Does the player pick the character, or the character pick the player?

[DrInfernus]

Been giving this question some thought and interested in getting some wider opinion. 

 

If you were to ask me what I want from a build on CoH, I’d say loads of AoE, mostly ranged with plenty of spike single target damage. 
 

Got loads of them too. I’d say two thirds of my 30-odd level 50s are that type. 
 

And yet, by far and away my favourite character is a NRG/Invul Sentinel: Lower end of the damage scale, restrictive AoE cap, half the range of a blaster, who spends most of his time in melee punching people in the face with knockout blow. In other words, just not what I would’ve asked for at all. 
 

So does the player pick the character? Or is it like Harry Potter where the wand picks the wizard? 

[The_Warpact]

Both...I have some instances that I come up with an idea. Other times its just there ready to go.

Does it make for a longer standing toon, hard to tell. Mostly ones that I invest alot of time in via a great theme or idea obviously get longevity but, once in awhile a toon will just click adding to the likelihood that they will be around for awhile.

I'm pretty finicky with my toons so I delete more than I keep.

[Bill Z Bubba]

There's no easy answer here. I've always been a scrapper at heart but checking my woefully out of date character spreadsheet shows I have more tanks and brutes and tied on sents. I seem to find I get the most enjoyment these days from my earth/earth dom or my dark/stone tank. But I'm also teaming most of the time these days when I am on but lots of my game time gets used up by State of Decay 2. Apparently I really am wishing for a post-apocalyptic wasteland. CoH is a bit too happy sometimes.

 

But did Bill Z Bubba the scrapper choose me? No. But he did become another me over time.

Edited November 9, 2021 by Bill Z Bubba

[Yomo Kimyata]

I try a lot of stuff.  Some of it I like better than others, and some of it I like better than others sometimes and not others.  Usually I get on a kick based on an idea and run with it until something else pops up.

 

The three tenets for a real winner for me are:  it has to be interesting, it has to be challenging, it has to be fun.  I can swing back and forth among these at times; sometimes you just want to walk onto a fire farm and burn stuff.  

 

Interesting:  I like having to put some thought into it.  Maybe that's a good backstory, or even a name.  I *love* finding really crappy builds and making them into something that is ok, good, or even great.  I don't find FotMs very interesting, but that's not because there is anything wrong with them but because I'm a real snob.  Popular things are popular for a reason!

 

Challenging:  I prefer things that take at least a little bit of thought.  I always like to punch above my own weight because I want to push myself, and frankly there is essentially zero penalty for failure.  I don't feel bad about eating floor in a mission unless I know it's going to take me five minutes to get back there.

 

Fun:  Let's be honest, this is (I hope) why we are all here.  Get your kicks however you want to get them, so long as you are not getting them at the expense of someone else.

[DoctorDitko]

I think both have happened to me, but my favorite characters are when both happen at once... Something just clicks and I find the character writing their own dialog, and I lose myself in them almost like a really good in-person RPG session.

 

Reading back over this, it sounds like I'm describing falling in love. I'll own to that.

 

Well, love with particularly synergistic powersets!

[UltraAlt]

3 hours ago, DrInfernus said:

So does the player pick the character? Or is it like Harry Potter where the wand picks the wizard? 

 

I don't really understand this reference so I can't really make too much of a statement based on that.

 

What I can say is that I create a character based on a character conception that may or may not revolve around a sets powers.
Most of the time I have a character conception and my power picks are based on my character conception and not the powers that are "cookie-cutter"/"optimal"/"mini-maxed" in the power set.

 

So use of AoEs or not using AoEs on a build is more based on my character conception.

 

Now once I get into playing the character and leveling up, I may see that the ability to be primarily single target or AoE heavy based on what make sense out of the power set picks that I feel match my character conception.

 

My blasters, sentinels, scrappers, stalkers, masterminds, defenders, and corruptors tend to be single target.

My tanks, controllers, and dominators tend to be AoE.

And that is "tend to be". For example :: in my character conceptions sonic isn't so pinpoint targets and is more an AoE/cone because it is screaming/singing/whatnot in a certain direction.

 

But getting around to the first point, I pick the character that I play/create when I log into the game ... but I have over 100 characters and play on all the servers.

I'm kind of thinking that there must be some relation in what you are saying in regard to your attraction to a character that is something that you wouldn't ordinarily think is fun to play. On that level, there may be other factors to make it fun to play. I could be additionally due to the other people you are playing with or some other connection to the character. 

