Characters played: Teddy Altman aka Hulkling | Marvel Comics: Young Avengers | thenicehulk Curtis Doyle aka Freedom Ring | Marvel Comics | free_dumb_ring Joel Weinberg aka Houston | DC Comics: Relative Heroes | a_relative_hero Personal HMD link(s): Curtis, Teddy, and Joel Anonymous allowed/encouraged? Y/N: Discouraged Other comments? Joel - Still lonely. He's working as an Intern for the Police Department and will soon be starting on becoming a full officer involved in cases and all that. He's going to be trying to keep himself busy so he can distract himself from how much being alone in the City bothers him.
Teddy - Going to school, working at Rikku's garage, and still feeling bad about not being able to stop the Joker when he was rampaging in the school. He recently had a little nightmare about the skrulls and it combined with talking with Tommy has Teddy thinking about trying to be more active on the superheroic front.
Curtis - He's still in a pretty good mood after helping out Gerry, still looking for someone to give the date with Spider-Man he won to, and dealing with having feelings for Tom. He's also got some plans in the works. Inspired by the Date Auction, he's tossing around the idea of a sort of charity concert. He also went and got himself a second comm recently with the intent of using it to mess with some people but he's still working on that idea ICly.
I noticed something awhile back and meant to bring it to your attention earlier, but it slipped my mind until now, so I apologize that this is coming months after the fact at this point.
Over the summer there was a post with Joel in which he inquired about why the police didn't just arrest criminals and keep them in jail. Eight characters responded to him, and Joel's response to four of them was identical. No matter what the characters said to him, Joel responded in the exact same way.
That struck me as somewhat jarring, to be honest. I'm just not sure why he would have responded to all of those characters in the exact same way, when they each said something very different to him.
Also, I'm curious about Joel's age. I was under the impression that he was a high school aged character, so it's odd to me that he's trying to become a full police officer? I'd expect him to interact more with characters his own age than with adults, especially since he has so many siblings and seems like he really ought to be more focused on relationships with younger characters.
same anon as abovea_relative_heroOctober 16 2011, 16:28:40 UTC
Adding to what Terpy said, I am really confused about Curtis's powers and exactly how powerful he is. It almost seems like a godmodding kind of thing. You continually have him using his reality altering to circumvent logic while having him express how unsure he is about the power. It comes across that he is still learning to master his power, yet he completes these tasks that seem very difficult, even for highly educated professionals.
I distinctly recall a thread between Curtis and another character where Curtis said he was willing to violate federal regulations in order to perform experiments on stem cells, that because he had the power to manipulate reality that made it okay. I'm not sure if that's supposed to be true to his character, but it came across as pretty much the exact opposite of what a hero/a person who wants to be like the Avengers would say.
On that note, how much responsibility did Curtis have for curing Gerry? Curtis is not a medical professional by any means. He's a college drop out and by his own admission in the game, he isn't very smart. How exactly did he manage to cure Gerry's condition if he can't even read through a medical text book or explain to other characters what the condition was?
Curtis also comes across as very callous and unfriendly at times. From his speech about Hank McCoy's death 'whatever' and 'y'know' to his response about Ultra Nova's death, Curtis simply comes off as being standoffish. As I'm not entirely familiar with his canon, I'm not sure if that is IC or not, but it does make interacting with him somewhat frustrating.
Different anon, but I've had these same concerns. His powers come across as very godmod-y, since he's basically being presented as being able to do... practically anything he wants, provided it's within a certain radius. That's can become very uncomfortable to deal with when one's character is interacting with Curtis, since it almost makes it seem like other characters are rendered useless when they'll in a situation with someone who is so drastically overpowered.
He can do just about anything he wants inside the bubble. And if he's able to focus/concentrate on it. Distract him enough and whatever's he's trying to do will fade out. There's also the fact that he's not the smartest guy out there. Unless he has time to plan something out, he's just going to go with the first plan that comes to him which is usually either 'hit it very hard' or 'make something to shoot it with/drop on it'. He can be taken by surprise, he can be tricked, and all sorts of other things.
