I brought this up in another thread, but thought I'd post here as its more appropriate: I hope the game won't neglect or under prioritize the more mundane and realistic villain content in favour of the magic, space opera, robots and crazy stuff: please give us conventional mafiosi, Sicilians,Yakuza, Russian mobs, Albanians, Serbians, Mexicans, Outlaw Biker clubs, homeboys, yardies/Jamaican posses, Triads, Irish mob, mercenaries, paramilitary cells, you name it.
I'd like to see content even of mid to upper tier and endgame levels that just involve plain mortal human enemies/allies, for those who'd like not just a supehero toon of Punisher/Nick Fury/Luke Cage and early Batman/Daredevil types but one of Dirty Harry/John McClane/James Bond/Rambo/Jackie Chan/Chow Yun Fat style of character with missions/raids/instances to match, busting crackhouses, drug factories, sweatshops, and ordinary front-buildings or apartments housing mob businesses and affluent gangsters themselves.
Conversely, give villains opportunity to become straightforward mafia dons or Super GTA hoodlums, as well as the more fantastical stuff.
Anyone else agree?
"TRUST ME."
I don't want to see these types of mobs ignored in the game, and I like the idea of low- to mid-level baddies sometimes being just 'normal' criminals, but for me the lore would have to work extra hard to convince me that normal people are a match for my supers at higher levels. I always thought it was silly in CoX that one of the most powerful enemy groups, the Malta, were just...guys. My level 50 has fought mages, demons, robots, living trees and rocks, and he gets taken down by some regular dudes?
Spurn all ye kindle.
Natural origin backed up with training and tech. Batman, captain America, hawk eye...
I thought Malta was specifically outfitted with weaponry that was capable of fighting off supers?
They had mechs too if I am remembering this correctly...
Formerly known as Bleddyn
[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WCqnt88Umk]Do you want to be a hero?[/url]
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Yeah, I'm not saying that the idea isn't sellable so much as that I don't think CoX did a good job of selling it.
And yes, they had mechs also -- I forgot about those. But even when they didn't, they were still pretty difficult for just guys with equipment and training.
Spurn all ye kindle.
Correct. And Malta was awesome. I enjoyed the challenge greatly.
Edit: Or, I should say, I was terrified of them at low levels, and loved the challenge at 50+ :P
FIGHT EVIL! (or go cause trouble so the Heroes have something to do.)
Oh don't get me wrong: I loved (sometimes hated) how much of a challenge they were. I just didn't think their backstory was done as well as it could have been.
Spurn all ye kindle.
You know, come to think of it, you're right.
I loved the idea of them--specialized anti-metahuman mercs--but never had a good sense of their back story.
Something to do with Russia?
FIGHT EVIL! (or go cause trouble so the Heroes have something to do.)
I read that the Malta Gunslingers where infamous back in there day. Something to do with a great deal of stuns and endurance draining.
I remember the Mu from Arachnos was also infamous for endurance draining. I did a mission full of those floating taped up guys and man was that a long mission.....
Edit: If I recall correctly Malta's backstory was pretty generic. I think they were just a group of people who were afraid of superhumans in general
Formerly known as Bleddyn
[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WCqnt88Umk]Do you want to be a hero?[/url]
[url=http://cityoftitans.com/forum/nyktoss-character-cove] My characters [/url]
Sappers drained endurance, Gunslingers did massive damage, had holds/stuns, were tough, AND would teleport around so you had to really work to get to melee on them.
Putting those two in one group was just evil. Fun evil, though :).
FIGHT EVIL! (or go cause trouble so the Heroes have something to do.)
Ninjas
The Tso were alright but they just weren't the same thing
I want ninjas in black body stockings with super jump, ninja run and a variety of ninja weapons
including.....
wait for it....
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/browse/pub/3185/Crusader-Game-Books
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC48O9dPcNVdeyNM4efAvX6w/videos?view_as=subscriber
NUNCHAKU!!!!
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/browse/pub/3185/Crusader-Game-Books
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC48O9dPcNVdeyNM4efAvX6w/videos?view_as=subscriber
Hey Red, how do you type stuff in really big letters?
Don't worry about why I wanna know.
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/browse/pub/3185/Crusader-Game-Books
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC48O9dPcNVdeyNM4efAvX6w/videos?view_as=subscriber
Shhh! Nobody tell him.
