This might get long, so bare with me...

If I could, I would like to propose an idea to both the Cryptic Development team and the community. I would also like to point out, that the ALERTS system was a great start but we need more!

So here's my idea. REVAMP of CIVILIAN MISSIONS. I don't know about everyone else, but I ran a few of these a LONG LONG LONG time ago and have never touched them since. I'd also like to point out that having random civilians running up to you all the time is just plain annoying, especially when your trying to do other things.

So first step, take ALL the current civilian missions and add them to Socrates as a new on alert type repeatable mission chain for a reasonable level appropriate recognition reward. The mission chain will consist of 5 of these old civilian missions, and reward normal mission xp and resources when finishing each. I could see this potentially being the CoX style Scanner/Newspaper missions setup, for all those familiar with that game.

And with all those old Civi missions given to Socrates we can finally stop having random people running up to us at every waking moment bugging us.

NOW! On to the REALLY fun stuff.

ALL NEW HELP CIVILIANS MINI MISSIONS!

At the moment I see all of these new Civilian Missions being quick little open world side quests. When you see something happening you can choose to step in and help out or not. These will literally take only seconds to complete, but the heroic emergence these will offer is something I think this game is crying out for. They will need to utilize a respawn timer, but the time shouldn't be shown to keep these feeling like very random events. Hmm...I think that's about it, so let's get into some examples I came up with. And hopefully others will join in and think of other things to add on to the list.

All these mission are acquired just like the open world bank robbery mission.

Millennium City:

Westside:

SAVE A CAT FROM A TREE: How bout we start with the one I started the thread off with, helping a little girl get her kitty out of that tree!
If you notice a little girl standing next to a tree sobbing, you should feel obligated to go and see what's wrong. When you get near her she'll ask for help. You then decide how you want to go about getting the cat out of that darn tree. You could use your travel power to collect it from atop that high branch? Maybe use your super strength to pick up and tree and jar the cat loose? Or hack that sucker to mulch? After giving the cat back to the little girl she'll reward you with some odd thing she found. Maybe some Qnite Ore, maybe a grab bag. No idea what the rewards should be, but they should keep folks interested and looking out for people to help.

THAT GUY IS BEING MUGGED: If you happen to find yourself in a dark alleyway be on the lookout for muggers holding a pistol at a frightened citizen. Quickly take down this mugger and collect your reward.

POLICE CHASE: If you see a police car with sirens blasting chasing after another car you wouldn't be doing your job as a superhero if you didn't help out. Chase down that car and disable it. When the car is disabled the armed criminals will come out after you. Help the police subdue them and collect your reward from the officer.
PS: I know I saw CHASE as an option for a new alert. So hopefully a new mechanic will be in place to make this possible. Would also be great if we could help on the top of the car before disabling it.:p

SAVE THAT BUS FULL OF CHILDREN: You see a school bus teetering off the side of an overpass/bridge or about to fall into the water near the docks. You must quicky rush to save the children. Use either you super Str or Telekinesis to pick up the bus and bring it to a save drop point shown by a waypoint. If you do not possess these skill then you can latch on to the back of the bus(sort of Lara Croft like when moving a crate) and slowly pull it back to safety. Collect your reward from the teacher who come out of the bus to give thx.

City Center:

STOP THAT PURSE SNATCHER: If you happen to catch a glimpse of a masked thief grabbing a ladies purse, you can choose to run after him. Hopefully catching him before he get's to his hideout. If you succeed in stopping the criminal you then must return the purse back to it's rightful owner, who will then give you a reward for you trouble.

BANK ROBBERY IN PROGRESS: This mission already exists, just adding it to the list.:p

SAVE CAT FROM TREE: Some Civilian missions can be found in more then one area, as long as they fit the theme of the area.

Downtown:

ARMORED TRUCK BEING HIJACKED: If you notice an armored truck surround by other vehicles with criminals blasting at it with all their firepower you have to act fast! Take down that gang before they know what hit them and collect your reward after everyone is safe.

THERE'S A BOMB ON THE BUS: If you happen to catch a speeding bus go by with cries for help emanating from inside you wont have any time to lose. Chase after the bus! When you get near it the bus will stop just long enough for you to remove the bomb strapped to the side of it, NOW YOU HAVE TO GET RID OF THAT THING QUICKLY! If you 5 seconds to toss the bomb somewhere safe or it will blow up in your face dealing a significant amount of damage. Though it wont kill you it will knock you for a loop. Collect reward from the bus driver.

