Speculation over which big-name City of Heroes character would die in the game's first "Signature Story Arc" began as soon as the first teaser images were released last year. An early leading candidate for the Grim Reaper was Back Alley Brawler. It was thought that removing him from the game would be easier than any other, because he gave no missions or story arcs and the zone that he was part of was effectively removed with the introduction of City of Heroes Freedom. However, all speculation ended a few weeks ago, as Paragon Studios revealed who was going to die, and it wasn't Back Alley Brawler.
Released today, the fifth segment of "Who Will Die?" features the death of Statesman, City of Heroes' iconic super hero. His death follows the death of his daughter in an earlier segment of the Signature Story Arc and comes at the hands of a rising villain.
Fan reaction over the death and how it is being handled is varied. Many are questioning why Paragon Studios didn't plan for Stateman's removal from the game proper to happen alongside his death in this arc. It will seem strange over the next few months for players who have taken part in this story to still be able to form a task force at Stateman's request or to fight alongside him in various missions. Some are upset that the character didn't go down fighting, or that their characters didn't get a chance to attempt to stop the death from happening.
"For me, the story was just okay," Hurricane resident Mark Currie, who stayed up late into the night last night to be able to play the story arc as soon as it was opened up, said. "I would have preferred at least the appearance of being able to do something about it, rather than just the cutscene that we got."
Removing all instances of Statesman from the game will take some time to do, since he is featured in quite a lot of game content, and is expected to take place over the next few months.
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