The Coming Storm

[Marshal Valor]

I know this story never got finished on live and near as I can recall it had something to do with the 5th Column and a group called Battalion whom the Rikti had fought at one point. Was anything ever said or did knowledge ever come out from Paragon Studios as to what the rest of the story was? I was always wondering and really loved the overall story. I'd love to hear if anything else was ever uncovered. If not is there any chance we could get a conclusion to this story on Homecoming?

[Glacier Peak]

Recommend a read through the AMA's:

 

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

[Greycat]

Honestly it's a bit.. cringey at points. I wouldn't say you've got a conclusion to look for, as other than a few mentions here and there it wasn't really started in game. (Like many other things - reference to the coralax/virtea, avilians, etc. in missions, more references - mostly redside - to the Blood of the Black Stream and Gadzul Oil, etc.)

 

Personal note, I'm kind of glad we didn't get the Battalion as envisioned.

[Sakura Tenshi]

I've personally thought that if we went through with The Coming Storm arc (and we probably will, way too many hint drops to cop out now) there'd need to be some big changes.

 

1. being that I think they should be a pure science/tech incarnate threat. Praetoria was a bit of a mix and Mot was pure magical, so let's focus in on some science fiction stuff, perhaps?

2. Maybe kind of clean things up so it's not 'a crapload of allied races' or whatever but just a handful of subjugated ones and a ringleader. Also, no spess vampires, the council ones are already those due to nictus implants.

3. Probably change who the traitor is on primal earth. Lady Grey doesn't make too much sense* and Steven Sheridan feels a little too much a 'who?' for anyone to care. I kind of propose malta since they're already against metahumans and operate in secrecy that they might not realize they've been compromised themselves.

*I could see Lady Grey as having come to earth as a Scout but ultimately defecting. She's been quietly preparing the Vanguard to combat The Battalion but has said nothing fearing some well-meaning hero or idiot Villain would rush in, alert the Battalion and hasten the invasion.

[Chris24601]

Honestly, I think the best solution to The Coming Storm that plays to Homecoming's strengths would be to replace it as a singular uber-force and instead make it a pile up of simultaneous threats with the Battalion as the straw that broke the camel's back.

 

In terms of lore, the Rikti fought their dimension's battalion ages ago and their advanced tech was taken from the Battalion. Similarly their mutated appearance was necessitated by having to adapt to world "terraformed" to better suit the Battalion.

 

Ergo, we already HAVE the meshes in game to do a viable Battalion because they're effectively a pallet-swapped and upgraded version of the Rikti (maybe re-scale and pallet swap some of their elite bosses/AVs as level 54 LTs and regular bosses) with Shivan foot soldiers (level 54 minions and underlings).

 

But then make that only one threat... the Storm is that we also have a revamped Council with Praetorian tech launching a new offensive, the Circle of Thorns is lifting Orenbega from the earth and turning it into a floating island above Perez Park, Lord Recluse launches a new masterplan to replace the Web and Project Destiny, Malta transforms itself with Battle Maiden's nanites, Rularu's Cult reorganizes and are creating incursions into Primal Earth to finally try and break their master free, Primal Hamidon breaches the dimensional barriers and merges with Praetorian Hamidon to become the multidimensional Hamidon Prime, etc.

 

All these things hitting at once are the result of the future Armageddon and each one is something that the Homecoming team could tackle one threat at a time as part of a growing puzzle where it takes all the heroes and villains acting in concert (rather than a single destined hero) to actually survive the Storm.

[Marshal_General]

16 hours ago, Chris24601 said:

 All these things hitting at once are the result of the future Armageddon and each one is something that the Homecoming team could tackle one threat at a time as part of a growing puzzle where it takes all the heroes and villains acting in concert (rather than a single destined hero) to actually survive the Storm.

To get a badge!