P.S. Pal, we're always going to worry about why you want to know.
[i]Has anyone seen my mind? It was right here...[/i]
OK I'll Tell you.
It's so I can shout NUNCHAKU! really loud.
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/browse/pub/3185/Crusader-Game-Books
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC48O9dPcNVdeyNM4efAvX6w/videos?view_as=subscriber
[i]Has anyone seen my mind? It was right here...[/i]
I guess I'll have to do it like this:
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/browse/pub/3185/Crusader-Game-Books
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC48O9dPcNVdeyNM4efAvX6w/videos?view_as=subscriber
So you want a catholic sister named chaku as a npc ... Doesn't seem that hard ;)
Psst, TMP. Over there to the lower right- [I]don't look![/I]
There's a link that says "[url=http://cityoftitans.com/filter/tips]More information about text formats[/url]". Wait until they're not looking and click it. Then scroll down until you see:
[size=30]HEY![/size]
But you didn't learn it from me, [I]capisci?[/I]
Foradain, Mage of Phoenix Rising.
[url=https://cityoftitans.com/forum/foradains-character-conclave]Foradain's Character Conclave[/url]
.
Avatar courtesy of [s]Satellite9[/s] [url=https://www.instagram.com/irezoomie/]Irezoomie[/url]
cool
and don't worry I'll be real quiet about it.
[color=grey]Real Quiet[/color]
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/browse/pub/3185/Crusader-Game-Books
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC48O9dPcNVdeyNM4efAvX6w/videos?view_as=subscriber
I always found it funny that [url=http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Prisoners]Prisoners[/url] that you could run across in [url=http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Brickstown]Brickstown[/url] all had the ability to leap over the 2-3 story high fences around The Zig. I remember going down into the trench/moat around The Zig and knocking over Prisoner spawn groups and thinking that the tall fence around the facility was keeping them penned in.
And then I watched a Prisoner [i]jump over the fence[/i] like he was hurdling over a picnic table ... and the only thing I could think of was, [b]"These fences are completely useless, aren't they?"[/b]
I mean, sure ... the Prisoners being able to (literally!) [b]jump the fence[/b] explained why you could find Prisoners in the streets and alleys of Brickstown well outside of The Zig. But at the same time it also felt a bit like cheating, since it meant that the fences around The Zig weren't an obstacle the Prisoners had any trouble in getting past (although your Hero might!).
[center][img=44x100]https://i.imgur.com/sMUQ928.gif[/img]
[i]Verbogeny is one of many pleasurettes afforded a creatific thinkerizer.[/i][/center]
It would require a different approach since conventional grinding your way through mobs and then a boss wouldn't really work, but that could be a strength instead of a weakness. Higher level content could on the one hand simply mean they are better equipped with greater military-level ordinance like rifles, RPGs and bombs, since even conventional high explosives are gonna hurt your toon, as less streetlevel toughs seek to reclaim their territory from supes with just violence, and have lots and lots of mooks, but maybe such missions would also involve tactical thinking and decision-making, especially for solo missions, while duo to group to raids would require a greater element of teamwork to achieve objectives, perhaps requiring groups to split up and/or synchronize their attacks in order to get through and around demo charges that could bring down walls or ceilings on you, landmines, wired drums of chemicals etc.
Then factor in other complications like having time limits to various objectives, or needing to take mooks alive which means you have to pull your punches carefully to avoid killing them, or having collateral to avoid such as passers by in a public place or maybe hostages to protect, things you'd get in an Arkham or Call of Duty game. Maybe protecting evidence and witnesses from being destroyed or disposed of so as to keep a legitimate legal prosecution case going is important before taking on mobs, and perhaps even requiring some non-violent tactics, means to resolve or defuse the situation or even a semi-diplomatic boss-fight where taking them alive or negotiating them out of killing some hostage or setting off a bomb or into giving up instead of going down fighting is crucial to achieving all objectives.
That could be used for any type of villain, conceivably, but would seem most appropriate for those who are just human and have no regeneration or healing factor, and would set them apart from real superhumans and non-human enemies, as would their relatively dirty tactics of hostage taking, traps and ambushing.
That would probably work best in solo missions, as would finally just having good storylines and involving arcs that are well written and include elements of detective work and/or moral or emotional decision making against well written characters.
