I'm away to the fine city of Glasgow this weekend, so probably wont be able to post until Monday. Just letting ya'll know.

He'll be dead before sundown.

My in-laws are unfortunately down for the weekend. My progress will as such be halted until Monday. Apologies.

Over the next 4 days or so I'm going to be making an international trip. I may be delayed in my response time.

@Utrax appreciate the heads up!

<Snipped quote by BlackSam3091>

He'll be dead before sundown.

Thanks for the vote of confidence buddy.

That's me just back in the door. I'll get started on a post soonish, but it'll probably be tomorrow when it gets posted.

<Snipped quote by Lord Wraith>

Thanks for the vote of confidence buddy.

That's me just back in the door. I'll get started on a post soonish, but it'll probably be tomorrow when it gets posted.

Theoretically, if you continuously travel away from the sun, the sun will never set from your perspective and thus possibly not be dead.

@Utrax, Mind if i ask which country you are moving to?

<Snipped quote by BlackSam3091>

Theoretically, if you continuously travel away from the sun, the sun will never set from your perspective and thus possibly not be dead.

@Utrax, Mind if i ask which country you are moving to?

Moving to USA. Back home hahah.

<Snipped quote by Lurking Shadow>

Migrating to USA. Back home hahah.

fixed it for you, considering you are avian.

<Snipped quote by Utrax>

fixed it for you, considering you are avian.

Yes. Thank you. I sometimes slip up.
You are an ally.

G M A N N O U N C E M E N T:

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◼ WEEK 04: As the first round of secondary plots are coming to an end, let's discuss antagonists. So far there hasn't been anything too serious in the RP but what are your thoughts on antagonists? What makes a good villain for you? Do you like them unhinged, do you like them cold and calculating? Do you prefer an NPC villain or one who is directly portrayed by another player? What's good about being bad?

Well, to me, a good villain is what I call a grey villain. A villain who is a mixture of good and bad, an antagonist to the characters but not necessarily evil. They are good to some and bad to others. Even if they are "evil", not even the worst terrorists and criminals do things because they are bad. They do those bad things because they think they are justified. That they are in the right, that they are the victims against the villains.

I like them crazy most of the time. The whole sob story, homeless street orphan-type stuff. The type to think that the world is against them, abandoned by others. I love villains that see, from their perspective, a world that was unkind to them. A world which hated them and belittled them. Everything they do is justified in their eyes because of all the things done against them.

Edit: I'm also away on a bush camp from the 7-9th of April. It's gonna be hype, hopefully I'll get the collab up before that

@Lord Wraith Dont forget, I am still waiting on that collab

G M A N N O U N C E M E N T:

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◼ WEEK 04: As the first round of secondary plots are coming to an end, let's discuss antagonists. So far there hasn't been anything too serious in the RP but what are your thoughts on antagonists? What makes a good villain for you? Do you like them unhinged, do you like them cold and calculating? Do you prefer an NPC villain or one who is directly portrayed by another player? What's good about being bad?

Often a good villain is set apart from lesser ones by how good of a counterpart they are to their hero. Joker isn't a great villain because of his visual design or his insanity, he's a great villain because he's everything Batman isn't and could have been.

Alternatively, a standalone villain needs a tragic backstory, or a sympathetic cause. A long, dark path that lead them to where they are, or a steadfast belief that they hold to a fault.

I guess I like villains that show us just how real evil can be, and how close we can get to it.

G M A N N O U N C E M E N T:

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◼ WEEK 04: As the first round of secondary plots are coming to an end, let's discuss antagonists. So far there hasn't been anything too serious in the RP but what are your thoughts on antagonists? What makes a good villain for you? Do you like them unhinged, do you like them cold and calculating? Do you prefer an NPC villain or one who is directly portrayed by another player? What's good about being bad?

I typically see one of two types of antagonists/villains. Those that do their ill deeds for money/power (usually power) and those that fight according to their ideology. The latter being more interesting and respectable in my opinion. The reasons they fight vary, but they believe in it so much that they are willing to die over it, in some cases their death is even required. A person or faction that sees an injustice in the world and attempts to solve it using controversial methods.

Particular favorite of mine is the Brotherhood of Nod vs Global Defense Initiative, when you take time to see the two perspectives you can see the faults owned by both factions. "G.D.I. has got to be the good guys right? Gloabal defense is in the name!" Well, as the series progressed the 'globe' has apparently shrinked in size as far as they are concerned. "Well, Nod is the good guys then i guess? I mean someone has to be the good guy." ehhh... It's a matter of perspective. G.D.I basically only cares about population centers in zones not contaminated with a certain alien terra-forming agent and Nod's massive propaganda machine incites the abandoned to violence. . If you are in a blue-zone you'd prob support G.D.I. If you are in a yellow-zone you prob support the Brotherhood. All that said, I like to play in the Nod faction (subfaction Black Hand if playing KW. "When we are crushing the black hearts of our oppressors, we will find our hands blackened. We cannot cultivate our garden without digging in the dirt.")

