Statesman: is it time to resurrect him or replace him?

[Rudra]

The Flames of Prometheus are supposed to be their own incarnate bit according to the dialogue you see in the mission that unlocks the Mortimer Kal SF. Mortimer Kal sends you to get the Flames of Prometheus to unlock your incarnate abilities, which he had intended for himself. Unlike the incarnate powers you get post level 50 though, the level 20'ish Flames of Prometheus only give you a buff. Supposedly a temporary unlocking of incarnate ability from my understanding of the SF.

[merrypessimist]

3 hours ago, Voltor said:

 

If memory serves didn't the plan a contest for a player character to join the phalanx but the shutdown ended it?

 

 

I thought that was how we got Numina, player winning a "design a Phalanx NPC" contest.

[MTeague]

2 hours ago, Vanden said:

How's the player character supposed to be the big flashy heavy hitter foe at the end of the LRSF

 

One item that's been on my wish-list forever is a scenario where, for certain missions, the game surfs Your Character Roster, and picks X characters of the opposing faction, and drops them into the mission as AI-controlled enemies.  With all of their powers, including incarnates (if 45+), including ALL set bonuses, access to ALL your temp powers, the whole ball of wax. No kittenized version of your character, you have to actually go up against one of your own. 

• always to choose character of appropriate level, or force exemplar as needed.
• always to prefer blue vs red, red vs blue, or Gold vs Anyone
• set the character as either EB or AV per your mission settings.

Admittedly, this idea probably has more appeal if you have a library of characters among different factions rather than always going hero, or always going villain. 

 

And honestly, I don't ever realllllly expect to see this, because it would probably be a bit of a coding nightmare. I don't know if the AI could realistically handle having that many powers to choose from or would it get caught in a loop. And there would likely be lots of pushback if players were put up against their own unkillable softcapped characters who used Judgement nukes and Lore pets against them. It's probably not really practical. 

 

But I feel like it would Personalize missions in a way no current content could.

[PeregrineFalcon]

4 hours ago, Vanden said:

How's the player character supposed to be the big flashy heavy hitter foe at the end of the LRSF

I don't know the details of the LRSF, having never played that. Maybe have a story arc that happens afterward where your character becomes more powerful.

 

Players have the same complaint about STO, SWTOR and GW2. The player character(s) is supposed to be the star of the show, but isn't. We play games, instead of watching shows or reading books, because we want to be in the story. We want to make decisions. We want to be the star. Having an NPC be the star, while your character is a bit player, or a nobody, is a serious video game writing failure.

 

I remember your reviews. You should know all of this better than anyone else.

[Clave Dark 5]

16 hours ago, Luminara said:

creates a parallel Paragon City in which everyone is a rabbit!  Doom bunnies, with deadly hopping powers and mind-bending nose wiggles, bent on domination of the Rogue Isles, invade Grandville, and heroes and villains team up to prevent the bunnification of the entire world!

Having had Watership Doom on redside Live and now Rabbitattatt on blue side, waaaay ahead of you!

 

No need to replace him, and please don't revive him.  I know it's a thing in comic books (not a good thing, mind you), but it's not like we call every new president we elect "the New President Washington" or something.

[Vanden]

2 hours ago, PeregrineFalcon said:

I don't know the details of the LRSF, having never played that. Maybe have a story arc that happens afterward where your character becomes more powerful.

 

My point is that since it's villain content, you're playing as a villain when you run it. You can't make the player character the hero you face at the end, that would make no sense.

 

2 hours ago, PeregrineFalcon said:

I remember your reviews. You should know all of this better than anyone else.

 

I think you're thinking of Venture.

[starro]

Numina was created by City of Heroes forum member Belle who won the "Create One Of The Surviving Eight" NPC Contest.

 

https://archive.paragonwiki.com/wiki/Numina

 

Edited February 28, 2022 by starro

[Take One]

21 hours ago, Greycat said:

it's not really like he had any impact on the world we played through

 

This is the problem. He should have been very visible from level 1-20, at least, in order to make his absence actually matter.

[Clave Dark 5]

32 minutes ago, Take One said:

 

This is the problem. He should have been very visible from level 1-20, at least, in order to make his absence actually matter.

Batman doesn't talk to every single person who put son a cape though, he wouldn't have time!

[MidnighterClubPatron]

11 hours ago, PeregrineFalcon said:

How about a storyline where THE PLAYER CHARACTER becomes the power house that the city, and the Freedom Phalanx, looks up to?

