This is a question out of pure curiosity, but how appealing would an all OC superhero (marvel, dc, image, etc) be? Potentially to include the organizations and structures of standard comic themes (such as a Gotham city or an X-Mansion) but all characters are original creations. What would be the obvious pitfalls? Obvious benefits? I'd kicked around the idea for a MUSH like this, but I have no idea if it would even be worth the effort if there's no interest or draw.
Because nothing says "Marvel 1963' like a game set in 1964 that includes Batman, Superman and Wonderwoman.
This has answered my questions for the most part, so thanks to everyone that replied.
I've been on a non-superhero game run by Roz, Tez, etc, though I think Roz retired from it, so staff competency may vary. It was unpleasant and dull. I had at least two people trying to force unwanted relationships on me (no means maybe, apparently) and then watched half the playerbase ostracize a player for being male in RL.
I'm betting Roz's superhero game is probably much, much better. Players are usually not a reliable indicator of staff quality.
@Roz An ancient and wise RP sensei of mine once said, 'The harder it is to apply for and get a character, the harder it should be for them to be ICly killed off.'
OH. Rolled stat Dungeons and Dragons PvP where you die - yeah, that always causes issues.
It took me years before I was on a game that had actual stats. PvP was just writing out, round-robin style, face punching and daring-last-minute-rescuing. Characters embroiled in mental, ideological, IC political and physical competition. Which is tremendously fun.
As a secondary thought, I come from the school of MU*s in which staff leading PvE plots and players not being allowed PvP was actively rebelled against because it was seen as interference and authoritarian control on the part of staff. Players were expected to (and did) become RP self-starters, and things developed naturally. Sure, you'd get the occasional awful Batman or Magneto but because the characters were not forced into anything, factionally or plot-wise, you could 'starve the cancer' to death by not feeding terrible characters and players interaction or attention. Someone else could naturally rise from the ranks and take care of the plot, and the system was more meritocratic. Good players became IC leaders and energized others. It was not uncommon on some games I played late 90's to early 00's for people playing a Sephiroth or a Dr. Doom to actually step down and turn over their charbit to someone better as a sign of respect, because then everyone's fun increased.
Those days are probably just long dead, as there were so many more people playing on MU*s at that point. The effect of toxic players were diluted by sheer numbers.
I have been on some PvE only games and in general, since the staff are usually busy only roleplaying with each other or their select chose friends, I have been bored to fcking tears*. It's like being smothered to death by a group of kindergarten girls playing tea party / house while waiting to see what randomly generated boss monster of the week shows up.
@Roz I probably run in different mu subcultures, because I've rarely heard of PvP causing drama. It's usually unethical staff or rampant IC f*cking that causes the drama.
@Roz That seems like they missed the entire point of Superhero themes then.
In my time I've had characters straight up harass me for TS no matter what I play. Less so if I play a straight male that isn't a feature character - then it's like you don't exist. Interest exponentially decreases if you're an OC straight male.
My biggest problem with this is that, if you are playing a faction-based game, you need to have the bosses around on a daily basis, both to connect and direct with your IC underlings, and to establish OOC morale. If you're having fun RPing together because the boss is there scaring you sh*tless (or inspiring you if you're a hero) and making sure you have your orders, you're more likely to want to stay. Villain bosses in particular need to be around for their team/faction - not necessarily for just schlepping on down to Moe's. Leader characters often end up being the energizing factor for faction. Staff locking them up 'for plot only' means that the underlings are waiting for orders that never come, and since they're villains and their options for slice-of-life garbage RP are a little limited by their status as villains, you end up with villain factions withering to death and the hero factions milling around in a vain search for people to beat up.
At that point, Nova's neghole looks pretty interesting.
I haven't been playing Superhero-themed games for a long time, but something I've noticed as a recurring theme along the several I've dinked about on is that all of the major villains, or indeed anyone of any real import or leadership role, are all locked in a dust-gathering gun safe that only staff has the combination for. Some games won't allow you to play a villain at all, which seems to me like shooting yourself in the foot, especially if the game is in any way shape or form faction-based.
Does anyone know the reasoning behind this, or when this became popular? I'm assuming it's to prevent people from forming Mr. Sinister's Harem of Mutant Wives or General Zod's plot for the longest possible character squatting in internet history, but that's almost along the lines of "cutting off the hands of the musicians".
I've seen some games do this because they actively want to prevent PVP roleplay of any kind, but that's at the very extreme end, so I'm assuming that's the exception rather than the rule.
Eventually on these 'No Badguys Allowed' treehouses the game degenerates quickly into The Real Housewives Of Westchester County for lack of anything else to do: the street-level villains cluster together and the heroes cluster together and never the twain shall meet.
@Auspice Agreed on that point. My main problem is when shipping itself is 95% of the game. Gets boring kind of fast.
Edit: I've had characters try to use their superpowers to non-consensually turn mine gay for them, and they didn't seem to understand why this was wrong. So I hear you.
I'd like a DC game that isn't 95% LGBTQ superhero shipping or run by wildly insane and controlling staff.
I'm having flashbacks of coding Multi-User Forth now, Theno.
I wrote fanfiction, and someone suggested this thing called a "MUCK" where you could chat in REAL TIME instead of via email. Since we were doing a collaboration, seemed like a good idea.
Roleplaying became far more fun than fanfiction. Thus, here I am.
About to have an ex. There's only so much narcissistic abuse I can live with.
@Roz Are you running two games or did your Transformers one close down? If you're running two, kudos, that's impressive.
Hah! Kudos for that one Arkandel. You're absolutely right. 