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Fitting into lore. The do's and dont's

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Steamtank
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Fitting into lore. The do's and dont's

Hello forum fiends.. or friends.. whatever you people are. =)

I thought maybe we should start up a conversation about rp'ing and character backstories within the boundaries of established lore. Some people are very new to rp and fan fiction, some are vets, and we all have slightly different mentalities.

So maybe to help those a bit newer (and those incoming weekly) with development of their characters and how to translate that over into the RP forums we should talk about our personal approach to fitting a character into Lore as it is released.

Helpful (I hope) threads to use when developing your characters backstory
http://cityoftitans.com/forum/rp-lore-cheat-sheet
http://cityoftitans.com/forum/figuring-out-character-cheat-sheet-rp

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Steamtank
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To start:

To start:
I have found the lore fun. You can see the inspiration from CoH, Batman, The Secret World, and countless other sources leaking into the mixing bowl of Titan City.

Some of my characters are brand new to Titan City, but most either grew up in TC or moved in awhile ago... so those are the characters that city lore really affects.

So what am I doing with my characters who are invested in Titan City?

Melody- My approach with her was to give her a reason to be a vigilante the cops were after. She is very much from the Punisher era of the comic world. So I chose the faction that was being rp'ed as the catalyst for her development. She will never kill a 'named' npc captain .. not until she gets the badge for it in game. She was raised in a suburb... still have not decided which of the neighborhoods it was, but most likely one of the more affluent northern ones.

Sam- She is very much a Spawn like character.. Tortured hero, less into killing, more into Golden Age Ideals. This doesn't affect lore one bit.. she doesnt hate anyone or have a history long enough to have canon matter.

The Red- My shiny little psychopath.... new to the city, apparently she is about to murder a tone of magicians now that they have a 'good' guy NPC faction

Numus Elicito - demon dimension.. doesnt matter.

Candlelight- my second character with a slightly tricky lore fit. He had powers during Hurricane Atlas. In fact his abilities are exactly the kind that could have made him a star ((He is my support character... so healing the wounded and near dead)) but I am making him an Iraq War vet who would have been very recently returned home... so the storm quite literally froze him in place out of terror for awhile before he could compose himself and go help.

Arch is my real trick..... He was built sometime between 1800 and 1850. He would have been an invention of the year. He didn't start becoming Arch until the 1908 fire when his creator imbued him so that he would help save the town. This led Arch to view Titan City as only the areas built by 1908. So he would have stayed in those placed through WW1 and WW2. He would have interacted with American Star and the first paragons, but on a less sentient level than he is now. He would not have helped on operation Anvil in any context that would be recorded. (Beyond fixing cop cars). He would have saved lives during the hurricane... and now its tricky... depending on how known it was that Rex was causing the real damage... Arch would have gone to stop him. <--- an rp red flag for myself right there.

I do my best not to have my characters "in the action" of importance to something that would have been historical to the city... but depending on how the lore is released it is very tempting to want to claim "Atlast 33" status. I won't....... its my lore blending line. Once you claim a historically significant role in the timeline it has to be provable.

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I am formulating a Character

I am formulating a Character specifically for Titans.... but, while i'm loving (LOVING) where his visual design is going.... I'm worried that it won't be possible to duplicate in game, or his overall theme won't be viable given the Lore (in terms of Named NPCs with similar name/look/theme etc.)

to that end, the specifics of the lore are rapidly becoming a paramount concern, and I hope we get something a little less piecemeal soon(tm).

/e throws a brick!

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....Fly me to the moon and let me play among the stars...

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Any Lore connections are

Any Lore connections are loose in my characters so far. Mainly because I still don't really know enough to make enough connections.

Rotten Luck / Ron Bolton much like a Wolverine like fellow. Has no trouble killing anyone has little regard for law. He the most lore linked. He was a minor crook who was involved in an underground fight club (yes he won't speak about it.) Mostly he was involved with the Black Rose. Getting a streak of bad luck in the fights and in real life being laid of work he took a robbery job. That was a junk collector where he found the Orb then died, then reanimated.