That excuse seems very contradictory when you are telling other people that he has the intelligence to figure out how to use his powers to cure a disease that has baffled characters with actual medical training, and the intelligence to draw the conclusion that another character is older than he looks when he has not drawn attention to this fact.
Really, this explanation seems to be entirely left to your whims. Can you give actual examples of in-game situations where he has tried to use his powers to do something, but someone else has stopped him through distractions or outwitting him? Examples of times where he was actually suffered from the 15-foot range of his powers? Because if those limitations have never actually had an effect on him in-game, then they're not really limitations.
Re: same anon as abovefree_dumb_ringOctober 18 2011, 10:09:30 UTC
Well. Thing is, Curtis' powers in canon come from the Cosmic Cube. Which means he does have a heck of a lot of power inside his little bubble but even with what he's learned in the City, he's still learning and has a lot more room to improve. In his appearance in the comics it was explained that he doesn't need to know how something works to make it happen, he just has to want it enough and bam. Quoted from the book "It'd be pretty useless otherwise". But that's the think with his powers...he could create his very own Giraffe out of thin air (be it a much smaller than normal one anyway) but if he went farther than 15 feet away from it, poof. Gone. Same if he gets distracted from making it stay, it'll fade away.
That exchange went a little sidetracked but Curtis honestly didn't see himself as violating a law. He saw whatever plan he was going to come up with as a loophole.
Dropout or not, he can still read the textbooks. He spent a lot of in game time reading and researching, asking questions of smarter people, and making sure he had ideas that weren't insane. The actual curing was a joint venture between Dr. McCoy and Freedom Ring. Which is what Curtis'll say if anyone asks him.
He can be a little unfriendly sometime but he's a person. People are not always perfectly friendly. The 'whatever' was part of the little 'was, is, will be again' exchange and not knowing how to word that properly. And 'y'know' is just a quirk of his. He does get more friendly with people he knows better like Tom and Spider-Man...just have to get to know him IC.
Regarding his abilities, the fact that if he steps fifteen feet away and it "poofs," is not always clear. You don't mention that when he walks away that whatever he's done is gone, ICly or OOCly (which makes some of the things he has claimed he can do or wishes to fix pointless, if it disappears).
When I say it isn't always clear, even in your explanation of his abilities here you do not say that is how they work. You say "inside his bubble," which doesn't imply that it isn't permanent at all.
As someone who does have a character with godmode-y abilities, I would suggest taking a step back from larger plots in some cases. Even if they have the ability to solve it, you need to know as a player when it is appropriate to be involved. If it means that character has to permanently (or almost permanently) sit on the sidelines during big plots? So be it. There are also plenty of other things you can do instead (such as create your own plot!).
What you need to remember is that this is a collective game. Even if this does not make you happy, the happiness of the group is important. You have to play within the confines of the game and adapt to it on both an in character and out of character level.
When it comes to his (and Joels) relationships, it does not come off as "having a bad day," or "just being unfriendly." He has been friendly to/with Tom at the start; he did not know him at all. He was immediately hostile with Ggio despite the fact that, at the time, he'd only been in game for a little while. This had made me very uncomfortable at the time, especially because there was no reason whatsoever for it.
Like others in this thread, I also have concerns about the voices bleeding together. You've already been given examples about the one people are more knowledgeable about and while I will confess that I am not familiar with Joel or Curtis, they do also come off as very generic most of the time -- small talk with someone in-line at a grocery store "generic," by which I mean they're all very similar and don't really touch on anything. I don't mean to offend with that term, but it's the only way I could really explain how it comes off to me in any sort of detail.
And finally, I am not any of the anons in these threads, so I apologize for hijacking them.
He's mentioned it several times ICly. Even explained to people why some ideas he/they had wouldn't work specifically because off the distance limit.
Answer me this. Are we both part of the collective group of the game?
Don't lump Joel and Curtis together like that. It doesn't make sense. There wasn't any hostility or malice from Curtis towards Ggio. Some irritation that someone he had never met seemed to be saying he could control who his friend could spend time with but no hostility.
But I cannot easily find a reference for this statement. Regardless of whether it is true or not, it should be common knowledge unless he's purposefully hiding it on the Network for some future purpose, which is not the case.
