Origin Specific Accolades

[mrdeeds7]

I've always thought it would be cool if origins tied into gameplay in a more meaningful way. This is an idea I thought could be built simply and might do some of that. Basic concept would be each origin would have a specific accolade that involved a combination of defeat and history badges etc specific to the origin that would confer an ability specific to that origin. 

 

Could make them difficult to get or even have a level 2 for each one. 

 

Mutant level 1 - Evolved

Mutant level 2 - Omega Level

 

And confer a power or a bonus that makes sense based on the origins. Just a way to tie in a bit more significance to origin choice over the lifetime of the game

 

[Psyonico]

I'm not against badges having names that correlate to origin, but tying specific powers to origin is something I'm against.  That would mean that certain origins would be better than other origins.  Suddenly if you picked the "wrong" origin at start, you might have to re-roll a character just to fix that.

[Rudra]

Why do they have to have powers attached to them?

[mrdeeds7]

Well I think the idea would be that the accolades would be equally good just different. 

 

Mutants 5% to fire/ice

Technology 5% to endurance

Magic 5% to psy/hold

etc

 

Or if there were a power it could be like a better version of the origin power everyone starts with. 

[Rudra]

Not to be mean, but no. You want origin badges? Fine. Simplest way to me is to make 2 badges for your 2 tiers and just have the name change based on origin. That way badgers can still collect their badges and get the badge name version they want when they choose their origin, without having to concern themselves with 8 more badges they can never get on their character. Accolade powers for those badges though? No. Especially since with the powers you are choosing, that makes specific origins better for specific ATs or power sets than others.

[FupDup]

5 minutes ago, mrdeeds7 said:

Well I think the idea would be that the accolades would be equally good just different. 

 

Mutants 5% to fire/ice

Technology 5% to endurance

Magic 5% to psy/hold

etc

 

Or if there were a power it could be like a better version of the origin power everyone starts with. 

The utility of those would change quite a bit depending on the AT/build in question. The 5% endurance would probably be the most universally valuable of the bunch. Making stuff like this equally good in different ways is gonna be too hard. I could maybe see an upgraded version of the origin attack power but that's about as far as it could go I think. 

 

Better to just let it be a badge thing for collecting/fun purposes and having cool badge titles. 

[arcane]

You can’t have badges tied to origin. That would mean every character doesn’t have access to every badge in the game, meaning the completionist badgers would throw a shitfit.

Edited January 14 by arcane

[Greycat]

Part of the issue with this is that we have tons of ckaracters created now, and unlike slots, pools or power selections in a set, origin is baked in and cannot be changed.

 

I wouldnt mind seeing more done with origins, but it would likely be more like origin specific contacts, arcs or dialog.

[Rudra]

18 minutes ago, Greycat said:

Part of the issue with this is that we have tons of ckaracters created now, and unlike slots, pools or power selections in a set, origin is baked in and cannot be changed.

 

I wouldnt mind seeing more done with origins, but it would likely be more like origin specific contacts, arcs or dialog.

You make a very good point. However, if the badges were all the same badges with just different names based on origin, then maybe players could be given the option to change the badge names by changing our origin powers to the correlating origin. So basically, the OP's request fro 2 new badges could be based on the possessed origin power rather than the specific origin, just for the names because they would still be all the same badge(s).

[Greycat]

1 hour ago, Rudra said:

You make a very good point. However, if the badges were all the same badges with just different names based on origin, then maybe players could be given the option to change the badge names by changing our origin powers to the correlating origin. So basically, the OP's request fro 2 new badges could be based on the possessed origin power rather than the specific origin, just for the names because they would still be all the same badge(s).

 

I'm not referring to badges at all - honestly wouldn't care.  Just a counterpoint to any idea of tying powers/benefits (like the END, hold, etc.) to it.

[Clave Dark 5]

9 hours ago, FupDup said:

The utility of those would change quite a bit depending on the AT/build in question. The 5% endurance would probably be the most universally valuable of the bunch. Making stuff like this equally good in different ways is gonna be too hard. I could maybe see an upgraded version of the origin attack power but that's about as far as it could go I think. 

 

Better to just let it be a badge thing for collecting/fun purposes and having cool badge titles. 

This. 

 

That way lies cookie-cutter builds, min/maxxers always taking Origin X to have that few percent more of something, and then telling everyone else that the other are "utter trash, insulting, really."

[Doc_Scorpion]

7 hours ago, Clave Dark 5 said:

That way lies cookie-cutter builds, min/maxxers always taking Origin X to have that few percent more of something, and then telling everyone else that the other are "utter trash, insulting, really."

And we already have [far] more than enough of that in the game.

[Oubliette_Red]

19 hours ago, mrdeeds7 said:

Well I think the idea would be that the accolades would be equally good just different. 

 

Mutants 5% to fire/ice

Technology 5% to endurance

Magic 5% to psy/hold

etc

 

Or if there were a power it could be like a better version of the origin power everyone starts with. 

 

Sorry, but one of my character's psy abilities are natural to her race. Another character's ice powers are a natural ability tied to their race.

 

You see where this is going?

 

[Player2]

I like the idea of origin powers... and we already have them with Apprentice Charm (Magic), Mutagen (Mutant), Taser Dart (Tech), Throwing Knives (Natural), and Tranq Dart (Science).  And the best thing about them is that they are not restricted to any origins.  That means if I want a knife-throwing mutant, that's acceptable.  If I want a science-guy with a taser dart, there's nothing wrong with that.  If I want natural guy who's had basic magical schooling enough to learn a single spell, then it's his Apprentice Charm.  Etcetera, etcetera.