Unknown / John Doe. Kind of a neutral character he will help out but has no real goal to be a hero. This is still unknown mostly to me. Part alien form space part homeless man who was experimented on. The Lore link would be who experimented on him.

Misty Spirit / Misty Sinclair Not sure why this Alt showed up I just had a cameo in the Funeral thread and it kind of flowed from there. She was not a bad person just got sucked up with the wrong crowd, did drugs and died saving a girl at a bank robbery.

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1.) Nothing goes as planned.
2.) If it goes as planned it's not good RP

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Steamtank wrote:
Steamtank wrote:

I do my best not to have my characters "in the action" of importance to something that would have been historical to the city... but depending on how the lore is released it is very tempting to want to claim "Atlas 33" status. I won't....... its my lore blending line. Once you claim a historically significant role in the timeline it has to be provable.

I'd add to that: Or completely unprovable. So, say your character was an energy entity - you can say "I fought right beside the Atlas 33, but where they died, I was merely discorporated and took years to recover." Because nobody who would have seen you fight survived and there was no body to recover, this isn't an issue with canon - but it does mean that a lot of people are likely to assume you're lying to try and take advantage of the prestige of the Atlas 33. And who knows - maybe you were there... but as an incorporeal spirit that wasn't able to act. Or maybe someone's been messing with your memories for who-knows-what nefarious purpose. Or... etc. As long as those are still options, your character can make whatever claims you like.

That's another important distinction, by the way: Don't make the claim out of character. Make it in character, and let other people react in character. It's the difference between saying "X is true" versus, "My character says that X is true". The latter opens up the possibility that your character could be wrong.

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I wanna wait to see what all

I wanna wait to see what all the devs have in terms of technology companies and who made what (Titan City monorails, rebuilding after Hurricane Atlas, etc.) before I start a definite saying of "Night Industries did so and so." rather than "Night Industries DOES so and so." I will say, however, that I know they'd see Turner Tech- I mean Eden Tech as a competitor in the medical field... and not even a blip anywhere else (DIRTY HIPPIES! cleaning the environment.. EPA IS A SCAM!)

Revenge is motivation enough. At least it's honest...

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Brand X
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As much as people always say

As much as people always say this when it comes to RP in a MMO, I find just to many RPers ignore it to begin with. So I'm wondering if it even matters.

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Thanks for bringing this up,

Thanks for bringing this up, Steamy! Once again, as with the thread in which you asked us to quantify the power levels for our characters, you have gotten me to think about how this “brave new world” will affect Amerikatt (and the “Amerikatt Family”).

Whereas the former thread got me to consider that Amerikatt's powers on Titan Earth may be psychic in nature, this thread has now gotten me to consider which version of Amerikatt I will be playing in “City of Tabbies”. I had figured that I would simply continue her adventures as she made the journey and transition from Paragon Earth to Titan Earth.

However, that may no longer be the route she will take, as I consider the original iteration of DC Comics' multiverse, and have now framed this subject in those terms. As such, I believe that the Amerikatt of CoH fame may have been the “Earth-2” (heroes of late 1930's / early 1940's) version, but that the Amerikatt of CoT will be her “Earth-1” (late 1950's / early 1960's) counterpart.

This would, of course, dovetail nicely with the concept of a new world, as the character comes to understand her powers over time (reflecting the levels and experience she will gain while I play the game). In this way, she would be like Kal-El, who grew from Superbaby to Superboy to Superman. Given what the fine folks at Missing Worlds Media hope to accomplish and provide to their loyal fans / player base, Amerikatt may even be able to reach the power level of the Superman of the late 1960's / early 1970's (when he was able to move or juggle planets).

With that in mind, I will attempt to share my insight into roleplaying and using game lore to bolster backstory and provide “hooks” or jump-off points for character interaction within the game world.

First and foremost: How well do you know your character? Is s/he a stranger to you or do the two of you enjoy a rich, long-time friendship? Before you can deal with your character's interaction with the outside world, you have to understand who they are and what they want from life / the world. What's their favorite color? What type(s) of music do they like to listen to? What type(s) of book(s) do they like to read? The more you know about your on-screen alter ego, the easier it is to interact with the game world and other players, and the richer and more immersive your roleplaying experience.