I'd like to think we are, but considering you are dodging questions, responding to crit with your own questions, and not seeming to take any of it to heart even if you disagree with it, I cannot say. You're only so much of the group as you allow yourself to be.
I apologize if I was not clearer; it does make sense when the issue is that they don't branch out (particularly with female characters) and that they often read the same.
If it wasn't hostility, it read as such. While it's open to interpretation, it's also part of how you convey it. I would suggest to be extra-careful in wording, if you genuinely do not see this problem.
He mentions it in his first ever post in the game when talking with the Pro. Mentions it to Tom and Beast a few times. Told Spider-Man about it...it's common enough knowledge. He's not hiding it but he's not broadcasting it either.
I was just asking a question, not dodging anything. No need to be rude like that.
I didn't say he wasn't hiding it or broadcasting it. That was an example scenario. "Common knowledge," implies that it is common. I didn't know it and the others in this thread did not know it. I'm not asking for examples of when he mentioned it.
If you have a specific question concerning me or who (or how) I play, it can be addressed in my HMD thread.
Re: same anon as abovea_relative_heroOctober 18 2011, 17:31:18 UTC
There is a huge difference between reading a textbook, doing a basic science experiment and having the knowledge and ability to create some sort of cure for a previously incurable illness. If just reading a book and talking to a professor would give people the ability to cure cancer, it would have been cured by now. Powers aside, it's extremely unrealistic that Curtis would have been of any use in a medical or science lab.
Honestly, I'm shocked that Freedom Ring was able to do anything to help the situation at all, especially now that his powers have been further explained. From your explanation, it would seem that he would need to stay in a 15 foot radius of Gerry in order for whatever he did with his powers to help find a cure to remain effective.
Characters played:
Teddy Altman aka Hulkling | Marvel Comics: Young Avengers | thenicehulk
Curtis Doyle aka Freedom Ring | Marvel Comics | free_dumb_ring
Joel Weinberg aka Houston | DC Comics: Relative Heroes | a_relative_hero
Personal HMD link(s): Curtis, Teddy, and Joel
Anonymous allowed/encouraged? Y/N: Discouraged
Other comments?
Joel - Still lonely. He's working as an Intern for the Police Department and will soon be starting on becoming a full officer involved in cases and all that. He's going to be trying to keep himself busy so he can distract himself from how much being alone in the City bothers him.
Teddy - Going to school, working at Rikku's garage, and still feeling bad about not being able to stop the Joker when he was rampaging in the school. He recently had a little nightmare about the skrulls and it combined with talking with Tommy has Teddy thinking about trying to be more active on the superheroic front.
Curtis - He's still in a pretty good mood after helping out Gerry, still looking for someone to give the date with Spider-Man he won to, and dealing with having feelings for Tom. He's also got some plans in the works. Inspired by the Date Auction, he's tossing around the idea of a sort of charity concert. He also went and got himself a second comm recently with the intent of using it to mess with some people but he's still working on that idea ICly.
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You're very welcome! You're an awesome player!
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Over the summer there was a post with Joel in which he inquired about why the police didn't just arrest criminals and keep them in jail. Eight characters responded to him, and Joel's response to four of them was identical. No matter what the characters said to him, Joel responded in the exact same way.
That struck me as somewhat jarring, to be honest. I'm just not sure why he would have responded to all of those characters in the exact same way, when they each said something very different to him.
Also, I'm curious about Joel's age. I was under the impression that he was a high school aged character, so it's odd to me that he's trying to become a full police officer? I'd expect him to interact more with characters his own age than with adults, especially since he has so many siblings and seems like he really ought to be more focused on relationships with younger characters.
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I distinctly recall a thread between Curtis and another character where Curtis said he was willing to violate federal regulations in order to perform experiments on stem cells, that because he had the power to manipulate reality that made it okay. I'm not sure if that's supposed to be true to his character, but it came across as pretty much the exact opposite of what a hero/a person who wants to be like the Avengers would say.
On that note, how much responsibility did Curtis have for curing Gerry? Curtis is not a medical professional by any means. He's a college drop out and by his own admission in the game, he isn't very smart. How exactly did he manage to cure Gerry's condition if he can't even read through a medical text book or explain to other characters what the condition was?
