Thorough Thursdays : CITY OF HEROES

Prior to this post I have only mentioned City of Heroes, the Massive Multi-player Computer Role Playing Game launched by NCSOFT in 2004, a mere handful of times. It seems only a single entry with that title as a tag has ever been posted and after reading the entry, I really have not idea why that is the one place I decided to place said tag. 

That's just wrong. 

It's difficult to know exactly where to begin in describing what City of Heroes meant and means to me. 

At the time City of Heroes was released I was living with my then girlfriend, now ex-wife, and it was one of the many things we enjoyed doing together. It was very much an 'us' activity. Sure we'd both go on and play solo (by ourselves) every now and then but we generally preferred to operate as a team. 

The Midnight Hour and Lady Touche'

Illustration for a City of Heroes based

Mutants and Masterminds campaign

The Midnight Hour Returns!

One day, fairly early in our progress in the game, our dynamic duo ended up biting off more than we could chew, accidentally drawing in two huge gangs of street thugs. Just when all seemed lost, a machine gun-toting Iron Man look alike fellow showed up and helped us clean the streets of those dirty crooks. 

The player of this character who eventually become a real life friend who remains so to this day. 

When my ex-wife and I separated and divorced, I couldn't bring myself to play the game again for a very long time. Even when I did eventually go back to it, I would never stay long. I had lost my love of the game as it reminded me too much of her and better times that were now over.

Eventually some friends who had also left and gone back for various reasons got me to return from time to time and we had a blast. Sadly, the game itself had changed so much and so many other MMOs had come out to steal its thunder (namely World of Warcraft) that while fun to return to periodically, it just wasn't the same. 

Recently the operators of a private server released the Source Code for City of Heroes, allowing any individual to host their own servers and start the game up again and indeed people have. I jumped at the chance to tussle with Hellions on the mean streets of Paragon City and try to rebuild (or even improve on) some of my favorite old characters. 

This looks like a job for...

Captain Superpower!

City of Heroes was always different from other MMOs in my experience because it was a game for Superhero fans by people who clearly understood Superheroes. While you definitely ran into the typical MMORPG players, you more often than not ran into people like yourself; players who made fun characters in cool costumes with names like Mister Patriot, Neutrino Woman, and Tachyon Flare, who were stoked to fly over the world presented, swooping down to save a citizen from a horde of zombies or do battle with clockwork robots.

That same feeling remains. While I am not the die hard MMO fan I was when City of Heroes was at its height, it was City of Heroes that got me into MMOs and made me a fan, so I can't help but smile as I sprint through Atlas Park, run along the elevated train tracks, and leap around staring at all the great costume designs my fellow heroes are sporting. 

If you were a fan of this awesome game back in the day, come on back and feel the rush of nostalgia. If you've never tried it but you are a fan of Superheroes and Computer Games, what are you waiting for? It's free to download and play and crime isn't going to fight itself!

Tell them Starguard sent you!

Verily!

Up, up, and away!

AD
Barking Alien

The Fandom Zone

I am a fan.

And so are you.

But a fan of what? Well that's the real trick isn't it...

Leave it to Lowell at Age of Ravens to inspire a post when I already have so much on my mind and not nearly enough time to write it all down.

He asks the nagging question...

So what’s your fandom? What are you obsessional about? What are you obsessional about that others in your group aren't?

I have found other the years that one of the things that stands out for me is how fans and fandom seem to have gotten a bit more insular over time. I think I first noticed it with fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation who had never seen the Original Series. People like what they like and either really don't like what they don't (understandable) or have absolutely no knowledge of it what so ever.

I find that last mode of thought odd. I have never been as huge fan of the Japanese Anime and Manga 'One Piece', but I know it. I know the story and most of the main characters. I have seen a lot of fandom TV shows and movies that I myself am not a fan of per se, but I am not wholly unfamiliar with them.

In my current gaming group I can't tell you how many times I will mention an Anime, a comic book character, a TV series or, most often of all, a role playing game, and no one has ever played it or even heard of it. What is that about? Mention the Browncoats, Capt. Malcolm Reynolds and The Alliance, and I know you're talking about Firefly.