 

Basically, I like the idea of additional power options that can fit the theme or flavor of an origin, but only as long as it isn't restricted by it because origin should be a tool to help explain your character and not be a straightjacket that enforces who and what your character is and what you have access to because everyone should be allowed to interpret how origin defines their character (or doesn't).  Lots of heroes have powers that cross over multiple origins... like Spider-Man would be a science origin hero, but he has access to and uses gadgets (webshooters, spider sense trackers, and whatever else he might tuck into his hidden utility belt when the need arises), or Wolverine who is decidedly a mutant but one of his most defining traits --his unbreakable bones-- is the result of science.

 

This idea gets a thumbs down from me.

[mrdeeds7]

I was really surprised how many people had a strong negative reaction to this one, ranging from breaking the existing status quo of the game to not wanting origins to play that big of a role in how the game works. In the DC world, Superman is vulnerable to magic etc in marvel some mutants powers don't work on each other. More broadly in superhero lore, I think it's fair to say that origin has a lot to do with a hero's powers and vulnerabilities, as well as who their enemies tend to be. Iron and A.I.M., Captain America and Hyrdra, X-men and the Hellfire Club etc. 

 

The idea was really to encourage origins in defeat badges and maybe have a reward attached to it to create an incentive to have it matter. Personally I think it would be cool if origins meant more because it would add more richness and individuality to character creation. 

 

Always appreciate the people who take time to post but it's also funny how negative these message boards can be in contrast to actually in the game where people are generally having fun. 

[Rudra]

2 hours ago, mrdeeds7 said:

I was really surprised how many people had a strong negative reaction to this one, ranging from breaking the existing status quo of the game to not wanting origins to play that big of a role in how the game works. In the DC world, Superman is vulnerable to magic etc in marvel some mutants powers don't work on each other. More broadly in superhero lore, I think it's fair to say that origin has a lot to do with a hero's powers and vulnerabilities, as well as who their enemies tend to be. Iron and A.I.M., Captain America and Hyrdra, X-men and the Hellfire Club etc. 

 

The idea was really to encourage origins in defeat badges and maybe have a reward attached to it to create an incentive to have it matter. Personally I think it would be cool if origins meant more because it would add more richness and individuality to character creation. 

 

Always appreciate the people who take time to post but it's also funny how negative these message boards can be in contrast to actually in the game where people are generally having fun. 

There is a difference between asking for groups that tend to fight/hunt specific origins more frequently like the Voids do with the Kheldians, and asking for accolades that grant powers to specific origins. There is no request in this thread to tailor specific groups or create new groups that are keyed to the player character's origin, so your argument makes no sense.

[mrdeeds7]

20 hours ago, Rudra said:

There is a difference between asking for groups that tend to fight/hunt specific origins more frequently like the Voids do with the Kheldians, and asking for accolades that grant powers to specific origins. There is no request in this thread to tailor specific groups or create new groups that are keyed to the player character's origin, so your argument makes no sense.

It's not an argument, just a suggestion. We're talking about a videogame. 

[Greycat]

1 hour ago, mrdeeds7 said:

It's not an argument, just a suggestion. We're talking about a videogame. 

 

"Argument" is not negative. The way it was used there would be roughly analogous to "stance" or "viewpoint." Or, to quote Monty Python, "An argument is a connected series of statements intended to establish a proposition."

 

Also...

 

Quote

In the DC world, Superman is vulnerable to magic etc in marvel some mutants powers don't work on each other. More broadly in superhero lore, I think it's fair to say that origin has a lot to do with a hero's powers and vulnerabilities, as well as who their enemies tend to be. Iron and A.I.M., Captain America and Hyrdra, X-men and the Hellfire Club etc. 

 

That's more "character" than "origin." And also in written works there's a *lot* more flexibility, versus trying to develop something for an open world multiplayer video game. (Doing a single-player focused RPG? Yeah, that's a lot closer to what you're talking about here.) The flip side is that you point out - "some mutants powers don't work on each other." That's not origin - at least not as it's reflected in COH. What you're looking at is more analogous to our power sets. Some have strong fire resistance. Some are weak vs robots, and so forth.

 

And we *do* already have enemies that lean more towards certain origins, just with what they get up to - it's just not *restricted* to that origin.

 

Now, in saying all that, I've argued in the past for something - very like the void hunters and quantums vs Kheldians - for something touching on other origin "pairups." We have long COT chains that anyone can access, but an occasional side mission where the COT (or Mu - given their backstory) takes an interest specifically in your magic character and you're warned about it by MAGI? Basically little extra bits of spice here and there? Crey or the Sky Raiders specifically trying to steal some bit of your tech? *shrug* Maybe. It'd be a good bit of work - and I think people would want some say in if it happens and/or with who, though. (Then again... that's part of what AE's for, too. Customize to your hearts content - or the system's ability.)

[Rudra]

3 hours ago, mrdeeds7 said:

On 2/23/2024 at 11:20 AM, Rudra said:

There is a difference between asking for groups that tend to fight/hunt specific origins more frequently like the Voids do with the Kheldians, and asking for accolades that grant powers to specific origins. There is no request in this thread to tailor specific groups or create new groups that are keyed to the player character's origin, so your argument makes no sense.

It's not an argument, just a suggestion. We're talking about a videogame. 

When two sides discuss or debate something from opposite (or even just different) points of view, those statements are called arguments. Not to be confused with the yelling match many think of when someone says argument. (Though they can also devolve into yelling matches.)