Collateral Damage Consequences

[MsSmart]

Up front... I can expect this suggestion to not be an easy thing to accomplish, but could be along term objective.

 

I remember when doing some missions, I could go an blow up cars, get those pesky parking meters and what not

 

So it occurs to be, what if as we do stuff in a TF or mission, that collateral damage is tracked of and given an inf value, which would be deducted from the guilty character's influence, to simulate the adventurer paying for the damage.

 

I can see to use this also as a means to have a Reputation level, there would be the Hero and Villain reputation, as you complete TFs the Merit Value would go towards the counter, minus the collateral damage you did along the adventure, players could invest merits to increase their Hero or Villain reputation, Villains get their badness increase by doing SFs and in their case blowing up stuff and doing collateral damage goes a long way towards having a baddie reputation

 

Just an idea...

[srmalloy]

14 hours ago, MsSmart said:

So it occurs to be, what if as we do stuff in a TF or mission, that collateral damage is tracked of and given an inf value, which would be deducted from the guilty character's influence, to simulate the adventurer paying for the damage.

Sure. And the next time you pop off an AoE attack at the guards around a hostage, and the hostage dies but the guards don't, and you immediately fail the mission, we'll all just point and laugh.

[MsSmart]

8 hours ago, srmalloy said:

Sure. And the next time you pop off an AoE attack at the guards around a hostage, and the hostage dies but the guards don't, and you immediately fail the mission, we'll all just point and laugh.

Good point, but the concept would create a new wealth of tactics to avoid just what you mention, and therefore a more immersive experience

[Rudra]

26 minutes ago, MsSmart said:

Good point, but the concept would create a new wealth of tactics to avoid just what you mention, and therefore a more immersive experience

Or angry players as their Controller/Dominator hits the guards with an AoE hold since their character is squishy only to see the AoE hold drop the level 1 civilian. Or MMs tell their pets to drop the guards and the pets' AoEs kill the hostage because we can't forbid our pets from using specific powers unless we never upgrade them. (Edit: Especially while escorting that NPC out.) Or the melee AT player who forgot to turn off the character's damage aura because they didn't have to previously turn off damage auras and they take out the glowie with the mission clue since they have to be next to it to interact with it. Heaven forbid if the mobs also get the same effects, because players already complain about the tip mission with the three heroes we have to save that die if the Freakshow use any of their AoEs in the vicinity of those captured heroes. (Edit again: Which I think was changed to stop that from happening?)

 

Edited Tuesday at 03:37 AM by Rudra

[PoptartsNinja]

1 hour ago, MsSmart said:

Good point, but the concept would create a new wealth of tactics to avoid just what you mention, and therefore a more immersive experience

Finally, a use for Detention Bubble.

 

(Just in case anyone can't tell: this wasn't a serious response)

Edited Tuesday at 04:40 AM by PoptartsNinja

[golstat2003]

They would totally have to FIRST revamp the idiocy of the AI of hostage missions. And NPCs that kamikaze themselves against mobs. Fix those FIRST then I can see this suggest as a maybe for the future. Not before.

[MsSmart]

On 12/22/2025 at 10:39 PM, golstat2003 said:

They would totally have to FIRST revamp the idiocy of the AI of hostage missions. And NPCs that kamikaze themselves against mobs. Fix those FIRST then I can see this suggest as a maybe for the future. Not before.

That is why, I said long term effort, but it would really make the game more immersive, make us thing more heroic or villanous as we go about things

[MsSmart]

On 12/22/2025 at 9:34 PM, Rudra said:

Or angry players as their Controller/Dominator hits the guards with an AoE hold since their character is squishy only to see the AoE hold drop the level 1 civilian. Or MMs tell their pets to drop the guards and the pets' AoEs kill the hostage because we can't forbid our pets from using specific powers unless we never upgrade them. (Edit: Especially while escorting that NPC out.) Or the melee AT player who forgot to turn off the character's damage aura because they didn't have to previously turn off damage auras and they take out the glowie with the mission clue since they have to be next to it to interact with it. Heaven forbid if the mobs also get the same effects, because players already complain about the tip mission with the three heroes we have to save that die if the Freakshow use any of their AoEs in the vicinity of those captured heroes. (Edit again: Which I think was changed to stop that from happening?)

 

In the real world police, could enter a zone emptying machine guns to be safe, but the collateral damage would be too grate. I would favor when you take the mission to have a choice to be realistic or not, so the team has a choice, but for all those role players, the realistic should be highly appealing and the need to "hold back" to avoid collateral damage and be smart, not just hulk smash tactics

[Rudra]

3 hours ago, MsSmart said:

In the real world police, could enter a zone emptying machine guns to be safe, but the collateral damage would be too grate. I would favor when you take the mission to have a choice to be realistic or not, so the team has a choice, but for all those role players, the realistic should be highly appealing and the need to "hold back" to avoid collateral damage and be smart, not just hulk smash tactics

In the real world, our AoEs would be killing us and our teammates too. Every Judgement, every nuke, every Fireball, Rain of Fire, or other area attack, mez, or debuff would be harming us as well. So I tell you what, I will agree to your collateral damage proposal if all of our characters are also affected by all of our AoEs (damage, debuff, and mez) that we are in the radius of. After all, we shouldn't be running around using Hulk Smash tactics, right?