I don't even like Firefly. I watched a total of 5 episodes before I couldn't watch it any more. But that doesn't mean I don't know it. I'm curious. I like to know what my fellow fan finds interesting. Maybe I'll find it interesting too. Maybe I won't. How will I know? By checking it out Einstein!

I digress...

So what's my fandom? Let's see...

TV SHOWS

I no longer really watch TV. Not even on the internet or through some means other than a TV set or screen. Around the time Farscape was cancelled I started watching less and less. Then there was no Star Trek on TV. Finally, the relatively recent cancellation of the Young Justice animated series made me just not care that much about television.

I still have some shows I am obsessed with but most of them are old. I did love The Clone Wars CGI animated series on Cartoon Network which, er, was also cancelled. I am kind of looking forward to the new REBELS series on Disney XD, but I am losing faith in the medium more and more each day.

My top TV fandoms are Star Trek: All the series but especially The Original Series, Space: 1999, The Greatest American Hero, The Muppet Show (and any Muppets ongoing series), Justice League/Justice League Unlimited, Farscape, Young Justice and the original Teen Titans animated series (Teen Titans Go! can Go! *bleep* itself).

COMIC BOOKS

At present I am not obsessed with any comics, although I do read and keep up on nearly everything. I am considerably less interested in DC's nu52 dung heap but I still keep a watchful eye out just in case they do something smart. It could happen.

My Comic Book obsessions of the past are many but mainly Pre-Crisis on Infinite Earth DC Comics, DC Silver and Golden Age, Public Domain and lesser known heroes and villains (especially of the Golden Age), anything Green Lantern, Fawcett Comics Characters, Charlton Comics Characters, the Legion of Superheroes, Captain Carrot and the Amazing Zoo Crew and Marvel's Nova.

AUTHORS

Another area where I've fallen behind. I don't read nearly as much as I used to. I can't say I follow too many authors except for Larry Niven, David Brin, Robert Asprin, Terry Pratchett, E. E. 'Doc' Smith, Douglas Adams, Dr. Seuss, Charles Dickens, L. Frank Baum, Holly Black and Tony Diterlizzi.

RPG LINES

Like Lowell I love a lot of games, but it seems to me most of the games I enjoy the most are out of print. That said, I own everything ever made for every edition ever produced of Star Trek, Star Wars (except the new Fantasy Flight Games version), Mutants & Masterminds, Champions (although I am focused on 4th Edition), Mekton, Teenagers from Outer Space, Ghostbusters or anything like it (InSpectres), Ars Magica (although I prefer the old editions, especially third).

I am also kind of obsessed with Japanese table-top/table talk RPGs.

I love a number of different indie games but right now, none come close to being an obsession.

MOVIES/DIRECTORS

In this category I have a lot of favorites but not a lot I would consider to obsessions. Still, there are a few: the various Star Trek and Star Wars films, Superman I and II, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Muppet Movie and all the following Muppet features (including Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal), Ghostbusters (really just the first one), Men in Black (really just the first one), Mel Brooks' movies (especially Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein), the old Marx Brothers movies and finally Galaxy Quest. Yeah. Freaking obsessed over Galaxy Quest.

Directors? Spielberg, Scorsese, Coppola, Allen, Edwards and a few others I can't think of just right now.

VIDEO GAMES

None. I am just not obsessed with video or computer games. I used to be very into them and I am a fan of a number of MMOs but honestly, I can go a week or more without playing at all.

I do (or did) enjoy World of Warcraft, City of Heroes, Virtual-On and it's descendants, Halo, Mass Effect, Star Trek Online and Star Wars: The Old Republic.

ANIME/MANGA

I was majorly obsessed with Japanese pop culture entertainment at one time and although my otaku fever has waned a bit, I am still a pretty big fan and like to keep up with the new shows each season which interest me.

