Ex_Libris

Kate had been tracking the Circle of Thorns for several days now. Having heard a rumor they liked to hide on rooftops, she had been climbing from building to building in hopes of finaly catching one.

On this particular night she finaly found what she was looking for, however the evil Thorns had plans of their own, and were heading down this rooftop towards a group of strange looking hero's down in the street. Kate desided to follow.

The voice of Zull spoke in her head to her. Why do you still stalk them poor little Kate. Do you actually think they possess information to remove me from this shell?

Please leave me alone, Kate thought to herself, You know full well what I'm trying to do here.

Ha I will let this continue, only because it will amuse me when you once again fail.

Whatever, she thought to herself. I'm just going to block you out anyway just don't try anything stupid when I catch up with them like you did last time.

Fool do not forget where your powers come from!

Kate found herself locked in an argument with Zull, and forgot totaly about the Thorns. That is untill she heard yelp of pain down the street. She turned just in time to see the last Thorn fall to the ground, and a man stagger a bit as he wiped his nose.

No! Kate yelled as she ran down the street to the fallen Thorns...I needed information from them!

Kate looked down at the Thorn at her feet and could tell by the look on his face he would be no use to her.

"What a drag." She muttered to herself.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Oh my dear Katie once again you fail you have much to learn young one, just give in to me and accept your fate.

"Never! I will never gi...errr oh sorry excuse me."

Kate noticed the gathering of heros rising to their feet were giving her a strange look.

"Err sorry about that, I was ummm looking for some Thorns for some information, and it seems as though you found some."

Do not Tell them of me! Or I shall make it very painfull for you, my dear Kate.

"Ummm sorry I could not be of more help to you."

It takes all of Kates strength to hide the troubled look she must have on her face.

It doesn't matter how much you make a character close to a literary
figure eventually he becomes yours.. Since you essentially gave up
his script a long time ago.. The Dorian Gray you are playing is your Dorian Gray. Essentially it is like a director taking someone elses
script and giving it his vision.. I applaud you.

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As for being a disgusting character, with no redeeming qualities, I think you should read Wilde's book, and then make that determination

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I have read it, several times. That story is the main reason I watched The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. The movie made him seem almost human, just mean and nasty. In the book he has none, zero, zip, zilch. He's a base human who goes corrupt and follows the base of humanity. He is Oscar Wildes warning to us all of what lies burried within us. Before he becomes immortal he is vain and stupid, after he becomes immortal from the painting he is corrupt and dirty in the soul. The one good thing he did was die at the end from his burdened, disgusting soul.

Don't get me wrong, the story is amazing. I like Dorian Gray the character, but I have no illusions of what he really was intended to be.

(ooc) Ok, here was my mistake... I tried to look at this from a ROLEPLAY stance... which makes since, seeing as it was posted in the roleplay boards...

Anyways, here is the point - He wasn't doing it in roleplay, he was doing it because he was pissed off at someone trying to take his prize kill...

In the thoughts of game mechanics and the way you play the game, maybe what you did is right... but coming here to brag about it wasn't right... If you want it to be taken from a roleplay stance, then in my ROLEPLAY eyes, you were wrong.

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I agree with the others though that that is stilly copying a character and shows a lack of imagination.

Also, from a good guy/bad guy perspective Dorian Gray (from the story)is a disgusting individual with no redeeming qualities other than a pretty face. He's even disgusting compared to most other comic villains.

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First, the reason that many of us play COH is to try to duplicate our favorite Super Hero, so I don't find anything wrong with trying to get as close that ideal as possible. It does not show a lack of imagination, but more of an apprecaition of someone elses work.

As for being a disgusting character, with no redeeming qualities, I think you should read Wilde's book, and then make that determination

PAX

I find nothing wrong with you playing the character. I am a high School Librarian and happen to have the book on hand. I quote ".....the tale of Dorian Gray's moral disintegration caused something of a scandal when it first appeared in 1890. Wilde was attacked for his decadence and corrupting influence." Though the character may not be copyrighted the book certainly is Random House/Modern Library have the rights as of 1992. I hope this helps your dilemma. Good luck and beware the portrait on the wall.

I can see the similarities between him and Kingpin, but i think you made them different enough. Afterall the only real likenesses are size, crime boss, and a few powers. other than that they are totaly different.

for friends to find it easier.

OOC: I don't think from a 'game' standpoint anyone can question what they did. If someone wants to KS from you and they aren't strong enough to do it. Then they die in the process TFB!!!! from the RP perspective - NO ONE SHOULD BE ABLE TO TELL ANYONE ELSE A RIGHT OR WRONG WAY TO RP THEIR CHARACTER!! So by default all IC RP posts are correct. That is the way someone wants to RP their character. Some people wanna be like Superman, some like Lobo, some like Magneto. There is no 'right' way to RP.

