B: With so much that has happened related to COH, from Heri being professionally drawn, to finding some real friends to team with, its time that I put out screenshots that I took during the COH Beta. I nearly couldn't have expected what has happened since then to now. And some of it I wish didn't happen, but all in all my time in COH has been fairly enjoyable.
B: Excuse the User Interface, I either didn't know how to take screenshots without it at the time or they didn't allow it, one or the other. I think it was that they didn't allow it, but it was back in 2003-2004 so I can't really remember for sure. As you can see from the shots, Heri's look is EXACTLY the same as I have it now. Another thing to notice.. in the chat line it does indeed say "Herricane." At the time Herricane looked better that Hericane. Hericane looked too obvious that I was using "her" so replacing it in "Her"ricane seemed more clever. Again I have the whole SG voting thing and me just not being quick enough to get Herricane quick enough on Guardian to thank for my discovery of Penthouse Heri, and eventually all the Heris.
B: Up first is just a behind picture, I didn't know how to get cool shots yet, I just wanted to get A screenie of my Heri. The next shots are of powers Heri still uses to this day... Gale and Lift. and then I was bright enough to use the opening selection screen. On that screen you can see a "Maltese Knight" listed. He eventually became an alt that I kept on rerolling until I found the right AT for him. Eventually his slot was cleared for a Heri.
B: Hehe, I guess I was so in love with how my Heri looked that any screenshot would do, so I took one of her resting.
B: I kinda cringe at these... screenshots during "Lost connection to Mapserver" moments. These happened fairly often during Beta. Which was expected, but didn't make them any more enjoyable. Somehow some reason I decided to take screens during them. Notice also in each shot I'm teamed with someone named "Thyme" who I always though looked like a Storm/Witchblade cross. Anyhow I think I teamed with this person everyday for a week until I ran into Aryss in the last panel. Aryss was good at getting teams, and making friends. So good he found a small bunch of friends, me included, and we formed a SG.
B: Aryss, though no longer playing COH, I guess I should thank for the people I've played and associated with in COH. He was there in my first SG, the Justice Alliance. Glad I left THAT name, and my 2nd SG were comprised of me and two other JA refugees. And finally Veive, I joined due to Aryss meeting and keeping in touch with Pyro Kitty from beta and into the game. Aryss for all I know is playing WoW now, as he's more of a power gamer, and as much as our gaming styles clashed we did get along and my time in COH maybe have not been so pleasant if we hadn't met. Anyhow, as you can see, we formed the SG The Uncanny X-men. LOL Aryss's idea. He really wanted to be part of the X-Men and wear blue and gold. Since we knew this was temporary and just having fun in Beta I said what the hell. Heri even looked good in them colors. :)
B: Just a few screenshots of various people in the Beta SG. some of them would go onto out SG when the game went live. Aryss, Black Sunshine, and Mystic Rain were the ones I remember. Others were Star Bolt and Whyte Lytning and Syzmik UrthShaker, although their Beta names were different, but now I can't remember them. Black Sunshine I remember went from a controller to a tank and really got into the game, and eventually didn't team with the SG much. Mystic Rain I remember teamed but was very talkative and very self centered and eventually everyone in the SG really didn't like her that much. I ran into her on an alt of hers. Turns out she's in the SG at least that alt was of a kinda friend from the Guardian channel. They're a good player and all but they and the SG is a bit too boastful for me. Star Bolt I tried to keep in touch with no matter who he was playing with but our teaming schedules just were so out of synch we lost touch.