Once you have a firm grasp of whom you are dealing with, you can then look for clues from their archetype.

For instance, Amerikatt was of the Peacebringer archetype, although she wasn't a Kheldian. How could I explain her powers? First, having determined that she was going to be 100% feline (rather than a catgirl or a mad scientist-induced hybrid), I had the base upon which to build the character. Knowing that Peacebringers required a host(ess) and that it would be a consensual agreement, I considered what it would take to meet the criteria posed by my initial character concept.

Q: How could Amerikatt, though possessing powers similar to a Kheldian's have them without actually being a Kheldian or host(ess)?

A: Her mother was pregnant when a badly-wounded Kheldian sought refuge. While the mom-cat and Kheldian were merged, the Kheldian energies irradiated the developing kitten, subtlely mutating her over the course of her two-month gestation.

With that asked and answered, it occurred to me that a regular stray Earth cat would not necessarily give her permission for the intrusion of an alien entity. It then occurred to me that, being Amerikatt's mother (and smarter than the average feline), she would welcome the merging if it was at the request and behest of her deity, The Great (Cat) Mother. Knowing a bit of ancient Egyptian lore helped here, as I will explain shortly.

Knowing how Amerikatt received her abilities, but then certain questions arose which made it necessary to have a knowledge of the game setting.

Q: Where would the world's most powerful kitten be born?

A: While she could certainly have been born in a more affluent neighborhood, how would that reflect upon her world view? Thus, like a certain other character in another corner of the multiverse – Amerikatt came from humble beginnings. Since there were no farms in the Greater Paragonian area, she was born in Kings Row. As the saying goes, “Mighty oaks from little acorns grow”.

Q: Where would be an appropriate site for the birth of a wunderkitten?

A: Given her later propensity for healing, it was only appropriate that she be born near the major center of healing in Kings Row – Crowne Memorial Hospital. More specificially, under the emergency room ramp.

With the stage thus set, it was now only a matter of allowing the drama to commence. So it was that, three days after her birth, the Amerikatt-to-be, her eyes and ears not yet open, was still able to “witness” the death of her mother and the Kheldian through a sort of sixth (or seventh) sense, seeing the blocky imprint of her mother (as if viewing a RADAR image). With the death of her mother and the Kheldian and, being yards away (and hidden, so safe from the killer), Amerikatt was left with a life-long survivor's guilt (like another character in that far-off corner of the multiverse). Shortly thereafter, she was found by a heroine who was checking on a patient she had brought to the hospital.

Q: Who found Amerikitten if this is now the "Earth-1" version?

A: Good question. On "Earth-2", she was found by one of my alts and raised with that character's guildies. On Titan Earth, the logical person to find her would be Anthem, perhaps under similar circumstances (taking a wounded bystander to the ER). Of course, I guess it would all depend on where Anthem patrols. AK wouldn't need to be raised by Anthem, as that might infringe on in-game lore. Besides, AK already has guildies awaiting her.

Q: Who was the Kheldian who (seemingly inadvertently) shared their power with the developing fetus?

A: She was found by The Great (Cat) Mother, who fashioned an anthropomorphic lioness vessel made of Divine clay, which the Kheldian then inhabited for the next 6000 years, serving as Champion Incarnate for her patron. During the time of ancient Egypt, she was known as Sekhmet, the Divine Avenger.

Q: How did you go from modern Paragon City to ancient Egypt?

A: With the advent of the Cimerora zone, I was presented with a wonderful bit of CoH lore, in which ancient versions of Signature Hero(in)es and Villain(esse)s were present in abundance. With that in mind, I was able to introduce more background about the Kheldian. Whenever Amerikatt stood upon Cimeroran ground, she transformed into a 7' tall anthropomorphic lioness clad in glowing green armor who was able to more fully use the abilities of a Kheldian. From there, it was simply a step farther back into the mists of antiquity to fill-in the background of that alternate character. Ancient Egypt seemed like an apropos choice, given the number of Human / animal hybrids amongst their deities.

