After all this time, still getting the "Alt Inspiration" moments?

chasearcanum · May 11, 2014, 02:53:15 AM

Does anyone else still encounter the "OMG- that's a GREAT IDEA for a City of Heroes alt" moments during the day? You know, something hits you and you just say, "that'd be an awesome character concept.

Admittedly, mine are getting more weird, but I blame the influence of Rian Frostdrake over to our place -he was rather notorious for greaterrible references in character names- and I can't recall how the topic came this way when the idea for a new alt struck:

Möbius stripper- a time manipulation heroine with a series of costume changes that LOOKS like she's entering a state of undress, but they only end up revealing another costume underneath, which when removed reveals the original costume... which when removed... etc, etc.

Part of me just knows that if I could check name availability on the servers, I'd find that someone beat me to the gimmick, but still...

There's probably a reason why I only got 3 alts to level 50 despite a bajillion hours in-game.

So, anyone else still getting bizzarre alt concepts, or is this my own very special mental illness?

MWRuger · May 11, 2014, 04:02:40 AM

Oh my yes.

I still occasionally actually make one in Icon and save the costume. It is a little heartrending, but I do it anyway..

Maybe we should post screenshots and new alts that we plan to play when we get the game back?

Eoraptor · May 11, 2014, 03:25:52 PM

Oh glob yes... at least once a week I go "That is a GREAT idea for a toon! I gotta write that down! Oh... wait... :'( "

Solitaire · May 11, 2014, 03:36:09 PM

Quote from: Eoraptor on May 11, 2014, 03:25:52 PM
Oh glob yes... at least once a week I go "That is a GREAT idea for a toon! I gotta write that down! Oh... wait... :'( "

Yes,

I still write it down, go in to Mids come up with a build, then off to Icon to come up with the costume, enter a zone to see how the costume would look, then I'll save the build and costume file into a seperate folder for the day CoH returns ;)

The Fifth Horseman · May 11, 2014, 04:36:03 PM

Yes, though not /too/ often. Very much unhappy about not being able to redesign my toons' ourfits tho.

Nyx Nought Nothing · May 11, 2014, 05:22:31 PM

i was getting character design inspirations long before CoH existed and it didn't stop when the game was shut down. Before CoH i used to design the characters in various pencil and paper RPGs or just sketch and/or write the idea down. (i was particularly fond of designing characters using Mekton Zeta and the Hero System/Champions, but i've done it for any setting that was suited to the character concept.) After a long delay i finally installed Icon recently and have taken to designing character costumes in CoH's costume creator again. My alt concepts begin with a basic personality and background/setting for the alt which i then tweak to fit the setting of the game for RPG characters. Then again i've done the same for things like locations and story arcs as well.

My latest character redesign is now my wallpaper...
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7366/14158407881_55efe40afe_b.jpg Blitz looking homeward by Aberrant_Tech, on Flickr

Edit: i suspect the oblong shape of Primal Earth's moon is related to whatever event put it into a polar orbit.

chasearcanum · May 15, 2014, 05:20:40 PM

very nice design.

And so glad it's not just me.
Many of my CoH characters were ideas that came from our own homebrew superhero RPG mechanics. I didn't even know Hero Systems/Champions existed until after I graduated HS, and by then GURPS Supers was are main design source.

With all that, though, it wasn't until CoH that I really went nuts with "weird character concept" craziness, and now that its over, going back to the Pen & Paper is particularly challenging.

MWRuger · May 15, 2014, 05:33:55 PM

Quote from: chasearcanum on May 15, 2014, 05:20:40 PM
very nice design.

And so glad it's not just me.
Many of my CoH characters were ideas that came from our own homebrew superhero RPG mechanics. I didn't even know Hero Systems/Champions existed until after I graduated HS, and by then GURPS Supers was are main design source.

With all that, though, it wasn't until CoH that I really went nuts with "weird character concept" craziness, and now that its over, going back to the Pen & Paper is particularly challenging.

I think that is because just looking at the costume pieces and options help flesh out the character concepts. When you put a top hat on a lady with wings and a bolero, you mind starts trying to figure out how that can happen. Thus can Lady Rus of Tanith be born!

Eoraptor · May 15, 2014, 09:02:58 PM

Quote from: TheDevilYouKnow on May 15, 2014, 05:33:55 PM
I think that is because just looking at the costume pieces and options help flesh out the character concepts. When you put a top hat on a lady with wings and a bolero, you mind starts trying to figure out how that can happen. Thus can Lady Rus of Tanith be born!

