User:Des Tructive
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
Global: @Des Tructive
CoX Bio
Been playing CoX on and off since Beta, taking breaks as RL needs demanded. I spent most of the early years on Champion, pretty much a founding member of the Angels of the Night SG. RL-Friends drew me over to Virtue, so I played both Servers for a log time, and also had a 20ish toon on every other server. After returning from the last break with the Launch of Freedom, I realized Champion was a ghost town, and fully relocated to Virtue.
High level characters
Mourned (Virtue): L50 mind/kin/psi Controller
Returned from the dead Midnight Club founding member. Possessed by a sentient curse. Usually teaches at the Annex for Arcane Studies in Croatoa (PCU). She works as a consultant in arcane affairs for a broad range of groups.
Time Incarnate (Virtue): L50 grav/time/prim Controller
What his name says. Pretty much in "Not-enough-RP-opportunities" retirement.
Bloody Carrie (Virtue): L50 dark/storm/levi Controller
See her VV entry for details on her.
Impossible Designs (Virtue): L50 rob/ff/field Mastermind (Tankermind)
A technopathic AI spread over multiple systems. The founder and CEO of MIRF, a military research facility with contracts to many Tech/Science groups. Its true agenda is a secret.
Hougoun (Champion): L47 Earth/Storm/Stone Controller
Arbiter Pocyk (Virtue): L47 Fortunata (Scraptroller)
Former technopath working for an elite Arachnos cadre, she burnt out her powers in the incident that created Impossible Designs. She was placed in Fortunata training, and promoted to Arbiter. Her main tasks are strategic and tactical evaluation and Arachnos contact for villain groups based in Cap Au Diable. Think of her as a walking level-up contact.
Sukandan Rite (Virtue): L47 Plant/TA Controller
The princess of Sukanda, an highly spiritual african nation that moved into global awareness when huge Impervium deposits were found there. She's the US and Etoile Isles ambassador of her people, and takes Sukandas seat on the council consulting Vanguard. Since the Rikti devasted her homeland in the first Rikti war, she despises them greatly. (Black Panther tribute)
Other RP characters (all Virtue)
Kenpo Tengu: Staff/WP tank, Kin/Reg scrapper, StJ/Reg stalker. Ma/SD scrapper
Shapeshifting protector of King's Row. The former Hellion has the complete knowledge of a mystical order of ancient martial artists to rely upon.
Justin Shrouds: Elec/WP stalker
Master thief who was tricked into stealing cursed artifacts. He now works for various mystical groups, always hoping they'll find a cure to his posession by a storm elemental. (Batman tribute, kind of)
Project LIV: Mind/Men dominator
An artificial human created by the grafted DNA of the strongest psychics known to the world. Nanotech, drugs and cybernetics enhance her powers even more.
Nanosurge: DP/pain Corr
A former member of the Verandi Family. After having his loved one killed by them, he went through cybernetic enhancements and military training to avenge her death.
Chat channels
SD Paragon
BaseBuildersInc.
Minotaur Coalition
AFKradio
Haile's Raiders
SG Affiliations
The Hazard Guard Coalition (Blueside)
-Hazard Guard, Superdudes, Elements of Foundation
The Minotaur Coalition (Redside)
-MIRF, Graziano Family, Eon Initiative
Playing style
Yeah, I love controllers. Even though I feel comfortable with all ATs except Khelds, I find myself consistently drawn to, and enjoying, support and agressive support the most. While I empathize theme over optimized builds with perfect deeps, flawless attack chains and softcapped attributes, I do gear my toons towards efficiency, within their thematic constraints. That aside, I'm in CoX for fun, and relaxation. If people aren't fun, I don't play with them, it's that easy. People quickly blocked off are ones who are massively rude or who clearly don't know what they're doing, and won't take advice. Another big no go is racism, naziism and pretty much all other -isms. Well, except for fun-ism. Funism rocks!
