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Author Topic: Why Play an out & out villain? (Split from Nauplius' thread)  (Read 8919 times)

The Rook

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It's probably much more challenging to be outright and consequential evil on a main character if you fancy a lot of non-shouting interaction in your day-to-day gameplay. Be too subtle like a proper villain and no one will know unless you tell them. There aren't a lot of 'evil' things you can do in this game that are visible by innocent bystanders, especially not subtle ones.
The Naupening towers were quite good content creators but they may have worked better if it'd been the other way around: Keep em operational for a while before making any announcements, see if the defenders of the faith/freedom fighters spot them.

And if you leave the path of outright evil you will have your work cut out for you as most folks prefer their black & white stereotypes as do most RPG games.
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Ria Nieyli

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I don't think anyone is implying you specifically want advice/brainstorming for your character, but some others might, or be inspired by the posts here to look at/come up with their own ideas. The use of "your" in Jev's post was likely the general "your" as in addressing anyone reading, and not just the one person.

Some people don't want advice/input and that's cool, others might.

Ah.

I'm trying to split myself from the stereotypical Caldari militant, with limited success so far.
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The Rook

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Guess you're learning about guilt by association now :)
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Ria Nieyli

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Guilt by association doesn't exist because people are rational beings. Right?

Anyway, I didn't realise that people have such a low opinion of the Caldarese.
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Gaven Lok ri

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In the Silas and Nauplius case, I actually think the isolating part has less to do with the villainous actions and more to do with the choice to go specifically blood raider/sani sabik for those actions. They are playing the most extreme version of the Amarr brand, which has the result of the rest of that faction ostracizing them. And since Amarr is pretty ostracized from the rest of EVE's cultures from the get go, it pushes the Sani Sabik character into a real corner. Alien may be a more operative term than villain.

I also would contest the idea that Naup (at least, I missed most of Silas) qualifies as an out and out villain rather than a character who does bad things because of their circumstances. I think the Nauplius theology is a fairly reasonable take on one of the directions in which Amarrian society should be fracturing given all of the crises that have happened in recent memory.
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Ria Nieyli

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I would say that the active Amarr RP faction is predominant, rather than the other way around. It's certainly the most cohesive and numerous group.
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Elmund Egivand

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Guilt by association doesn't exist because people are rational beings. Right?

Anyway, I didn't realise that people have such a low opinion of the Caldarese.

If you are talking about militant patriotic Caldari, well, I don't think that's the issue. It's when said characters turn into, well, Kim, that people start to lose interest in any serious interaction beyond the usual trolling.

As for that 'humans are rational beings', that's not entirely true. It's more accurate to describe our species as 'rationalising beings' rather than 'rational beings'.
« Last Edit: 12 Jan 2016, 11:37 by Elmund Egivand »
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Ria Nieyli

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I was being sarcastic. I fully realise that 98% of people care more about having their opinions validated than hearing a rational arguement.

And the thing is that Ria is a Khanid, so while it's not unheard of her kind to be in the Caldarese army, it's not exactly the regularity either.
« Last Edit: 12 Jan 2016, 12:03 by Colonel Nieyli »
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Jaling

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I would say that the active Amarr RP faction is predominant, rather than the other way around. It's certainly the most cohesive and numerous group.

Isn't that because the social construct is more unified once you get past the overarching nation's loyalty? At least that's the way I've understood it.

The Amarr have an emperor/empress which rules only a handful of houses in a strict social construct involving things like ritualistic suicide.

The Caldari stick together as a race and support the infrastructure of the major corporations, but beneath that it trickles down into more numerous corporations with each individual striving in their own way to support their particular corporation which then supports a parent corporation all the way to the major corporations at the top.

The Minmatar support the elders, but beyond that the handful of tribes just kinda do their own thing.

The Gallente unite under the Federation's flag, but beyond that are all about freedom and far less strictly structured.

If I got something wrong in that let me know, but from that it makes sense that the Amarr would be far more cohesive than the other races.
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Utari Onzo

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I think thats actually missing the entire point of Gaven's post. He's not saying the Amarr are big or small, he's saying in general Amarr characters are kept at arms length by characters of other cultures.

