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Important! My Hero Automata Poll!
🕑 Added 2025-02-02 17:00:12 +0000 UTCAlright, folks! I mentioned in the most recent release of My Hero Automata, that I would be putting up a poll that would majorly affect the direction My Hero Automata goes in. Essentially, the purpose of this poll is to determine the general focus of the story going forward. We have, for all intents and purposes, hit the end point of my original planning. I had everything up to the Invasion at least outlined when I first put fingers to keyboard for the story. What to do once the initial invasion was under control was honestly always more of a series of question marks with only vague plans. I have, since then, refined those plans a little, but there are three possible major themes that the story could focus on going forward. Let's look at the options!
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Option 1 - Join the Guild System: Izumi/Momo/Jirou join the forming Guild System. In this option the development of the first Guild becomes the focus point of the story. They are forced to navigate how to make the new system work, including facing pitfalls where the Hero Industry failed a bit, such as when the Japanese Hero System leaned too heavily into Idol Culture and ended up with a lot of heroes that were really more showy celebrities than Heroes.
This path also focuses on the Big Bad, in a way. Lots of fighting within the Rift Bubbles and taking on bosses that require 10-20 man combat teams. Generals of the Empire might become major powers to overcome, right alongside administrative and logistics issues. Expect more Epic Level Fights. The sorts of battles that Super Man, the X-men, or even X-Com might get involved with.
Option 2 - Become Pro Heroes: Izumi/Momo/Jirou don't join the Guild System. The Guild System will still come into existence, but the trio decides that they wish to continue on their path towards being traditional Heroes. They stay in the new, revised Hero course and we start seeing them engage with the more sneaky threats that the Empire has to offer. They hunt down monsters that possess politicians and deal with cultists that get it into their fool heads to align with the invaders in exchange for power and influence.
Combat and missions in this path are more closely aligned with what individuals like Batman, John Constantine, Daredevil or even the X-files and Warehouse 13 crew focus on. Investigations, mysteries, and foiled plots, instead of Epic Battlefields.
Option 3 - Engineering a Better Future: Izumi and Momo focus on neither the Guild or Heroics. Jirou may join one or the other, but Izumi and Momo (along with 2B of course) choose to shift their focus away from direct action. While they may occasionally be called to fight, for the most part they focus on putting their brains to work and develop new options for all sides/factions (Human factions) of the fight.
If that means they build Big Stompy Robots al la BattleTech for the JSDF to fight with, they do that. If it means solving logistics issues by building an orbital infrastructure for asteroid harvesting and zero-g manufacturing? They do that too. All while continuing to develop the systems needed for the Guilds and Heroes to do their jobs. Need a changeling detector? They can do that. Need a mobile base that can house a Guild? They do that too. In this path they become the guiding hand of the tech and industrial might that can help eventually overcome the enemy.
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All three of these will have some level of crossover. Even if they join the Guild path, they might end up being called on to invent an important thing. If they become a Hero, they might find themselves falling into a trap that sucks several city blocks into a Rift Bubble and they had to save everyone in an Epic Battle. Etc. Etc. There is a degree of crossover between the paths, so what you're voting on here is the PRIMARY focus. What sort of content do you want to see the most of, going forward? They've been doing most of these things to some level all along. What part of the story do you most want to see more of?
Get your votes in! The poll is open to all Patrons, but it will only run for one week! So don't dally! Feel free to ask questions in the comments!
Comments
Novus Peregrine
Ehhhhh, I honestly can't see a support guild really existing in the sense you're suggesting. A support/crafter element as PART of a guild, obviously yes. But a guild that specializes just in that doesn't make sense to develop out of an already existing globalized infrastructure. They are already cooperating on a massive international level, for R&D development. Something like a crafter's guild would be a massive step DOWN from the already existing I-Island setup. In Danmachi (Is it Wrong to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon), it makes sense because they are living in a mostly Feudal society with no real government. The Guilds are the largest authority around. Trying to apply the same thing to a modern industrial society is basically asking it to cripple itself, though.
