Even from the beginning, CoV just doesn't feel all that villainous.  The main groups that you fight for most of the game are other villain groups.  With very few exceptions, the missions just seem like a rehashed hero missions.  Why is CoV so goodie goodie?

I feel villainous while playing.

Of course, there are some story arc where you are actually more a dark hero, but these are minority and...they can be explained.

Random murder is not villainous, it is dumb.  A villain will protect the orphan and the widow, might team rape them, but eh, we have a rating of less then 18-, so you have to read between the lines.  But killing the orphan or the widow makes no sense.  A Villain is extremely selfish, not some random mass murderer.  A Villains want the control for himself, hurting and even killing innocent isn't problematic, but the villain won't kill innocents for the pleasure of killing them...he might hurt them a little for his self pleasure however.

There is no point in ruling a desert.  You needs you peons alive and protected...the price of protection is...

A mass murderer should be alone, in some desert.  A villain would hunt down someone who is killing his peons, not to protect his peons, to protect his social domination.  This also explain why a villain often torture the hero up to the point the hero manages to escape...killing the hero is for the weaker villains, the stronger one they want pleasure from dominating overpowered fools.

Originally posted by tkemory
Man we have to agree to disagree.  Most Villains could care less about the general public and would gladly sacrifice them as the end to a mean.

It's rare that villains show compassion in lore, with the exception of villains that are always teetering on the edge (ex. Darth Vader).

Originally posted by Anofalye

Random murder is not villainous, it is dumb.  A villain will protect the orphan and the widow, might team rape them, but eh, we have a rating of less then 18-, so you have to read between the lines.  But killing the orphan or the widow makes no sense.  A Villain is extremely selfish, not some random mass murderer.  A Villains want the control for himself, hurting and even killing innocent isn't problematic, but the villain won't kill innocents for the pleasure of killing them...he might hurt them a little for his self pleasure however.

Originally posted by Deathstrike2

Originally posted by Anofalye

Random murder is not villainous, it is dumb.  A villain will protect the orphan and the widow, might team rape them, but eh, we have a rating of less then 18-, so you have to read between the lines.  But killing the orphan or the widow makes no sense.  A Villain is extremely selfish, not some random mass murderer.  A Villains want the control for himself, hurting and even killing innocent isn't problematic, but the villain won't kill innocents for the pleasure of killing them...he might hurt them a little for his self pleasure however.

This sounds very nice, but tell it to Carnage, Sin Eater, Dark Phoenix, or Joker.  There's a lot more to being a supervillain than beating up cops, robbing banks, and acting as an errand boy for your contacts. 

Originally posted by Deathstrike2

Originally posted by Anofalye

Random murder is not villainous, it is dumb.  A villain will protect the orphan and the widow, might team rape them, but eh, we have a rating of less then 18-, so you have to read between the lines.  But killing the orphan or the widow makes no sense.  A Villain is extremely selfish, not some random mass murderer.  A Villains want the control for himself, hurting and even killing innocent isn't problematic, but the villain won't kill innocents for the pleasure of killing them...he might hurt them a little for his self pleasure however.

This sounds very nice, but tell it to Carnage, Sin Eater, Dark Phoenix, or Joker.  There's a lot more to being a supervillain than beating up cops, robbing banks, and acting as an errand boy for your contacts. 

I think the real problem with feeling villainous is that you have to play reactively, whereas villians are usually proactive. There's no real way to let players invent their own scheme, which is what villains do. The best you can do is help a high-level villain with their plan, or foil a rivals. That feels more like being a henchman or anti-hero.

Still, there are some evil things you do. Like the contact who sends you out to murder his son.

Originally posted by Deathstrike2

Even from the beginning, CoV just doesn't feel all that villainous.  The main groups that you fight for most of the game are other villain groups.  With very few exceptions, the missions just seem like a rehashed hero missions.  Why is CoV so goodie goodie?

 

Originally posted by Amarsir

I think the real problem with feeling villainous is that you have to play reactively, whereas villians are usually proactive. There's no real way to let players invent their own scheme, which is what villains do. The best you can do is help a high-level villain with their plan, or foil a rivals. That feels more like being a henchman or anti-hero.

Still, there are some evil things you do. Like the contact who sends you out to murder his son.

On the topic of what a villian is and what a villain is not, is not that simple to explain.

One man's villain is another man's hero.

Saddam hussain may be seen in our western world as a villainous, evil POS, buf there's people who see him as a hero. (even a maytar)

Now back to comic book villains: Luthor maybe against superman, but he became president, and was teh BEST presidant the wold has ever seen. He did so much 'good' for the world, that everyone can oversee his plans to kill superman/

Magneto did deverything  he thought was right, and in many eyes, he was a saviior, he saved mutants by the thousands, and striked back against humans who sought to use, abuse, kill, etc mutants. He was, therefore, a hero in many mutants eyes.

Venon: This guys identical to spiderman, except he wants to kill him. Read a bit, you will see he went out of his way to save and protect those who had no one to go to. He is labled a 'villain' because he wants to kill spiderman.. bit whup.

Doctor Doom. This guy has his own country, and they see him as the protector, guardian, etc of thier country. His people, while they live in a facist enviorment, are all well fed, schooled, no one is hungry, and laws are fair for all. He's a villan though, because the FF say so.

Even thantos, the right hand of death itself, has a background which would make him a hero in many eyes.

Look at any story, and you'll see more than just the 1 side.

Hero's on the other hand can be as evil as you can imagine: Wolvierne, who is a do-gooder, murderd, raped, tortured, etc his share of INNOCENT people. He is NOT a hero if you look at his past. Hell he would kill his best friend just to sleep with that friends woman.

Do some reaserch, you'll see that there is no stark 'White' and 'black' -- it's all grey and shades of grey.

I think we're looking a little too deeply into this villain thing. We're talking super villain. We're talking comic book like maniacal plots. Trying to make a real life comparison just doesn't make sense. You've got rival villains to pound, which fits. You've got superheros to pound, which is fine. You've got meddling outsiders to pound, this also works. The only thing that really could be improved upon with the whole villainy and such would be to let us smack around pedestrians/bystanders for fun.

Sephiroth was a villain people. End of story.