Most of the elements you'd get for fighting any kind of intellectual or cerebral supervillain could also be adapted for use by a conventional criminal boss, while just as some raids or endgame missions involve trips to other planets or dimensions, maybe some Natural villain content ends with base-raids or big bad fights in their foreign home and base of operations, their villa or mansion in Italy, Mexico or Columbia or Europe, dacha in Russia, private island in the Carribean or the South China Sea, front-zaibatsu building in Japan or even fortified bolthole in Ireland etc.
From the villain player's POV, you could have most of the above in reverse, plus maybe raids on police stations or military bases or against other criminals, hit-squad missions in public places, rescue missions to jails, complex stealth-burglaries of various buildings, etc.
One thing that does also spring to mind, though, is that if this is a roughly PG13-marketed game, then you;d be restricted on how far you show some elements of realistic mob crime, like drug manufacturing, prostitution, human trafficking etc. But if you can get nazis in a superhero setting without making the content too mature, you can probably get away with drugs and call girls.
But whatever happens, please give them better clothing than just pinstriped suits and fedoras, please....? Seems that was a surefire way to identify a gangster in CoX, they all dressed like a cliche from the 40s.
"TRUST ME."
I would suggest that since Captain America gets his abilities from a scientific experiement he has a Scientific origin as per CoX categorization, while Batman is more of a technology first character than a naturally originating one. His use of gadgets, armour, computers and vehicles are kind of at odds with his martial arts aspects, and if he didnt' have all the money and resources, if he was just one guy operating from an apartment on a blue-collar budget with household chemicals and a welding kit (as he was portrayed in Frank miller's unused Year One screenplay) then he'd be quite a different character. I'd say the latter would be more appropriate for a Natural origin PC or NPC than the way Batman is normally shown, as thatt would be more Technology, IMO anyway.
Ideally, I'd like Natural origin villains and (where possible) hero NPCs to possess nothing you couldn't buy in real-life, even if you didn't have a trust fund worth more than Bulgaria.
"TRUST ME."
So true! Titan City needs a far more secure prison in which barbed wire fences are not mere inconveniences for prisoners. And, you know, make sure prisoners can't jump higher than an Olympic athlete can pole vault.
On the other hand, is it really acceptable for heroes to hop the fence just to scrap it out in the prison yard? Should they really be harassing inmates who are already serving their punishment according to the law? Assaulting prisoners just for kicks should probably be illegal. :P
Honor: [i]Variable[/i]
Law: Low
Peace: Low (go figure, eh?)
I figure the Honor part of the equation could be variable due to the "Remember when I said I'd kill you last? I lied." factor.
[center][img=44x100]https://i.imgur.com/sMUQ928.gif[/img]
[i]Verbogeny is one of many pleasurettes afforded a creatific thinkerizer.[/i][/center]
"I let him go."
*snerk!*
Be Well!
Fireheart
I still have nightmares about my first grade nun, Sr. Thaddeus!
I swear she was cross-trained as a ninja.
I was in the back of the room and she had her back to the classroom while writing on the board. I leaned over to whisper something to the guy sitting across from me and Thwack! Down came her yardstick on my desk from behind me. No idea how she got from the front of the room to the back without seeing or hearing her.
"I don't think you understand the gravity of your situation."
Her super powers were nun of your business?
Be Well!
Fireheart
And just think ... Redlynne came from the [b]Sisters of Divine Love and Retribution Catholic Girls School and Seminary[/b] (which she ESCAPED from before being required to take the order's Vow Of Violence). Martial Arts classes were taught by none other than [b]Nun Taken[/b] who fought using the [b]Praying Hands[/b] style.
Redlynne escaped from the institution and went on to develop [b]The Flying Feet of NO GET HITSU!![/b] and was always trying to stay one step ahead of [b]Nun Taken[/b].
[center][img=44x100]https://i.imgur.com/sMUQ928.gif[/img]
[i]Verbogeny is one of many pleasurettes afforded a creatific thinkerizer.[/i][/center]
so here's an Idea for a villain group with no powers:
A group of puritans convinced that everyone with super powers in in league with the devil.
They might use a variety of weapons but would be too suspicious to use high tech weapons or asian martial arts.