 

I know, I know. Having the player be the star of the show is just dumb, right?

 

This is kind of along what I was thinking.

 

But instead of the player character being the main hero, I would like the moral of the story of Paragon is that the world no longer needed "The Big Hero" to look up to.

We're in a new Age of Hero and Myth with tons of new super heroes. With the "Power of Friendship!" (and judiciously applied violence) between all the hero player characters, anything can be done.

Edited February 28, 2022 by MidnighterClubPatron

[Greycat]

1 hour ago, Take One said:

 

This is the problem. He should have been very visible from level 1-20, at least, in order to make his absence actually matter.

 

This was a problem with a few things, honestly. Crey has this problem, too. It's apparently supposed to be some big surprise they're evil, but before you run into them, you have ... no interaction. You see someone poking at Rikti drone parts in the original tutorial, you see a billboard or two, but... eh? Never had them offer to help you, never tried to help them, it's just "Hey! Megacorp! And they're EEEVIL!"

[Bill Z Bubba]

1 minute ago, Greycat said:

"Hey! Megacorp! And they're EEEVIL!"

 

<.<

>.>

Are there any that aren't?

[Take One]

3 minutes ago, Bill Z Bubba said:

Are there any that aren't?

 

It would be cool if Crey was around at lower levels, just doing normal stuff and not being eeeevil.

[MTeague]

4 hours ago, Take One said:

 

It would be cool if Crey was around at lower levels, just doing normal stuff and not being eeeevil.

 

Oh, they were, at least on live. Sometimes.

 

I distinctly remember, Guardian server, in Kings Row 3, on my main character, running up the hill towards Blue Steel to claim my new shiny lvl 9, running past this dude in a black suit who suddenly did a martial arts kick that one-shotted me and flung my corpse back at least a hundred yards.  Yea... someone's abandoned lvl 40+ ambush of Crey.

[PeregrineFalcon]

9 hours ago, Vanden said:

My point is that since it's villain content, you're playing as a villain when you run it. You can't make the player character the hero you face at the end, that would make no sense.

Oh, ok. I wasn't aware of that. I meant that the player character should end up becoming the star of the show on both hero and villain sides.

 

9 hours ago, Vanden said:

I think you're thinking of Venture.

You're absolutely right. My mistake.

[Luminara]

4 hours ago, Bill Z Bubba said:

 

<.<

>.>

Are there any that aren't?

 

Here at Lumicorp, we're not evil.  Irascible, inappropriately humorous, but never evil.

 

Lumicorp, the megacorp with a shit to give.  Two shits if you're nice to our representatives!

[FrauleinMental]

Statesman was replaced pretty quickly by Positron (both leading the Phalanx and as the Damsel in Distress in Maria Jenkins' arc).

 

If we really need another (and I'm not sure we do), Honoree (Hero One) is back.  It might make a decent hero arc to walk him through the lore of the world surviving the Rikti War because of his sacrifice, and it might make just as powerful a lead-in as with Statesman to the Coming Storm.

[Menelruin]

Just wanna say another +1 for Hero One stepping up!

[ChocolateMercenary]

20 hours ago, Rudra said:

(Speaking of Well enhanced individuals... why is Lady Grey such a weak incarnate?)

For the same reason that Recluse keeps trying to supercharge himself without using the Well's power. Neither want to pay the cost of themselves for more power.

[Rudra]

Except she is the one that explains to your character how to access the Well's power without being taken over by it.

[biostem]

Obviously you replace him with a horde of Rikti monkeys, all wearing Statesman masks...

[Rudra]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! Statesman is back and now he knows Monkey Clone Jutsu!!!!! 🤣

[WanderingAries]

 

 

Oh wait, wrong person...

[biostem]

On 2/27/2022 at 7:29 AM, Voltor said:

Which do you think?  resurrect or replace?

Why only those 2 options?  What, in the current timeframe the game takes place in, is missing by having Statesman's position left vacant?  Maybe you could have a story arc or TF where others try to assert themselves as the ultimate power or figurehead for the world, but otherwise, let the current generation of heroes do their thing, without having to live in someone else's shadow... 

[Vanden]

1 hour ago, biostem said:

What, in the current timeframe the game takes place in, is missing by having Statesman's position left vacant?

 

He was a great final foe for the LRSF. Also, he’s the face of heroside, which is handy from a marketing perspective.