RP-Style
This first and foremost: I often play "mature content". Topics that players might not be comfortable with, such as abuse, nationalism and violence. If you find yourself offended by a character, let me know. We might find a way to work around the content. RPing, to me, isn't about living out wish-fulfillment fantasies or forcing my "content" on others. It's about cooperatively telling a story that can be moving, or leave room for thought. The same goes towards the "quality" of play. I try to make my toons "realistic", meaning that within the "Superpowered Individuals" setting, I try to stay realistic, abiding to lore as much as possible, and staying close to the limitations of ATs, Origins and powersets. The game is designed the way it is for a reason, and no well-played character would be fun without limitations. Thus, I try to take the full character into account when dealing with other RPers. You can say I RP by level, AT, origin, powers and bio. Sorry, no matter what your bio says, your L10 natural MA/WP scrapper will not be able to read my L50 magic mind/kin/psi trollers mind unless she lets you.
I favor stories of character developement over most other stories. While I do enjoy the "save the world" RP, I feel that those kind of stories are already everywhere in the game. It's a lot more interesting to me to see how the stories influence characters on a personal level. I'm highly respectful of in-game Lore, only adapting it where I see a necessity - some stuff wouldn't make sense in an RP-evironment.
I usually go with "fades to black" when sexual content is involved. That doesn't mean I shy away from sexual topics when playing. If my toon is in a flirty or horny mood, it will show. It doesn't mean the player is, too. The exception may or may not be when RPing with my significant other. Feel free to draw your own conclusions ;).
Generally speaking, I give other players three strikes before putting them on /gignore. Even the most awesome players can fuck up, now and then. If people I RP with do get a strike, they can lose it by doing cool stuff. An example is a person who just waltzed into the MIRF base, pretty much stating "Yeah, I just got into your super-secret, high-tech, deep underground weapons R&D lab. Deal with it." Player got a strike. But then he wrote up a plausible explanation, ICly, as to how he did it, and sent it per in-game mail. So the strike got removed and I applauded his awesomeness as a player.
No matter what my toons concept, powers, etc. are, I'm happy to handwave things if I think it could lead to a good story. Conversely, I'm quick to ignore or guilloutine events and toons that just don't make sense. I make great use of notes and stars, so I'll definitely remember the person who godmodes repeatedly. A good/cool story wins out over anything, to me.
Important Changes to in-game lore, and reasoning behind it
"Destined Ones"
My major issue with the Destined content is that at the end, every player is "The Destined One". Of course, that means each and every high level toon that ran its patron arc should be someone who Recluse bows down to... yeah... right. How does that work in a darwinistic, meritocratic dictatorship? Simply, it doesn't.
My take on it is that the whole Operation Destiny is an elaborate hoax by Arachnos to keep the destined ones in line. Tell the upstarts they're something special, be cryptic about it, and if you're lucky, they'll work for/with you when you need them.
"Pocket D power supression"
Yeah, we all know this is bullshit, for so many, many reasons. Aside from the fact that you can't mute all the players ignoring it, it simply doesn't make sense: How the hell do you negate a martial artist? What happens to people who's powers keep them alive.
I go with the assumption that each person can set their own security as they wish. If they don't want to attack, or be attacked, God Zero turns them into civilian NPCs. If they turn their settings down, they can use their attacks, but are vulnerable themselves.
Incarnates
Like pretty much everyone else, I go by the stance of "Incarnates are simply beings that, for some reason, are more power than what even Metas can accomplish". Screw the well :P
Side-notes
-While I'm fluent in english, I'm not a native speaker. Feel free to correct any spelling, grammar or odd wording you may encounter.
-I'm in germany, so don't be surprised with my odd online times :P
-If you find yourself agreeing with my take on playing and roleplaying, why don't you give a shout in game? Our coalition is always looking for individuals and SGs to hang out / ally with.