IC: Gamble, I and my group Sanity's Edge support your choice! When other 'heroes' fail to listen - they deserve what they get. I constantly try to help others, but often they refuse to listen and get us both killed. That is why I have become increasingly careful of who I team with. I am tired of wreckless Rambo's getting me trips to the hospital.

To all you others - don't tell me or any one else how to be a hero. I didn't ask to be a hero. I didn't ask for powers. I didn't ask to protect this city. And I certainly didn't ask anyones opinion on how to do it!! I am cursed with my 'gift' and will make the best of it, but for those that try to meddle in my affairs - be warned!! Yes I tread a fine line between good and evil - but don't we all. Or are you all really that big of boy scouts? yeah, didn't think so
CURS3D K40S - High Prophet of Sanity's Edge (virtues most insane and tortured supergroup)

Character Name(s): ArcticBlast (Primary)
(alsoScorchedEarth, DeadRinger

Playtimes/days: Varies with work schedule, usually afternoons or late night/early am (EST)

RPing Style: Typically RP-lite & RP/Action (*I* like to level, my characters like to fight evil more than stand around and gossip ) but I will play to suit, so I can do HardCore.

RP SuperGroup Name (if any): Since I couldn't find an RP-SG on Guardian, I just started one last night as a way to coordinate, I really don't have the spare time or webspace atm to make it really thrive, but if interested, check out the:
"Eternal Flames of Justice" (EFoJ) RP-lite/Action SG.

Character Bio:
ArticBlast was always involved in winter sports and activities, he delighted in the snow and seemed less affected by the cold than his friends. As a graduate student he was ice-racing too near an open channel of water and plunged through into the chilling waters beneath. Near death and freezing, his latent mutation awakened; not only did this save his life, but through his new-found powers, it allows him to save citizens of Paragon City.

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My advice would be to use the character you love as a seed to create something that is uniquly your own. Take what you like from the story and expand upon it... That's what makes a character really interesting.

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This is actually what I wound up doing with my current character in game, but as I went along I started to get concerned that there are too many similarities to the original. Since that's the basic topic of this thread I'll ask your opinions.

Made a tanker in game, he wears a black suit with dark red shirt (black tie of course), a black diamond above his pocket. Chose the Metalic face look with a silver sheen. His name is Lord Havok.

His (incredibly simplified) story is that at the time of WWII was a crime boss who took part in the battle agains't the 5th and during the fight realized he took pride in what he had done and decided to go straight (like I said, incredibly simplified version of the story here.) He's cultured, intelligent, incredibly strong, and hits people with a gigantic stone hammer when he's angry. He decided not to switch to a typical "hero" name, instead keeping the name he was previously known by..sort of as a penence.

As you can probably tell, he's based loosely on Kingpin, but I worry that he's too close to his inspiration...any opinions?

I am from a future where the heroes of the great cities have long
since vanished.. I came to Paragon looking for heroes that my people have only dreamed about... Finding that along with the greatest living beings in the universe the crime that exists here frightens me to my very essence. When the time came for me to make my trip back to my world all I could do was let it slip by they needed me here and I will wait to find my way back. Time Gates are everywhere you just need to know where to look some day I will get back but till then evil beware I will deal the blow.

Hmmm kicking in doors, and hauling away people based on information from informants in the middle of the night. Sorry, but there is already a group that does that. They are called the 5th Column.

Poor Ryan, what else could go wrong? Will anything ever go right for him? Join Detective Ryan O'Shea tomorrow, at this time, for more of this great copy!

Hi I also have a Lvl 6 character on Justice and i am very interested in rp, my character is Atomic Marvel, please message me ingame and we can team up. I would love to join a SG when I am lvl 10 too.

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Well, Dorian Gray is not copyrighted anymore so that's fine I guess. I agree with the others though that that is stilly copying a character and shows a lack of imagination.

Also, from a good guy/bad guy perspective Dorian Gray (from the story)is a disgusting individual with no redeeming qualities other than a pretty face. He's even disgusting compared to most other comic villains.

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yes, but being a 'nice' guy IRL - i find it really fun to occasionaly play dark, brooding, disgusting and even sometimes downright evil.

As fof the Nigel 'bunny' concept - no to the name, but that would help me solve all the other problems.

As for 'copying' the character, i feel it is more of an homage to Oscar Wilde and that era of literature. While it does lack the originality of some ideas (i have seen tons of great ones out there) it does have its own originality - i have personally expanded some of his back story and been thru many an adventure with my 'Dorian'. At least in my mind, he has evolved well beyond a simple copy of a character. But, i really don't want the image of a copycating idiot in this game. I have always played him with RL friends that understood a lot of the background and reason for playing him. I know that is not always going to be the case here, hence why I asked for the general RP communities opinion.

Thanks for the comments, suggestions and opinions
feel free to keep em coming!

