Armsman

NO.

The Unique/Crey Clone Lab map is history as of today.

Check the map settings on all your missions; as the Devs have removed at least one map that I know of the 'Unique\Crey Cloning Lab' (And that ticked me off as it worked well for my story; and I'm not all that happy with the map I had to chose to replace it and make my arc work again). But, instead of just giving an error; it will say no errors; but give you a default map from the list; and if that map is too small to contain what you placed; the arc won't republish or test after a save.

Also, if you have any Signature NPCs with their default Bios; many of those Bios are over the limit and you have to remove all that text until just the 'default' button remains; and then save/republish your arc to get Test/Republish to work; and you have to do that EVERY TIME you decide to make another change.

I REALLY wish the Devs would state WHICH maps they removed in the 'MA Changes' section. I don't need to know the reason they remove a given map; just that they did so, so I have a heads up as to whether anything I have up will be affected.

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I'm sorry, have you been tracking the global names of everyone that ran an Architect mission that you can levy such accusations, or just everyone that isn't some sort of intolerant Internet Puritan on the forums? And you obviously have read Matt Miller's mind, since you know what he considers abuse and no one else does.

He has called many, many things "farming", yet has never threatened to retroactively destroy the characters of people who went on demon farms, or TV farms or any other mission at all. So where's the line?

Where.

Is.

The.

Line?

You don't prance around threatening a "death penalty" to your customers based on unknown and unwritten criteria. You either put down in writing for the customer base to see what is and isn't acceptable and DEFINE YOUR TERMS, or you [censored] with the virtual "death threats" until you have those terms down.

To do otherwise is to be a playground bully and the height of unprofessional behavior. I would not be surprised to find out that Miller has disappeared because he's been called onto the carpet by his bosses.

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But the Devs can never explictly define what cionstitues a farm because, lets say they do say (and this is just a made up example):

Anything with:
----------------
20+ Collection Items
10+ Patrols
10+ Bosses
etc.

on a single map equals a farm.

What will happen? I can GUARENTEE you suddenly we'd see single maps witn EXACTLY:
----------------------
19 Collection Items
19 Patrols
9 Bosses
etc.

So, they're continuing to do what they have been doing for the past 3 weeks; using an automated app that automatically unpublishes any arc with the word 'farm' anywhere in the title or description; and any player reported farm missions are taken on a case by case basis via customer support and their GMs.

The Devs here really did break new ground as this is the first major MMO (yes I know some other very niche MMOs had it previously - but notjhing as easy to use as this is) with a built in editor for players to add their own content; so it's no wonder they're jumping in and trying to curtail what they see as major abuses before the more vocal among the playerbase can say: "Why did it take you so long to get to curtailing this?" EVERY post I14 patch has added restrictions to the MA - They have removed maps (my first Arc went invalid due to this; and I have had to chose another map that I honestly don't think works as well as my original choice did, and my Arc IS NOT a farm - in fact, I've received nothing but positive comments on my arc's plot; and it's noew back up); tightened the MA's text validation and outright stated it was to stop things players were doing by 'hand-editing' arc files in a test editor, etc.

Thus, I don't think anyone can claim that from day one of I14's live release, the Devs have been leaving the MA alone; they've CONSTANTLY been fixing exploits they see as harmful/abusive.

But again, you'll NEVER see a hard or specific definition of a 'Farm mission' from the Devs, because once they do that, all the farm creators will make missions with 'farm -1' number of objectives and say "I'm within your rules :P"

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I doubt its anything on your end. My computer has had the exact same issues that just started after I14, game worked flawlessly before that.

Something in I14 is causing these problems and they need to fix it.

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Funny, I have had NO crashes in CoX since I8. Guess that means it's fixed, right? My point, don't assume just because you are or are not having issues, that EVERYONE ELSE (or even a majority is experincing the same thing).

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Below the Contact, is there a couple of words that either say Stop Animation or Start Animation? If so, you may need to fiddle with this to straighten out how the Contact looks. I have Contacts, that, when you're in the process of picking your Contact, either of those 2 lines of Text shows up.

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All that the 'Start Animation' and 'Stop Animation' buttons do in the MA editor is give you a preview of what the animation you've chosen will look like on the Character in the mission you're making. It dosen't alter or set any flag as to how the selected animation plays in the actual mission itself.