Mr Fox
On option 2 the investigation aspect has been largely hand waived with either explanations that someone else did investigation or that 2B is a hacking god and sees all On option 3 I meant more the "building the future" aspect not r&d in general. We've seen plenty of r&d but thats all been band aid solutions to very immediate, very military, problems. The space program was the last "building the future" program they did.
Keht Jelicho
This, was going to come and say this. Option three easily sounds like something that would lead to a support/"lifestyle"/crafter guild, especially if Izumi and Momo start gathering other engineer/maker/inventor/crafter types to them or organizing teams to work on different issues, or different parts of big projects. Such an organization would still need some combat focused members for field research, resource gathering, security, etc. Kind of like the Hephaestus Familia set-up from the "pick up girls in a dungeon" series (haven't seen much, and while read more, and read fics that had it as a crossover not 100% familiar with the series, but it seems they're a crafting "guild" that has a harvest team, but the team is less Frontline and what they are more known for are the crafted gear for fights when they do, their team is more for gathering resources). Izumi/Momo could fight, but if they're making lots of Jaeger/Gundam/etc Mechs and other tech that can allow others to take care of issues instead then they don't need to, and they're field teams would be some of the best equipped when they do deploy, and it's likely they'd be involved in some of the research for the real Anomalies and outlier situation leading to still getting some big fights. Creating stuff to reveal changelings or investigating cults may simply come as a result of either/both trying to control them/their products (or infiltrate their "guild") So yeah, I can see how aspects of both options 1 and 2 could become parts of the Option 3 path.
Novus Peregrine
*blink* I can sort of see the argument about Option 2, though at the same time it's the extension of the traditional Pro Hero route, just with an added element. Which means that it HAS been part of the story. Things like the investigation and raid to save Eri fall firmly into this category. The take down of Humarise would too, actually. As it wasn't direct fighting, but infiltration, investigation, and stealth operations. The comment about options 1 and 3 I'm very confused by, though. The events since the Invasion have been almost an even split between 1 & 3, not non-stop battles. The research at Gajajima island, closing the Rift as Gajajima island after the bombs from the original research caused issues, research efforts on the RADS arrays, the Harvest Stone research, and more. Not to mention all the strategy meetings and so on, which take up a big chunk of post invasion events and were often more about Izumi's R&D efforts than fighting.
Mr Fox
Honestly these results dont shock me even slightly. Option 2 has never really been part of the dna of this story so it makes sense that your readership isnt really interested. Options 1 +3 have been the bread and butter of this story but its been battles almost non stop since the start of the invasion. So a lot of people are probably a little burned out for that right now. Which is giving option 3 the lead since we havent seen a lot of that since the mini space program right before the invasion
Novus Peregrine
Like I said toward the end, there will be some level of crossover between all three. The winner is just the MAIN focus. In example, while they won't join the Guild in Option 3, they will still be providing a lot of the Guild's future needs and systems, which means interacting with it. Possibly even going on an expedition or two in order to test/train people with new gear. Likewise, they might be called in to try and puzzle out a mystery of a new enemy type from the Hero Side. The same is true if the chose, say, Pro Heroing as their main focus. While most of their effort would be put toward solving traditional cases or mysteries caused by monsters, they might also be called in to help with technical problems for the Guild. Izumi is one of the world's foremost experts on QE, after all..
Novus Peregrine
That bit could be under either the Guild or Enginering options, actually. An eventual expedition to other worlds would need technical assistance, after all.
ShiftersMidnightsun
Honestly I would rather see them joining the Guild. Leaders and type that in with engineering, a better future.
Matthew Robar
I’m pretty sure that falls under the guild option
Ototsu_Yume
They seem better suited for organizing the future of humanity, it was 2B's original job too after all. Pity there's not an option for them to work on shoring up allies or exploration of other realms to battle against the invaders that way.
Luke Matthews
can we have guild and engineering with a lilttle bit of pro heroing lol :/ :( :)
BarrettSlayer
I’m just imagining them accidentally forming the first Support Guild rather then an Assault/Guardian Guilds
Alex I
Stompy robots for the win!