Q: How did WW II, the Cold War, and the Might for Right Act (1956) affect Amerikatt's early life?

A: During WW II, Sekhmet fought alongside super-powered hero(in)es, wearing a star-spangled red, white, and blue costume and calling Herself “Captain Amerikatt”. After WW II, and Nemesis's attempt to become Emperor of the Americas, She disappeared, presumably to the stars.

Amerikatt was born in 1950, emerged in 1951 (dubbed by the media as “The new Ameri-Katt”), and became one of the first Reservists of the Freedom Phalanx in 1953. Although the Might for Right Act in 1956 tried to compromise the autonomy of super-powered beings and press them into service as a test of “loyalty”, Amerikatt's unique situation helped her to stay under the U.S. Government's RADAR, although she happily helped where she could.

A small, but tense situation arose when – in the midst of the Cold War – a tabloid claimed that Amerikatt was a Russian Blue (which she actually was/is).

It was incidents from the official CoH lore which helped add a bit of background color and conflict.

Q: What was the biggest use of official in-game events to cause an effect in Amerikatt's backstory?

A: By far, that would have been the meteor swarm which destroyed parts of Galaxy City. According to her backstory, Amerikatt was able to slow a massive asteroid which was headed toward that part of Paragon City, thus buying time for rescuers to direct millions of Galaxians to safety elsewhere.

Q: Where did the asteroid finally land?

A: The future site of Emmert Estates, a housing development which had not yet started construction.

Q: What were the repercussions of that event?

A: The Human matriarch of Amerikatt's family, the person who actually found her in 1950, was never found in the wreckage of Galaxy City. This increased Amerikatt's survivor's guilt.

Q: How did receiving accolades help to further develop the backstory of the Amerikatt family?

A: The Freedom Phalanx Reservist accolade helped to solidify a background relationship between the family of Cait, Amerikatt's Human sidekick and the Signature characters. Cait's great-grandfather was a contemporary and friend of Marcus Cole / Statesman, and helped comfort him after Cole's wife, Monica, died. All the Signature Characters were Cait's aunts and uncles (with Michael “Back Alley Brawler” White and his significant other, Cleo, being Cait's favorites).

As you can see, in-game lore doesn't have to play a major factor in a character's backstory, but little bits and pieces can be incorporated to help the player character feel like a native resident within that milieu.

The most important thing to remember is: Just have fun!

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First rule of fitting into

First rule of fitting into lore! In a massive setting such as an MMO, don't be related to any NPC! Don't say you're dating an NPC. It's the first mistake.

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im totally dating anthem....

im totally dating anthem....

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But what if the NPC is our

But what if the NPC is our creation? :3

And please.. Anthem is totally last year. I'm dating Edith Buck. She's magical in bed. ;D

Revenge is motivation enough. At least it's honest...

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Then make sure it's part of

Then make sure it's part of canon :p

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I felt it is best to have

I felt it is best to have your character stand alone from the lore. What I mean is keeping you're character simple ...for example don't have your character doing great things(Especially from the actually game Lore) before he/she is even established. I don't know how many people stories ran try or irritating to others when they proclaimed greatness before they were great. Most lore in MMO's is expansive so you may run into the problem of looking silly or pissing people off. I say keep the back story minimal and apart from the lore and allow the RP to fuse the character into the story. My toon grew to be great and was loved by all who met me and those proclaimed great heroes or villains look more like over-hyped rookies. Some of them asses had to be kicked to be humbled.

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CrownArts' point is an

CrownArts' point is an important one to show the differences in player preference.

Some players will be able to pull off close connections to the lore and will greatly enjoy doing so, often in a way that others find appealing, too. Other players will try the same thing, and will enjoy it themselves, but the execution will irritate and disengage other players. Another set of players sees the lore as separate or bigger than their characters and dislikes attempts to RP into the lore, for the reasons CrownArts mentions. (I hope I have interpreted that correctly. If not, my apologies.)