Rants
As the title said, the following is stuff that set me off at one time or the other. It can be offensive, biased, or outright silly. I wrote most of the stuff down when annoyed out of my mind, and I freely admit that I might even be susceptible to some of the issues at hand myself, from time to time. I play CoX for fun, so I usually try to avoid getting all SRSBSNS over CoX. If you find yourself easily offended, STOP READING NOW!
Initial Rant: "We're/I'm so strong, nobody can beat us/me!"
Seriously now? Even if your SG is made up of fifty +3 Incarnates, do you really thing you're the cream of the crust? There's dozens of IC-Coalitions around that are stronger. Let's look at this "realistically":
Say VG X attempts to ROFLstomp VG Y. It'll be easy, cause Y only have ten members, right? Wrong. VG Y calls on their coalition, and suddenly VG X is severely outnumbered.
So VG X calls up on their coalition. Depending on the reason for their ROFLstomp decision, some might decide not to aid them, and others might even take the side of coalition Y. By now we've got two coalitions fighting, with each VG on each side calling on further allies.
By now Arachnos has noticed what's going on, and wants the fighting stopped fast. They put their foot down, and suddenly, the meanest, nastiest VGs working for Arachnos show up, backed up by the (lore-wise) most powerful Metas on earth and literally thousands of rank and file troops, support weapons, etc. Not only that, but both Vanguard and Freedom Corps take note, and we know that Vanguard, Arachnos and Freedom Corps will work together, if the threat is large enough.
In the mean time, the VG who started it all is taking flak from all sides, most of their allies either eradicated, stepping out of the fight or switching sides. Since they've pissed off Arachnos by disturbing the peace, the only medical teleporters they can rely on are the ones leading to their base, the others either not working, or leading to holding cells. To make things worse, they most likely can't exit their base, because teleport access to the Isles is being blocked by Arachnos. If they have conventional means like flyers, the launch site would also be a potential entry, meaning the enemies are already in their base.
I'm not saying ROFlstomping other groups isn't possible, but it has to be done in the most inconspicous way possible. I strongly recommend reading R.A. Salvatores works regarding Drow politics, or Alan Burt Akers first Scorpio arc to reference the "smart" way of doing this.
The scenario is basically the same for any single character boasting this, it just starts out slower. If you really intend to pull stuff like this, you're either fully intending to godmode, are trying to suicide your toon, or you/your toon is plain out insane/stupid.
Initial Rant: "I'm the best/strongest XYZ in the world."
Whenever I see this, I let out a sigh and prepare for interacting with either a godmoder or a delusional character. I prefer the latter. Insanity cane be fun to play and play with. In most cases, someone who says this is ignoring contrary in-game lore, and/or devalueing other characters. Have fun, dumbass, the guilloutine awaits!
Random rant: "I only made this toon for fooling around with others."
Some people don't want to be fooled with. Stop trolling, or at least stick to the people who are having fun interacting with you. Leave the ones who just want to play alone. What, you're still perstering me? /gignore
July 30th 2012: "But your bio says mature!"
Look, dipstick: Mature roleplay isn't about saying "fuck" every sentence. And I don't have it in my bio because I want to textfight and/or kill other toons. It's also not an invitation/intention to ERP. What it means is that I try to portray my toons with a realistic personality, and that they may or may not touch on topics that some people feel uncomfortable with. It also means I treat my character as a character in a story. I most likely won't get bent out of shape over bad things happening to my toons. It's a fucking game!
Now stop bitching about my teenage girl attacking you after you groped her - she's a fucking rape victim. How the hell is your character running around randomly groping teenagers and still alive? And why the fuck are you playing a character who actually enjoys molesting young girls?!?
Random ranting: "What's so bad about starting a fight with other toons? It's totally realistic!"
No...it isn't.
