Agent White

A personal update.

After they patched and fixed the issue that was causing the gender switch and I found the slot was still screwed up I opened up a petition.

it took about a day for them to respond, but they were very polite and told me that it was a known issue and had been fixed and she had set up a special tailor session for me. I quickly logged in and ran to the Facemaker and upon clicking the tailor it immediately brought me to the body design screen (not costume, body, so I could switch gender).

There were a *couple* hiccups. First, talking to them immediately brings you to the edit screen, it does not allow you to pick which slot. I'm not sure if I had gone through the entire process with the initial it would have worked, but I backed out and switched to the Male 'broken' slot, and did it, where it started as male so I changed it (you do have to redo your proportions) and after confirming body it let me edit the costume as normal.

The other hiccup was that after doing the costume for the 2nd slot it for some reason messed things up a bit with the first costume (the widow), telling me the costume had invalid parts. I opened it up and it showed the widow, but the colors were all changed to what I'd made for the 2nd costume. Luckily, I had a saved copy of the widow's costume from when the bug first hit and I tried someone's suggestion.

So, yeah, petition and they'll give you a super tailor session, just make sure you save your initial costume model in case something goes wrong (and you don't want to have to fix it) and change into the 'broken' costume (Though again, I didn't run through the body edit with the initial 'correct' slot, so maybe if you do it makes it the default for all slots. I'm not sure, but this is how I did it).

but yes, they were very polite and pretty punctual about it

Actually, one other thought.



So when do we get to fight the Giant Shivan for *real*?

I've actually been pretty successful with names, I only had 1 I didn't get and I just modified it. Which, actually, is my forum name. Agent White was taken on the server, so I just modified it to Whitefox.

Lesse, names I've got:
Dr. Obseqious
Mad Delilah
Geron Starcaster
Lord Vrosk
Dragon of Mists
Agent Whitefox
Madame Ix
Mister LeBool

Actually the praetorian tutorial is pretty spot on, both as a tutorial and a fun little intro level. it only takes about 10-15 minutes the very first run and introduces a lot of mechanics in a quick, precise, and informative manner.

I honestly don't see how they can make something like that (for all of Praetoria's other ills) and then put out something like the new tutorial which really teaches very little and some of the most important elements, like enhancements and trainers, are introduced well after they should be via the Twinshot/Graves overlong mega-tutorial arcs.

Ok, I just got done with the arc, stopped Serene and all that.

Now that I've been through it, I don't really see why everyone is thinking how outright evil it was to plug Katie back into the network. She did revile it, yes, but it was the only way to save her from being taken by the Talons, which I think is a far far worse fate given their psychotic nature. The only other option would have been taking her out of First Ward entirely, but by then she'd have become part of the Talons and... well, you probably would have had to *kill* her to stop her, so I and my character were pretty okay doing the short term 'She'll kill me for this' bit to her than letting her become something she'd hate worse and probably have to be put down.

I think the mission's only fault is just missing one line of dialogue from Vanessa saying "Plug her in, it's the only way to prevent the Talons from taking her" or something. I didn't see it as that unreasonable, and checking her unconscious body beforehand tells you *why* you're doing it, though I could see why to some it would suddenly seem like you're just knocking her in and plugging her back in for no real reason.

And I have to agree it does seem to just kind of stop abruptly, you manage to stop Serene specifically but it doesn't really feel like you've stopped the troubles plaguing First Ward, at least the ones Serene was directly involved in. There definitely feels like there could, and should, be more to do, though I did like how long and involved the arc story was and it wraps up certain character's arcs certainly but by the end I don't really feel like I made any considerable impact, like some other arcs do.

Well, really more than just Praetorian EATS, it seems like its been more than long nough for the devs to give a new hero & villain side EAT, something that's not kheldian and something that's not arachnos.

Can't say I'd be super excited to play Rikti on any side though >>

I saw a thread on this almost a dozen pages back soo instead of thread necro I'd just start another one.