BASE JUMPING FAIL: While flying through the city you catch a glimpse of a person standing on a high up ledge. When you get to close they jump! Oh crapberries you think as you beam to catch them before they go splat! (citizens will have to fall a bit slower then normal so you have some time to react and get to the bottom where there will be a lit circle indicating where to stand to safely catch the person. Another possibility is to be able to catch them mid drop by getting close enough to them and then fly them down safely.) After the citizen is safe they will reward you and explain that they were under a spell/psionic control/etc. and forced to jump.

DESERT:

Toxic Wasteland:

POKE THE HILLS EYES OUT: You might see a group of Irradiates attacking an RV with a helpless family inside. (sort of The Hills have Eyes esq if you will.) Take down that group of mutant freaks before they are able to break inside. Receive reward from father of the family.

EXCAVATION EVACUATION: There's an Excavation crew being surrounded by grondlings! Take out those grondlings before they make the Excavators the next thing to be excavated! This will have a 1 minute timer where Grondlings will continue to flood the area. You have to hold them off long enough and the rest will eventually turn and flee. Collect reward when complete.

Snake Gulch:

DARN TOURISTS: Your not sure why this guy in the hawaiian shirt is even doing here since the park closed, but you must rescue him from the berserko robots nonetheless. After the guy is finished taking random pics of you kicking robot butt, be sure to collect your reward. And then kindly show this dummy the door.

SAVE THE BUS FULL OF CHILDREN: Repeat, perfect for this cavernous area.

Stronghold:

FIGHT FOR YOU LIFE: During the outbreak a group of prisoners have surrounded one of uncontrolled guards and are forcing him to fight Ferd one on one. You have to step in and put a stop to this before Ferd knocks this guys lights out for good. Collect reward from the poor Guard after you've cleared the area.

Area 51:

A SNAP SHOT TO DIE FOR: A journalist got more then it was asking for when an alien captured him/her in a force field trap. Take down the big alien and disable the force field generator to free the journalist. Collect reward.



That's all for now, will try to add more for the other area's as I think of them. I'm hoping to get Help Citizen missions throughout every zone, not just MC.:D

ANYWHERE:

HELP A SIDEKICK: You happen to catch an up and coming hero decked out in his/her homemade cossie. Looks like this kid has bit off a bit more then they could chew, better lend a hand before this kids hero days are ended prematurely. Collect reward and a giddy "Wow! You're [Insert Hero Name]! Umm... I mean, thx for the assist. I was just about to take them down!":D

Adding some more dynamic elements and "life" to the world is just what this game needs - heroes don't only fight supervillains, after all.

APPROVED!

I miss the random, public crimes from CoH. I've been campaigning for this kind of stuff for a long time. We need to give more life to the city, instead of just having large masses of criminals whose only real crime is loitering.

Nicely done, I support this. Seeing Flare save a small kitten from a tree would totally be worth it.

~ Flare

I'll throw my support for this idea also.

SAVE THE SIDEKICK Who hasn't seen this as a classic archetypal event
From: Flash Gordon to Danger Patrol Serial Adventures before TV.. its Classic Silver Age.


EL Gato is still looking for the old ladies other Kats.

I've been saying this for a while in a few threads like this one http://forums.champions-online.com/s...d.php?t=147363 (which has some ideas which could be good added to the list).

Being a hero, especially a comic-book style hero is more than just beating up bad guy vigilanteism. So lets have some more do-goodery.

/Signed

I support the idea of giving the Help A Citizen missions to SOCRATES, but
a) Not as chains. These missions aren't made to tie in with any other. They were basically the prototypes of alerts.
b) These missions are too small to justify Q rewards. Recognitions based on their level (Help A Citizen missions scale with your level, after all) would suit them better, imo.

There is one rather elusive mission about escorting a wannabe superhero out of Zaretti's fight club. We could expand on this. ;)

The cat is a lie! It's a trap!
Couldn't resist. :D

I'll sign this. Some good ideas here and it would definitely add more life to the different locations!

/signed definitely

I wouldn't reward Qnite, but I like the idea of awarding recognition