When that first SG broke apart, first Aryss left, then Black did, and eventually so did I, Syz, Whyte and Star. I was told through Aryss that I was always welcome to join Pyro Kitty's SG but at the time I decided to stick with Syz and Whyte, I guess it was a pride thing, I wanted to stick with my group. For no better reason that it sounded cool, we called our little trio Boiling Point, and our colors were Red and Orange. I loved it since Heri looked like Firestar a bit lol. This SG was my nice home although it was a bit awkward, as they were a husband wife duo, and I usually either solo'd or teamed with Whyte when Syz was either working or tired, or all 3 of us teamed up. It was a bit hard teaming with consistent friends this way but I managed somehow, albeit prolly not the best way. Eventually they got caught up in the WoW craze due to more their style PvP wise and they disappeared. I continued to solo my chars and eventually I ran into Pyro Kitty again and this time I finally joined their SG, and the rest is on my Veive page. Syz and Whyte came back after a while where WoW bummer them out, but I guess what drove them from COH in the first place drove them away again, or lack of teaming, or lack of PLing, I dunno. I didn't get to team with them much as when they logged I was usually teamed with friends or the SG. The last I heard of them was when Syz logged on and said they were getting a divorce due to them having issues. Saying that he worked his butt off and she didn't have to do much but she was always complaining and never appreciated what he did. Sounded suspect to me, but I could only find out his view due to losing touch with both of them previous to his return. At any rate, I hope they work out whatever problems they were having. They seemed pretty cool at the time and understanding of each other.
B: Just a few close-ups.... Heh this reminds me of my dilemma over how to color Heri's, or any of my chars hair in SG mode. I was always was conflicted whether to change them of leave them, since I always thought that most people change uniforms to match their teammates, but they didn't dye their hair different, but this is a game, so eventually I just went with the colored hair change.
B: My Lara Clone!!! LOLOLOLOL No way I could get away with this, if it's just her. I've actually tried and got her in game bio as well as her looks too close to Lara and I got Generic'd. So I just made an original character and and gave her a Lara look. lol Anyhow, I made this Lara due to the stress test times. During Beta, and I'm told this happens in all MMO Betas, the devs need to stress test to make sure their servers can take the stress load. So ever so often the Beta servers but one, Justice actually, were closed down and we were asked to logon to the server and create a character. They wanted to pummel the zones and servers to make sure they could handle the load. Anything you created here was going to be wiped after the stressing so you nearly could create anything you pleased. So I made my Lara look a like, with Wolvie claws. LOL Why not Assault Rifle? Cause Lara runs around with twin pistols, not a super soaker :) Anyhow, it was kinda fun running around with a Lara slashing around like Wolvie for a day.
B: This is just a section for some of my alts that I sacrificed for the sake of only having 8 slots and me wanting 7 Heris. Some of these alts would've gotten replaced anyway due to their power sets being the same as current Heris, and wouldn't make sense in other power sets. I'm kinda torn for not having a diverse set of alts. I'll admit that having the 7 Heris gets me judged right away negatively. For one there are other players in the game that simply take power sets they like and just renamed them off the variation of their main, with not reason for the naming other than sheer laziness, or lack of imagination, or sometimes both. I get judges as doing so, unless someone decides to read my bios, or asks. People usually do find out when they do ask me how many different spellings of "Hericane" I have. I can name them all, because I can remember each of them easily. Heri is little Heri. Innocent, naive, good hearted but confused, scared, but still good intentioned little Heri. Herri is the provocative oversexed, doesn't have a care in the world, rich playful party girl. Hera is the most sinister of the group, the most "evil" of them all, but really more of the one that will bend the rules to make sure justice is enforced. Herra is the typical good girl, good grades, volunteered in school, active in her community, always perky and cheery, loved my most people, and only hated by those who who hate the always optimistic and successful types. Lady is the military brat, cool, efficient, the tactician, the conceited self made soldier. Enacireh is the mirror or Heri, the outsider yet the insider due to being more personable. And Enacirreh is the mystery, due to being both the only male and the only mute.