*sigh* I wish Westwood studios was never bought out by EA, they really mucked it all up in C&C 4.

@Lord Wraith Dont forget, I am still waiting on that collab

Yep! I know, just getting my butt kicked by this cold and am falling behind here and in my technical report. Will try to get something going over the next two days.

G M A N N O U N C E M E N T:

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◼ WEEK 04: As the first round of secondary plots are coming to an end, let's discuss antagonists. So far there hasn't been anything too serious in the RP but what are your thoughts on antagonists? What makes a good villain for you? Do you like them unhinged, do you like them cold and calculating? Do you prefer an NPC villain or one who is directly portrayed by another player? What's good about being bad?

Like @Roman I feel the mark of a truly great villain is how well they work as a foil to the hero. To continue with the Batman/Joker example, I think it's why Bat's rogues gallery is arguably the most famous in all comicdom. All of his greatest antagonists work as a foil to him on some level.

G M A N N O U N C E M E N T:

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◼ WEEK 04: As the first round of secondary plots are coming to an end, let's discuss antagonists. So far there hasn't been anything too serious in the RP but what are your thoughts on antagonists? What makes a good villain for you? Do you like them unhinged, do you like them cold and calculating? Do you prefer an NPC villain or one who is directly portrayed by another player? What's good about being bad?

I think a good villain is not necessarily one that is powerful or even intelligent, but a good villain creates complex multifaceted issues for a hero to overcome. Confrontations between protagonist and antagonist need not even be violent. I actually like the way Timothy Zahn said it in his commentary for Heir to the Empire, something along the lines of the fact that each side should have a few tricks up their sleeve and that each contest between enemies should play out like a chess match.

The Joker is a great villain for Batman, he also puts up a surprisingly good fight against the entire Justice League, but as clever and unpredictable as he is, the confrontations are much more personal when they are specifically against Batman because of their shared histories. I always think that a good villain should have some sort of opinion of the hero, whether they've interacted personally or not.

I'm working on my sheet and my new potential PC is likely to be a mundane, with a little bit of Batman and a little bit of the Scarecrow in him. While my intent is not to play him as an outright villain, I can easily imagine him operating outside of the good graces of the other characters.

G M A N N O U N C E M E N T:

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◼ WEEK 04: As the first round of secondary plots are coming to an end, let's discuss antagonists. So far there hasn't been anything too serious in the RP but what are your thoughts on antagonists? What makes a good villain for you? Do you like them unhinged, do you like them cold and calculating? Do you prefer an NPC villain or one who is directly portrayed by another player? What's good about being bad?

OH GOODNESS do I have a lot of thoughts about villains. As someone who RP's a lot of VERY gray area characters in general, the topic of morality v.s. perspective comes up a whole lot. An interesting villain by my definition has to be a hero in their own mind-- they have to think that what they're doing is right, proper, justified-- even the unhinged ones that are "evil for the sake of being evil" can have the reasoning that what they're doing is good for them.

Villains that just wanted to be violent because they feel like it, is as good as a villain who is directly acting against the protagonist-- or one that is acting according to their own beliefs. I personally don't like seeing the evil v.s. good thing as black and white respectively. I go off the sole belief that no matter who you are or how you're acting, you're someone's antagonist.

What is a hero if not the villain's antagonist, after all?

In this regard, I tend to RP characters that are complex enough to veer toward villainy or heroism based on situation, who they are, and how they see things. This has landed my characters in a lot of "HOW COULD YOU" situations. As long as the action fits the character then it's good business and the story is going well.

A lot of what @SgtEasy said is similar to how I see things... if you couldn't tell.

Now in the realm of NPC or Character portrayed, well, it just depends on the story writing, honestly.
I like both. One is not necessarily better than the other unless, of course, you have someone that isn't very good at portraying a spectrum or variety of villains. (i.e. I have a friend that can only portray brutish types of characters well, but that's a writing issue tbh.)

I rambled a bit because jet lag during the great migration, hahaha. Yes.
Hope you are all doing well!

I hope @Kalas is taking notes, seeing as he's the one 'villainous' character we've got.

I hope @Kalas is taking notes, seeing as he's the one 'villainous' character we've got.

Literally just got home after my parent's surprise vacation for my Sister's birthday. It was all very last minute and wholly inconvenient if you ask me. Now I've got a bunch of catch-up to do.