The rank and file mobs in City of Heroes often have more personality than some named characters in other MMOs.
The enemies in CoH don't tend to stand around in open spaces waiting to get aggro'd. Instead they're almost always doing something when a player character comes by. Some factions are more focused than others, so while the Circle of Thorns are usually engaged in magical rituals and the Council are on patrol or battling their even more fascist rivals the Fifth Column, the members of other groups are as often as not just passing the time in idle conversations that may or may not have anything to do with their job.
One of the smartest aspects of this game's writing is that being a costumed goon for a mad scientist or a megalomaniac supervillian is often treated as literally just that - a job. This is especially true in the Rogue Isles. A Fortunata in Cap Au Diable talking about saving up her wages to get an apartment in the better part of town shows that while the upper echelons of Arachnos might be in it for world domination for the lower ranks it's more likely to be that joining the organisation is just a way to earn a living.
If the mobs are standing around in open spaces waiting to be aggro'd there's a good chance they'll be asking why they're not doing something else instead. There's a lot of incidental dialogue in the Hollows that has fun with this.
As well as being an endless source of subtle world building these background conversations are also often very funny, but never go all the way into self parody. Paragon City and the Rogue Isles are very broad settings and the game revels in the anything goes freedom of the superhero genre, but while many of the characters and factions encountered are several sizes larger than life the game never abandons the internal logic of the world. These feel like real places.
Cap Au Diable, where I've spent most of my time recently, is run by Dr. Aeon, an archetypal mad scientist, and is home to two of the most obviously comedic factions in the game. Even so they still make sense in the context of this zone.
The Gold Brickers are a gang of tech thieves, and when not casing the site of their next break-in are often encountered having mundane conversations or being pushed around by Arachnos. There's a definite sense that these guys are out of their league - which would explain why they don't appear in higher level zones - and that they aren't so much hardened criminals as they are hired goons who've been handed sonic blasters and retro jet packs. They're definitely not as professional as Arachnos, and if there's an entrance exam to join the Spiders then this lot would probably have failed it.
Then there's the Luddites. If City of Heroes were released today this faction would probably be seen as a parody of 5G truthers since they are a resolutely anti-tech group opposed to Dr. Aeon and the Power Transfer System (aka the orange pipes of doom.) There's something inherently funny about the slogans of real world protest movements being shouted by shaven headed placard wielders dressed like something out of the middle ages, but the Luddites aren't out of place. Their backstory links them to the history of the Isles, and aside from that it's entirely plausible that this is what this kind of activism would look like in the Isles.
This is after all a place where putting on a costume and beating up anyone who stands in the way of your goals isn't only a valid lifestyle choice but is actually encouraged by the ruling authority. The Luddites often come across as idiots, but they are at least well intentioned idiots. It's also clear that some of them aren't entirely convinced that waving placards and handing out pamphlets is the way to go, and they're quite happy to take direct action if a villain comes along.
It's also worth saying that their cause is entirely genuine. There really is something sinister about the PTS, though the Luddites don't know that.
Both of these groups are funny, but they're not just there for laughs. The Gold Brickers and the Luddites are encountered only in Cap Au Diable, and their presence adds a lot to the feel of the place and to the stories that play out there.
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