I won't pretend that we can have a bajillion baddies running around with no given rhyme or reason, and that we can't really have an Uber Monster Killer Guy Thing(c) that will get straight up ignored the moment it pops up...but time and again I see multiple baddies appearing from thin air without any pre-established motivation, history or even actions that would denote them to be evil or twisted in any sense.
I refer to HYDRA for the most part, and perhaps WHO and this as-of-yet explained faction that claims to host all races under the guise of being outcasts.
It's not a case of the baddies being unbelievable, or even challenging. It's that their presence doesn't seem to hold any weight. They don't command fear save for the basis that we're told they should. As a writer and an RPer I don't feel compelled to attack HYDRA members or WHO members simply because their presence fails to exert itself as an actual malevolent force. Now this may be proven untrue via actions they take during the PMs, but these actions are viewed only by people who witness them.
When HYDRA destroyed the Cerberus Sougi, few batted an eyelash save the members of Cerberus and Orpheus. Why? An entire building, of which we are told holds a couple dozen floors at the least, was reduced to ash from the waist up for all intents and purposes. Casualties were not impossible, nor improbable, yet the only one to notice this were the ones directly affected.
This goes beyond what occurs during the PMs.
When I see a villain in fiction, or even in real life, we are given continued, justified proof of that person's undeniably evil nature. Now that I've explained my reasons for this post, and I'll reiterate by saying I'm not trying to be pretentious (no, really!) and give my own version of what could be done to help add a bit more flow to how things could work:
When a PM starts, we're given basic information on who the baddies are, what they're doing, and perhaps where they're located. Certain factions are then assigned to deal with certain problems, and things are supposed to flow from there. The common hiccups in this process usually involve a lack of information, lack of writing, or lack of instruction. The solution I give to this is not to give information as the PM starts, but prior to the events and perhaps even months in advance.
A villain is only as good as the havoc he causes and the degree of ruthlessness he displays. He could be downright ruthless but cause a select amount of havoc or he could go on a mass slaughter campaign of baby seals and be completely willing to let a few slip by here and there. My suggestion is to present a baddie in the RP as a constant force, something that exists only until action is taken to be rid of it.
I don't mean blow up a hospital every other day to remind people that things go bump in the night, I mean a sort of reinforcement similar to how every time a villain's grunt manages to do something particularly bad, people are reminded of who he works for and that this is being done by his/her/it's command.
Anyways, this is long enough as is, so I'll wrap this off by saying maybe we should take more advantage of the fact that our RP has a community that pays attention to what's going on, and who has done what. Maybe things like Groups can help us keep factions up to date on the goings on of the IG world, and maybe even give a sense of both benefit and consequence to actions taken.
I refer to HYDRA for the most part, and perhaps WHO and this as-of-yet explained faction that claims to host all races under the guise of being outcasts.
It's not a case of the baddies being unbelievable, or even challenging. It's that their presence doesn't seem to hold any weight. They don't command fear save for the basis that we're told they should. As a writer and an RPer I don't feel compelled to attack HYDRA members or WHO members simply because their presence fails to exert itself as an actual malevolent force. Now this may be proven untrue via actions they take during the PMs, but these actions are viewed only by people who witness them.
When HYDRA destroyed the Cerberus Sougi, few batted an eyelash save the members of Cerberus and Orpheus. Why? An entire building, of which we are told holds a couple dozen floors at the least, was reduced to ash from the waist up for all intents and purposes. Casualties were not impossible, nor improbable, yet the only one to notice this were the ones directly affected.
This goes beyond what occurs during the PMs.
When I see a villain in fiction, or even in real life, we are given continued, justified proof of that person's undeniably evil nature. Now that I've explained my reasons for this post, and I'll reiterate by saying I'm not trying to be pretentious (no, really!) and give my own version of what could be done to help add a bit more flow to how things could work:
When a PM starts, we're given basic information on who the baddies are, what they're doing, and perhaps where they're located. Certain factions are then assigned to deal with certain problems, and things are supposed to flow from there. The common hiccups in this process usually involve a lack of information, lack of writing, or lack of instruction. The solution I give to this is not to give information as the PM starts, but prior to the events and perhaps even months in advance.
A villain is only as good as the havoc he causes and the degree of ruthlessness he displays. He could be downright ruthless but cause a select amount of havoc or he could go on a mass slaughter campaign of baby seals and be completely willing to let a few slip by here and there. My suggestion is to present a baddie in the RP as a constant force, something that exists only until action is taken to be rid of it.
I don't mean blow up a hospital every other day to remind people that things go bump in the night, I mean a sort of reinforcement similar to how every time a villain's grunt manages to do something particularly bad, people are reminded of who he works for and that this is being done by his/her/it's command.
Anyways, this is long enough as is, so I'll wrap this off by saying maybe we should take more advantage of the fact that our RP has a community that pays attention to what's going on, and who has done what. Maybe things like Groups can help us keep factions up to date on the goings on of the IG world, and maybe even give a sense of both benefit and consequence to actions taken.