 

Edit: Oh, right. And any AoE buffs we spam should also buff any enemies in the radius. After all, realism says a generally applied energy field affects everything in the radius. So if you have a FFG out and enemies are in its radius, their defense goes up too. Got a Spirit Tree out and enemies move in range? It should heal them just like CoT healing crystals heal the mobs and us. You throw an AoE heal to save yourself and your pets? It will heal any enemies in its radius too.

 

Edited Thursday at 06:50 PM by Rudra

[Ghost]

3 hours ago, Rudra said:

In the real world, our AoEs would be killing us and our teammates too. Every Judgement, every nuke, every Fireball, Rain of Fire, or other area attack, mez, or debuff would be harming us as well. So I tell you what, I will agree to your collateral damage proposal if all of our characters are also affected by all of our AoEs (damage, debuff, and mez) that we are in the radius of. After all, we shouldn't be running around using Hulk Smash tactics, 

 

Not really.

It would come down to your origin.

If im a mutant that controls fire, then most likely I am immune to the affects of it.

However, if im just a normal human - then yes.  That bomb is planted is going to also damage me.

 

I get the immersion that the OP wants.  I just think the ask would be too great.  

You throw a hold on a mob surrounding your tank?  Guess who else gets held?  The tank, brute, scrapper and everyone else in the middle of the mob.

Not to mention, projectiles.  What happens when they miss?  Do they keep going until lodging in someone?  Do they bounce around until possibly hitting the person who shot them?

 

Let's not forget things like cold.  Shouldn't it also be slowing down your teammates?  

Shouldn't water based or wind based powers negate your teammates fire based powers?

Wouldn't fire based attacks negate any ice patches/holds?

Hell, Shouldn't a wind attack throw your hovering teammates off balance?

 

Just seems like this could open the door for all kinds of issues.

[Rudra]

38 minutes ago, Ghost said:

Not really.

It would come down to your origin.

If im a mutant that controls fire, then most likely I am immune to the affects of it.

However, if im just a normal human - then yes.  That bomb is planted is going to also damage me.

It wouldn't come down to origin. Yes, there are characters that are immune to their own abilities. Whether it be magic, natural, science-made, tech-provided, or some form of mutation. To a point. However, there are just as many characters that are not immune to their own power effects, including among mutants. (It is most often the characters that can cover themselves in an effect or turn themselves into the effect that are immune. Cyclops is no more immune to his optic blasts than anyone else, he just isn't in a position to get hit by them. [Edit: Yes, he can clamp his eyes shut and prevent the blasts in the first place, but send them back at him somehow and he's going to be in a world of hurt.] Or another character whose name escapes me that basically blows himself up for being in the effect radius of his own attack, but he regenerates back to full health.) And when it comes to guns and explosives? Sorry, but no. The only way to be immune to those is to be some sort of damage resistant character. So all those /Devices Blasters and /Traps Corruptors placing trip mines at their feet are going to get blown up unless they get out of the blast radius. All those grenades various characters are tossing around? Are going to critically injure or kill them if they are in the blast radius. Not to mention what it will do to their pets and allies. Or what their pets and allies will do to them if they are caught in the area.

 

I get your point, but it isn't origin based. And doesn't invalidate my own comment that if the OP's collateral damage is to be implemented, it should be implemented to full proper effect. Our AoE heals and buffs will also benefit our enemies. Our AoE attacks, mezzes, and debuffs will also hamper our team. And you can bet our pets will absolutely ruin everyone's day. Realism is good to have, but there is a reason why some things don't follow reality in video games.

 

Edited Thursday at 11:04 PM by Rudra

[Ghost]

1 minute ago, Rudra said:

Not to mention what it will do to their pets and allies. Or what their pets and allies will do to them if they are caught in the area.

 

 

This just gave me a wonderful idea!

IF it was implemented that your powers affected everyone around - they could have pets turn on their owners after taking a certain percentage of collateral damage.

🤭

[Rudra]

2 minutes ago, Ghost said:

This just gave me a wonderful idea!

IF it was implemented that your powers affected everyone around - they could have pets turn on their owners after taking a certain percentage of collateral damage.

🤭

Sure, works for me. Going for realism with the OP after all. Why wouldn't the pets kill the person that is trying to kill them off even if that person is supposed to be their boss or master? Mutinies and betrayals happen. Especially to callous leaders.

 

Edit: For that matter, they can turn on each other for inflicting collateral harm on each other as well. Let's go for realism.

 

Edit again: I am not saying realism is bad. Realism is actually necessary even in super games. Otherwise things wouldn't make sense and suspension of disbelief only goes so far. However, I am saying there is such a thing as too much realism.

 

Edited Thursday at 11:11 PM by Rudra