So while I've been able to make a fairly interesting set of alternate identities, yet make them the same. I still did lose some equally unique heroes. Here's a sample of them that I'm kinda proud of:
Heaven's Demon.. my first ever created blaster... and I never got her past level 16 or so, LOL I had a really fun bio for her. Didn't make too much sense... The 5th column. still trying to find ways to reclaim the world as theirs get their hands on a copy of Lara Croft's DNA and infuses it with a summoned demon to create a new harbinger, a new Envoy or new Baphomet like entity, just smarter. Instead they get a little girl with demonic qualities.... She becomes more of a plaything and science experiment for the 5th column researchers and soldiers, until she escapes and turns to a life of crime, running into heroes from time to time, which she fights and runs away from, but eventually the 5th column track her down, which she's saved by a group of heroes that she has fought before. Seeing that people can look beyond past events and still try and help people. The humanity still inside her turned this mess of a genetic experiment into a girl who decided to use her powers for good. I wrote into her bio that Mystic Rain and Dominica discovered her, and Domi noted that she was a feisty little thing.... Heaven's little Demon fighter.... and she or Mystic answered back.. (I can't remember now in the story who answered) Heaven's.. Demon? and the name stuck. I put also in the bio that she went around with the nickname Lava, a nickname given to her both the 5th, as note to her fiery temper. Again, a fairly nice alt, I just personally couldn't deal with her as a blaster. I kept dying too quickly somehow. couldn't drop things before they'd damage me. It may have been my slotting but I was dying a lot quicker than I was leveling so it didn't seem fun. Still it was kinda fun running around as a Lara Croft close char yet burning up everything in my path. I just didn't know how to slot her properly at the time, and she fell by the way side, eventually, with Lady taking her blaster place. I did like the look of her pants so much that I used it for Hera's main look. And I remember that this character had such a nice ring that Aryss created a defender, I think, called Heaven's Angel. Drove me nuts because no one could remember which one was played by which person. LOL
Also of note is Dominica's name in there. she's been with me for a long time, even longer than before I came up with the alternate Heris. Makes sense, since she's my Maggie.
Next up is Kid Fuzion, my first healer. I never really got very far with this char either. about level 16 or so. Another back-story that I felt proud of that I managed to develop, but now I cant' remember much of it. It was similar to Posi's story as a scientist working on a project that went awry and ended up trapped in his suit. He found he could use it to emit particles in a way to heal and stabilize others. He caught the name "Kid" early on as his suit and his small statue made him look kid-like although he was an adult of 40 years of age, Now that I look back at his look I should made him a rad/rad instead of emp/* but what did I know back then. LOL
Kid was my first toon with superspeed, something that Lady Heri inherited. Since Kid had some reactionary stuff with his suit I figured speed would match him. Again prolly better if he was rad, but again I had no idea what I was doing.
Maltese Knight was a toon that I made that I was proud of the back story I developed. Unfortunately he lost game time due to Heri, Heaven and Domi. Always my want to make a few religious-y fighters I took the Knights of Malta and made MK. His story went trough some rewrites, At the end I game up with a good one, and a sweet final costume to match, see the first screenie below. MK (I wish for the life of me I remembered his name) was a kid who was in a family of a long line of men who were knights of Malta, all brave all dedicated. MK through is youth saw this devotion as a bit of hooey, the religion too narrow minded. He prepared for his eventual induction into the Knights, but didn't relish it.
Then in high school he met a girl named Cassie who was as beautiful ad she was intelligent and open minded. Regarding religion they shared the same views, seeing Christianity as well intentioned but too organized. Cassie eventually told MK about the Circle of Thorns, a group that she had found personally was similar in beliefs but less hypocritical. They appealed to MK, and when his HS graduation came he and Cassie ran off and joined the Circle. Hearing about the wondrous Oranbega, they devoted their lives to help bring back the lost civilization.
MK devotedly studied in the mystical arts, hoping to join the ranks of the mages. Cassie, being nature kid, thought any of the elemental casters would suit her. Due to her being female they denied her access at first, but then the Circle relented, after MK appeared to get distracted by her. Both on their way it came time to their big day, where MK would be give the chance to plunge a spirit thorn into him and receive the full power, and Cassie would join the cast ranks. Standing with the other mage initiates MK is dressed in a proper robe and looks a round for Cassie among the Casters but she's nowhere to be found. Assuming she would be give a more important entrance as one of the more skilled casters MK goes along with the ritual ahead of him. One which involves a sacrifice of a person to unleash the power of Oranbega. To MKs horror, that sacrifice was Cassie. They had lied to her, and him. MK desperately tried to stop the ritual and save Cassie, but the other mages hold him back. Helpless he watches as Cassie's life is sacrificed and the other mages are empowered as they drive thorns into their chests, and suddenly the people around hi\m are not who he has known. Consumed by the sorrow and regret and guilt of not being able to save Cassie, MK goes on a tear, using the stored power that he built up all those years training to be a Knight of Malta.
