The Officially Unofficial Weekly Discussion #67: What NPCs should have a bigger role or story?

[DougGraves]

Some NPCs have a bit of story, some just die in the tutorial (or you can save them).

 

Penelope Yin, Frostfire, and Fflambeaux have a bit of repeat giving them a bit more story.

 

So which NPCs would you like to see have more of a story or a story at all?

[sbloyd]

Selfishly I would like to see the Kheldian NPCs have more screen time.

[Snarky]

Amanda vines.  A reporter redside that us involved in low level arcs.

 

It would be great to do an arc 25-40 blueside where she becomes an actual hero and players are involved in it.  

[SeraphimKensai]

1 hour ago, sbloyd said:

Selfishly I would like to see the Kheldian NPCs have more screen time.

As a big Kheldian fan I fully agree. Personally I never understood not having more Kheldian story lines interwoven through more aspects of the game on both blue and red side (since Kheldians have been on Earth for ballpark 3,000+ years as far back as Ancient Egypt, it doesn't make sense that there aren't more involved with the Rogue Isles). 

 

I fully understand them not being on Gold Side, because in that dimension, Kheldians might not have reached Earth yet, or skipped it and set up shop somewhere else.

[SeraphimKensai]

1 hour ago, DougGraves said:

So which NPCs would you like to see have more of a story or a story at all?

I'd personally like to see some of the taskforce/strike force AVs and Heroes appear in more story arcs leading up to their respective TF/SFs.

 

It's better on Red side for some of this, or some of the newer arcs like Piecemeal's Freaklock stuff where you bust out Bile from jail you can see Vandal and Hopkins locked up as well.

[ZorkNemesis]

I'm sure the live writers had plans for him, but whatever happened to Deadlock?  He shows up, whoops Back Alley Brawler's ass and leaves without a word.  I assume there was going to be a longer story with the whole new Superdine rings what with Veles showing Atta his lab but the shutdown really left a hell of an unresolved plotline behind.

[FFFF]

I'd love to see the Petrovich brothers fleshed out. The Back Alley Brawler personal story left me curious as to who they are. They're also mentioned in a mission with Provost Marchand where one of the reformed Praetorians stop one of their plots. And I know Captain Petrovich is a villain contact, perhaps one of the brothers?

[Random Axis]

I'm 100% onboard for more Kheldian content.

 

I'd like to see the Shining Stars comeback in the late game. They're a junior varsity supergroup for some tutorials and a story arc early on, and then (for admittedly good reasons) they vanish. I like the characters though and doing more with them would be cool. Maybe they could be investigating the Kheldians and get in over their head with the Council? The exact details aren't important. J just want a TF or another arc with Dillo and the gang.

 

HOORB!

[Techwright]

I've said it before, but it's worth repeating:  the four members of the Korean W.I.S.D.O.M.  hero group:

 

Foreshadow

Mirror Spirit

Rose Star

Spark Blade

 

The first two to move them from their relegated status as mere trainers, the latter two because we were promised them, and they've never actually made it to the game.

 

 

[FupDup]

Scirocco needs his redemption arc. Not only because my boi deserves it, but also because the OG devs were gonna have him bring patron pools blueside with him so that we don't have to break immersion and become evil to use theme-appropriate epic pools (like for many ATs, Mu is the only electrical-themed epic). 

[dtjunkie]

Laura Lockhart

 

Spoiler

Need to see Mender Laura in action!

 

 

[rolandgrey]

I'd like to see Infernal's story get fleshed out more.

 

His backstory is him coming from a fantasy setting where he's a knight who fights and binds demons.  His coming to Paragon City involved him and his friend being sucked into a portal with a demon and getting separated during transit.  Now, you would think this would mean that the Praetorian Infernal is actually his friend, but no!  The Praetorian Infernal is lazily written as just an alternate version of K'Varr D'Shall.  We NEVER meet T'Keron or Valmaz.  Then, when Going Rogue came out, there was virtually NO effort to do anything with the character of Infernal, with some rumors that the lead writer of the new Praetorian content had some sort of extreme dislike for the character.  Praetoria has a lack of magic content for its initial Going Rogue opening, then we get First Ward and Night Ward to help flesh out the mysticism of the setting, but instead of Infernal, we wind up getting weird King Arthur cosplay that's clunkily crammed into the story.