Obviously this isn't a wholly new idea, I'm sure Praetorian epics have been an occasional topic of discussion since going Rogue launched.

Anyway, since EATs come in pairs it seems an obvious route would be to make a Resistance and Loyalist EAT each. Some of this was First Ward inspired too.

The Resistance EAT I was thinking could be the Carnival of Light. Magic origin, and we've got Vanessa DeVore as one of the heads of the Resistance, just seems to make sense to me, make her the initial contact for a Carnival recruit.

Powers I think would be kind of a potpouri of elemental stuff, that is stuff like they'd get a fire blast, Ice AoE, Lightning Hold, maybe an Illusion pet, etc. It's just a sketchy concept so I'm not going to go into a lot of detail obviously. Secondary would be similar, support skills from different elements.

Loyalist EAT, I know has been talked about, some form of PPD like T.E.S.T or D.U.S.T, or a Clockwork (like IVy).

As an added element to PEATS, much like VEATS and HEATS having different starting contacts etc, I'd think they'd be pegged into their respective alignment and *wouldn't* be able to do spying missions, so Carnival would only be Warden/Crusader, while TEST/Clockwork would only be Power/Responsbility, and maybe a unique PEAT arc for each like the other EATS have with their own contacts.

I dunno, probably just retreading old arguments but I thought I'd toss it out there

Yeah, entering the Rift is a fixed point that assumes you go into it right after finishing up the last of whatever 1-20 arcs you did. It just seems like now they've added this extension to the Praetorian content they should try to link it better.

I will say, I did like the touch that at the end they basically flat out say which paths matched to which alignments, Wardens support Paragon, Crusaders support Rogue Isles. It was also kind of cool getting to speak with most of the living contacts before leaving.

But yeah, I wouldn't mind an event trigger that finishing First Ward affects that scene or grants you a new scene.

Dunno if this'll mean much but I'm running a storm/sonic defender and I"m definitely seeing the -Res in effect, there is a difference between hitting a critter with an attack initially and then hitting it once I've started chaining

My initial guesses would be that since Praetoria is very 'magic light', magicians and the like are more prone to being odd balls and misfits, at least for the lower levels. The higher echelons, it's likely symbolic or actually serves a purpose for the kind of magic they use, like it's a kind of defense against the nastiness around First Ward. Dunno, again just guesses but there are lots of things that would work.

But yeah, a little background would've been nice. We get an explanation for what the DUST are for and what they do, but we're not given an introduction by the Carnival even though they're the ones that initially bring us to First Ward.

I forget if you need to contact Scott, but don't worry there is a choice at the end that amounts to loyalist/resistance (Though it's not an alignment choice). But you do get one.

Browsing the forums late night, this thread kind of caught my eye.

A friend got me into the game getting me the Going Rogue Complete Collection, so my first experiences with the game were exclusively praetoria. Especially since said friend told me the game was switching to free to play soon and the intro stuff for hero/villain side would be changing, so my first few characters are all praetorian.

The story is pretty fantastic. I really enjoyed the the depth that was put into the different faction paths and their characters, it is all pretty well done and you really get a feel for the characters and their roles. The Wardens and Responsibility crowd are generally pretty decent, the Power and Crusaders are generally pretty despicable. Missions flow really well and I really liked the alignment thing where you could play it 'pure' or go 'spy' and get different flavor options (Though I was a lil disappointed to find that it was just flavor, I'd have liked 'spying' to actually change outcomes to a stronger degree, like making alternate contact paths or alternate missions.) And each path has a particular alignment flair, though by the end yeah, being Loyalist seems pretty bad, in fact I had a Mastermind that ran through Power and Responsibility, getting the final moral choices in each. Power, I stayed loyalist. Responsibility... I had to choose Resistance. Then again, they kind of do the same with the Resistance choices, showing just what kind of psychotic Calvin Scott is.