[MTeague]

While it may be a distinctly minority viewpoint, I've always though the best solution to the Coming Storm / Battalion was to ignore them. Really doing them right feels like it would need tons of work.  Not just a new trial or whatever, but potentially lots of changes in existing zones. You think every part of Paragon City / Rogue Isles would be 100% untouched except for a new Trial area?  No. I mean, more zones would get the Galaxy City treatment, refugee camps all over, maps redone, etc, something to reflect that a Planet Eating Threat has just arrived. They wouldn't confine themselves to just one designated Hazard zone. 

 

Since I really don't expect anything coming close to that level of changes, then I prefer that they simply not be done / left undefined.

Keeping them extremely localized to just a few trials would feel.... cheapened.... somehow.

[EmperorSteele]

The "coming" storm? More like the "it came, it saw, it kicked our ass" storm. At least, that's how I personally view the shutdown of the live servers, with Homecoming (and others) being small pocket dimensions that have so far escaped the Battalion's notice.

 

But for the official story, yeah, the AMAs are the place to look!

Edited April 1, 2021 by EmperorSteele

[gamingglen]

No more zone revamps*, no more "echos"... leave me effin' game alone, especially Perez Park. 

 

Add.  Make the front line a moon base or 3. Outside zone, and interior zones ("hollow" moon) so don't need breathing gear for those.  

 

*Well, you could revamp the Shadow Shard.  If anything needs a repurpose it is most of those zones.  Make larger rocky areas, some with small towns/cities that fenced off the Rulularurururur (never can remember the proper spelling).

[gourdhead]

Add my vote to a Shadow Shard revamp.  Extradimensional invaders, giant weird science battleships, Malta and Nemesis collaborators?  Yes please.

[Darmian]

You know, in a real world sense I thought it was designed to kill COH and prep for COH2.  Now, that is NOT going to happen here, for obvious reasons.  And as @Greycatsaid, some of the AMA (a LOT of it TBH) around this is just cringey.  So, two options. (1) SOMETHING happens and it's (please please please) not the crap spoken of in the AMAs, or (2) you know, those who spoke of it were, oh dear, WRONG.  As in absolutely wrong. Heaven forfend that Prrometheus and his giant ego get something wrong.  But he turns out to be completely wrong, and we get something cool and beautiful that hasn't been spoilered by a decade old AMA that people keep dragging out as if it's the Necronomicon. And why did he get it wrong?  Because Zeus hates him and left "clues" for that idiot to drool over.

 

Ahem.

 

 

Edited April 2, 2021 by Darmian

[Arnabas]

Whenever I think of the Battalion, I envision them as being similar to the Cabal in Destiny. Not sure why. Might just be the name.

I'm honestly not sure if I want to see the story play out. Part of me definitely does, but I don't think they have the time and resources to do it properly. Maybe they could have a Task Force that centres around delaying it indefinitely. Just keep repeating the TF and they will never arrive. 

 

Quote

No more zone revamps*, no more "echos"... leave me effin' game alone, especially Perez Park. 

 

I disagree with this. I mean, they've been rebuilding some zones for 20 years now.... I think seeing some progress is fair.

[gamingglen]

I don't mind a graphical update. But don't change a zone enough to have to make the old one an echo.  I want to go to Perez Park via the current gates, not have to use that Ouroborus artifact. It takes away from immersion. Make a new park that through the diligent heroes' (and maybe include scumy villains') efforts have opened up new "safe" areas.  Even Recluse likes to go on a picnic, right?

 

[Darmian]

2 minutes ago, gamingglen said:

I don't mind a graphical update. But don't change a zone enough to have to make the old one an echo.  I want to go to Perez Park via the current gates, not have to use that Ouroborus artifact. It takes away from immersion. Make a new park that through the diligent heroes' (and maybe include scumy villains') efforts have opened up new "safe" areas.  Even Recluse likes to go on a picnic, right?

 

If Perez could get the Atlas treatment (comparing the Echo to the present one) that'd be cool.  Of course plenty of other spots need it more.

 

It does depend on the zone though.  Faultline and the Crash site were needed.  I suppose DA was too, but I prefer the vibe to Echo DA.

