Putting Right What Once Went Wrong

[dtjunkie]

As I was running some missions with a buddy last night I mentioned in Discord that I never do a certain contact's story arc because it ends with that contact's death, and as a hero, it really bums me out that I can't save them. In reply my buddy replies, "But you CAN save them", and then proceeds to tell me to run the story arc again in Ouroboros.

 

So I run the first mission in the arc, and ZOMG! there's a new glowie in the mission that ... well.. I don't want to spoil it. But wow! It was really cool finding something like this, and it really showcases what can be done with the Ouroboros concept!

 

Are there other story arcs that can play out differently if you run them again in Ouroboros? Is there an in-game way to find out that you can actually save this contact other than stumbling into it or being told by someone? I was a huge fan of Quantum Leap and I really like to idea of being able to put right what once went wrong.

[nihilii]

If I'm not mistaken, I think this is the only story arc that does it (and it is so cool).

 

I'd love for devs to sneak Ouro versions of older story arcs with changes like that. Without telling us!

[Soyuz]

This sounds like an amazing concept. I generally don't run my characters through Ouroboros, but now I just might.

 

It also has the benefit of mainly using existing content, which hopefully means less workload for the Homecoming team (and therefore more chance of it happening?). I suppose it depends on whether there are enough existing arcs that could benefit from a different ending.

[Ejlertson]

Feel free to PM the name of the arch, I cant remeber it or might not have done it, but it sounds cool

 

[Chaos Ex Machina]

Me too

[CrudeVileTerror]

https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Laura_Lockhart

[ourimaler]

Holy crap, this is amazing.

...And I know of it because I found this thread by complete chance.

Is there other content like this that's... easy to miss?

[Techwright]

Using Ouro to actually do what the Menders keep talking about.  Cool concept.

[Lazarillo]

On 12/6/2020 at 10:39 AM, nihilii said:

If I'm not mistaken, I think this is the only story arc that does it (and it is so cool).

Yeah, this was introduced as a Homecoming (or rather, pre-HC, as a SCoRE) thing.  Apparently old leadership disliked the original ending.

 

There are a couple other tweaks to original arcs I've noticed that I'm pretty sure weren't part of the game's original development cycle, but that definitely feels like the most drastic (and the most interesting).

[Player2]

I would love to see various missions handled like this in Ouroboros where the final mission in an arc will give you a choice in how the mission will conclude (either same as standard or an alternative, better for heroes and worse for villains or whatever).

 

 

Edited December 10, 2020 by Player2

[JnEricsonx]

So, who's this game's equivalent of Al and Ziggy?

[srmalloy]

On 12/6/2020 at 1:36 PM, CrudeVileTerror said:

https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Laura_Lockhart

And immediately knee-jerking on the contact dialog. 'Petty Officer' Laura Lockhart addressing your character as 'sir' and telling you that Colonel Taggart has declared that any hero presenting to her is to be accorded the rank of Sergeant. First, petty officers outrank sergeants, so she wouldn't address the hero as her superior, and second, sergeants are NCOs and not addressed as 'sir'.

[CrudeVileTerror]

Different universe, different rules for the military, I guess?

[Player2]

Also, the player character is technically not military and the Contact was asked to accord him or her the rank of Sergeant.  But the contact might still be calling the hero "sir" out of respect for the hero status beyond any military consideration.

[TraumaTrain]

Petty officers are E-4 to E-9. Sergeants are E-5 to E-9.

 

You may be thinking of warrant officers as being officers.

[srmalloy]

You're right; I was confused by the mixing of two different rank systems -- Navy and Coast Guard ranks have petty officers, but no sergeants, and the other services have sergeants but no petty officers.

[Darmian]

On 12/6/2020 at 4:36 PM, dtjunkie said:

As I was running some missions with a buddy last night I mentioned in Discord that I never do a certain contact's story arc because it ends with that contact's death, and as a hero, it really bums me out that I can't save them. In reply my buddy replies, "But you CAN save them", and then proceeds to tell me to run the story arc again in Ouroboros.

 

So I run the first mission in the arc, and ZOMG! there's a new glowie in the mission that ... well.. I don't want to spoil it. But wow! It was really cool finding something like this, and it really showcases what can be done with the Ouroboros concept!

 

Are there other story arcs that can play out differently if you run them again in Ouroboros? Is there an in-game way to find out that you can actually save this contact other than stumbling into it or being told by someone? I was a huge fan of Quantum Leap and I really like to idea of being able to put right what once went wrong.

What a nice idea!

 

As a Goldsider Main (Responsibility) there's a mission where you have the choice of pushing on to finish the job OR leaving to save your Powers Division comrades who are under heavy fire elsewhere, and I NEVER choose to go on, I always go back for the team. So in things like that throwing a hidden extra or two in would spice things up a bit.

[ZorkNemesis]

On 12/7/2020 at 9:59 PM, Techwright said:

Using Ouro to actually do what the Menders keep talking about.  Cool concept.

It was stated though (during the Ouroboros initiation arc by Twilight's Son) that nearly every attempt to actually alter the time stream through Ouroboros has failed to have any meaningful effects (though based on Dream Doctor's comments during the 5th chapter of Dark Astoria, Twilight's Son may not be truthful as he's actually responsible for the very event he wants you to prevent in that part of the initiation). For reasons unknown, Laura is the only known exception to this little bit of lore.  Time travel seems to work in strange ways in the CoX verse.

 

Edited December 12, 2020 by ZorkNemesis

[srmalloy]

10 hours ago, ZorkNemesis said:

It was stated though (during the Ouroboros initiation arc by Twilight's Son) that nearly every attempt to actually alter the time stream through Ouroboros has failed to have any meaningful effects

Or, it may simply mean that the Many Worlds hypothesis is correct, and when someone is sent back to the past to change a historical event and they succeed, the future they return to is the one affected by the change, not the one they were sent from -- the only ones that return to their original future are the ones that fail for one reason or another.

[Ejlertson]

Whats the trick to saing her life?
I just went through it again via Orouboros but could not see anything differnet and she still died.
Any hints please 🙂

@dtjunkie

[TraumaTrain]

19 hours ago, Ejlertson said:

Whats the trick to saing her life?
I just went through it again via Orouboros but could not see anything differnet and she still died.
Any hints please 🙂

@dtjunkie

When doing it through Ouroboros, there is a glowie crate in the first mission. Inside is a message to speak to Mender Iforgethername.

 

Speak with her and she'll give you some kind of time gizmo to save Laura.

[Ejlertson]

Just now, TraumaTrain said:

When doing it through Ouroboros, there is a glowie crate in the first mission. Inside is a message to speak to Mender Iforgethername.

 

Speak with her and she'll give you some kind of time gizmo to save Laura.

Thank you. I´ll have to do it again and find the glowie this time 🙂

[TraumaTrain]

1 minute ago, Ejlertson said:

Thank you. I´ll have to do it again and find the glowie this time 🙂

Word.

 

It's been in the same location every time I've done the mission. Once you enter the base, take the path to the right. A round the corner in the first room you should spot the crate.

 

Have fun!

[Arnabas]

This is really good to know. What a great use of Ouroboros.

I will definitely have to do this with one of my characters. That contact's death was the tipping point that caused him to become a bit more extreme and ultimately go vigilante.

[Lazarillo]

1 hour ago, Arnabas said:

That contact's death was the tipping point that caused him to become a bit more extreme and ultimately go vigilante.

The irony being that she died exactly because of a vigilante who had gone a bit more extreme?