Hey, it's you again! How you likin' the city so far? Yeah, it can get crazy sometimes but it's a nice place to call home. You stay at the Trumble Apartments? Nice place I hear...bit swank for my wallet though if you know what I mean. Old man Trumble really pulled out the stops when he built that one. Skywalks to all the nearby buildings, shopping inside, even a restaurant on the tenth floor.
You saw the battle down the block the other day? Lord Mechanus and his robot goons faced off against the whole Iron Guardians team. The whole thing was over in a few minutes but it felt like forever, especially when those robots began shooting into the building to distract the Guardians. Wassat? No...they'll have it fixed in a few days at most. One thing about living in a city with Supers...they really know how to build stuff.
You remember that super-wealthy guy Dr. Gold? You know he made most of his money on patents? Yeah...guy's a genius and not just with money. He designed the modular building system all the construction companies use these days. Something gets wrecked, you just take out the damaged pieces and plug in new ones. Kinda like really big Legos I guess.
That's one thing that's easy to forget what with all the fire blasts and robots and such runnin' around all the time. All these supers can make life challenging but some of them help out too. Like when the military builds somethin' that filters down and turns into a household item. Cellphones, satellites, body armor, medicine...bunch of it got designed for the police or the military and now we all get to share. Supers are the same way. Best part is, the good guys are better at sharing it than the bad guys.
Don't believe me? Okay...when was the last time some bad guy built a new defibrillator and then shared the design for free like Lady Charger did? Or figured out how to make cars run cleaner? Or donated free suits to body armor to all the SWAT guys? Yeah...the villains are good at cookin' up their evil toys but they ain't that keen on handin' 'em out to others. Know why? Because someone always tries to use it on THEM.
Sure...having supers around has made things kinda hectic sometimes. Like ATMs gotta be made outa non-magnetic materials and computers gotta have better security. Life is like that though you know? Things change...you adapt and move on. That briefcase you got? Latest in lightweight materials I'll bet. Mostly recycled too. Thought so. See? Supers can cause a lot of grief but they can do just as much good. Just like everybody else I guess. Here's your stop. You have a nice day ya hear?
*I was inspired to write this by a conversation I had from a buddy of mine regarding a world with supers in it. Many things would change but many would not LOOK any different. Many objects would be made from non-ferrous materials to keep Magnet Man from doing too much damage. However some genius metallurgist would likely invent something that would work and be cheaper. A lot of the changes would be behind the scenes so many facets of life would look pretty much the same. There would be flying cars but they'd be rare due to the expense and restrictions on licenses and such. Cops would still carry guns, bad guys at the lowest level would still do the same old thing. But anything that happened often, like property being damaged in a super-brawl, they would figure out a way to repair quickly. This can help explain how we can have damage to the city for an Event yet not leave it destroyed for weeks or months.
Comments accepted and appreciated.*
I remember when Star Wars was cool...a long, long time ago...
Good bit of writing. Another aspect I thought of is Laws concerning Super powered employees. Would be so tempting to give the worker with super speed more work to do after all he/she could do so much more in the given time, or the guy with super strength heavy lifting jobs. Not to mention artificial intelligence seen by some as slave labor even Star Trek touched that subject. So laws would also adapt to make sure those with super powers aren't exploited or use there powers unfairly in a working condition.
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Personal rules of good roleplay
1.) Nothing goes as planned.
2.) If it goes as planned it's not good RP
Every time I see a "Gabby the Cabby" message in my email, I delete it.
Also, I thought that updates like *this* would have been better suited for the main website (ie this one) instead of the kickstarter website. Sure, getting lore out is *nice*, but I would have thought that the *best* place to learn about the game would have been.. y'know, this website.
They'll likely do that when they update the site, putting all those messages here.
Though I don't think I agree that we'd see all these heroes just putting things out there for the good of all. Or at least, those who try to put it out for the greater good of all, would have it blocked by others for the greater profit.
Like I doubt super speedster would like being assigned the job of 20 others and get paid for the job of one. :p
Considering how well they have done updating the website recently... you will understand why I wont be holding my breath.
Its the new year, and its been very busy lately. Give them some slack: its not like they are being paid yet. :)
I don't get mad, I restructure the laws of quantum physics and resolve the situation with temporal engineering.
Considering that Drupal is *designed* just for this kind of thing (as in being easy to update/edit webpages), with minimal coding skills, if they have the time to get the kickstarter out, then they had the time to get the website sorted (seriously, its like 10 minutes extra work.... if that, if you already have the content sorted to put in)
They might not be getting paid, but they have already received and been spending the money that we donated to them...
