What do you think of...
I'm hoping that some of you who were in beta will know if this was brought up or not as a concept so that if I take this to the forums, I don't get shot down as something they already thought of. I also want to pick your brains for a bit to help flesh out this idea I had, because I know we've got a number of great brains in this group.
I was thinking the other day about how all of us seem to have a certian "gang" we really don't like. Back when playing tabletop D&D, I remember my characters having "species enemies", I think they were called. Upon character creation, you picked one "type" of enemy (for example, giants or kobolds) that your character REALLY didnt like. They didn't like them to the point that they studied them specifically so they could kill them faster, thus hoping to rid the world of that particular enemy.
I thought that would be a great idea for CoH. Different heroes "specialize" in a certian type of enemy. For example, Briare REALLY doesn't like Vahzilok. So when fighting Vahz, she would get a bonus to accuracy, damage, defense, you name it depending on her archtype. This would be decided upon character creation (if it were to go live, everyone would have to be able to pick for characters already created), and you might not encounter your "species enemy" until you are higher level (or out level them at lower levels), but it would give you something at least for a while.
Well, in D&D, there are a LOT of enemy types, so this is an occasional dramatic bonus. City of Heroes has a relatively small number of villain groups - Skulls, Hellions, Clockwork, Circle of Thorns, Fifth Columnists, the Vahzilok, the Tsoo, Trollkin, Outcasts, the Family, the Freakshow, Sky Raiders, Nemeses, Rikti, the Devouring Earth, the Hydra, the Banished Panthaeon, the Carnival of Shadows, the Malta Group, the Praetorians, Crey Industries... I just ran out. Essentially, I think it'd cause players to take only one kind of enemy to make leveling easier, preferably an enemy like the Fifth Column or Circle of Thorns, who exist most of the way through the game.
That said, for roleplay reasons, several of us have picked a "mortal enemy." Quickshot, for instance, has the Clockwork, and Thundergirl has the Vahzilok.
-Thundergirl
Re: What do you think of...
I don't really care for a coded "bonus" per se. Mostly because it would probably be only used as a power leveling tool.
As a role playing tool however I think it has great potential. Not only as something you setup from the start as part of their background, but also as something that builds over time. Thundergirl is a good example of someone that used it as part of their backstory (Vahz) and carries it through to her regular play. She's got a great story in the member introduction.
Lolly on the other hand began with no particular hated enemy really. But Since the Pebbles death incident (and her guilt over the fact she brought her in) the Tsoo has gained a special place in her hit list. I notice others in the guild seem to take a special pleasure in bashing them as well now.
Re: What do you think of...
I don't recall anything that specific in Beta, no. Most of the folks if I remember right where concerned with the specific and not the general.
CoH has a sort of -break- very much like D&D did. Suppose a ranger chooses kobolds as their mortal enemy. Come level 15, that ranger was highly unlikely to meet Mutant Killer Kobolds from Hell. So, that bonus went out the window. Say you picked Vahz for a hate group, and got a bonus- I'm not seeing many Vahz now at level 20, which seems right. We did take Doctor Vahz down after all.
What CoH does have is a common enemy for your archetype. Naturals seem to get a lot of Nazi missions, Techs get to play with Gearheads, Science chases the Vahz. Even then it changes, as you chose contacts that are specialized on this or another enemy.
You can give yourself an artificial bonus if you know the game well enough. Say you want a concept character that is the mortal enemy of the Vahzilok. Fire! Fire wrecks havoc on these guys. You really can't stant the tictocs? Electric! Watch them dance, and steal their endurance for a change.
The game is structured so that you won't face one type of enemy overlong. If you're grouped, you have no guarantee that your teammates may not have that enemy you really don't want to fight. If you solo, you'll go through contacts so fast that you'll end up with a variety of arcs, and each contact has a specific bias so you can't isolate just one enemy to fight.
Re: What do you think of...
As someone who picked a villain group (Clockwork) as her character's most hated enemy, I have advice:
1) The game is designed to force you into fighting other groups. No matter how hard I tried (and I did Quickshot about 8 times to try to get everything how I wanted), I couldn't seem to stay with majority Clocks through level 6-16.
2) Most of the villains are level-based. At level 20, there will be no more Clockworks (or Vahz, or Hellions, or Outcasts, etc). However, your character does go back into the low level zones for missions and travel and WILL see these guys. So make sure the goal is not total decimation. I had to alter QS a bit, where she meets the Clockwork King in Synapse's TF and they do take him down, but after seeing his pitiful countenance, she realizes vengeance is bad and that she should focus on doing what helps the city best.
3) If you want to have a single group that you will be fighting from level 1-40, those are: 5th Column and Circle of Thorns. A good alternative are The Lost/Rikti combo (hope I didn't make a spoiler). I've never kept a character on Lost missions (you take samples and learn stuff about them), so I don't know where those arcs lead.
4) You could have a "raison d'etre", where you're not against one villain group, but rather what they do. Example: Misuse of Tech for Evil. You could fight Clockwork from 1-20, then move to the Freakshow at 20-35, then on to Crey or Nemesis or something.
Re: What do you think of...
I do it for roleplay purposes only. Never thought of it as much of a bonus type thing. Especially since villains we fight at low levs become irrelevant at higher levs.
I also want to pick your brains for a bit to help flesh out this idea I had, because I know we've got a number of great brains in this group.
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