Major obsessions of the past (some of which still have me hooked today) include Mobile Suit Gundam (original 'Universal Century' timeline), Five Star Stories, Slayers, Tenchi Muyo, Aura Battler Dunbine, Dragonball and Dragonball Z, Wingman, Attack on Titan, Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Mars Daybreak, all of Miyazaki's work, Crusher Joe and The Dirty Pair.

OTHER SUBJECTS

Other things I've been known to be fanatical about include Animals ( in general, but especially Dogs), The Muppets, The Wizard of Oz (L. Frank Baum books mostly), Exoplanets and the Space Program, UFOs (less so in the last few years), Cryptids (less so in the last few years), Ghosts, Faerie Folklore (especially that of the British Isles), British Candy and Chocolate Bars and Science Fiction Art of the 1970's and 80's.

Now let's see, what can I obsess over next...

AD
Barking Alien

Gaming Solo...With A Group

 

I wanted to address a fairly common issue in role-playing games that I have been encountering more and more over the past couple of years and find out what other GMs do about it.

At least I am going to assume its common. Prior to experiencing it off and on (and then more on) since 2007-2008, I never really encountered it before so I am venturing a guess that in falls in line behind other common occurrences I haven't had much experience with like Min Maxing, Power Gaming and Hack n' Slash.

***

From my earliest memories in the hobby to around 2006 (and even a bit after), the groups I played with were made up of good friends who went back a ways. That is to say, the players in these groups were friends, long time acquaintances and even family members for a stretch of time before they were gaming together.

Combined with our rather unusual reference points (we didn't think 'Fellowship of the Ring', we thought 'Justice League of America' and crew of the Enterprise), this high level of camaraderie meant our parties were not just collections of individuals who all had the same idea of ransacking the same dungeon. We were a team. All for one and one for all. The occasional Thief who steals from the party or the Double Agent type character could still be seen from time to time but they never lasted very long. Once revealed, the rest of the group would put them in a world of hurt. They had betrayed The Team.

In my current group, I have a player named Marcus. Marcus is not a team player.

Actually, Marcus can be a team player but prefers to be a lone wolf.

Marcus is the guy who logs on to World of Warcraft (or some other MMORPG) and solos 99% of the time. The second 'M' in MMO, 'Multiplayer', is of no real interest to him. He doesn't team unless he has to or it's with an NPC.

This is how he plays table top RPGs as well. He is in the same party as the other PCs but he is only on their side because he isn't against them. Technically, Marcus' characters are on Marcus' characters' side.

Furthermore, if there is a chance for Marcus' PC to go ahead of the rest of the party and engage the enemy or investigate a haunted tower without them (while the other members of the group research exactly who the enemy is or how to drive the ghosts from the haunted tower), he will do all he can to take advantage of that opportunity.

Sometimes it works in his favor. OK, more often than not it doesn't.

In our last campaign (Champions), his maverick/loner approach got him fired from the SHIELD-type Superhero Support Organization and  ambushed by a clever supervillain.

In our last session of Ars Magica, Marcus attempted to investigate an ancient tower/fort once used by the Vikings on his own (actually his Magus, the Magus' Companion and a young NPC Priest). Meanwhile the other PCs rested from their ordeal the day before. When they woke up, they learned as much as they could about the tower/fort and discovered Marcus' guys were missing. The group decided to take a boat to where the river forks and head for the fort themselves. Eventually Marcus' characters, who were travelling by horse and who made a stop to pick up the Priest NPC, end up arriving at the old haunted tower at virtually the same time as the rest of the PCs travelling by water.

Anyway, I am not posting this to berate Marcus on his particular style of play. I have seen him work together with other players on a number of occasions. The lone wolf approach is his preferred favorite however.

• Have you experienced this in your games?
• Do you have a player who tends to want to do his own thing regardless of the rest of the group?
• Have you done this yourself? Why?
• Why do people do this?
• How have you handled it in the past?

One of the games I really want to run with this group (heck any group) is Star Trek but a fellow like Marcus would hate it (and in fact, Marcus said flat out he doesn't want to play Trek). Why? The ranks and military structure of Starfleet would prevent (or at the very least significantly limit) him from being about to go off half-cocked and get himself into trouble or glory without anybody's help.