The transfer to Prime is definitely jarring since I was so accustomed to the tight and progressive storyline of Praetoria and then... well it all kind of goes up in smoke. The Mastermind I mentioned above moved to First Ward which is a little better, he hasn't transferred to Prime so I'm seeing a continuation of the plot but at the expense of being more a spectator since I have no choice in how it unfolds, my alignment just doesn't matter. I've now got a corrupter and a blaster transferred over now and frankly I'm kind of at a loss with exactly what I want to do with them now.

Gameplay-wise... I've got to side with the folks that have been going on about the increased difficulty of Praetoria. Now that I've run a few characters through the normal blue and red sides, it really is a stark contrast. I run solo, because Praetoria is pretty quiet and still getting into the game, I only know my friend that got me into the game. But for most of my praetorian characters I've turned the difficulty down to -1/+0, just because otherwise I was getting my head handed to me on a lot of missions, especially Ghouls (SWARM D and Syndicate (90% of the spawn is +1 level. Pretty much whole missions of nearly all yellows), with some trouble with the nastier Clockwork and sometimes PPD. The only one I didn't have to change was my Mastermind, since playing one is like having your own team.

Compared to my hero and villain sides, I've rarely died or had that much trouble. Usually if I die it's in situations where it's just bad luck or a nasty boss I wasn't quite prepared to handle (Villainside, it's been usually throwing 2-3 Bosses at me at the dead start of the mission or 2-3 bosses in a row [lookin at *you* Graves arc]. Though, being a dominator does have that downside when you can't just whack them with domination right away). but that's also kind of my own masochism for fighting bosses solo. Praetoria though, it's usually just the general mobs I've got to take small steps at a time.

I will say though, I do actually like Praetoria as a starting area, to a degree. The introduction mission that teaches you the controls, enhancements, inspirations, dialogue and gives you your first alignment choice and then dumps you in front of a trainer and other important NPCs is pretty tight and I think I prefer it over the other intro areas/tutorials for a purely 'newbie friendly' area. It just teaches you a lot of the need to know basics pretty well and pretty quickly, unlike the Twinshot/Graves arcs. Really I think the only thing the Praetoria intro *really* drops the ball on is not telling you that contacts are only for a certain level range. I outleveled myself on a few toons through most of the initial and mid contacts for all 4 paths, which *really* kind of bothered me when I'm being told to go see person X and it's not telling me where on earth to find them, til I found out I'd overleveled to be introduced to them. Then again, as far as I can tell, maingame doesn't tell you that either. The only way to know what level range you should be at is taking the trams or in Prime earth meeting Field Report NPCs.

Anyway, just my two thoughts. Honestly, I probably am going to make more Prime Earth characters now that I've seen the majority of the 4 story paths. If anything, the Praetoria contents greatest flaw is that it's a one trick Pony. Ok, so like 4 trick pony, but once you've seen all the tricks, that's about it. There's not really a lot of incentive to keep making new characters like that unless you *really* like those missions, whereas I can go red/blue and get a lot more freedom of choice. I do kind of dig that First Ward is an extension of Praetoria and I think it'd be kind of cool if they make it possible to start someone in Praetoria and work all the way to end game without having to transfer to Prime, but I dunno how likely or *good* that'll be since, as said, First Ward does away with any of the 'alignment matters' stuff, which to me is kind of one of the biggest centerpieces of the 1-20 Praetorian content.

Working my Praetorian Mastermind through First Ward, originally a loyalist up until the final Responsibility moral choice. Man, the final choices in every arc *really* make you want to switch sides XD Was kind of disappointing since you're working for a particular goal following any specific path and then the final choice turns all that on its ear. But I digress.

I really really love the atmosphere of First Ward. It manages to capture perfectly what it is, a forsaken, destroyed city full of survivors scraping by, nasty things around every corner and, of course, the friggen Seed looming over everything. It's incredibly unsettling hearing the thing groaning overhead, more so to see it drifting by while I'm scurrying around trying to avoid its notice as I do my missions.

The factions and critters are varied and interesting, I like the style for the Carnivals and the Awakened and the Apparitions are a neat visual treat (oh and the Awakened Subjugators are *freaky*!)

