I posted the following on FB, and it received pretty favorable reaction, along with the suggestion that it be posted here, so...:
I was watching a YT video about City of Titans' superhero-registration requirements, and it got me to thinking. I don't know if any of the successors would implement this, or how complex implementing it would be. But it would be interesting if a superhero game, which "required" registration with the government, allowed your character to remain unregistered, and played as an unlicensed vigilante - like Spider-Man or the Nolan Batman. You could still run missions and such, like any other toon, but you would have to be careful to avoid police entanglements at first. Continuing to play would allow your character to become popular with the public over time, and assisting the cops, when they needed it, would work to get more and more of them on your side. Maybe it could work on some kind of reputation-points system. You'd still have the by-the-book cops after you, of course, and maybe even an anti-vigilante task force, like on the TV show "Arrow". And, since you're operating outside of the law, and would be short on contacts early in your career, a CoH-style police radio would be your best source of missions. How feasible do you think this would be?
I honestly think the whole idea that a game like CoT would promote the concept that "superpowered people must be registered with the government" is a little sad and runs absolutely counter to the idea of being able to roleplay your character any way you'd like. The only reason CoH ever toyed around with that idea was to provide a "rationalization" for why the medical TPs would send you to the hospital whenever you died - it was flimsy at best.
Also CoT is already going to incorporate the twin features of factional reputation and alignment. So if a player wants a character to be a "hero" they can do positive things for Titan City and generally helpful things for the Titan City Cops via gameplay. In those cases changes to that character's reputation and alignment will lean towards "heroic" values. Conversely if a player wants a character to be a "villain" they simply do the opposite of that. The obvious assumption is that all characters would start out being "completely neutral" as far as the police are concerned and it would be up to players' initial ACTIONS to determine if a character starts heading towards being heroic or villainous. Arbitrary governmental registration should have no bearing on that either way.
The notion that every character (whether they are generally heroic or villainous) would willingly want to "register" with the government for any reason is frankly ludicrous and actually would imply that Titan City is a sort of tacit Orwellian police state.
CoH player from April 25, 2004 to November 30, 2012
[IMG=400x225]https://i.imgur.com/NHUthWM.jpeg[/IMG]
@Super Firebug, the devs of City of Titans have already made it quite clear that registration is an option. And like Lothic said, with the three axis alignment system how Lawful or Unlawful your want to play your character is up to you the player. Besides Lawful/unlawful the other two alignment axes are violent/non-violent, and Honorable/dishonorable.
And then there is the faction reputation system which allows you to be allied with the police or considered shoot on sight.
I fully expect you will get the interesting scenario you want. In spades.
[hr]I like to take your ideas and supersize them. This isn't criticism, it is flattery. I come with nothing but good will and a spirit of team-building. If you take what I write any other way, that is probably just because I wasn't very clear.
Would that mean if you register, and then start acting a little non heroic, that the police will be able to find you easier because they know who you are?
I suppose if your character was dumb enough to provide the Titan Cops with his/her real PII then sure. ;)
To be clear I realize I was a little harsh on the whole idea in my last post. I simply find the idea to be at best completely unnecessary/unrealistic.
As I pointed out the game is already going to have a reputation/alignment system. If you choose to do "heroic" things with your character naturally your reputation with the Titan Cops will likely rise and perhaps open up new possibilities for working directly with them. Conversely if you do "villainous" things you're like going to lose rep with the Cops to the point where they might arrest/shoot at you on sight. There's absolutely no need for ANY characters to "register" with the game's authorities for any reason.
At best if the game wanted to make the "act of registering" provide you like a one time non-permanent +0.2 boost to your rep with the Cops that may be fine. But the idea of registering being anything more than that (i.e. locking you into always being a hero) is frankly for the birds.
CoH player from April 25, 2004 to November 30, 2012
[IMG=400x225]https://i.imgur.com/NHUthWM.jpeg[/IMG]
Even more interesting I think is the idea of Heroes that are on the run from the law themselves, not simply for vigilantism, but for other crimes they may or may not have committed.
Man, the TCPD gets so strict about those parking tickets...
[color=green]All Purpose Frog[/color]
Wait until you see the... nope, that would ruin the surprise.
I suppose it'll depend on how the game's alignment system "interacts" with factional reputation and what you consider to be "heroic/villainous".
The question in particular is whether the game will let you push your alignment values strong towards being Lawful and/or Honorable while ALSO (presumably) having a sucky rep with factions like the Titan City Cops. I agree it would be interesting to see if the game will let you have such widely "mismatched" alignment vs. reputation values like that.
The reverse would be interesting as well: Imagine a despicable villain (skewed strongly towards the Unlawful side of the alignment scale) who actually has a "good" working reputation with the cops. Maybe this bad guy serves as an informant against the mob because despite being a bad guy he hates the mob more than the cops.
CoH player from April 25, 2004 to November 30, 2012
[IMG=400x225]https://i.imgur.com/NHUthWM.jpeg[/IMG]
I think this will giove you some information on the "vigilants"
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/missingworldsmedia/the-phoenix-project-city-of-titans/posts/812507
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I could see myself having a bad rep with the cops. Just because I may not agree with the "law" doesn't mean I'm not doing good.