Curtis also comes across as very callous and unfriendly at times. From his speech about Hank McCoy's death 'whatever' and 'y'know' to his response about Ultra Nova's death, Curtis simply comes off as being standoffish. As I'm not entirely familiar with his canon, I'm not sure if that is IC or not, but it does make interacting with him somewhat frustrating.
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Really, this explanation seems to be entirely left to your whims. Can you give actual examples of in-game situations where he has tried to use his powers to do something, but someone else has stopped him through distractions or outwitting him? Examples of times where he was actually suffered from the 15-foot range of his powers? Because if those limitations have never actually had an effect on him in-game, then they're not really limitations.
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That exchange went a little sidetracked but Curtis honestly didn't see himself as violating a law. He saw whatever plan he was going to come up with as a loophole.
Dropout or not, he can still read the textbooks. He spent a lot of in game time reading and researching, asking questions of smarter people, and making sure he had ideas that weren't insane. The actual curing was a joint venture between Dr. McCoy and Freedom Ring. Which is what Curtis'll say if anyone asks him.
He can be a little unfriendly sometime but he's a person. People are not always perfectly friendly. The 'whatever' was part of the little 'was, is, will be again' exchange and not knowing how to word that properly. And 'y'know' is just a quirk of his. He does get more friendly with people he knows better like Tom and Spider-Man...just have to get to know him IC.
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When I say it isn't always clear, even in your explanation of his abilities here you do not say that is how they work. You say "inside his bubble," which doesn't imply that it isn't permanent at all.
As someone who does have a character with godmode-y abilities, I would suggest taking a step back from larger plots in some cases. Even if they have the ability to solve it, you need to know as a player when it is appropriate to be involved. If it means that character has to permanently (or almost permanently) sit on the sidelines during big plots? So be it. There are also plenty of other things you can do instead (such as create your own plot!).
What you need to remember is that this is a collective game. Even if this does not make you happy, the happiness of the group is important. You have to play within the confines of the game and adapt to it on both an in character and out of character level.
When it comes to his (and Joels) relationships, it does not come off as "having a bad day," or "just being unfriendly." He has been friendly to/with Tom at the start; he did not know him at all. He was immediately hostile with Ggio despite the fact that, at the time, he'd only been in game for a little while. This had made me very uncomfortable at the time, especially because there was no reason whatsoever for it.
Like others in this thread, I also have concerns about the voices bleeding together. You've already been given examples about the one people are more knowledgeable about and while I will confess that I am not familiar with Joel or Curtis, they do also come off as very generic most of the time -- small talk with someone in-line at a grocery store "generic," by which I mean they're all very similar and don't really touch on anything. I don't mean to offend with that term, but it's the only way I could really explain how it comes off to me in any sort of detail.
And finally, I am not any of the anons in these threads, so I apologize for hijacking them.
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Answer me this. Are we both part of the collective group of the game?
Don't lump Joel and Curtis together like that. It doesn't make sense. There wasn't any hostility or malice from Curtis towards Ggio. Some irritation that someone he had never met seemed to be saying he could control who his friend could spend time with but no hostility.
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I'd like to think we are, but considering you are dodging questions, responding to crit with your own questions, and not seeming to take any of it to heart even if you disagree with it, I cannot say. You're only so much of the group as you allow yourself to be.
I apologize if I was not clearer; it does make sense when the issue is that they don't branch out (particularly with female characters) and that they often read the same.
If it wasn't hostility, it read as such. While it's open to interpretation, it's also part of how you convey it. I would suggest to be extra-careful in wording, if you genuinely do not see this problem.
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I was just asking a question, not dodging anything. No need to be rude like that.
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If you have a specific question concerning me or who (or how) I play, it can be addressed in my HMD thread.
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Honestly, I'm shocked that Freedom Ring was able to do anything to help the situation at all, especially now that his powers have been further explained. From your explanation, it would seem that he would need to stay in a 15 foot radius of Gerry in order for whatever he did with his powers to help find a cure to remain effective.
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