 

Redside utilizes Infernal a bit.  He shows up for a couple Strike Forces, usually acting as a parallel adventurer trying to accomplish a separate goal from the PC Villains and often getting in their way somehow.  Then there's the missions involving Lilitu, where the players learn that she's Infernal's mother.  Then the story featuring them basically stops at that.  There's a lot of potential for everything involving Infernal, especially with an enemy group as pervasive as the Circle of Thorns.  Instead, he seems shuffled off to the side, like the game's embarrassed of him or something.

 

Another character I'd like to see get more screentime is Doc Delilah.  There's a lot of weird architecture going on in the world, and she'd be an interesting ally to explore a lot of it.  Maybe missions featuring her could be utilized to flesh out the lore of the setting.

[Force Redux]

21 hours ago, Techwright said:

I've said it before, but it's worth repeating:  the four members of the Korean W.I.S.D.O.M.  hero group:

 

Foreshadow

Mirror Spirit

Rose Star

Spark Blade

 

The first two to move them from their relegated status as mere trainers, the latter two because we were promised them, and they've never actually made it to the game.

 

 

This please.

[Skyhawke]

Officer Daniels from the Galaxy City tutorial.  

[Coyotedancer]

On 2/15/2024 at 4:06 PM, Techwright said:

I've said it before, but it's worth repeating:  the four members of the Korean W.I.S.D.O.M.  hero group:

 

Foreshadow

Mirror Spirit

Rose Star

Spark Blade

 

The first two to move them from their relegated status as mere trainers, the latter two because we were promised them, and they've never actually made it to the game.

 

 

 

Beat me to it. 

 

I want the game to do something with those four. They seem like they could be interesting characters.

[ZorkNemesis]

On 2/15/2024 at 1:12 PM, FFFF said:

I'd love to see the Petrovich brothers fleshed out. The Back Alley Brawler personal story left me curious as to who they are. They're also mentioned in a mission with Provost Marchand where one of the reformed Praetorians stop one of their plots. And I know Captain Petrovich is a villain contact, perhaps one of the brothers?

 

The Petrovich Brothers are the Lords of Death you fought during the two King's Row arcs, Veles and Chernobog.  Also Morana who escaped the lab before you arrived.

[Luminara]

Still waiting to expose Janet Kellum as a double agent who conned Crey into starting the Revenant Hero project for the Malta Group's benefit, then falsified evidence against the Countess to get her arrested when her cover was nearly blown.

 

She needs my boot up her ass, and not in the funsexytime way.

[Greycat]

Adding a "yep" to everything Kheldian.

 

That said? And this will sound odd... Crey.

 

In the *old* tutorial, we start out with them apparently helping the police, poking around drones (the "this is how you target" bit of the tutorial,) then... nothing, really, 'til EVIL CORPORATION TIME in the 30s. (Yes, I know, synapse.) They just drop from view and then *wham* enemy group.

 

I think it's *really* a missed opportunity *not* to stick with them after the tutorial. Have them actually "helping" you, giving missions, etc, being the "good corporate citizen" their PR pushes, so that maaaybe your character would believe 'oh, that's just bad oversight that that scientist was doing XYZ' or whatnot, 'til you hit things like the Kellermans and the Revenant Hero arc (and that arc needs some map reworks so when you finally come to that end chamber... well, granted, first time I did we spent a lot of time just checking out "wait, is there someone IN there?" and such.)

 

Heck, do that and have sdome of the stuff you helped with come back to bite you in the butt later. Oh, you used their medical facilities they graciously didn't charge you for since you were helping them? Look, clones from your DNA/tech/whatever. That sort of thing.

Edited February 17 by Greycat