They would prowl the streets looking to pick off heroes and villains alike.
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/browse/pub/3185/Crusader-Game-Books
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC48O9dPcNVdeyNM4efAvX6w/videos?view_as=subscriber
Nun Taken sounds a LOT like Sr Thaddeus.
Is she about 900 years old and can pinch a cheek with over 1000lbs of force?
"I don't think you understand the gravity of your situation."
I was hoping you'd say "The Amish" but then you missed your opportunity.
And rather than call them a "villain group" (with all the negative overtones that implies), I'd prefer Foe NPC group so as to not drag alignments into the discussion prematurely.
[center][img=44x100]https://i.imgur.com/sMUQ928.gif[/img]
[i]Verbogeny is one of many pleasurettes afforded a creatific thinkerizer.[/i][/center]
They're out to kill us all
if they're not villains then the term has no meaning.
as for Amish instead of puritan, isn't this game set in New England?
plus the Amish don't have a history of persecuting witches.
The leader of the group could be Sir Rupert Murgatroyd:
Sir Rupert Murgatroyd
His leisure and his riches
He ruthlessly employed
In persecuting witches.
With fear he'd make them quake —
He'd duck them in his lake —
He'd break their bones
With sticks and stones,
And burn them at the stake!
This sport he much enjoyed,
Did Rupert Murgatroyd —
No sense of shame
Or pity came
To Rupert Murgatroyd!
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/browse/pub/3185/Crusader-Game-Books
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC48O9dPcNVdeyNM4efAvX6w/videos?view_as=subscriber
Reminds me of the Luddites in CoV.
[i]Has anyone seen my mind? It was right here...[/i]
similar
but still very different.
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/browse/pub/3185/Crusader-Game-Books
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC48O9dPcNVdeyNM4efAvX6w/videos?view_as=subscriber
A puritanical foe npc group could do a lot of work ... Haven't seen a lot of that type of group in video games
I imagining some irony for that group. For all we know there leader can just be a metahuman but they think he is some divine entity (no I am not talking about any real world entities)
Formerly known as Bleddyn
[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WCqnt88Umk]Do you want to be a hero?[/url]
[url=http://cityoftitans.com/forum/nyktoss-character-cove] My characters [/url]
That's a nice twist :D. Their metahuman leader has "divine" power/providence and leads them against metahumans.
But why?
FIGHT EVIL! (or go cause trouble so the Heroes have something to do.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Humanity_%28comics%29 Just gonna leave this here.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMcQdRLgVpMwXi_3yTCN5iA/videos
and these guys too http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purifiers
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMcQdRLgVpMwXi_3yTCN5iA/videos
Perhaps he fears other metahumans and his own powers? He experienced something traumatic involving civillains, other metahumans and himself? Or he could just simply be corrupt or crazy (or both) with a god complex?
That concept is pretty interesting in a sense. If I wrote I would likely write him as a tragic figure (if you've seen my backstories in the RP threads you would know I am very fond of that. The funny thing about that is I have written stories for those characters that go into way more detail about some of the awful stuff they went through. If anything those are just condensed versions) just to see how I could twist it.
Formerly known as Bleddyn
[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WCqnt88Umk]Do you want to be a hero?[/url]
[url=http://cityoftitans.com/forum/nyktoss-character-cove] My characters [/url]
Because ... in the kingdom of the blind, the one eyed man is king.
[center][img=44x100]https://i.imgur.com/sMUQ928.gif[/img]
[i]Verbogeny is one of many pleasurettes afforded a creatific thinkerizer.[/i][/center]
I'm aware of the purifiers and the church of humanity,
This group would be a bit different in a few ways.
1) old fashioned puritan clothes (like Thanksgiving Pilgrims)
2) They're based on a sect that no one claims to belong to anymore, so no one is likely to be offended
The Purifiers were based on protestant fundamentalists, and the Church of Humanity was based on the Catholic Church.
Both were kind of tactless and insulting.
Also since they call themselves witch hunters, we might not even need to mention that they're puritans,
so there's even less chance of offending anyone.
3) They don't just call us inhuman abominations or mutant freaks (which is kind of generic)
they call us witches and themselves witch hunters.
4) they're not focused so much on "defending Humanity" as on fighting the devil, which is a serious shift in attitude (though I'm not sure how many people will get it.