"Setting" and "Game World Lore" mean different things to different people. We don't all have to agree or get along, as long as there are avenues that allow each of us to enjoy the game/lore our own way and don't force less-preferred interpretations on us. As players, we also have to be willing to tolerate others' play styles and preferences, suspend disbelief a bit, and use the actual or imaginary "Ignore" button when needed. *grin*

A Wing and a Prayer, A Strong, Strong Wind, All Forests are One, Power Struggles - Venture City metahuman novels in the spirit of City of Heroes and other comic book superhero fiction. (http://bit.ly/sdpbooks)

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I want my character to exist

I want my character to exist IN Titan City. I want to be apart (a mainstay) of the virtual world. I don't like generic "Jenny is from Xenon" if that has nothing to do with the lore established. That's just me

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JayBezz wrote:
JayBezz wrote:

I want my character to exist IN Titan City. I want to be apart (a mainstay) of the virtual world. I don't like generic "Jenny is from Xenon" if that has nothing to do with the lore established. That's just me

I just don't care to see "I'm the daughter/son of..." they never seem to like it when you mention their 50 other brothers/sisters.

I don't care to see "I'm dating so and so NPC..." they never seem to like it when you mention the hundred other men and women dating/married to the NPC.

I don't care to see "I'm the owner of the in lore club/business..." they never seem to like it when you mention the hundred others who own the club/business and thusly wonder how exactly they're rich when they're splitting profits with so many others.

Maybe it's just me who asks those questions though >_>

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You're not the only one. I've

You're not the only one. I've pissed off a good deal of people in CO when I questioned them about their characters (Most recent was a sister to Mr. Gemini.. who the PnP says was an only child).

Exactly why If/When I can get the Night Industries building paid for to appear in Titan City, the first order of business is to put a big fat interactable sign that will say "Night Industries is headed by Nicholas K. Night and a few board of directors. No one else."

Revenge is motivation enough. At least it's honest...

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I normally try to link into

I normally try to link into the game's lore only in fairly minor ways -- I assume that if my character was that important/powerful/famous, then they'd already BE in the lore, but I like the feel of being connected to the overarching story and setting.

As an example, one of my first City of Heroes characters was a "sonic" (initially radiation, until there actually WAS a Sonic set) defender named Vox. She had been one of the soldiers dispatched to defend the city from the Rikti invasions -- but the Rikti outclassed even the *heroes* and the regular troops would've fared even worse. She survived by a fluke -- during a Rikti bombardment, a collapsing wall buried her, mostly protecting her from the plasma. Boom, source of her powers (experimental tech based on Rikti weapons, which also acts to supplement lungs almost completely destroyed by the plasma) and a reason to do what she does (determination to protect her people *this time*, and a special hatred of the Rikti). She was THERE during one of the most pivotal events in game-history, but had zero impact on the lore -- no more than the random panicked pedestrian has on Godzilla's rampage.

I am the Godzilla of love. Where I have passed, nothing remains but smoldering rubble and traumatized Japanese people.

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Mount wrote:
Mount wrote:

I normally try to link into the game's lore only in fairly minor ways -- I assume that if my character was that important/powerful/famous, then they'd already BE in the lore, but I like the feel of being connected to the overarching story and setting.... She was THERE during one of the most pivotal events in game-history, but had zero impact on the lore -- no more than the random panicked pedestrian has on Godzilla's rampage.

That's the way I prefer to do it, as well. The one exception I have made in all my characters and all my years of playing various lore-filled games has been Kartanian's romance of Kalinda. (Which continued for a decent while and then was quietly ended a bit before the announcement of the CoH shutdown.) It was a good plot-muffin and I intentionally never used it outside of our own group, so it would not have an impact on other players.

