airhead

Yes: they to will be. Good to have drones to buff my. All your base are belong to us!

This sounds like a job for TerminusEst13. But I don't think he's around any more. I might give it a go later, sounds intriguing.

I imagine he's watching the police drones vaporize muggers.

It is a gorgeous piece of art! I really like that he has a normal-guy appearance, yet his nonchalance with a naginata-arquebus (?), and his purple boots, makes it clear he's a super.

And the colouring is superb.

Unfortunately, I never was the same. Consistency is for whipped cream. But I'm glad the character is enjoyable so far!

Here's another (well, four more) Airhead(s). This is just a model sheet. So he's just standing there, which is what models do. Brandon also did a mugshot, which much better captures the spirit of Airhead. Er, airheadedness. I'm trying to figure out how to ink that myself in spite of my incompetence, so it might be a little while yet.

<-- Clickable!

Thanks to Eddy Swan for the final result! Both Brandon and Eddy were very nice to work with, and were willing to update the picture towards the image in my head that was never actually there. Now it is!

Cheers, airhead

This is a huge improvement on the last image! Some suggestions for your two questions (from someone with no formal right to give suggestions):

1. Floating-girl looks good being twisty. Head-torso-hips seem to keep twisting, but then her right leg is twisted back. Perhaps have it twist further (sort of behind-the-ankle perspective) so it looks like she's sliding down a spiral chute. Sorta.

2. The girl on the ground could be given a second arm by showing her right shoulder does exist, and perhaps having her right thumb show on her torso. That would mean her right hand isn't providing the same kind of support as her left, but that would possibly explain why there seems to be a bit of a twist to her hips as well (viz: if her right arm is concealed by her left arm, why isn't her right leg concealed by her left leg).

Nice work so far!

*drool*

Looking forward to being able to throw votes at multiple masterpieces in February!

Airhead may fit into this theme. Airhead's City of Heroes story started in a Nictus hospital, then a Family-run orphanage, before finally going on to work for Crey in their lab rat breeding pens*. He never rose very far in any of these places as he was always so uncorruptably nice. Nonetheless, he was mostly tolerated, since he also seemed to be completely clueless about what was really going on.

* MA arc #1144, but now I better go check it still works

Airhead was never really that stupid. Airhead feels that people can change, and he tries to be the voice of compassion for his misanthropic friends. But being "a tumour in the body of evil" doesn't always get results, so Airhead also works with heroes with a strong sense of right and wrong to combat bigger threats. He would have started working with Bayani as an informant. Chances are, they would be discovered, and Airhead would find himself on the side of good in an all-out war against Crey.



The design has evolved through art commissions. His most recent model pencilled by Brandon McKinney, below, is still to be formally coloured. His powers are mind control and force field, which he uses to create an atmosphere for 'friendly negotiation'.



Good luck Bayani with this!

I have a few commissions brewing, so I thought I'd start a thread about Airhead.

Airhead is a character from a NaNoWriMo novel. Before that, he was a City of Heroes character. And before that, he gestated over years of idle thoughts, as I pondered what kind of non-violent superhero might somehow still make for interesting reading. Airhead evolved to be a smart young man with a toggle power of 'radiant gullibility' that also affects himself. This tends to cause chaos. As he learns more about the source and application of his power, he struggles to figure out how he might use it for good. Meanwhile, others seek to use him for their own gain.

Airhead's bleached hair and washed-out skin is at odds with his aboriginal DNA, which puts him on a quest to find out more about his past and his power. His story finds him in Moscow fairly early on, where he is given a double-breasted vest and pants modeled on a statue of Pushkin. This was constructed in City of Heroes as:
(yes, image has been manipulated)
I've never tried to explain the tattoos on his hands, those just looked cool.

I had a sudden opportunity to write about Airhead in action when Bayani created a review competition around his martial arts mission arc. I wrote a review from Airhead's point of view, and lo and behold, the review won a prize. The award was a character sketch more beautiful than I'd ever imagined. Based purely on screen captures, came this work by Shaun:
Image links to DeviantArt. Thanks to Bayani, I have the original proudly displayed on my wall.

This kept me happy for quite a while before I finally succumbed to commission lust. First up, I got a sketch from Bokuman. While more famous for his scantily-clad women, Bokuman had drawn a male character in a vest that I liked. What I got in the end was far, far better than expected, particularly with respect to Airhead's personality:
Image link to DeviantArt.

Now his face and hair have excellent precedents and other elements are correct too. The vest is very close to ideal. But I wanted more. More! I wanted to create some scenes from Airhead's story. But I decided to get a model image done first, to refine Airhead's collar, sleeve heads, vest buttons, tie symbol and skin tone. The result is now in a colouring queue, and will eventually be posted here. I'm also pursuing three other scenes. Stay tuned!