To an extent sure, I can't see Minmatar Tribals, or Republic or Federation loyalists becoming super BFFs with people who are devout in a faith and Empire that holds their distant kin in chains. However, as I stated in my own post, Utari atleast comfortably gets around social circles, even if he isn't super BFF with many peeps outside of the Amarr circle.
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Pieter Tuulinen

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Pieter is a villain. The worst kind of villain, in point of fact. Pieter's a villain so vile and terrible that I can't even tell people what kind of villain he is, because just mentioning the kind of villain he is will completely derail 80% of discussions about the subject.

When you read a book about some of the terrible things that human beings have done to each other on the state level, there is inevitably a disbelief about how normal, decent, friendly, family-oriented, fathers, sons, brothers and husbands could have possibly been complicit in such things. Pieter is the answer to that question - taking only a handful of qualities that are individually considered to be 'good' qualities, he is quite capable of carrying out atrocities.

In order to play that kind of villain, it requires that the character have friends and family to which he is staunchly and resolutely faithful. It needs you to see him put a couple of kredits in the 'Homes for Orphans' tin and not suspect a PR campaign. It needs you to imagine him patting a dog on the head, smiling at a pretty girl, bouncing his daughter on his knee and sharing an intimate meal with his loving spouse.

And then you need to be able to accept that he participated in an act like breaching a civilian dome, taking down a medical aid frigate, shooting up a freighter carrying refugees or something similar. This act must grow naturally from the very qualities that made him likable, even admirable, and not contravene the habits and history that he has acquired. Moreover, he must be able to go BACK to the puppy, wife, daughter and friends without being consumed by the monstrous things his loyalties have made him do.

I wanted to play a sympathetic monster.
« Last Edit: 12 Jan 2016, 13:53 by Pieter Tuulinen »
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Samira Kernher

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Synthia

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The Naupening towers were quite good content creators but they may have worked better if it'd been the other way around: Keep em operational for a while before making any announcements, see if the defenders of the faith/freedom fighters spot them.

CTCS operated a POS in Amarr for 7 months, without it being spotted. After we took it down, its existence was revealed, as was the existence of a second POS in one of the other important systems of the Empire. People said that it never occurred to them to look for such a thing. So, I wouldn't count on such things being spotted, without it being clearly announced.
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Arnulf Ogunkoya

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In the Silas and Nauplius case, I actually think the isolating part has less to do with the villainous actions and more to do with the choice to go specifically blood raider/sani sabik for those actions. They are playing the most extreme version of the Amarr brand, which has the result of the rest of that faction ostracizing them.

Actually, I think even the Blooders look mild as an Imperial splinter group when compared to the Equilibrium of Mankind. Sani Sabik in general seems to be fairly similar to Satanism with as wide a range of expressions.
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Kador Ouryon

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I think thats actually missing the entire point of Gaven's post. He's not saying the Amarr are big or small, he's saying in general Amarr characters are kept at arms length by characters of other cultures.

To an extent sure, I can't see Minmatar Tribals, or Republic or Federation loyalists becoming super BFFs with people who are devout in a faith and Empire that holds their distant kin in chains. However, as I stated in my own post, Utari atleast comfortably gets around social circles, even if he isn't super BFF with many peeps outside of the Amarr circle.

Which is a big shame really as I find this to be the case as well because there are a good few characters that I imagine would be interesting to engage but due to the constraints of Amarrian lore and the cultural tensions between them I often find it too difficult to credibly do.

Pieter: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PunchClockVillain


I suppose that's got to be how I view my character nowadays. I usually adore a chance to be villainous and originally intended to in Dust and when I started playing EVE.

However unless I made a new character I wouldn't want to go darkside even if I am a terribly awkward good guy.
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"We ripped up the ending and the rules...and cast aside destiny...leaving nothing for us but an endless cycle of death and rebirth. Which is all well and good, except... Well, what if I've made the wrong choice? I have faith that it wasn't.....but how am I supposed to know? I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me tell you my story.Let me tell you everything."
- [name redacted] Truest Adamance
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