[b][url=http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Hellion_Arson]Hellion Arson Event[/url][/b]

City of Heroes had the Hellion Arson Event in Steel Canyon.

I've often said, both publicly and privately, to a wide variety of people, that after what they did to City of Heroes ... NC$oft should "die in a fire" ... in part because the very thought of it gives me warm fuzzies. For the record, I had the same feelings for NC$oft after they killed off Tabula Rasa, but I was willing to give the company a second chance with City of Heroes because of the Invention System released with Issue 9. Now ... the company has EARNED a lifetime ban from my wallet ... and I'm not too proud to say that I would [b]LOVE[/b] to see them get "burned in (virtual) effigy" for what they did to the many incredible people who worked at Paragon Studios.

So I'm kinda sorta wondering if we couldn't perhaps "vent our feelings" upon our FORMER corporate overlords by setting up their East Coast HQ in the City of Titans and making it the "Arson Event Building" for the zone, where "people" (whether PCs or NPCs, doesn't really matter too much) just keep setting the building on fire. You could then have NPC "Conspiracy Theorist" Civilians gather on the street to pass out Protest Literature explaining/expounding on why THIS particular business building is such a (*cough*) Fire Hazard (*cough*), along with lots of wacky other little bits of Fluff. Things like a former Cape walking the street wearing a big Sandwich Board in protest that reads "[b]THE END IS NIGH![/b]" on the front, with "[b]WE'RE ALL DOOOOMED![/b]" on the back in the vicinity of this location ... and other fun in-jokes for the City of Heroes community.

Of course, you wouldn't be able to ACTUALLY call it the NCSoft East Coast HQ Building, since that would invite all kinds of legal action and liabilities ... but you COULD give it a Parody name that would be "Close, but WRONG™" (enough) to let you dodge liability. Stuff like:

CNHard Unlimited
McSoftware Company, East Coast HQ
No Compromises Software INC.
Needs Cash $oftware, American HQ

... and so on. Anything that makes a play on NC$oft ought to be fair game.

Owing to the fact that I figure a LOT of us would not only like to see NC$oft have their offices burned in (virtual) effigy, I'd want to set up the Event such that if you participate there are a couple of possible outcomes. One is that if you (as a PC) HELP the arsonists to burn the building (ending with a glorious "explosion" like the Steel Canyon Event did) then that would move your Law Alignment away from a respect for law and order. Likewise, if your actions in "helping the arsonists" results in injuries to either other PCs or to NPCs in the area as part of the Event, that would move your Violence Alignment towards being more ready to engage in violent acts. If, however, you fought the fires and tried to "save" the building (and the people who worked there), your Law Alignment would shift towards a respect for law and order, and the NPCs you "saved" would shift your Violence Alignment away from engaging in violent acts.

Don't take these suggestions as hard and fast RULES to obey, I'm just sketching an idea for an analog to the Steel Canyon Arson Event and speculating on what such an Event might "do" in terms of Rewards and Effects ... either if the building goes up in smoke (yay!) or if the "supers" manage to save the building (boo!).

Best part for me though would be seeing after the Event is over some "management" type NPC [b]herding[/b] all the workers back into the burned out building and yelling at them to "Get back to work!" and just being a total sweatshop slave driver to all of these employees who escaped from the building thanks to the Fire Drill procedures (which keep being needed quite often, for some reason). Even if the building has been "gutted" because it blew up, there would be the "Boss" NPC Civilian riding herd on everyone, chivvying the back inside the smoking wreck of a building and telling them all to "stop complaining" about the terrible working conditions at this company if they want to keep their jobs!

Thoughts? Comments?

In other words, make it a parody ... and have fun with it.