I, however, am one to believe that the power sets and power selections aren't picking you to be the physical manifestation that allows them to interact inside of the CoH game environment.

Edited November 9, 2021 by UltraAlt

[0th Power]

I know that I have a hard time playing a character that is a support type.  Gotta smash or freem!

[SeraphimKensai]

The characters pick the player.

 

So since 2004, 498 (382 on live and 116 currently here) toons destined for greatness have picked me as their player. Although they've come from every origin and from every archetype they've all had a few things in common with each other.

• They strive for perfection in themselves, but have patience for those around them.
• They aim to be unstoppable, like the type of heroes the Freedom Phalanx calls on when shit has hit the fan. I don't know what it is about these toons but they all keep buying IO's and forcing me to make builds for them that will make them gods.
• They all learn at an extremely high rate, and share a hivemind through me as their chosen player.
• They seem humble enough about sharing the spotlight with each other and take new heroes under their wings and propel them to greatness.

Overall I'm just a guy that's ultimately replaceable, they could find another host and overtime learn to play like they do, and who knows maybe one day I'll hand the keys over and let someone else drive.

[Without_Pause]

I lean on picking the character for what sticks. I have my playstyle, and those tend to be the builds which work out for me in the end in terms of getting to 50 and seeing how far I want to get them into Incarnates and fully IOed. I do try out builds where something might be more on the unknown side. They do tend to fall in the category of 2nd tier in terms of fun though.

[iBot]

If I have to stop and think about it I'd say for my namesake the character chose me.  It all came about as I was making a new character and I happened upon the robot arms.  It clicked.  BAM! iBot.  Everything else just fell right into place from there.  I really had no conscious control over that character beyond the concept of he's a robotics specialist that was injured in the original invasion and used that knowledge to become the hero.  It all hit at once.

 

90% of the other dozen or so toons I had on live and the 32 I have now on HC were all generated because my group of SG mates were running a themed sort of event and I needed a toon that fit that theme.  The final 10% are because I came across a power set combo that sounded fun to mess with and I spun up a toon for it.  No thought beyond a name that is unique and I can pronounce.  Sometimes the name is a play on the power sets and sometimes it is just random keyboard strokes until I can say it.

[Erratic1]

For most of my characters the situation is more like getting to know someone and then making the decision if we are going to stick together for the long term or not. But that character that does not perform exactly to expectations or to the level you want, but which still occupies your thoughts and makes you want to play them?

 

That character chose you.

 

 

[PLVRIZR]

Being a former Champions dice & paper veteran, I was ecstatic when CoH came out in 2004.  All I wanted to do was fly and blast, so I chose the character.  Yup, the classic NRG/NRG blaster was born.  I also quickly learned that I didn't like dying, much, and once I got my first speed boost, from a teaming kinetic, I created a Kin defender, again...me choosing the character.

 

I agree 100% with Erratic, in that whether the toon sticks or not, is relational.

[JnEricsonx]

I'll come up with a concept and work it in my head, or I'll read someone else's build and decide to give it a shot. Really depends.

[Clave Dark 5]

Anythign can happen, but I'd lean character chooses us.  Case in point: made my then-new Grav/Dark Troller Trash Ghost.  Somewhere around level 14 or maybe 20 something felt odd, so I checked back and hey yeah, I had the same power combo on another troller I had taken to like 46 some months ago, but never felt right about - so much so that I had even forgotten he existed (and I still can't recall his name right now, ha ha!).  He'd never fired me up much, but had only reached that level due to inertia, "well, this is my new one right now, so I guess I'll keep playing him."  I ended up cannibalizing from him a bit to kit-out the new troller, which is something I almost never do.  He still sits at 46 or whatever, meanwhile Trash Ghost is in my sig lists of 50s and has, I think 20+ vet levels.  I still pull him out, too.

[Six-Six]

I start off with a concept... either stemming from a costume (now what powers would go nice with these, can't have a rifle because my hook for hands can't work the trigger, can't have wings because shoulder armour will shred them the minute I fly... etc.) or a power combo (now which set of tights advertise/conceal my true power...). 

BUT THEN after the first few levels, the character takes a life of its own. HE/SHE/IT decides the play style, which powers to take or skip, how to slot those powers, and even which costume pieces to add or remove. I have over 100 toons, about half of them are 50s, a few are the exact same power combos or very similar; and yet none of them have had the same levelling up journey, the same set of power picks, build, nor strategy for taking down foes.

