Expanding player character... let's call them 'tags.'

[Greycat]

One of the things that came out - I *think* around the time of AE, I can't certainly say before that - is the ability of NPCs (contacts, typically) to react to a few things about your character. He/she/him/her being the most common, though there's a little bit of other stuff (such as extra dialog for one contact in the Origin of Power talk-to-run-around bit when you meet the one for your origin.) It adds a little immersiveness when you run across it - typically in AE, granted.

 

I don't actually expect this to be *realistically* doable, but I'd love to see this expanded with a few other tags you could pick to describe your character. Undead. Robotic. Incorporeal / Ghost. For the Khelds, for instance, "energy body" or something.  There'd obviously be a longish list - and, yes, a lot of work for what could be done where.

 

What inspired this? Well, doing one of the newer Vahz arcs (with Watkins.) Second to last mission, you're told you have to sit in a warehouse for several hours to decontaminate, right? What if one of the dialog options - for the appropriate character, that is - was "I'm a spirit. What body is there to contaminate?" It makes zero difference to the arc, but a touch like that would be interesting.

 

(Yeah. A COH 2 thing, honestly. But it would be neat.)

[TemporalVileTerror]

I -think- I've mentioned an idea along these lines a few dozen times, both here and in Legacy/Retail . . . although I don't know if it was ever in its own thread.

But . . . yes.

 

Very much yes.

 

Even if we can't go back and fix all the old content, it would be great if all FUTURE content was built with these fundamentals understood and accounted for.

[IntCel]

This should at least be a thing in the character selection.
Then I could finally stop losing my sets among my way too many alts.

[Steampunkette]

Narrative "tags" have been a thing since the game launched, not just the AE. It was just our first chance to explore it.

 

When you hit f5 and your character shouts out your level and archetype those are the same tags. It's just a variable that does a quickie lookup in your character's game file to find information. It also does Origin, though never in a text conversation, it's how the game knew which starting origin contact to give you. Heck, it could even check whether you started in Galaxy City or Atlas Park, way back when!

 

It also uses Badge Text as tags so that NPCs on the streets can talk about how you recently beat up the Council or the Family or whomever else while they're walking past.

 

There's a plethora of stuff about characters that we -could- use as tags for mission text... But.

 

The more of them you put into the mission tag, the more it becomes a Mad Libs of different issues and trying to account for players being Robots or Zombies or Normal People or Immune to Toxic Gas just makes all the writing for the game that much more complex.

 

So while it's cool stuff, it's largely remained "In the Box" so to speak.

[dangeraaron10]

I definitely support more stuff like this.  The game assumes you are a standard human with some quirky powers rather than the huge amount of possibilities you can get from the creator.

 

Like maybe it's not the best idea to task an 8ft tall lizardman to go undercover in a Hellions hideout.  These guys aren't terribly bright, sure, but even THEY would at least be suspicious.

 

Even in little bits here and there to help acknowledge your unique character would go a long way in building immersion.

[MTeague]

43 minutes ago, dangeraaron10 said:

Like maybe it's not the best idea to task an 8ft tall lizardman to go undercover in a Hellions hideout.  These guys aren't terribly bright, sure, but even THEY would at least be suspicious.

(bold/italics mine)

Even if the game just trolled / lampshaded it. 

 

Hellion Slammer:  Bob looks different today.

Hellion Gunner:  Yea, not quite sure what. Hey Bob, did you get a new haircut?

 

But SOME acknowledgement, even with a wink and a nod, would go a long way.

[dangeraaron10]

3 minutes ago, MTeague said:

(bold/italics mine)

Even if the game just trolled / lampshaded it. 

 

Hellion Slammer:  Bob looks different today.

Hellion Gunner:  Yea, not quite sure what. Hey Bob, did you get a new haircut?

 

But SOME acknowledgement, even with a wink and a nod, would go a long way.

 

That'd be hilarious and moments like that would stick with me.  It'd make me run the content several times to see what silly stuff they'd say to different characters.

 

Like I said, small but personalized stuff like this can stick with you and make for a better gaming experience.

[TemporalVileTerror]

Perhaps something along the lines of:
Hellion Boss.:  "Did you get the Talisman of Glamour?"
Hellion Lt.:  "No.  Some heroes busted up my crew and managed to get it back before we could escape."
Hellion Boss:  "You failure!  How are we supposed to infiltrate City Hall now!?"

Hellion Minion:  "Yeah!  And what if some hero uses the Talisman to sneak in to HERE!"
Hellion Boss attacks Minion.  "Shut up!  No one asked for your opinion.  Idiot."