Look, we complained to Paragon Studios when they put news *exclusively* onto their Facebook page concerning CoX (in particular giveaway competitions via social media sites), and MWM have at least inferred that they can do a better job.
If that is in fact the case, Gangrel, kindly offer up your service. Maybe they will accept? We would love to see another dev pitching in :)
I don't get mad, I restructure the laws of quantum physics and resolve the situation with temporal engineering.
Has already been suggested in the past... long story short: Not going to happen for a LONG LONG time.
And if I did take on a community role... I am not going to be doing it for free (been there, done that, sucks balls).
Exactly my point: if you don't want to do it for free, why do you suspect the devs are eager to put in so much time without reward? We are lucky we get the info we currently do. But I hope you can continue to support the cause, we really can't spare anyone in this effort. :)
I don't get mad, I restructure the laws of quantum physics and resolve the situation with temporal engineering.
The last update ON this website was back at the start of December (this was also on Kickstarter to be fair). Since then, there have been 4 updates (including this one), of which at least 2 would have been suitable for posting on THIS website/or these forums.
They can do it, they have done it in the past, so why stop now?
I agree that not all supers would be altruistic and give stuff away. Not all supers have to be classified as good or bad either. Like the guy who runs 100 mph who delivers packages for a living. Likely self-employed and a basically good guy but no hero or villain...he just IS. By the same token not all tech would be released to the public. If a sudden cheap alternative for oil and coal were found they couldn't just spring it on people. Many tens of thousands of jobs would be lost and the economy would suffer. All things would have to happen over time.
As for the rest of the comments: If you guys want to argue over whether or not the Devs are doing a good job, whether they need to be paid or whatever PLEASE start you own thread instead of hijacking mine would you?
I remember when Star Wars was cool...a long, long time ago...
At the same token, one of the things I like about Marvel and DC is there isn't HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of supers. :p
They should be rare. Armies, Aliens, Monsters, demons, robots can explain a lot of the big enemies. Even in CoH, the devs at one point said there were only like 2-5k supers in the world.
Super speedster is essentially a useless super. In times of war, maybe he could run messages between the front and back lines but that's not putting food on the table.
And you know maybe Mrs Speedster wont let him do a dangerous, thankless job. Nothing like a naggy wife to put you off helping the good fight.
In fact I bet there's a whole social club of kinda-supers who aren't going to help out.
Super-small guy, is there anywhere he can't get? Yeah he's not volunteering. You know who gets stood on first? Sucked into the vacuum cleaner? Chased by pigeons?
Incredibly grumpy guy. Ok, maybe this isn't a super power but you don't want to meet him first thing on a Monday, ruins your whole week.
Larry the tipster. What? Not a super power? Don't you believe it. That guy has a tip on everything. Ask him about horses. Ask him about our chances in an invasion. Ask him about which cheese is going to sell best this Christmas. Says he gets it all from the ether. I believe him.
If people won't pay enough to finance its creation, it is not worth creating.
/Segev
There are loads of powers that, taken alone, would relegate the character to 'cool but not THAT cool' status. Such characters would have to find their niche in the world just like the rest of us.
Speedsters: They can do lots of things fast but interacting with the rest of the world might hamper them. In the television version of the Flash he tries to clean his apartment at superspeed but winds up making even more of a mess. Still, a super-fast soldier could capture MANY enemies quickly, scout ahead etc.
Strength: These guys and gals could do it all. Heavy construction, demolition, anything that it usually takes many men or heavy machinery to do.
Shrinking: Here's your IT guy right here. At normal size he works in front of the computer. Or he can shrink down and climb inside to check the workings without taking it apart. How about building inspection? Grab a small flight pack and check EVERYWHERE. With skill they might also make a great surgeon.
Elemental Powers: Ok...so I generate electricity but can't 'throw' it anywhere. I don't want to learn martial arts and call myself Eel or anything like that. Now if I generate electricity and I can power my house doesn't the excess go back to the grid? Can't I get paid for that? How about if I just report to an 8-hour shift at the power plant? Fire-based powers might warm a stadium while the ability to control water would be HUGE. Same goes for moving earth and stone. How much can you earn as a geologist that doubles as a home builder specializing in stone?
There are plenty of examples of powers that could be used to benefit people yet not be the best idea for field use. Someone who can heal others but takes ten minutes to do it might as well work at the hospital. So might the person with x-ray vision and no other powers.
I remember when Star Wars was cool...a long, long time ago...
It was having those type of people around in Marvel that they did the smart thing and did House of M.