Captain-Electric

That is a popular sentiment (it goes without saying), and partly true. Alan Moore wanted to use those existing characters. DC felt that was too risqué, which might be understandable, given the era (I think they should have taken those risks). WATCHMEN was the compromise for Moore. But maybe he saw it as an opportunity to create characters like Rorschach and Doctor Manhattan. I know I would have. The universe of WATCHMEN was a level deeper than DC's Batman, and I have always perceived Rorschach as the Crusader THAT universe deserved. (Most people say Owl Man, but I agree with them only partially.)

Batman is one of my all-time favorite characters (I don't have many big favorites), but he couldn't fill Rorschach's shoes. I don't mean that in the BATMAN VS RORSCHACH sense. I mean that Batman would (and has) compromised in situations that Rorschach would not have. They are, perhaps, dimensional counterparts; but a few divergences have created a wide gap.

This is misguided arrogance. Fans waited for 20 years to see THE WATCHMEN, not some ambitious upstart's "original take on it". Even if we forget, for a moment, that Dominic Watkins's Owl Ship resembles a couple of Tie Fighters somehow mangled together, we can rest assured that Alan Moore's original book is quite, well, ORIGINAL on its own without being fed through this sort of Hollywood meat grinder.

I am satisfied by Zack Snyder's adaptation, for the same reason I'm satisfied by Christopher Nolan's original Detective Comics inspiration. They are faithful to the comics, not just their own creative egos.

Not to get off subject, but I laugh out loud EVERY TIME I see your forum avatar.

But yes. I did know about that enhancement shortcut, discovered through a misclick.

Enemies running for help, YES, that I'd like to see on occasion. I remember the first time I tried helping a "stranded woman" in Eastgate (The Hollows). That was a surprising "OH CRAP!" moment that me and my fellow newbie sidekick were quite entertained by.

As for enemies running for an escape, that MIGHT be cool in RARE INSTANCES, if the mission or contact explicitly warned you that part of your mission could involve preventing their planned escape. (And I'd get to chuckle at players who blindly roll through missions without reading anything.) I disagree with those who think ALL enemies ought to feel strong (or cunning) enough to face us straight-on, and suspect the origin of the sentiment is laziness.

Yes, please!!!

Thank you.

For pointing out the completely obvious.

You know, it would be beneath me to trivialize the imaginative themes underlying your characters, or anyone else's.

It took me a year to get to 43. :O

What he said. That would be Positron. Lead Systems Designer. Patron Hero. Task Force Extraordinaire. And, like me, a guy who claimed his super hero persona long before City of Heroes was around.

So far, none of my characters make use of immersion-breaking punctuation. If a name (including reasonable variations) is taken, then I get to work creating something more original. This has been a challenge on several occasions, a welcome challenge that I met and satisfied. For anyone who DOESN'T consider this a welcome challenge, there are hundreds of generic fantasy MMOs out there, if not thousands. There was a guild JUST for Raistlin in one MMO I played. Same for Bob. There were over a hundred Bobs in Bob.

This isn't your average generic fantasy MMO. Parts of it are the antithesis of those. Consequently, I feel much respect for other players who are willing to bring their imaginations to work in City of Heroes, and little respect for those who aren't. Like Positron, some of my characters existed in other media long before City of Heroes came around. I've been making comic book stories since I was a kid. So the last thing I want to see is people ripping off my creative work, whether it's costumes, back stories or names. Tied to some of these names, and the stories and deeds behind them (some which are decades old), is a real sense of accomplishment AND OWNERSHIP. In a game that prioritizes subscriber-created content, this sentiment is FAR FROM CHILDISH.

It is important not to have that sense of ownership and accomplishment taken away from us on account of a very vocal minority.

In the words of the great Dean MacArthur, "Whaaaaat!"

Poor, misguided Jack. I'll stick with City of Heroes, thanks.

I'd be just fine with that. I'm about to start reading the Top Cow issues. I recently finished reading all the Blue King issues for the first time (I've only been around for a year). I was lucky enough to find the Top Cow issues in print at my local comic book store, so I've flipped through some of the pages and glanced at some of the art. And I can already tell you that I'd give my left brooch to have characters like WW, Apex and Horus presented to us through decent art like that found in the Top Cow issues. I greatly enjoyed reading the adventures of those three characters, and the end of their series was very well written. As has been said, they seemed to be, like ours, player characters.

I don't expect Dakan will return to City of Heroes.

I'm sure someone here will chime in with a spoiler for you, but the comics really are worth a read.

Nice WH40K reference.

As long as we're discussing this seriously (Ha ha ha).

In a matter of decades (overnight on the scale of things), we see a lopsided civilization where working class families buy nano-goo at the corner station to keep their station wagons running; and down the street at City Hall, intelligent machines are registering for citizenship. All you need to do is imagine the weirdness that would ensue in a world suddenly gifted with the five origins of power. The end result would be a world where some industries would evolve more quickly (because of better science and technology), while other industries would be less in demand (because we'd have magic or mutation to fulfill those needs) and would therefore evolve more sluggishly.

Some things are more advanced in the City of Heroes universe--partly because of a MUCH higher number of super geniuses and inventors existing in the world after the incident with Pandora's Box (an effect not unlike the ancient Celestials' tampering caused in the Marvel universe), as well as alien technology salvaged after the war. Other things look inconspicuously primitive, like old junk that is now re-purposed, or even sentient.

And many things would never be required to advance as quickly as we'd expect, thanks to everyday magic, and an explosion in magic artifact sales. On Primal Earth, the public at large seems to enjoy more access to magic, while exotic technology is tightly controlled by governments and moreso by Super Groups. Praetoria seems to be the reverse, with magic more tightly controlled and a ban on organized groups of metahumans.

So imagine how many more miles you could get out of your beat up old Ford if the local sorcerer was running a nice sale on magic wands that bless anything related to transportation with wheels-- the wand might be ancient, but it might not distinguish your Ford from any old chariot. On the flip-side, imagine being wealthy enough to afford a handful of self-replicating assemblers (nanotech). In that case, perhaps you'd simply grow some of the parts needed to remedy an ailing transmission, or even a lost or stolen purse!

Those videos were hilarious! I was SO glad when that plague ended. What's funny is, Issue 14 was what lured me into City of Heroes, because I've always enjoyed writing science fiction. But guess what kept me coming back month after month? The regular mission content and game lore! Over the past year+ of play, I've come down with an awesome case of Altitis, started reading comic books, and last but not least, worked on some arcs of my own. Well, a few months ago, I finally admitted that I had a problem... so I put my credit card on auto renew!