5) They're not specifically targeting mutants.
6) the 2 marvel groups mainly victimized helpless people with minor powers and ended up fighting heroes.
This group I envision going after heroes and villains.
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/browse/pub/3185/Crusader-Game-Books
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC48O9dPcNVdeyNM4efAvX6w/videos?view_as=subscriber
Whta would their uniform colours, insignia or iconography look like? If they wear crucifixes (crucificies?) then some people will almost certainly get offended by that.
I considered radicalized/militarized cults as natural origin, plain human villain faction, but though it might be too controversial. How do people feel about shady corporate firms or a conglomerate faction of white collar criminals hiring mooks as a faction? Would this be interesting enough as content to pursue, depending on what the mooks were like and the nature of the company, ie a Weyland-Yutani type group?
Then there is, of course, the ultimate white collar villain group: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology
"TRUST ME."
I told you they dress like thanksgiving pilgrims
they wear black and white.
they look like Amish people with with frustum shaped hats
Puritans did not wear crucifixes they considered them idolatrous.
though they might wear crosses.
White collar crime in general doesn't show up much in superhero action stories.
Embezzling!?
Money laundering!?
Misappropriation of funds!?
Outright Fraud!?
This is a Job for Accountant-Man
and his trusty sidekick Spreadsheet Girl
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An evil Amish group of puritanical Christians doesn't sound like a very engaging threat, unless there is somethign else extraordinary about them like special powers, but even then... if they just dress like the Amish? (anyone remember that X-Files episode about an Amish-type sect that are really genderbending aliens/magic beings? Even that might be a little too subtle for a superhero RPG).
Maybe if you base them on a neo-Spanish Inquisition with variant hoods and cloaks but not simply mundane historical costumes.
About the whitecollar thing, I don't know... if an evil, greedy corporation are a behind-the-scenes big bad funding villains or just being an evil greedy corporation etc then it would make sense to have them as the final enemy, even if that means confronting them at the climax of a mission etc is not a straigthforward boss fight but requires something else. Still an idea worth pursuing, IMO, since they are a classic villain trope.
"TRUST ME."
I'll admit some work would have to be done to make them a serious threat.
Particularly since they don't want to have powers. I think they'll have to be partial to explosives, and as someone else suggested might have a power source that they believe is from heaven (wherever it actually comes from)
I do not like the Idea of basing them on the Spanish inquisition because that can easily turn into an anti Catholic thing. I specifically chose the puritans not just for their witch hunting history but also because no religious groups today identify themselves with the Puritans. So no one should be offended.
As for the white collar bosses, they seem kind of anticlimactic.
You fight your way through a bunch of powerful people and when you get to the end, instead of a boss battle you get a guy in a suit who probably tries to run away because he's not a supervillain he just hires them.
Kind of like this:
https://youtu.be/2xbw7a0kX8g?t=5m29s
Except in an mmo it's usually very hard to catch someone who's running.
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/browse/pub/3185/Crusader-Game-Books
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Well my thoughts on the matter rely in the lore itself. In city of heroes, being a small time thug was a dumb idea, considering the city is literally filled with heroes. But a way to make, normal people, criminals blah blah blah, feasibly have a chance against supers, is that, they are aware they are doing crime in a city filled with heroes, and its common place in the criminal underground to use, what would have to be, commonplace/ some what rare, tech. It makes sense that you wouldn't want to see someone with a baseball bat kill superman.
But imagine this exchange
"Ugh ow that really hurt, what was that?!"
"Hey boss those new (insert tech) really do work against these supers!" An idiot with a gun who may not know fully how to use it is still dangerous.
I was Rasharr from Justice server. Play time 6 years
Sounds like you just mean any supervillain who uses fancy sci-fi technology, which covers a lot of them. I meant the mob just being the mob, all different types/ethnicities who use only guns, bombs and stuff you get in real life. Used well and in sufficient quantity ie a shitload, that should be enough of a threat for most superheroes.
Thing that never made sense to me about Batman, Spider-Man, Daredevil and many others is how they managed to avoid being riddled with armour-piercing bullets for years on end, or just hand-grenaded or RPG'd to death. I don't think those hoodlums were really trying.
"TRUST ME."