AD
Barking Alien

No Endgame In Sight

There has been some talk on various blogs lately about the 'Endgame' in Role Playing Games. Generally speaking, by 'RPGs', what they are primarily referring to is Dungeons & Dragons or one of its brethern. As such, it should come to no one's surprise that I don't share quite the same view point as others do.

Go figure.

I've been playing table top RPGs since the Summer of 77' and the first time I ever heard the term 'Endgame' was very likely the Fall of 2004. This was when I tried my first Massive Multiplayer Online RPG (which was City of Heroes by the way).

See, I was always under the impression, naive as it may seem today, that there was no 'Endgame' for table top, pencil-paper-dice RPGs. That was partly the point of them actually. Sure, some games have and even need an 'Endgame', like Chess or World of Warcraft, where you have essentially won or achieved sufficient success to the point where there is nothing else to do. How could that possibly happen in an true RPG?

Additionally, even MMORPGs have Endgame Content. That is, once you reach the maximum level achievable in a game, there is still stuff to occupy your time without making up a new character. We don't have that automatically in traditional RPGs by their very nature? Isn't there still stuff for a high level PC to do in your campaigns?

First, let's truly define 'Endgame' shall we?

According to Wikipedia:

End game is the ending scenario of a particular game; when and how it will end, most prominently used in chess. Derived from that Endgame, Endgames, or End Game may refer to:

1. The final stage of an extended process or course of events.
2. (chess) The part of a chess game in which there are few pieces left.

OK, so now that we know what an Endgame is, do traditional RPGs have them?

While it is true that Class and Level based games often define a top or maximum level, many also have an experience point system pattern that is easily extrapolated to raise PC levels 'beyond the maximum'.

Putting levels aside, assuming you are playing a game with a maximum listed level of 11 (original edition of Advanced D&D) or 20 (D&D 3.0) and you and your fellow players have all reached that level with your PCs, does that mean you're done. Is there no 'Endgame Content'?

Check this out from the World of Warcraft Wiki regarding Endgame Content:

In most MMORPGs, this occurs when the players hit the maximum level or skill and look for new ways to keep themselves busy now that they're off the levelling treadmill.

In EverQuest and Dark Age of Camelot for instance, the part of the end-game consists of hours of raiding extremely challenging locations in an attempt to earn prestige, alternate advancement points, and "phat lewt". Meridian 59, Ultima Online, Dark Age of Camelot, Shadowbane, and World of Warcraft all attempt to provide an end-game consisting of PvP activities: you have nothing to lose, no real risk, and can gain prestige by killing other challenging players.

Historically, a game company without a solid plan for an end-game risks alienating its player base. The end-game should grow and change over time, to keep things interesting for the players who still enjoy participating after "winning the game."

The term "End-game" is not entirely accurate considering that World of Warcraft is a multiplayer world and does not "end" in the same sense as a traditional video game. It merely refers to the most challenging content.

Endgame Content has been notably expanded with the release of the latest expansion as of this writing, The Mists of Pandaria.

Now then, what I am really getting at is this...

At one point in D&D's history it was not uncommon for a high level PC to set up a castle, attract followers and before long he or she would be ruler of their own little domain. Two questions pop into my mind. The first is, "What happened to that?", which I'm sure has been answered at some point by James Mal at GROGNARDIA or Jeff Rients. The second and more important question to me is, "And then what happened?".

A story can certainly end (and many of the best ones do) but there is no reason a game should ever have to end. Post castle and land development your D&D campaign isn't over but rather just beginning in a different format. It is now a political and economic game with resource management and military strategy elements. Sadly, I don't think the makers of D&D ever really developed that game but should have as a continuation of the game they had.

While I intend to go into this in further detail next month (Barking Alien is turning traitor in December and focusing on his D&D campaign universe for the entire month!), I will say that this not only happened in one of my D&D-But-Not campaigns, it has happened repeatedly.

Also, numerous players have retired PCs in order to play their offspring, proteges or simply heroes in their employ. Many times players will switch between playing their original PC, now a high level, powerful and prestigous patron and their much less experienced character, newly employed by the aforementioned mover and shaker.

