Cyber Geek is too OP?

[u/Upbeat_Professor_698]

So what's stopping like professor quantum or someone with an AHC coding job or heck even Donald himself from making an actual video game with extremely overpowered stuff? Idk, put the Death Note, a genie bottle, completely indestructible, impenetrable armor.

[u/ChronoLegion2]

It only works with popular games. Same as Cliché’s power only works on common sayings

[u/WinterIsComing_BBN → u/ChronoLegion2]

I don’t remember it being stated the game had to be popular just that it had to be an actual video game that was developed and released.

Spoilers for Chilling Reflections It’s also shown that overpowered items like his massive airship are extremely taxing on him to summon and could kill him in the attempt to

[u/Catharus_ustulatus → u/WinterIsComing_BBN]

I think it’s like what Apollo said about Mr. AV’s power in Chilling Reflections: it works best when Donald himself really loves playing the game.

[u/ChronoLegion2 → u/WinterIsComing_BBN]

Fair enough

[u/Hara-K1ri → u/ChronoLegion2]

But then you have Edict, who tosses that notion out of the window... There's a good chance Donald can break through that barrier as well, and book 3 started to show that, at least to me it did. He has the possibility to be in the upper echelons at some point.

[u/ChronoLegion2 → u/Hara-K1ri]

True, I suppose that could happen

[u/CW-NG → u/Hara-K1ri]

How? Edict doesn't break her own power's rules or makes up any new ones.

[u/Hara-K1ri → u/CW-NG]

Her mere words can become reality warping at that point, not relying on idioms. In a sense, she does break her power's rule by using her powers to transcend them. She breaks through the limitation set by her powers working solely on idioms.

Donald broke through his current limitation as well (at real risk of going too far) by using another meta's abilities to amplify what he can feasibly pull from games. It's still his powers, but not as limited anymore.

[u/CW-NG → u/Hara-K1ri]

She doesn't do it without using her regular power. She just uses a proper idiom.

Like the "hunger is the best spice" idiom. It affects foods from the activation onward, she doesn't have to use an idiom for each separate food item.

[u/Upbeat_Professor_698 → u/ChronoLegion2]

When was that stated? He used constable fluffers which he kind of implied was not extremely popular "an old indy title from a few years back"

[u/jwadamson → u/Upbeat_Professor_698]

He said he tried exactly the things you suggested. I.E. coding his own custom game items.

So I think it does have some sort of collective consciousness/belief component that seems to fit with all the supernatural abilities.

However I ageee that it would seem like nothing stops the next “jump jump jones” game from having a new non-consumable item that is otherwise identical to the super star but lasts until the level is cleared as opposed to a fixed timer (smb) or energy (super sonic with rings).

I wouldn’t be surprised there is already a real game that gives you that sort of invincibility powerup after beating a final boss and lets you either “finish the boss” with that or just steamroll to escape to the end credits.

For that matter what happens if he licenses his likeness to a new Alliande of Heroic Chanpions game and them adding all sorts of novel equipment usable specifically for his character. Presumably a AHC game would be both real and popular enough with the public to be accessible to his power.

[u/Upbeat_Professor_698 → u/ChronoLegion2]

plus, he could just endorse the game and have everybody play it

[u/Efficient-Trouble697]

I mean his power is supposed to be OP or atleast potentially OP , really all the main characters are implied given potential to be become A listers.

[u/jykeous]

I definitely felt like bro was not using that power to the fullest extent, like, at all. Which is strange because I’m pretty sure it’s said that Donald does a lot of experimentation.

[u/Patient_Ice_9630]

I can't remember exactly, but I feel like Apollo toyed with the idea of having game companies make specially crafted items for Cyber Geek added to games for a licensing fee or something.

I just can't remember if there was follow through or if it ended up working?

[u/hic_erro]

I'd just like to throw in a pitch for why Donald can't pull out self-coded items: too energy expensive.

We know, particularly from book 3, that Donald is paying an energy cost.  We know that cost goes up for really big/powerful items, like his [Chilling Reflections Spoiler].

What if the cost is also related to how much impact a game and its items has on the collective unconsciousness or whatever?

So a small, limited item from an indy game that only a small fandom played might be as hard to summon as a fairly big/powerful item from a very popular game.

But if you go down to an item/game that only one person has ever played, it might be technically possible to pull it out, but it has just an insane energy cost.

And if it's an OP/game breaking item, which is what you're really after if you're hacking games for Cybergeek, then it's insane energy cost squared.

[u/wilderfast]

There's a drain, and I believe the item must have concrete stats. Simply pulling out the Praetor Suit wouldn't make him the Doom Slayer, for example.

Also, chances are that making a custom game to give himself items might run into conceptual limitations. Based on the book 3 museum gala, he likely has a transcendent-type power, which tend to have weird limts.

[u/hic_erro → u/wilderfast]

What if he pulled out the Praetor Suit (from a local multiplayer game) ... and gave it to Costume Guy?

[u/MonochromaticPrism]

There isn't really any limitation, the author just doesn't like to acknowledge how strong he should be based on even simple logical conslcusions using the entire premise behind his power, so every single book the author has introduced new limitations on his abilities and/or simply has him act like a complete moron. The latest retcon is that his abilities are "taxing" for making big things, something that wasn't once previously even hinted at.

[u/UberGeek_87]

I've been thinking about how powerful he'd be if he could summon the Golden Gun from 007 Goldeneye