Cheers, airhead

So we need a lead writer with a great story concept who has the diplomacy to herd a bunch of hyper-individualistic and entirely voluntary team members through the process of filling in the details. The overall concept needs to gel inside one head. That leader can then filter content from the contributors.

But if you still need to find your guru, diplomacy and concept need to be tested. How the heck do you evaluate diplomacy? You could have a group of "leads", each piloting the pool of scenery-makers, and see what works. My god, the journey would be pyrrhic.

Easier to assume we already have a natural leader then. Someone with "vision", but also able to execute. Perhaps this thread just needs to brainstorm for a bit to help clarify RottenLuck's vision.

So I'll just to add to the brainstorm: Task Forces and Strike Forces have a specific meaning within the game. Putting one in AE could be slightly different - not least of all, because both heroes and villains can play it. War Witch is a particularly interesting choice, she's all about magic and 'the other side' (ghosty stuff). Not necessarily good or evil. So could this arc be Neutral? Task + Strike = Geneva Force? [This is a brainstorm, it is entirely disposable].

The ice skating pictures are gorgeous, and they're definitely the ones I'd like to have on my wall. And there's a lot of great humour among these pictures.

But I think I'll vote for my favorite of the Summer Olympic events and pick Frost. Uh, yeah, the one with the ice patch...

I just played this,

True, the mission introduction has four typos. But I only found one more in the entire remainder of the arc.

I enjoyed it. It's so new, I see how much it changed in a day, and I can see places to further tune the personalities and make them more intriguing. There's little room for character development in a single-mission arc, so interesting character snapshots are evolved by revealing intentions through objectives. Perhaps like a TV commercial that accomplishes a story inside 60 seconds. It's actually harder to make a story this way than with episodic missions, but I think you have a good setting and map to do it.

I couldn't find the last objective, but I am dreadful at finding glowies. Otherwise, it's a story evolving a lot with each rewrite. The author responds well to constructive criticism, so I recommend giving it a play. And if you're not entirely satisfied, hold your vote for a bit and see how it changes. The arc is Short.

Cheers, airhead

Congratulations Kupun!

I enjoyed your villainous arc very much. Your heroic arc must be even better to get a DC. Well done!

Hi Perfect Pain,

Typos toppled, in PM. Issues to do with grammar and context, rather than spelling. A spellchecker might not get you far.

I'd like to also point out how fun the arc was, but since it's all hush-hush I won't say a thing. Good luck with the arc!

Cheers, airhead

Hi Agent 717,

I ran into a problem in the second mission that meant I could not go further. I've posted more details in a PM; also a pile of suggestions for further polishing the first two missions.

I like the way you've written the contact. Unfortunately I didn't get far enough into the story to get a sense of where it was going yet.

Cheers, airhead

Infinity also can. But probably much less this year, nose to grindstone.

Perhaps even have farms accessible from some AE buildings, and other stories accessible from other AE buildings. Then players will more easily find team mates with similar interests. Any arc can be made anywhere, but the tag would define where the arc could be entered from.

Then the farm buildings could have rustic furniture, wheelbarrows and stuff.

I'd imagine, to be credible, you'd be solving some cockamamie plot, say, saving a hostage, when your super-intelligent contact chooses not to follow the obvious path to right the wrong done to the hostage, and instead goes all obsessive-compulsive about some detail - such as a rope knot that would not be expected from the hostage-takers.

Which leads to another conventional, yet utterly unrelated, mission that leads towards mission three - only the contact is not interested in the obvious next step, being more curious about the kind of plastic used to seal the ends of the villains' shoe laces.

Which leads to two more run-of-the-mill missions with utterly left-field conclusions.

Which ultimately leads to the last mission, where you burst in on Nemesis having breakfast. Of course, the evidence that got you to this point is circumstantial, so you simply join him for breakfast.

Of course, when you return, your super-smart contact observes that you haven't eaten...

Duh-duh-duh-dom.

It sure has been a while since I put a review in this thread directly. And so I defect back, with the in-theme arc:

Arc 351727, Hammer and Sickle of Paragon City, by @Tubbius

14 plays and 5-starred so far. 5 missions, but all small maps aside from one unique map. No defeat-all. Level 30-54. 5th Column and Crey. Looks like an easy play. After some mildly interesting entry-way massacres with my toon set equivalent to 8 heroes, I scale back to 2, with bosses. No AVs or EBs come with this arc. Crey Tanks can be pretty boring to solo at the top level, but allowing for bosses provides some Paragon Protectors.

The contact is "The Professor". He has an interesting profile. It sounds almost as though he is writing the story as we go along, a Gaiman-esque storyteller's story. Well, since it's a professor and not a novelist, perhaps a journal article. Unfortunately, I didn't see this sustained beyond the contact's description and the mission-send-off.

A quick and interesting introduction to Hammer and Sickle, and off I go to find them. They're AWOL. I found Hammer, after exploring most of the map. Somehow, I overlooked him, despite the map being very small. I didn't mind that at all, but the silence was deafening. Hammer's guards are the only ones who speak.