Completely devastated and without a clue of where to turn, MK decides to return to home, and admit that his decisions and words were rash. Being true to their faith, his family accept him, knowing that they all went through their times of doubts of faith. Amazed at the mercy and forgiveness of his elders, MK continues his training and legacy and does more than become a Knight. Vowing to not let any should be harmed as Cassie did, he calls himself the Maltese Knight, one who will never rest and defend those of the innocent.
To even further his story and put an exclamation on it, I chose the dark purple maroon mixed looking costume, wit hints of the Circle of Thorns robes, but with a cross as his logo, a way to show the world that the good will over come the evil, like those of the Circle.
Before I came up with the CoT story I didn't have a good grasp of his costume. In fact you can see his Beta and early live game version below his CoT one. Pretty blah, huh? LOL The only thing that worked was his head, the 3 fins and the ninja like full covered face, just made him look more menacing. His AT changed a few times.... I think I had him as a D/D scrap at one time, then settled as a em/inv tank. woulda been fun had I had the time. I'm not sorry I deleted him, I wish I could have incorporate his story into a Heri somehow, but that would've been a stretch. maybe a future Heri, one tormented by her past actions.
One last thing of note. I immediately thought of MK when I saw Kim's look for her WS, Archaos. He doesn't have too much similar with MK, except the overall dark color scheme, and the head with the fins... go to Lady Herricane's page and see for yourself. Small world, eh?
Hehe, PC Gunshield, my subtle reference to MS (Mobile Suit) Gundam. His look should be easy to tell that. I made his story that he was a toy that got affected my a scientist working on some classified research, the toy got mixed up in the research, and boom... 8 foot robot walkin about. Didn't make sense so I changed him to the never evolution of the Crey Paragon Protectors. In an alternate world where Crey Industries became Crey Conglomerate, they advanced their PP template, making PDs, Paragon Defenders. similar in nature to the protectors but more defensive based. Gunshield was one such model, a force field based droid. While on a trip for some heroes to this alternate world, They ran into a group of these PDs, and heavily took damage, They did what they came to do, but not before tugging along a incapacitated model... namely Gunshield. Converting him for good use, he went on to be a premier force field defender. His looks was cool, huge build, biggest on all sliders, and still had the gundam-y look but had the PP colors, just darker. He was fun and I prolly would've kept him around if not for Herra having the same build.
Salve Psyren, this was one toon that changed a bit, in nearly everything but her costume. I had trouble making her story for her first incarnation, a mind/emp. The basic idea was there... She was a bit of a party girl, but still cared for people. Which is why she worked as a nurse at Chiron Medical Center. One day while running around helping people, especially inured heroes she came across a hero that was on his last legs. He was too injured in the last battle for anyone to do anything. As a nurse she stayed with him during his last breaths. Seeing how caring she was, as he was dying he transferred his powers to her. Kinda hokey but it worked for a little while. Even made a decent White Queen look for her at level 20. :)
After a while I got the urge to change her up, since I wasn't fully happy with her look, name or powers. So I changed the power sets to mind/storm. This was before containment was an inherent so minds took a while to level, either in group or not. Still I wanted to get a high level mind since there were so few, at least on my server. The name Salve Psyren was unique but didn't have a nice a ring as I wanted. So then I changed her background to the "stripper-with-a-heart-of-gold" theme but with a hook. Her story is that she and another stripper were a popular duo, "Cloud" and "Wind" Not very sexy names, but they were easily remembered due to each of the pair's abilities. Also came into play was another commonality, both found themselves to be mutants, each with their own powers, "cloud" had limited mind control, and "wind" and moderate weather control. Cloud used hers to improve her money earnings each night, while Wind decided to take hers and use them as other heroes did in city. Calling herself the "Wind Dancer" she went on to fight crime. Cloud just laughed at this, and went on manipulating her customers and keeping herself rich. This went on for awhile, until Wind Dancer was injured in an attempt by her and a few heroes to stop a huge Freak raid on a Crey lab. Reading this in the news, Cloud felt guilty, and eventually chose the life of a hero as well, if nothing else to keep Wind alive. Picking a favorite costume of hers for her club, she went under the name "Scattercloud" and off she went.