This is actually a really big point in favor of our argument that the city should NOT FEEL like its overcrowded with superheroes.
http://cityoftitans.com/forum/lore-its-not-late
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/browse/pub/3185/Crusader-Game-Books
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC48O9dPcNVdeyNM4efAvX6w/videos?view_as=subscriber
After having looked into that other forum, i have to admit, the problem lies in really ones perception of the game itself at that point. Do you suspend disbelief that punk thugs can withstand a super strength knock out blow? Or do you try to find some (hopefully not lazy) explanation? In fact! Whos to say that, sure the lower tier of some mob families are filled with thugs, but why cant they have supers to? Like some dude in a tank top and black pants, who happens to be able to shoot fire from his hands, is a top guy in a crime family. I would imagine that shooting fire from your hands looks good on a criminal resume.
Maybe, and this is just an idea, that certain enemies can only be faced depending on your origin? ( if indeed origins play any part in this game) but i myself find this hard to flesh out. I guess it just one of those "well...this is how it is"
Or! brain blast, to quote gluke "Used well and in sufficient quantity ie a shitload," what about, almost a horde esque instance mission where just send tons and ton and tons of one hitter with big weapons. I can see it now.
"Boy unload everything you got!!!" then rockets and grenades and bullets flying everywhere. who knows though, im no developer.
I was Rasharr from Justice server. Play time 6 years
Also about having a world that feels that its not inhabited by thousands of super heroes. If the games popular enough, it would be weird if the game itself treats it like every one of us is unique, whilst we have like an Atlas Park type meeting place filled usually at least with like 50 people.
"wow never really met a super before! Thank for helping out with that thug"
"Really? There like 50 of us all the time standing over by that stat-"
"Have a good one!"
I was Rasharr from Justice server. Play time 6 years
For regular non-super foes like mafia or family, enemies could have something like sea prism stones in One Piece that could impede some of your powers or even disable some/have no effect. So instead of having them be able to "withstand super strength knockout blows", have it not be as powerful. In a world where super powers are an obvious thing, it wouldn't be so crazy as to think the enemies are well prepared. Not street thugs of course but a crime organization would be well prepared to protect themselves and even overpower heroes
The Carnival of Light in the Phoenix Rising
"We never lose our demons, we only learn to live above them." - The Ancient One
Avatar by lilshironeko
I agree with all this, and there are ways and means explored in media to imagine how conventional to exceptional ordinary criminals would keep up, using magic/alien/nuclear/whatever weapons to kryptonite to super-injections (The Boys has this, with the main characters being antihero normals who inject super-strength serum).
But my main point still really concerns style and rule-of-cool: I'd prefer most Natural mobsters to avoid any of that wacky stuff out of pride, prejudice or paranoia, it being the one thing that defines them as 'normal' and 'natural' compared to the supes, and instead rely on what they understand: guns, bombs and shells, which should be sufficient as long as you use them well enough. I don't know about most other people, but that is the main appeal in characters of this nature, and when roling up a toon for CoH and soon CoT: they just use 'normal' means. Otherwise all mobsters would basically be the Sinister Six.
"TRUST ME."
For me some really epic missions could include foes built on the pattern of the Red Skull, Aim, Hydra, the Kingpin, Doctor Doom, Dracula or even ISIS, or Al Qaeda.
But just because I'm 50th level shouldn't mean EVERY mission has to be epic.
Captain America and Spider-man are both 50th level heroes (if you want to put them in those terms) and they have adventures every month. Really epic stuff only happens once in a while even to them.
Spider-man still stops bank robbers (It just turns out that the robber is Sandman or Venom)
Batman still fights the Joker, the Penguin, Catwoman, and his usual suspects, so they must be able to challenge him.
And really that's the main point. Just because I'm 50th level doesn't mean anything has to change, except the level of my foes.
Why couldn't the Hellions or the Skulls have a 50th level gang leader with some elite minions around him hanging out in some abandoned School or Apartment building?
Remember how City of heroes had some way of letting low level toons be able to hang out with higher level toons?
Remember how fights like the Rikti invasions, and the giant monsters were somehow set up so level didn't matter?
Can't that also work for some named villains in this game?
No matter what level you are when you fight them the bosses, elite bosses & Arch villains can always be a challenge,
and if you run into them at low level they can be adjusted downward so they're a challenge but not impossible.
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