good-versus-evil
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A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Two sides to the story
I'm pretty excited for Going Rogue. Part of that is kind of inevitable -- I write a column about City of Heroes, I've tried to make a clear point that I'm a fan of comics in general, and quite honestly right now I'm in a bit of a video game drought and could use something new. But there's more to it than that, and it goes right back to my love of BioWare and the motivation to do speed runs of Silent Hill 2 just to see all of the various endings available. What I'm getting at here is that I'm a big fan of any game that offers me morality or lets the game shift depending on my choices. So when Going Rogue had its two factions explained, I sat up and took notice, because the morals at play are certainly not black and white. No, they're grey and gray -- if not closer to blue and orange -- and that led to the inspiration for what I believe to be two of my most popular columns. And wouldn't you know it, even with both columns written, there's still more to be said.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: For the greater good
It didn't take much convincing for people to start assuming that the Praetorians in Going Rogue were fundamentally the bad guys. For all the talk that's been given about how players can choose either path, about how there isn't always good and evil... the players are smarter than that. Being on the side of the jackbooted oppressors is just plain wrong, there are no two ways about it. No matter how heavy-handed the City of Heroes team might be about it, players knew better than to take the bait. The problem with this line of thinking is that it's wrong on one fundamental level. It's not that there's a lack of evil running through Praetoria, it's that people are seeing it on the wrong side. Loyalists aren't the shoo-ins for villains that the community seems to think they are -- they're heroes, making the world a better place. There might be the occasional misstep, but when you get right down to it, no faction on Praetoria is as well-suited to the ethos of heroism than those loyal to Emperor Cole.
Mother Mayhem and the Seers: New Going Rogue faction or greatest band name ever?
Thought crime: once the sole domain of Big Brother in Nineteen Eighty-Four, it's now cropped up in City of Heroes. Praetoria City, featured in City of Heroes' latest expansion Going Rogue, curbs the local crime with a bit of mind reading and proactive rehabilitation. This initiative is led by Mother Mayhem, the leader of a new faction called the Seers. Mayhem is a powerful psychic who contains the consciousness of two people (truly, a good deal for any superhero) and uses her talents to help bring other psychics under control. These Seers, as she calls them, are a bit like the precogs of Minority Report, able to predict crime before it happens and stop it. Continuing with the blurred-line-between-good-and-evil theme of Going Rogue, players may choose to see Mayhem as a positive force who prevents bad things from happening, or a totalitarian enforcer who violates personal privacy. Is Praetoria better or worse off with Mayhem and her Seers cleaning up crime? That remains to be seen, but in the meantime, you can get a deeper glimpse into this character and faction over on the Going Rogue website.
The Daily Grind: How do you choose a side?
This morning I'm finally getting 'round to installing City of Heroes. But while the game downloads and patches, I've been reading the manuals and trying to figure out which side I want to join. Normally I follow my friends or take the moral high-ground by picking the 'good' side.Granted, in many fantasy MMOs, the line between good and evil is a blurry mess. Take WoW for example. The Alliance are not angels but neither are the Horde completely without merit or compassion. City of Heroes is stark in its choices and definitions of good and evil; there's a line. So readers, I ask you, how do you choose a side? Do you prefer playing as good or evil characters? Do you think our definitions of good and bad have the same ramifications in the virtual world as they do in reality?
Massively's massive giveaways: Good vs. Evil edition
For today's round of giveaways, we're focusing on NCsoft's City of Heroes and City of Villains. While we already have two 60-day game card giveaways in progress (and more to come -- check our giveaway page for the latest giveaways), this giveaway is focused for the poor individuals in the audience who have not yet had a chance to enjoy playing CoH or CoV. We have two copies of the Good Versus Evil Edition, which includes both CoH and CoV in one convenient package, donated by NCsoft, which we're passing on to you! To win, you have to be a US resident of age 18 or older and leave us a comment between now and 4:00 PM EST tomorrow, November 6th, telling us what type of hero or villain you'd create if you won this copy of the game. (Please check our full official rules before entering.) That said... what are you waiting for? Tell us all about your hero or villain to be!