Edited April 2, 2021 by Darmian

[MTeague]

16 hours ago, Darmian said:

You know, in a real world sense I thought it was designed to kill COH and prep for COH2.  Now, that is NOT going to happen here, for obvious reasons.  And as @Greycatsaid, some of the AMA (a LOT of it TBH) around this is just cringey.  So, two options. (1) SOMETHING happens and it's (please please please) not the crap spoken of in the AMAs, or (2) you know, those who spoke of it were, oh dear, WRONG.  As in absolutely wrong. Heaven forfend that Prrometheus and his giant ego get something wrong.  But he turns out to be completely wrong, and we get something cool and beautiful that hasn't been spoilered by a decade old AMA that people keep dragging out as if it's the Necronomicon. And why did he get it wrong?  Because Zeus hates him and left "clues" for that idiot to drool over.

 

Ahem.

 

 

I *knew* it!  I *knew* it!  Ever since I saw a Hellion boss named "Battalion", I knew it!

It was all a practical joke!

[Glacier Peak]

1 hour ago, MTeague said:

I *knew* it!  I *knew* it!  Ever since I saw a Hellion boss named "Battalion", I knew it!

It was all a practical joke!

 

[Chris24601]

On 4/1/2021 at 9:52 PM, gamingglen said:

I don't mind a graphical update. But don't change a zone enough to have to make the old one an echo.  I want to go to Perez Park via the current gates, not have to use that Ouroborus artifact. It takes away from immersion. Make a new park that through the diligent heroes' (and maybe include scumy villains') efforts have opened up new "safe" areas.  Even Recluse likes to go on a picnic, right?

 

What I actually liked about the proposed Perez Park revamp was that it wouldn't need an Echo version. The idea was that the Circle would raise a chunk of their city into the sky above the park so the ground level would still be the low level hazard zone with a floating island (side bar: there's a map in Scirocco's patron arc that is basically exactly this and roughly a kilometer long so the asset already exists) so far above it that it would either need to be a separate zone accessed by a portal, or otherwise so far up that you'd have to deliberately fly up to it in order to aggro anything.

[Grouchybeast]

4 hours ago, Chris24601 said:

What I actually liked about the proposed Perez Park revamp was that it wouldn't need an Echo version. The idea was that the Circle would raise a chunk of their city into the sky above the park so the ground level would still be the low level hazard zone with a floating island (side bar: there's a map in Scirocco's patron arc that is basically exactly this and roughly a kilometer long so the asset already exists) so far above it that it would either need to be a separate zone accessed by a portal, or otherwise so far up that you'd have to deliberately fly up to it in order to aggro anything.

 

I adore this idea.  I especially like the thought that every now and again Perez Park would probably be hit by a shower of falling level 54 Circle of Thorns, who would end up as a kind of wandering zone hazard until they eventually despawned.

[Darmian]

1 minute ago, Grouchybeast said:

 

I adore this idea.  I especially like the thought that every now and again Perez Park would probably be hit by a shower of falling level 54 Circle of Thorns, who would end up as a kind of wandering zone hazard until they eventually despawned.

If they implemented this I'd want their ground level chatter to be things like, "Curses!  Ok, who memorized the Levitate spell?  No one? AGH!"

[Arbegla]

From a story angle, I wish the coming storm would've happened. Its been teased for well over 10 issues.

 

From a 'What could it be that we'd actually care about?' angle, I'd like it be just a continual small effect thing. Maybe it builds up, maybe you have to run a TF to delay it, but its always there. We're stuck with it now, and we can decide if we care or not.

[Darmian]

17 minutes ago, Arbegla said:

We're stuck with it now.

Nah, we're not really.   Wibbly wobbly timey wimey, the Menders predicted Atlas would bite the dust, but it was Galaxy instead, we're not stuck with it. They'll probably deal with it somehow though.

[SaintD]

People are thinking like this game is 'in development'. It's not.

 

The Coming Storm is absolutely not coming, and if the people running the servers bring it to us, it will be a massive disappointment. That's not a knock to them, it's reality. This is hobbyists toying with the assets left to us, not a paid development studio.