In the end, I suppose MY personality shows through as if I was the character (like what would I do if I was a half-feline alien with dark powers and bewbs). so a little bit of role playing, a little bit of real life me, and a lot of growing pains (trying out new powers, new slotting, new hairstyles and tights) go into fleshing out a particular toon.

[biostem]

Maybe I'm interpreting the OP too literally here, but the "character" is not an agent - they do not make decisions or "pick" anything.  Now, if what you're instead asking is whether certain powers or combinations or powers are or become much more appealing to certain players, or due to certain play experiences said player has had, then yes, those are definitely huge deciding factors on what one chooses to play...

[Icono04]

Usually when I read an interesting thread that I plan to post in, my intended reply forms in my head gradually as I read through the thread. I was doing the same thing for this thread, until I suddenly got to the part where @Erratic1 had written my exact thoughts before I even formulated them myself:

 

20 hours ago, Erratic1 said:

For most of my characters the situation is more like getting to know someone and then making the decision if we are going to stick together for the long term or not. But that character that does not perform exactly to expectations or to the level you want, but which still occupies your thoughts and makes you want to play them?

 

That character chose you.

 

[DrInfernus]

On 11/10/2021 at 9:37 AM, biostem said:

Maybe I'm interpreting the OP too literally here, but the "character" is not an agent - they do not make decisions or "pick" anything.  Now, if what you're instead asking is whether certain powers or combinations or powers are or become much more appealing to certain players, or due to certain play experiences said player has had, then yes, those are definitely huge deciding factors on what one chooses to play...

Definitely taken it too literally!

 

For me, it’s nowhere near as simple as you suggest. I don’t particularly like NRG blast and Sentinel-level damage - especially in a build that doesn’t use any damage procs at all - don’t appeal to me anywhere near as much as other powersets and combinations. 
 

And yet, for some reason I can’t explain, that particular character calls to me. 

[tidge]

I think I fall into the "player picks the character" camp, for reasons:

• I'm happy to play through well-worn content with different ATs and power sets
• I like to see when other players (on PUGs) handle different ATs and power sets

I definitely have a bunch of characters that can "solo" during PUG TF/SF, so simply seeing others do the same doesn't really impress me... but when I see players doing unusual tricks with different characters.... that I enjoy.

[Shred Monkey]

If the player picked the character, this would be city of claws/regen scrappers... 'cause, admit it... most of us made one when we first logged in in 2003.

[Icono04]

38 minutes ago, Shred Monkey said:

claws/regen scrappers... 'cause, admit it... most of us made one when we first logged in in 2003.

It said in the EULA that it was mandatory to make one, didn't it? I mean, I didn't read the whole EULA but I just assumed that that was in there.

[Bill Z Bubba]

4 hours ago, Shred Monkey said:

If the player picked the character, this would be city of claws/regen scrappers... 'cause, admit it... most of us made one when we first logged in in 2003.

 

3 hours ago, Icono04 said:

It said in the EULA that it was mandatory to make one, didn't it? I mean, I didn't read the whole EULA but I just assumed that that was in there.

 

I read it and said, "NO! I'm belligerent and haven't even begun my travels into the land of yelling at clouds yet! I'll do claws/sr instead." Course... he did still have a cigar...

[Uun]

4 hours ago, Shred Monkey said:

If the player picked the character, this would be city of claws/regen scrappers... 'cause, admit it... most of us made one when we first logged in in 2003.

My first character was MA/Inv scrapper, followed quickly by an Energy/Energy blaster (although I did make a Claws/Regen a year or two later).

[wjrasmussen]

On 11/9/2021 at 7:55 AM, DrInfernus said:

Been giving this question some thought and interested in getting some wider opinion. 

 

If you were to ask me what I want from a build on CoH, I’d say loads of AoE, mostly ranged with plenty of spike single target damage. 
 

Got loads of them too. I’d say two thirds of my 30-odd level 50s are that type. 
 

And yet, by far and away my favourite character is a NRG/Invul Sentinel: Lower end of the damage scale, restrictive AoE cap, half the range of a blaster, who spends most of his time in melee punching people in the face with knockout blow. In other words, just not what I would’ve asked for at all. 
 

So does the player pick the character? Or is it like Harry Potter where the wand picks the wizard? 

I wise person once wrote:  "The character picks me, I pick my nose"

[Chaos String]

Wait a minute, so if our characters pick us, and we pick our noses, by the transitive property of picking things, our characters pick our noses?

 

....wow, that could save me some time.