I'm liking the story so far. I haven't completed the zone yet, just got the 2nd mission from the blind shamen.

I will have to echo a few comments from previous posters. The story is really well written, but it does feel like I'm being railroaded into avenues that only fit a particular character style. Obviously it can't cater to *everyone*, but since this is a continuation of the Praetorian setting that offered a *lot* of choice with 4 separate storylines you can play 2 ways (being able to 'spy'), it is kind of a stark contrast. It feels kind of like if you were suddenly forced to just do the Crusader storyline regardless of what other branches you were pursuing.

I definitely would have liked to see Alignment matter more. I agree with another poster earlier on that it was kind of surprising that the villain side contact is a member of the Carnival of War and immediately I'm set up to help out the Carnival of Light. I am still working my way through the story but so far after completing so much with the Compound the Carnival folk, War and Light alike, are just kind of relegated to the sideline after the initial friction. Honestly I don't know how often I plan to run this arc if it really just doesn't change regardless of what alignment you're playing as, be it Prime or Praetorian. I mean I guess we could just use the generi-contacts that offer repeatable missions to certain alignments to just screw around, but as was pointed out, there's no way to find them without looking it up on the wiki or just stumbling across them. So far I've managed to find the Generic (Vickers, I think), the Villain (Mr.... Coulard? Probably misspelling. Dude in the zoot suit outside the hospital) and... either the Hero or Loyalist, since my resistance mastermind and rogue blaster couldn't talk to her.

As I said, it does feel kind of odd coming out of normal Praetoria where alignment was pretty important and then just being put on this single track that didn't care about any of it, while continuing the plotlines established by the very thing it ignores.

I wouldn't mind additional arcs being added to the zone, or at least some parts that branch. Like Villains working for the Carnival of War, Loyalists helping with the D.U.S.T., etc.

It did also seem like the Carnival of Light came out of nowhere. I like their flavor and concept, but after running through normal Praetoria where we see so many different aspects of the resistance and loyalists to have an entire group that's pretty radically different (aside from Vanessa showing up as the 1st Res Trainer) show up suddenly. D.U.S.T feel like a logical extension of the PPD and T.E.S.T, whereas the carnivals are just entirely new (Not that that's really so bad given the different nature of First Ward).

Still, it's a pretty cool zone and if this is the quality we can expect from future content then I really am looking forward to it.

I'd rather get the reward token in the middle of the month than at the end anyway.

odd its going to take til Feb to fix it though >>

Yeah if they got City of Villains or Going Rogue, they should have a 2nd token for applying a retail code.

Yeah once you port over to Primal Earth you'll actually get tagged by the respective contact about First Ward

You can play them anyway you want, especially now. You choose your archtype and if you go through the main game intro, you'll choose hero or villain via the tutorial.

The only classes restricted in initial alignment are the Epic Archtypes. Kheldians always start as heroes, Soldiers of Arachnos always start as villains.

Beyond that everything can start as either pure alignment.

12 per server and you should start with 2 global slots, which just let you unlock 2 slots on a specific server of your choice.

I might be wrong, but when I've been editing in the tailor and bring up a locked piece, if you click the shopping cart on the part name it will bring up the Market to the specific piece. Though I haven't tried it with the Circle set since I'm probably just going to buy the whole set at once. And in the tailor editing, all the pieces are referred to as 'Circle of Thorns (part)' so it should be easy to find

Yes, it's level 20-30 content for Praetorian characters if they choose not to jump into Primal Earth at level 20. I've got a Resistance Mastermind spelunking around, the story is pretty interesting so far and I'm enjoying the utter creepiness of the devastated city and the ever looming presence of the Seed of Hamidon.

When you hit 20 you'll be contacted by your respective contact to access it, for Heroes it's Mistress Eva in Talos Island, I forget the name of the villain but he's in Cap au Diable, and if you're Praetorian you'll get contacted directly by Doorman. And for heroes/villains, the 'Imperial Underground' entrance can be seen on both maps mentioned.