A Wing and a Prayer, A Strong, Strong Wind, All Forests are One, Power Struggles - Venture City metahuman novels in the spirit of City of Heroes and other comic book superhero fiction. (http://bit.ly/sdpbooks)

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The way i see it is, the lore

The way i see it is, the lore is its own thing...more or less like a living thing in the new world. It's an event that is part of this world's history but it's not everything. Titan city is only a small part of what is an entire world. You do not have to be a direct connection to it to be effected/linked to the lore. It is ok to be a leaf on a tree instead of the root/trunk/branch of it. You don't have to force importance. Sometimes you have to earn it. For example lets say there was a great battle in place "A". You don't have to be there to be connected to it. It's a city and things happen...maybe lets say afterward you and group of friends wanted to check the scene then x,y,z,1,2,3 happen or maybe you didn't go and say some thugs sneaked in a stole some weapons, went on a crime spree then xyz123 happen. Lying is lying and for the most part people don't like it....There's nothing worst than listening to someone lie when you know for an absolute fact that they're lying. Same thing applies. Stop the lying

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Mount wrote:
Mount wrote:

I normally try to link into the game's lore only in fairly minor ways -- I assume that if my character was that important/powerful/famous, then they'd already BE in the lore, but I like the feel of being connected to the overarching story and setting.
As an example, one of my first City of Heroes characters was a "sonic" (initially radiation, until there actually WAS a Sonic set) defender named Vox. She had been one of the soldiers dispatched to defend the city from the Rikti invasions -- but the Rikti outclassed even the *heroes* and the regular troops would've fared even worse. She survived by a fluke -- during a Rikti bombardment, a collapsing wall buried her, mostly protecting her from the plasma. Boom, source of her powers (experimental tech based on Rikti weapons, which also acts to supplement lungs almost completely destroyed by the plasma) and a reason to do what she does (determination to protect her people *this time*, and a special hatred of the Rikti). She was THERE during one of the most pivotal events in game-history, but had zero impact on the lore -- no more than the random panicked pedestrian has on Godzilla's rampage.

I did the same with my main. In CoH she was created by a rogue fraction of Longbow. In CO, while the same character, it was turned to a shadow agency in the government.

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Mount wrote:
Mount wrote:

I normally try to link into the game's lore only in fairly minor ways -- I assume that if my character was that important/powerful/famous, then they'd already BE in the lore, but I like the feel of being connected to the overarching story and setting.
As an example, one of my first City of Heroes characters was a "sonic" (initially radiation, until there actually WAS a Sonic set) defender named Vox. She had been one of the soldiers dispatched to defend the city from the Rikti invasions -- but the Rikti outclassed even the *heroes* and the regular troops would've fared even worse. She survived by a fluke -- during a Rikti bombardment, a collapsing wall buried her, mostly protecting her from the plasma. Boom, source of her powers (experimental tech based on Rikti weapons, which also acts to supplement lungs almost completely destroyed by the plasma) and a reason to do what she does (determination to protect her people *this time*, and a special hatred of the Rikti). She was THERE during one of the most pivotal events in game-history, but had zero impact on the lore -- no more than the random panicked pedestrian has on Godzilla's rampage.

This was pretty much how I played my first heroine, a Dark/ Dark Defender. She was a police officer that was killed during the Rikti Invasion, dying caused her latent mutant powers to awaken, thus The Dazzling Midnight Valkyrie was born.

Once I became more engrossed in the history and further lore of COH, I started to tie some stories in with the classic evil groups. My MA / Invul Scrapper had a back story and particular hate for the 5th Column ( What super hero doesn't enjoy bashing a few goose steppers like Captain America?). If your history and background don't work, you can always pull a New 52, retcon something, or have Geoff Johns or Paul Dini create a new background for you ( If it's Geoff it will involve you punching Batman in the face, ah la Green Lantern style).

"Pay attention to me, I'm fascinating!"- Zatanna Zatara

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Brand X wrote:
Brand X wrote:

JayBezz wrote:
I want my character to exist IN Titan City. I want to be apart (a mainstay) of the virtual world. I don't like generic "Jenny is from Xenon" if that has nothing to do with the lore established. That's just me

I just don't care to see "I'm the daughter/son of..." they never seem to like it when you mention their 50 other brothers/sisters.
I don't care to see "I'm dating so and so NPC..." they never seem to like it when you mention the hundred other men and women dating/married to the NPC.
I don't care to see "I'm the owner of the in lore club/business..." they never seem to like it when you mention the hundred others who own the club/business and thusly wonder how exactly they're rich when they're splitting profits with so many others.
Maybe it's just me who asks those questions though >_>

Does that mean you can't mention any mission you've ever done? Because there might be fifty people who've claimed a particular NPC as a family relation, sure.