In this way, characters played as far back as 30 years ago are still active in some fashion. They're not gone, their story isn't over. They command armies, lead nations and assemble new adventurers for various quests. My world of Aerth has continued with roughly the same continuity (though we do sometimes jump around the timeline a bit) since 1983. If my ex-wife or any of my old friends showed up at my game table this Saturday that could play their old characters, their characters' kids or any number of other characters in an ever continuing saga of this world and it's people.

To me, there simply is no end game.

AD
Barking Alien

Who Mourns For Adonais?

"No one wants to be ugly."


This statement, simple, straightforward and general though it may be, can pretty much be held as a basic truism. While what constitutes beauty and ugliness may vary from culture to culture, it is the culture of role playing gamers I am concerned with here.

I have heard the above phrase uttered and paraphrased numerous times in my life but the last time was by my good buddy Dave, who was referring to World of Warcraft and other Massive Multiplayer Online RPGs.

In those games, the bulk of the player community (which is young and male regardless of the total demographic which includes many women and older players of both genders), prefers to play which ever side has the Humans, Elves, Dwarves and other traditional 'Good Guy' races of Fantasy. World of Warcraft is a particularly interesting example of this, since the story behind the game has the Alliance (Initially made up of Humans, Elves, Dwarves and Gnomes and generally thought of as the good guys) being real a**holes, while the Horde (the bad guys - Orcs, Trolls, the Undead and the Minotaur-like Tauren) are very honorable and spiritual in many ways.

The Alliance PCs outnumber the Horde PCs by quite a bit on many servers. Why? Well, mainly 'cause people want to play the 'heroes'. But...according to the plot of the game, the Alliance aren't necessarily the heroes. Each side has done both right and wrong by the world, themselves and each other. Maybe it's because people, being Human, want to play Humans. It's easier. Logical reason if there ever was one...for table top RPGs but not necessarily MMOs. Could the reason be...

"No one wants to be ugly." No one wants their character, their avatar, the representation of themselves in their fantasy world to be less than amazingly handsome or beautiful?

You see pretty much the same attitude in table top games. Most players I've encountered play Humans and Elves, with a lesser number as Dwarves and Halflings and finally Gnomes and Half-Orcs. Dwarves get away with being more on the ugly side since they are also tough and sometimes portrayed as humorous. Few want to be Gnomes who aren't as cute and "Aw shucks" as Halflings.

In Science Fiction, especially Star Trek, the camp is really divided. Most people I have spoken to on the subject say the same thing, their campaign crews are largely Human with a smattering of Vulcans, Andorians and the occasional Orion (you'd be surprised how many women I've met and known who want to be Green Orion Women is a Star Trek game - more on that another time - but it does fit my hypothesis - people want to play what they believe to be attractive characters).

Now, this statement is a generalization. Of course people, men and women, younger players and experience veterans, play strange and even ugly looking characters. Usually it's because that species has some cool ability or interesting background. Klingons are popular with many Star Trek fans but (and I apologize to the Klingon contingent waiting just off my port bow) they really aren't very good looking.

Now my players, at least those I have had very successful games with in the past, have been very different. Eager to get into the head and other body parts ("Eh?" - I mean explore the exobiology of... - "Eh?!" - Quit it will you!) of an alien species and culture, we see our fair share of real weirdies.

While Andorians are my favorite Star Trek alien, I myself have played a Kazarite (the last alien in the image at top going left to right). The first of the aliens in the image above, the Chelarian or Rigellian Chelon has been played by a number of players in my games (people just like turtles I guess) and my good, and very much missed friend, Allen is especially adapt at playing bizarre and obsure Star Trek species such as the three armed, three legged Edoans (now renamed the Triexians) and the squid-like Xelatian.

So what do you think? How much does the aesthetics of a species play a part. Rather, how Human does a species need to be for you to want to play it? Does it matter? Why does it matter? Is it purely ego? After all, how many people out there are getting their PCs involved in romantic relationships with the opposite sex (or heck, the same sex...or heck, the sexless exchange of spore pods...)?