What's important to me is that I go to work on Monday and there are criminals for me to defeat, and at the end of the week I get paid for my efforts. It's cut and dry people, fight crime, get paid...life is good. Isn't any career the same? Are we really making a difference? Who cares, do your job, go home, rinse and repeat.

~Sena'l, First Strike Security Agent (Magic Blaster, Virtue)

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My point is, just because you have some "Contact" who tells you he knows of a werehouse he's suspicious of, doesn't mean you can form a posse, kick the door in and just start knocking people out left and right. It's called "Just Cause."

You know what's going to happen eventually? One of you is going to kick in the door of some citizen's home and kill someone. It's all well and good for you, I mean you get to hide your identity and wear a mask.

It's public servants like me that can't get the equipment or training we need because of lawsuits paid out for "Cape" assaults...

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You should come by my office some time. I have a stack of applications from Paragon City PD officers that sound just like you.

We have the money and the backing to outfit them properly. The city has already leased out a few of the tamer areas to my operatives to see how they handle it... It's thus far gone really well. The public are happy, the criminals are in jail, and some decent law enforcement officers earn a day's pay for a day's work. Not only that, but they have the equipment to do the job properly.

You're comments are right of course, which is why First Strike works the way it does.

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First Strike? Arn't you being funded by the Mayor's "Safe Streets" grant? I'm working under a similar program, in Kings Row.

"Safe Streets"... Snicker... More like "Mugged Citizens rarely vote for me" grants.

Glad to see someone is using the constitution for more then part of a costume...

Well, Dorian Gray is not copyrighted anymore so that's fine I guess. I agree with the others though that that is stilly copying a character and shows a lack of imagination.

Also, from a good guy/bad guy perspective Dorian Gray (from the story)is a disgusting individual with no redeeming qualities other than a pretty face. He's even disgusting compared to most other comic villains.

What level is your Sorcerer, it would be good to have a few more team playing RPer's around.

It's only a matter of time, really, before we heroes begin to question ourselves. I often wonder why I bother continuing the good fight, when I could spend the time working on my standup. But the bottom line is, nobody's gonna be laughing at ol' Raggy's jokes if a bunch of punks in flea-infested gettups are running rampant around the city. That would ruin my job in comedy. 'Sides, there's nothing more gratifying than smacking some punk in the head. Nothing. Well, except maybe two punks to smack. Yeaaaaa.

This is just my personal, OOC opinion, but I feel the same way about someone playing Dorian Grey or Dracula as I do about Spider-man or the Punisher.

But thast just me

D'OH also forgot - are there any other RP characters from classic literature out there? I'm sure i can't be the only one. It would be neat to do a LXG style thing with all our characters. (no we wouldn't use the LXG name)

Hey folks I have a dillema - hopefully you all can help me out. IRL I have been playing all sorts of RPGs for decades. Well over 10 yrs ago a began RPing Dorian Grey in several games. Now i'm not talking the Dorian Grey from the comic book or movie LXG, but rather the one from the Oscar Wilde book. (which is of course where LXG stole him from anyway) Any how my problem is whether or not I should RP the character here. I made a trial version of him just to test the waters and virtually no one had even heard of the book. Most accused me of ripping off the movie - not even knowing there was a comic book. Now for this trial charcter I messed up and gave him the gray suit(probably should have gone with a different color).

When I RP Dorian I play him as the real deal, in fact he often pokes fun at the book, comic and movie. Much as a real person might if they had stories told of them for centuries. Now since the book is from the 19th century - there is no Trademark or Copyright on the character. Hence he should be allowed to be played in this game. Opinions, comments, suggestions, questions . . . . fire away guys i'd like my fellow RP gamers input on this one.

Oh and should i Remake him with out the grey suit outfit. Currently he is a level 6 Magic Scrapper Broadsword/Regeneration and yes i will try to keep his 'powers' as acurate as i can.

Tick... Tick... Tick... Time went by at a snails pace. Ryan got takeout from a chinese restaraunt and returned to the office to find a man dressed like a member of the Paragon Globetravlers basketball team waiting at the desk. He shrugged, sighed and grabbed the application, and handed it to him. The man put a grocery bag down on the desk and started filling out the application.

"So who are you supposed to be, anyway?" O'Shay said.

"I'm Basket-Balla. Man this is alot of forms for something as trivial as this." He said.

"Just fill it out."

"Basket-Balla" shrugged and kept filling out the form. O'Shay was curious about the bag, but kept it to himself. Probably some of his Vigilante equipment. When the man finished with the form, he put it down on the desk and pushed the grocery bag tword Ryan. Ryan raised an eyebrow.

"I'll pick them up on friday," he said, "And lay off on the starch this time. Last time my shirt was so stiff it could stop bullets, man!"

Ryan slammed his head down on the desk and mumbled "The dry cleaners is in the NEXT building..."