Every non-godmode toon must have had is ass handed to him in his career. The longer he's been around, the more likely it's happened. And I really doubt you haven't had "that one" EB or AV that made you bite your desk out of frustration. A "realistic" character knows not to underestimate strangers, and won't randomly piss others off, since this could lead to what's described in my "I'm so strong." rant. Oh I hear you now "But your lower level!" But how the fuck is your character supposed to know that at a glance? I highly doubt you have some sort of power indicator with you that isn't supressed in most public locations. That aside, in most circumstances, level means nothing. The person you're pissing off is sure to have powerful friends, and rarely, it might have a unique power that would make your character running to the hills when it manifests. Run-off-the-mill vampires shouldn't even think about pissing off someone with a divine aura, a blood controller, or anything that controls fire.
The only IC explanation is that your toon is a scrub trying to gain credibility, who hasn't had his face smashed in yet, or he's insane. In both cases, you better gracefully accept the beating he's bound to get.
Augusth 4th, 2012: Villains of Paragon City
What?!?
I usually wouldn't direct a rant at someone personally, but...
WHAT?!?
Who the hell came up with this stupid idea? There's -no- way this would work out, at all, ever. While I can wrap my mind around an infiltration unit or a covert ops squad, actually organising a villain group in Paragon couldn't work, for so many reasons.
First of all, content: Almost all content blue-side is undeniably heroic, so these so called villians are actually heroes doing hero work.
Second, bureaucracy: So... someone walked up to the Registration and said "I'd like to create a group called Villains of Paragon City" For some reason, I just can't imagine the registrar going "Yeah sure, fill out this form." And I really doubt the heroes walking by will just smile and nod. So the group is under scrunity from the very first moments. Not only that, but the city officials have the group roster in their database. Again, this leads to so much scrunity that they're almost forced to act like heroes all the time.
Now, you could plea a case of "convert infiltration", but seriously, that would mean the group won't have a base, since the officials manage teleport access to bases, and it would also mean no mediports, since the mediport option is only open to registered heroes.
Third, publicity: Any hero comes into contact with a multitude of important NPCs. Most of them would have the ability to blow their cover at any. given. time. FBSA agents with strong investigation skills, telepaths, mystics and groups like Portal Corps. There's two ways to deal with this: act heroic all the time, or avoid contact at all means. Which again means the characters have no contacts, and are limited to the security level they usually joined the group with.
So, to conclude: To make the concept work as it's being used, the group would either be made of mostly delusional heroes who think they're villains (i.e.: Deadpool-ish), or they're heroes claiming to be villains, maybe to pick up chicks.
Belabor pointed this final point out: Police Drones. 'Nuff said.
Outtakes
The following are logs from actual game situations.
10.08.2012 Black Friday
Maltheus St. Claire: Evening folks, what can I do for you two this evening?
Nanoflare smiles warmly "Buon Giorno." His eyes go to Harumi, waiting for her to order.
Akagetsuko: Warm sake, please!
Maltheus St. Claire: Ya got it, uno momento.
Maltheus St. Claire hands one a warm sake and the other a buon giorno. "Here ya folks go and do enjoy."
10.08.2012 Post RP in Haven
Belabor: ((That was fun, haven't got to play Belatherapist in a long time :D
Belabor: ((Wait... Bela The Rapist..
Belabor: ((fuck.
21.08.2012 Pocket D
[Local] BeIabor: ((D'okay. Heading to bed?
[Local] Bloody Carrie: ((yah. It's waaaay too late.
[Local] BeIabor: ((Heh heh. Alright. G'night, Des :D
[Broadcast] Bloody Carrie: ((Nitey Blaze! *huggles*
[Broadcast] Bloody Carrie: mt -.-'
[Local] BeIabor: ((RIGHT IN THE BROADCAST.
[Minotaur Coalition]Des Tructive: ((And -that's- why I should go to bed now.
[Minotaur Coalition]Des Tructive: GOD DAMMIT!
[Minotaur Coalition]Blaze Moon the 2nd: Go to bed. XD