[tidge]

I think 'cringey' to be an apt description of the Lore plans had the game continued. Frankly, I least like the elements of the Lore that remind me of 'comics event fatigue'. See also, "Who Will Die?" I can barely accept the Dark Astoria revamp as there is essentially a story arc to be played there, and that it removed the 'fog'... even though I liked the atmosphere of the fog and the ghosts in original Dark Astoria it was a real PITA to travel in that zone... a nice change of pace, but not everyone's cuppa.

 

I am also of the opinion that the later caretakers (on Live) have a VERY mixed record when it comes to 'revamping' or 'introducing' zones. Faultline was a rather solid revamp (as was the Hollows), and for my $$$ both Striga and Croatoa were solid out of the gate. However, I find the Shadow Shard and Cimerora to be pretty dull in terms of narrative... and the revamped RWZ is a sort of take-it-or-leave it as far as I'm concerned. The less said about "Shining Stars" and "Dr. Graves" the better.

 

Personally, I LIKE the available graphics for a sky-enabled Perez Park (I imagine that assets from the Scirocco Patron arc would be reused), but I would HATE to lose the original (or have it sent to Echo zone). Perez Park is, at least for ME (a day 1 player) the original Hazard Zone and it is still one that I enjoy taking new lower-level (hero) characters into as a test of their mettle. If anyone is looking for reasons to NOT revamp Perez Park as planned, I suggest polling players about their feelings regarding travel within in zones like Grandville and the Shadow Shard.

[Darmian]

2 hours ago, tidge said:

I think 'cringey' to be an apt description of the Lore plans had the game continued. Frankly, I least like the elements of the Lore that remind me of 'comics event fatigue'. See also, "Who Will Die?" I can barely accept the Dark Astoria revamp as there is essentially a story arc to be played there, and that it removed the 'fog'... even though I liked the atmosphere of the fog and the ghosts in original Dark Astoria it was a real PITA to travel in that zone... a nice change of pace, but not everyone's cuppa.

 

I am also of the opinion that the later caretakers (on Live) have a VERY mixed record when it comes to 'revamping' or 'introducing' zones. Faultline was a rather solid revamp (as was the Hollows), and for my $$$ both Striga and Croatoa were solid out of the gate. However, I find the Shadow Shard and Cimerora to be pretty dull in terms of narrative... and the revamped RWZ is a sort of take-it-or-leave it as far as I'm concerned. The less said about "Shining Stars" and "Dr. Graves" the better.

 

Personally, I LIKE the available graphics for a sky-enabled Perez Park (I imagine that assets from the Scirocco Patron arc would be reused), but I would HATE to lose the original (or have it sent to Echo zone). Perez Park is, at least for ME (a day 1 player) the original Hazard Zone and it is still one that I enjoy taking new lower-level (hero) characters into as a test of their mettle. If anyone is looking for reasons to NOT revamp Perez Park as planned, I suggest polling players about their feelings regarding travel within in zones like Grandville and the Shadow Shard.

You COULD retain both aspects of Perez Park, the original Hazard Zone feel, and add the floating thing, with an application of the First Ward/Night Ward light paths. Simply put, Anything in there simply isn't part of the original. So don't go in! Now how you'd implement that is another thing entirely!

[tidge]

1 minute ago, Darmian said:

You COULD retain both aspects of Perez Park, the original Hazard Zone feel, and add the floating thing, with an application of the First Ward/Night Ward light paths. Simply put, Anything in there simply isn't part of the original. So don't go in! Now how you'd implement that is another thing entirely!

 

Meh. Why bother putting it (a modified Perez Park) in a (rather centrally located) existing zone at all? There is quite a lot of different things going on in that zone anyway, so why screw that one up (as opposed to say... Boomtown? Or a modern/transplanted Cimerora?

 

I think it is fair to say that the "Hazard Zone" concept really didn't pan out the way that the original Devs intended... but of all the original Hazard zones, Perez Park is the one with the most nostalgia... at least for me. Of the originals it is also probably the quickest/easiest to traverse, modulo a door mission inside a tree maze.