhere. You all are her bitches, you dont do her bidding your soul is her on her tray as a cookie to go with her milk at bed time. Problem solved, every red sider has a reason to play ball, and its logical within the world setting, and right on par with how the so called good guys ran a bad guy like snake plisken in escape from new york.

I don't find that more palatable but less, because it removes what little player agency exists in the content.  Whether it's soul cookies, mind control, or holding a loved one in the boot of a car, it might work as a motivator when you're writing a novel or a movie, but it does not work long-term for anything even remotely collaborative like a (MMO)RPG where you have a player who has a right and a duty to make decisions for their character.  I would certainly not play 50 levels of being so completely under someone's thumb; I might make it 5 levels, and then I'm changing the channel.

 

That being said, your simple classic approach already appears in some form in CoH content; e.g., parts of Dr. Graves' arc and the Spring Fling arc.

[Patti]

Frauline deserves a gold medal for getting it so right!