Re: Anyone running an online supers game?
Okay, I think I'm ready to take this out of vague hypotheticals and into brass tacks.
1. My inclination is to run something in the published Champions Universe, based out of Milennium City, running parallel to certain storylines presented in the Champions Online MMO. That said, neither the written material nor the MMO would be "gospel truth" in my campaign. Generally, public knowledge from published sources will be public knowledge in the campaign, but behind the scenes things might be very different. Maybe Witchcraft didn't really rebel against her parents' evil ways and is actually a supervillainess masquerading as a hero, with the other Champions her ensorcelled mind-slaves. Maybe Dr. Destroyer is actually a rogue Empyrean. Maybe the entire Champions Universe is actually a virtual reality simulation and your characters are really powerless vat-grown human batteries being harvested by ruthless machine intelligences. Okay, none of those examples will be true, but the point is that similar twists from "canon" might be true.
2. I am inclined for the players to be part of an eclectic unthemed group like the Avengers or Justice League, rather than a themed one like the X-Men or Shadowpact. However, if everybody wants to play a mutant, alien, esper, sorceror, or whatever, I am flexible about this.
3. This one is important -- Code against killing! I want to adhere to pre-Iron Age sensibilities about killing people. The Punisher and Deadpool have their own brand of coolness, but it is at odds with what I want to run. Sure, once in a long while Wonder Woman can snap someone's neck or Clint Barton/Ronin/Hawkeye can go rogue and try to put an arrow in some really bad baddie's brain pan, but those are exceptions and not the rule! Seriously, if you are putting all your points into Killing Attacks, you are on the wrong page.
4. Costumes and code names. Have them, please. Sure, Jessica Jones can whine about how she doesn't want to be a superhero, all evidence to the contrary, and yes it can make a good story, but not this story. Also, try to avoid goofy self-parody like the Mystery Men or Great Lakes Avengers. Not what I want to do, joke characters will be forbidden at outset or uncermoniously murdered at the earliest opportunity. That said, funny is okay in moderation.
More later.