Hammer says that Toxin 'must pay for what he had done with my ally'. The Clue could explain this a little further My character would like to know more, to consider a suitable fate for Toxin. Perhaps there could also be a comment on why Hammer is here (it seems like he's searching for Sickle, but The Professor's intro seemed to suggest they came here together).
Hammer had an AI-driven habit of sitting back and watching. Since he's a boss, that's probably a good thing. But he probably needs to stay 'Boss' to be a credible hero.
I found a computer I can't use, so often the case with chained glowies. But in hindsight, I could have gathered the information within at any time. I find Toxin next, and beat him up. 'Sickle is mine', he says. Now I can go back to the computer.
I search the computer for information about Toxin. Not sure why I wasn't searching for information about Sickle. Sickle gets forgotten for a little while at this point. I would like to be reminded, if I'm not pursuing Sickle, then how might my alternate plan lead me to him.

In mission 2, Hammer clobbered Toxin. My goodie-goodie hero doesn't approve. Perhaps if I knew more about his crimes against Sickle, or others.
I found some "Chemical Warfare Files", but they sound more like "Biological Warfare Files", being frozen diseases. Within the Nuclear/Chemical/Biological array of WMDs.
I like the touch that I get to leave a lasting impression on Toxin's mind. But then I recover the ammo. From a person's memories. How exactly do I get to take them OUT of AE? At least I got to learn where Toxin got his powers. Umm... I'd be far more interested to know where Sickle is.
A random idea, since Toxin's been messed with, that last mission could be a bit more weird/psychedelic if a couple of Rularuu or other weirdness patrols the thoughts in his head.
Upon my return, The Professor doesn't specifically say that he analysed the ammo outside of Toxin's head, and 'interacting with memories didn't change a thing' (except that Toxin apparently now thinks I was responsible for what happened to him at Crey?). Perhaps that ammo in there could be something I just went to look at, not suggesting I collected it.

The next mission is called "Chemistry 101", perhaps it could be Biochemistry.
Now, I'm looking for "a list of chemicals" (send-off message) but I'm looking for A big barrel. So they're already mixed? Why use a list? The barrel turns out to be empty. But it still suggests it should contain "an assortment of toxic chemicals". Perhaps it would make more sense if the glowie was a group of barrels or gas cylinders.
Tovarisch works for 5th Column, has "unknown" ties to Hammer and Sickle. Unknown? So why mention them in his description? But hopefully Tov knows something about Sickle. Shouldn't that have been my goal inside Toxin's head?

Next mission. Sounds like I'm getting help from the Council - Pistola, "a former U.S. fighting machine, and one of Uncle Sam's finest". Perhaps "was one of Uncle Sam's", since he's now a merc for Council.
This mission has me... not looking for Sickle. I'm stopping a ship. Manuel is a cool contributor here, I like what you did with him. Perhaps his t-shirt under the jacket could use the Council logo, but that's optional, since he's freelance.

Finally, it seems I'm going to go after Sickle. I'm not sure why I knew he'd be at the end of all this. When I return from that mission, I am "Granted safe passage back to The Professor". Not sure why I need that, I'm a superhero.
"They've put her over this particular warehouse" -> "They've put her in charge of this particular warehouse" ?
I found another glowie that's not ready to glow yet. In this case, it makes a little more sense as I might not have known what I was looking at among those chemicals.
Hammer mostly hung back, as he was wont to do earlier. Then we got close to Sickle. Hammer ran off, around a corner, and finished Sickle off before I got to see him. Er, her. I think. I quickly find an antivenom, and perhaps that'll fix the maul-sized hole in her head.

Overall, it's definitely a heroic mission, although the objective seems to be confused, between Sickle and some Council operations. I think I'd feel more heroic if I had seen Sickle, but I don't blame you for Hammer's weird behaviour. I think it could run a lot more heroically, with some minor logic fixes and more empathy along the way for Sickle, just by making text changes. Hopefully the comments above help. It's an arc that plays well, with good characters, just needs a little more feeling. 5-star potential.

Cheers, airhead

Congratulations Bubbawheat! Just one of your many great achievements with the MA system.

But don't go slowin' down, none, y'hear

Congrats Minimalist, and best of luck getting your arc to be repeatable! Actually, not meaning to damn with faint praise. Your other arcs are brilliant, and I look forward to playing this one too. Do post here if you get a timeline on fixing any problems with the Grandville map!

Commiserations to anyone who might feel their arc did not get played, perhaps you also live somewhere that doesn't generate enough revenue to be considered a first-class citizen. Hopefully Dr. Aeon's next challenge will provide more paper trail to allay this concern for entrants. The competition is still a very good idea in theory, and I hope Dr. Aeon persists.

Congratulations on awards brilliantly run, Bubbawheat, and on the sticky and redname attention! I am really looking forward to your next forum competition.

Submitted already?