As stated above, it's probably a MA bug (and there are still plenty)

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Hey guys and gals. Could you help me by answering this question for a project I'm working on?
Maybe a lot of people already answered this question but, when you're looking for or creating a story arc would you rather go for farming missions that has no story and give good XP or do you go for an Arc that has a good entertaining story and average XP? Why?

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Story, first, foremost, and always.

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Title:Is it Live or is it Memory-X?
--------------------------------------
Story Arc ID: 70210
Author’s Global Chat Handle: @Armsman
Length: Very Long (5 missions)
Alignment: Heroic
Type: Story-Focused
Groups: 5th Column, Crey, Custom Group
Has: Bosses; AV (Scales to EB based on team size/difficulty setting).

Story Description: The 5th Column is building a device to control the world. Can you save the world from TOTAL DOMINATION?! (Hey it worked to get my Villians and Vigilantes pen and paper RPG group interested back in the day.)

Designer Notes: The Arc can actually be soloed by most Scrapper (Level 50 MA/SR), Tank (Level 41 SS/INV) and MasterMind (Level 39 Robot/Traps) builds. My level 41 Gravity/Force Field Controller made it through mission 3 solo with no issues, but starting getting defeats in mission 4; so if you’re a support class or a blaster, you probably need a team-mate. This arc is actually based on an adventure I ran players through in the “Villians & Vigilantes” pen and paper RPG a number of years back. I was surprised at how much of the original ‘flavor’ I was able to keep in adapting it to fit in the CoX universe. There was only really one element I couldn’t include due to MA limitations.

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To start with, I think you should be classifying this as a "Task Force" - it felt long enough to qualify, with its map sizes and chaining objectives in each mission adding to the length. If you want it more of a story arc than a task force feel, you might want to reduce the map sizes or objectives.

Text issues: You have way too many ; throughout your mission text. Almost all of them can be replaced just with ,'s. I personally don't like the coloring of keywords, but you kept it consistent so that's a matter of style preference. Not in the mission dialogue, but the "Wolfpack robot" enemy should have "robot" be capitalized to match other enemies.

Three things on the first mission: The possibility of the boss escaping was unexpected, and I actually failed the first time because he just snuck out. If a mission can be failed by that, it should probably be mentioned. Second, the boss' unaware dialogue sounded more rikti than a computer, with the way you did your phrasing. Its combat and death phrases were much better. Finally, its fail dialogue references a flash drive, but its success doesn't - it seems like the success should mention finding it as well.

In the second mission intro you have the line, "The data indicates they" and you probably want to replace they with "the 5th column" because they haven't been named yet in that paragraph.

The 3rd mission intro still says "(Part 2)"

Finally, the constant chaining and shifting of objectives was disorienting (On all missions), and I often didn't figure out until later what was going on or why it happened. The AV in 4 was especially confusing, as there was no direct mention of it in the followup text or anything and there should have been something -- I figured out what was going on with it, but it seemed really odd to me that nobody talked directly about it.

Overall, it's well done, but felt really long and a bit confusing to me on the objective shifts. Most of that is just style preferences for me, the dialogue shifts that you might be able to do to help make the event causes clearer should just need minor reworks of things and not total overhauls.

Edit: A final note. In the later missions with multiple bosses (Especially mission 4, I think) you have a lot of dialogue that occurs on activation. Since every copy of the boss says this, it gets pretty spammy -- you might consider splitting them into single enemies with duplicate names for talking so most are silent, or just removing that initial dialogue. Or you could just leave it if you're fine with it, that was just one last thing I thought of that had seemed a bit unusual.

------------------------------------------------

Now, I have an arc for people to take a look at

Vectors of Infection
Arc ID: 141338
Faction: Custom
Creator Global: Binary10
Difficulty: Medium, the last two missions each have an AV but allies are provided to assist.
Morality: Heroic
Description: A plague has broken out that is turning people into zombies! Nobody can figure out how it's being transmitted to new cases, and the situation is growing desperate as the infection count rises.
Duration: 5 missions, about an hour of play.

The arc is meant to tell a story more than to be a real challenge, and as long as your character is decently effective the provided allies will pull you through the tougher fights.