But anywhere past a few months into the game, there's dozens and then hundreds and then hopefully millions of characters who would have already done the exact same mission you talk about- and they might have done it weeks or months ago.

I prefer to look at it as one of the oddities of a shared world. Which is why I always looked at each hero as almost having their own timeline, their own dimension, which just happens to overlap with other dimensions without the need for an explanation.

So really "I own a part of the same club a few other people claim" isn't that much different than "I just ran into the same building 100 heroes ran into yet I'll never run into them."

Longtime City of Heroes player, longtime writer. :) Working in Nebraska.
COT: Mission tips writer, studying Cinema 4D animation program

Brand X
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AmbiDreamer wrote:
AmbiDreamer wrote:

Brand X wrote:
JayBezz wrote:
I want my character to exist IN Titan City. I want to be apart (a mainstay) of the virtual world. I don't like generic "Jenny is from Xenon" if that has nothing to do with the lore established. That's just me

I just don't care to see "I'm the daughter/son of..." they never seem to like it when you mention their 50 other brothers/sisters.
I don't care to see "I'm dating so and so NPC..." they never seem to like it when you mention the hundred other men and women dating/married to the NPC.
I don't care to see "I'm the owner of the in lore club/business..." they never seem to like it when you mention the hundred others who own the club/business and thusly wonder how exactly they're rich when they're splitting profits with so many others.
Maybe it's just me who asks those questions though >_>

Does that mean you can't mention any mission you've ever done? Because there might be fifty people who've claimed a particular NPC as a family relation, sure.
But anywhere past a few months into the game, there's dozens and then hundreds and then hopefully millions of characters who would have already done the exact same mission you talk about- and they might have done it weeks or months ago.
I prefer to look at it as one of the oddities of a shared world. Which is why I always looked at each hero as almost having their own timeline, their own dimension, which just happens to overlap with other dimensions without the need for an explanation.
So really "I own a part of the same club a few other people claim" isn't that much different than "I just ran into the same building 100 heroes ran into yet I'll never run into them."

From an "RP in the open world with anyone and everyone" standpoint, just not a good idea. In a closed group or just a concept with no RP, not bad.

And in an MMO you just have to overlook a few things like...same mission doors. :p

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I guess I always coped with

I guess I always coped with this hurdle by going the opposite direction: Owner of a night club? Nah, freelance DJ that gets gigs there a few times, and is otherwise a regular, or is a bartender or a barback or A doorguard (as long as there isn't a guaranteed or established "one doorguard" "sole bartender"). Still puts my "day job" there, still has me anchored to the location, and allows for interaction with a true owner with minimal lore-fitting conflict (say for instance I ever encounter Nightmare ingame and the hook is loose enough that he can humor that he or a manager hired my DJ hero one night a few months ago for some random event that he may or may not have bothered to attend or pay attention to).

Owner of a business? Nope, lowly employee, or a manager or branch manager or director - but VP starts to get....sketchy on that.

My only real beef is with heroes direct-related or dating a key NPC. Always feels forced and unoriginal. It reminds me of a Floating Hands Studios youtube video:

"Will the offspring of Jean Gray, Madeline Prior, Red Dayspringer or any other permutation thereof please report to the danger room? There that should count for half of the student body." -Emma Frost announcing to the entire Xavier manison... and later, "You know it's funny that Jean hasn't actually ever had a kid, and yet here we are."

Just pointing out a counter-example that direct-relations do exist, and usually in the cases of "from another timeline," "from another dimension," "from a science experiment," "stolen sperm and/or egg," "clone" "replicant" "sick android recreation built by a demented stalker/admirer" etc. and rarely "So-and-so is a genuine daughter/brother/sister/cousin/mother/grandpa/grandson of Hero(ine)."