More on aliens coming up...

AD
Barking Alien

What 4E Could've Been Like

If the people who created Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition had half the creativity of this fellow, the game would have been genius.

Age of Ravens proves what I have been saying for some time now and shows just what some 'out of the box', indie game thinking can do for a classic old school concept.

D&D 4E isn't a poor RPG because it added MMO elements to it's make up. It's a poor RPG (IMHO of course) because it did so without including enough of those elements that make table-top gaming unique and special. All fighting and little dramatic role play interaction can be done online. No dice needed.

Also, its developers initially couldn't decide whether or not to deny the inspiration of the MMOs or make it a focal point of why the game would appeal to more people.

The problem I find with the latter is, the game they created doesn't go far enough if they really intended to bring in popular MMO elements. A number of Japanese TRPGs do this and they rock because they do it in a way that blends it more seemlessly into the table top experience.

This brings me back to the real reason for this post, which is to get as many people as possible to check out Age of Ravens notes for his crazy cool Last Fleet campaign. He has created a system where the he and the players develop powers and abilities along a 'Talent Tree' of sorts which resembles WoW, D&D 4E and in a weird way my own Talent system for my D&D-But-Not game. Definitely something more people should be checking out. Awesome stuff.

Laters,

AD
Barking Alien

Star Trek Online...and Offline

Holy Horta in a Headlock! I've got 30 followers! Better say something interesting...

Well, my computer is finally working close to normal and I owe it all to the ability/skill 'Jury Rig'. If you are running any sort of modern to futuristic milieu and you don't have this talent available to the Player Characters and NPCs of your game...fix that oversight but soon.

The timing couldn't be better either, for in addition to the artwork and related things I really need to do, the ultimate fanboy, time-wasting, keep-my-sanity-so-I-don't-freak-from-the-pressures-of-life computer game is about to land on good ol' Terra Firma. On February 2nd, 2010, we mere mortals are to behold the pinnacle of PC gaming cool. I speak of none other than Star Trek Online.

So, after all that hype...is it any good? Y'know, it really is.

I was able to play through the open beta and found myself instantly drawn to it, less as a gamer and more as a Star Trek fan. I think fans of Trek that are not gamers by nature (I'm sure there are a fair number in that category) will find this game not only interesting from a story point of view and definitely visually intriguing but also incredibly easy to get into mechanically. Things are very intuitive and it actually helps if you know what a phaser is, what shields do or whether a quantum torpedo is better than a photon one. A good friend of mine had a tad more trouble getting used to the controls and functions because, while she is a better MMO player than I am, I am the bigger Trek fan. While this aspect of the game may not appeal to the hard core MMO fan, it definitely appeals to me.

In fact, I found the background story so interesting and the MMO so inspiring I switch gears and pulled the following magic rabbit out of my butt at the last second...

I decided to run a tabletop Star Trek RPG adventure set in the Star Trek Online universe. Star Trek Outbound - Online roughly follows the plot of the game with a few changes made to accommodate the fact that dice are involved and not all the players are familiar with the MMO. Also, I altered some of the visuals for consistency (in the MMO you can custom design your own uniform, I picked a uniform and made character portraits using the character designer.).

The game is not being run with my usual group but instead a bunch of other friends who were nice enough to show up when all I told them was, "I've got an idea for a new Sci-Fi campaign. Its a surprise!" The end result was awesome. We played for nearly eight hours and got to learn about Andorians with alternative lifestyles, catch up on paperwork, be playfully chided by our Vulcan Captain (a Vulcan with a dry sense of humor!), spy on Romulans, fight the Borg, loose our captain, save sixty fellow officers whose ship was virtually dead in space, destroy a Borg Cube and prepare ourselves to mount a boarding party to the downed Cube to retrieve our captain.

Whew.

All in all its been a good week to be a Star Trek fan. Hopefully with a fully functioning computer and new campaigns for 2010, I'll have a lot more to ramble about.

Live Long and Prosper...and kick ass,

AD
Barking Alien