Yeah, sometimes you just sit there, banging the random dice and suddenly, you see something and your brain starts to spin a story around that purple and green chick in the pencil skirt with the gas mask and the altitis is off to the races

SirKittles · May 15, 2014, 09:12:05 PM

I thought of Carcino-Jenny the other day.

dwturducken · May 15, 2014, 09:54:30 PM

Too many to list. If the game returns with all players reset to "Day One," I'll have at least half a dozen servers filled within a week! :)

Ironwolf · May 16, 2014, 01:34:15 PM

After seeing these scuptures I had 2 alts immediately come to mind:

1. The Rubber Rhino
2. The Rubber Tiger

I could easily think of the costumes!

chuckv3 · May 16, 2014, 05:14:52 PM

If I post even the unnamed pictures here someone might like the idea, copy it (or make a derivative) and as a result end up grabbing a name I may have wanted. So I won't post anything specific here. Sorry!

But, I do have about six themes going, with four or five variations on each. I often pull one up and start playing with it. Sometimes I completely ruin it, but sometimes I come up with something at least as good as what I started with, and I'll save that. When we can play again I'll probably have enough saved costumes that I won't have to design anything for months.

I just hope I can get most of the names I want. I guess we'll see!

healix · May 16, 2014, 08:40:11 PM

All the time....

MWRuger · May 17, 2014, 07:08:31 AM

Quote from: chuckv3 on May 16, 2014, 05:14:52 PM
If I post even the unnamed pictures here someone might like the idea, copy it (or make a derivative) and as a result end up grabbing a name I may have wanted. So I won't post anything specific here. Sorry!

But, I do have about six themes going, with four or five variations on each. I often pull one up and start playing with it. Sometimes I completely ruin it, but sometimes I come up with something at least as good as what I started with, and I'll save that. When we can play again I'll probably have enough saved costumes that I won't have to design anything for months.

I just hope I can get most of the names I want. I guess we'll see!

I have too many to ever play so if someone wants it when we get the game back, be my guest. I used to write Bios on the fly for people I teamed with so It's fine with me.

Besides, I can always come up with another! Here is Lady Rus of of Kiev

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/3272965/LRus.jpg

A stage magician from Kiev who got more than she bargained for when she got an true copy of the Mystery of the Worms. The summoning spell was badly mangled (her Latin was poor) the demon could only corrupt her physical form. But that was enough.

Her skin is the dark of midnight, her claws long and sharp for the rending of flesh. She is surrounded by a black mist that petrifies and causes the living to weaken and die. She is shunned because of her hellish looks, but she is still Tatyiana Borslev inside. Her hands make plants wither, animals and children are unnerved by her, even food and water are tainted by her touch.

Rejected by humanity, she yet fights for them. The gentle woman inside is determined to have others see past her horrific exterior to the innocent soul trapped in this demonic body. She knows that one day the Rhodina will accept her again. Until that happy day, she protects the innocent of Paragon City.

(I had to give up the wings for the Bolero and Kiev ties her together better than Tanith)

Optimus Dex · May 17, 2014, 06:45:34 PM

All the time!

LaughingAlex · May 18, 2014, 12:41:27 AM

I get the feelings to, I'm currently pondering how I could mesh ice blast with kineticism, especially if, or when, city of heroes is open again, the I24 changes came around.

dwturducken · May 19, 2014, 09:27:58 PM

Guy Fiero: A super strength, invulnerability brute. He'd be a Magic origin, fighting crime using the Power of the 80s! So far, I have the Members Only Jacket of Great Justice, the Parachute Pants of Fleetness (I never really got around to making a speedster), and the Swatch Watch of Fortitude. Or maybe it should be the Air Jordans of Bounding, and he could have super leap! :)

(I really need a more mentally engaging job...)

Eoraptor · May 19, 2014, 10:26:23 PM

Quote from: dwturducken on May 19, 2014, 09:27:58 PM
Guy Fiero: A super strength, invulnerability brute. He'd be a Magic origin, fighting crime using the Power of the 80s! So far, I have the Members Only Jacket of Great Justice, the Parachute Pants of Fleetness (I never really got around to making a speedster), and the Swatch Watch of Fortitude. Or maybe it should be the Air Jordans of Bounding, and he could have super leap! :)

(I really need a more mentally engaging job...)

And the backwards hat of Domination Resistance?

MWRuger · May 19, 2014, 11:44:24 PM

Quote from: dwturducken on May 19, 2014, 09:27:58 PM
Guy Fiero: A super strength, invulnerability brute. He'd be a Magic origin, fighting crime using the Power of the 80s! So far, I have the Members Only Jacket of Great Justice, the Parachute Pants of Fleetness (I never really got around to making a speedster), and the Swatch Watch of Fortitude. Or maybe it should be the Air Jordans of Bounding, and he could have super leap! :)

(I really need a more mentally engaging job...)

Guy Fiero?

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/3272965/GFIERA.jpg

Sorry, I couldn't resist the image that popped into my head!