With CoH, my Paragon City natives were obviously not strong enough to do anything during the Rikti Invasion, but it didn't stop him from being inspired or rising to the occasion to fight the Rikti. Other times I said the hero or villain was strong and great, but had been jailed in the Zig for the whole war, only to be broken out by Recluse properly. There was also the ability in CoH to say "sure, my dad/mom/cousin/uncle/etc." was a member of the Freedom Phalanx that died during one of the last efforts" since there were only 8 survivors.

“The story so far: In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.” -Douglas Adams

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In a game like this I

In a game like this I eventually end up having multiple characters who among them span the entire spectrum between "based 100% on strict game canon" and "not based on game canon at all". Basically I create characters I want to play, period. Sometimes it's fun to create a new characters that are totally dependent on a given game's paradigms and other times it's more fun to adapt a character I've played for decades into a new game system.

If borrowing some of the gameworld's specific canon helps flesh out a particular character's backstory then so be it. But I'll never force any of my characters to be the "Daughter of game-guy X" or the "Renegade from game-group Y" just to shoehorn them into a concept I don't feel is entirely my own.

Bottomline I use game canon for characters when it's useful but I'll never let it constrict or dictate my own creativity.

CoH player from April 25, 2004 to November 30, 2012

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Most of my characters have

Most of my characters have background lore that has nothing (directly) to do with game lore. They are written to fit, loosely, into Reality (however we want to define that). The fact that most game lore is also based on 'Reality' allows my characters to fit.

The few characters I have, which were written to fit, or based on, game lore have had a terrible time fitting in anywhere else. Rogue Nightwolf is a prime example. How can he be a 'Rogue' if there are no Nightwolves, or Fifth Column, to rebel against? Similarly, my character, Winter's Child, could be written in a generic fashion, but she doesn't make Sense, if there was no 'Winter King' event for her to be spawned by.

My character with the deepest and most Researched background is completely divorced from any lore, except his own, but he can't be played because there is no Peacebringer-type Powerset, anywhere else. Like Amerikatt, he was not a Kheldian, at all, but still used the energy-powers of the AT. I used to comment that he did not change Shape, but changed Range, depending on the situation. I wrote that backstory independent of any game, just History, and Myth, but realized that a Human-form Peacebringer could play the part.

So, I have to contend that the best characters are only lightly connected to the game lore, if at all.

Be Well!
Fireheart

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I tend to take a similar

I tend to take a similar route: characters that could easily fit into most superhero cities. The only one of my characters that's specific is Grizzer, who's a Vril subject.


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My Non-Canon Backstories
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I usually come up with a

I usually come up with a character first then make up the backstory as I go along

not my video just one I lke ===> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6-SdIN0hsM

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Many of my signature

Many of my signature characters have... "Adaptable" lore. Seschat worked in a Library that had Bad Things happen to it right before/during the tutorial (Rikti War/Qularr Invasion bombing), and was offered the power to survive in exchange for service. Grace Ephemeral was sealed in a box by her vampiric sire centuries ago, and some researcher at (major city museum) accidentally let her out. Pastafarian Oracle stole the research materials to contract with her god from _A_ occult enemy group, but it doesn't matter which so long as I can use control powers that look like spaghetti. (As a note, I could not recreate her in CO. We'll see how CoT works.)

Native of Triumph - Victory - Protector - Gladden - Dwarrowdelf - Tribble
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Yes, my art gallery is almost entirely screen captures. Tough.

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Like Seschat, the lore for

Like Seschat, the lore for many of my characters are generally pretty adaptable to whatever superhero universe they may exist in. I used to build my characters around the world they would be existing in, but now thats changed. I currently build my characters within a "micro-universe" that encapsulates them and possesses everything from its own unique terminologies to records of events that may be fact or canon in my original writings, but are considered "debatable" when being adapted into worlds like CoT in order to not step on the toes of it's universe's established lore.

"If I am to die in battle, Remember me for who I was and not what I've become..."