1. Catastrophic Repercussion Dedicated Player

    Alternative Titles:
    Charlie's Movie (guest-starring the Angels)
    It's not the Birds, its focus is plain, it stars Superman!
    And here you think the Harley Quinn movie sidelines the Birds...

    This new content shouldn't contain as much Superman as it did and so little of the episode's titular team.
    Yes, I know Harley and Ivy lampshaded this, but this does not mean it should be given a pass.
    3 out of 4 On-Duty instances have him accompanying the players when the ladies have very brief appearances.
    Almost every antagonist we face is in some way connected to Superman or Lex, either through mythos or plot reasons, further centring the conflict on those two.

    On the gameplay side of things, we are frequently told to deal with Kryptonian psychology like Red Sun Lamp, Kryptonite Turrets and Freezing Breath, not to mention the power-replicating robot has to go for the "Superman + random hero" route, because the remaining Trinity member is surely going to get her own amalgamation with other JL members sometime down the pike, right?


    Not helping is that the episode gave no compelling reason to why the Birds are particularly important to this story.
    They told us that "the Justice League is not available, so we're in charge now", but any other group can use the same excuse to step in.
    Just look at the trio more well known as the Gotham City Sirens, while they are written as allied with the titular team here, they manage to replace Dinah and Helena in a way that shows how interchangeable those characters are.
    This is terrible considering character dynamics is the only thing going for the Birds.

    None of the mechanics screams we need those members' particular skillsets, their role in the mission seems to always involve interacting with some sort of device, which again is unacceptable just because there is a lampshade.

    The Clocktower is the only notable staple that's explicitly tied to the BoP franchise, yet it feels like a detour from everything else. Even then, everything from this raid can be replaced by any other team and their headquarters with little trouble.
    If we have the separate & closer thing with the Fearsome Five and help Cyborg regain control of their server room, the rest of the story can still play out the same way.


    How did we come to this?
    They are writing the Source Saga that will conclude amid the game's 10th anniversary, and apparently, it requires an adaption of Year of the Villain to work.
    We also need to bring the Council of Luthors to mirror the Batmen's return in DM.
    All these big picture planning sidelines the Birds in their own narrative, and I fear that other frequently-requested teams like The Legion of Superheroes and Doom Patrol could found themselves similarly sail under false colours.

    It doesn't have to be this way.

    They could go for a "Hidden Figures" route, highlighting how integral they are to taking down Lex.
    Maybe we need to align in a certain way to help Huntress make a perfect trick shot?
    Harvest pheromones from Ivy's plants to counteract Olsen's mind-controlled state?

    Another option is to pull a "The Greatest Story Never Told", where Superman and Lex's rivalry is known to the world but you and the Birds are dealing with an obscure, yet bigger threat that is also tied to the Source.
    Perhaps Catwoman uncovers how Intergang is hoarding invaluable Source artifacts and we go on a stealth operation to retrieve them?
    Could Brimstone be an unintended consequence of Lex's mining that even he doesn't realize it?

    There are other wasted opportunities as well.
    Oracle's polarity mechanic is a neat concept, but it can be applied to other tech-based personnel as well.
    What about she uses hacker powers to mess with your key bindings and creates a max power ceiling, so Harley now gives 4th wall breaking instructions to help you return to normal?
    Don't just tell us Black Canary once fought off giant spiders backstage, show them and let us fight those furry monsters that are trying to interrupt her concert, maybe even Lobo wants to crash the party because he's in a bad mood for getting his butt kicked?


    That was quite a rant.
    This episode tries so hard to go "NO COOTIES" (glaring at you, Psycho Jester with male fit) that it feels like the Birds are better left out of this entirely.
    I don't know if any of you feel the same way, but I am terribly let down by what they promised as a passion project.
    • Like x 5
  2. RoBotkin Well-Known Player

    I'm happy with the content (current issues notwithstanding) but I can see how someone who's a bigger fan of the comics and BOP specifically could be let down. Like you pointed out, it is a Lex/Superman driven story for the most part, the BOP do seem kind of interchangeable with other groups.
    • Like x 1
  3. Dominic Blue Dedicated Player

    Ironically I mentioned that in the Solo Lobo mission he wants to collect his bounty on Superman and a bunch of people in the thread are convinced it's us the unnamed Exobyters, ha. Naw this episode is a Superman episode DLC just not in name. The fact it takes entirely in Metropolis should spell it out. Anyways doesn't bother me since I like Supes related stuff too but it's funny it went this way. Also using Supergirl instead of Powergirl was too bad since she has a bigger partnership with Huntress in the comics but oh well?
  4. Rainnifer Committed Player

    Not to mention how interchangeable (and frankly annoying) they were in the Clock Tower raid, with the ones on your side no matter hero or villain still attack and hurt and kill you. It kind of made me like them all even less.
  5. Catastrophic Repercussion Dedicated Player

    If they show Kryptonians as interchangeable I wouldn't be as frustrated...

    Equally disappointing is that my title has been censored... now outsiders don't know what my content is about unless they already clicked to see this
    I mean, the story can be about the BoP even when set in Metropolis, they aren't "Gotham Girls, only obscure", but ouch it hurts.

    The story has fun moments, though it really does the titular disservice.

    PG has friendship with the Wayne version of Huntress, hot Bertinelli. The funny thing is as written by Dixon in the original BoP series, PG and Oracle actually has a strained relationship. I think the episode quietly adapted this out though.
  6. RoBotkin Well-Known Player

    Yeah, they censored your title before my first post even- it's what they do. They say they welcome criticism and feedback but when you give them anything other than praise it seems they try to take away your voice. Hell, I'll probably be warned or banned for this- because discussing their censorship is a violation of forum guidelines too- neat how they cover all their censorship bases, huh?
  7. Totisantana New Player

    You got a point, certainly. But, you people, need to learn to play the game without taking it personal. This is not something from now but since a few years ago. Not necessarily, the content has to be the same as you know on comics. Please, just have fun.

    The game content is not meant to affect any religions, political or financial sides. The game is made to make it competitive between the players, CR, SP & PvP. If you don´t want to play, that´s it, no one is going to stop you.
  8. Catastrophic Repercussion Dedicated Player

    I don't know if this is transplanted from another locked thread or it's a genuine response to mine since the mods haven't answered that for a week, so I take it as a response to my own.

    I am very let down by the story of this episode since the Birds of Prey are sidelined in their own episode, and truth be told I haven't played much of this content after doing it on the test server and instead focused more on LPvP, seasonals and older episode feats.
    That being said, the original post is not about how faithful they are to the comic books, the issues I point out solely stems from what this game wrote for them.
    I try to provide constructive feedback like being analytical (somewhat) and giving alternatives to what could be done because I believe it can be done better, and it's fine if you don't share those feelings, but I don't see this piece as particularly personal.

    I do wish people can see if the criticism is in good faith and whether or not the arguments have merits though, posts that are bad at this but gets support solely by talking about a thing people don't like gets under my skin quite a bit.