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Thanks very much for the review. As for an AV in mission 4 - It's probably due to the size of your Team and difficulty setting, because the only place the AV is specifically called to appear is Mission 5. I did read about the trick of seperating out the AV's so they won't accidentily appear; but when I tried that in first designing the mission, it put me over the size limit in a major way, so I had to keep the AV in the main group; but if you're willing and can rember your Team make up and difficulty settings; I'd like to know as I will probably be redoing the custom group a bit once the current build on the Test server goes live; but I would also like to see if I can tweak anything else to be certain that the AV doesn't appear prior to Mission 5.

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If possible, I'd love some feedback on a mission.

Rise and Fall of the Iron General
Arc ID: 142200
Faction: Custom Enemy
Creator Global Name: @fra diavlo
Difficulty Level: Soloable
Morality: Heroic
Description: Arachnos has recently developed a new faction, the Arachnos Robotics Corps, under the command of the archvillain known as the Iron General.
Mission Count: 4

Thanks

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Ran this with my Level 39 Robot/Traps mastermind (Yes, I realize it's 'Heroic'; but hey, my Villians need Exp too - so he 'crossed over' to do this one 'good deed'. )

Technical Side:
-----------------
The Custom Group was nice/well done; and all members had custom 'bio' info entered for them.

I thought the Map selections also fit well.

I honestly thought the 'final fight' of Mission 3 The fight was VERY easy (imo); I was surprised when the mission completed and had to scroll back over my chat window to notice I had both observed anbd defeated the 'Mystery Supplier'.

I also caught some typos (but I don't downgrade unless stuff like this is rampant in the mission - but it wasn't):

Mission 4 Final Objective: Investigate Computer - There's a typo on the text from the resulting Ambush NPCs:

"Lancer Surgeon: We can't let them escape with those fil"
'fil' = files?

Misson 4 General Defeated clue entitled: Just An Automation - The Iron General was not a cyborg like he appeared to be, but actua;;y (I assume 'actually' was what you meant?) a Nemesis automaton- 100 (did you mean 100%) pure robot.

End of Technical portion.

Story and Presentation (and this is ALL my own opinion, so keep that in mind as I AM NOT trying to tell you how or what to write, just what stood out to me):
-----------------------------------------
Overall the plot isn't bad; nothing that really stood out, but this is a comic book MMO and this was definitely your average comic book type story. In a nutshell:

A new faction of Arachnos has aeisen and has broken away from Lord Recluse. The leader of this new faction is named "The Iron General" and Longbow needs you to rescue one of their operatives who went in to find out about this new group. As the story progresses, you discover the new group is being supplied by Lord Nemesis; and while the bio for the "Iron General" says he was built by Arachnos to infiltrate the Lord Nemesis grou; in the end, it turns out to be A Nemesis Plot(tm); and the "Iron General" was in fact constructed by Lord Memesis to infiltrate the Arachnos group.

I did have some issues with the Mission Contact dialog as presented:

The Accept Mission text for Mission 3 reads: "Crash the Meeting"; yet no meeting is mentioned yet by the contact in the on screen text until AFTER the mission is accepted by the player. The autjhor might consider some mention of this meeting one the firdst screen, and then go into a little more detail on the second screen.

End of Mission 3 - No mention of me capturing a/the Nemesis Agent until I spoke with the Contact. It is in the mentioned in the end of mission clue; but might want to have it also stated in the 'defeat' text for the MOB inside the mission; and/or mention in the text somewhere that you want the supplier capture if possible, etc. Basically, it wasn't very clear that I had actually bothered to capture and drag the guy back to Longbow to be interrogated; as opposed to just defeating him 'normally'.

Mission 4 start - The entire mission text for the Longbow Contact offering you the mission reads: "Facing the Spider" with the accept text stating 'Stop the General'. Once the mission is accepted you then get a mission briefing of sorts and also get told that the Longbow Techs were able to get things from the Nemesis automation's memory (something that the Clue from the end of mission 3 already states.

The author might want to consider reworking that a bit so that the player at least feels tne contact wants to tell him something about the final mission before the player accepts it.

Final Comments:
-------------------
Again, the overall plot/story presented isn't bad (although I personally am not a bit fan of the It's All A Nemesis Polt plot twist myself (imo very cliche within CoX itself); but the plot is definitely servicable and the Custom group fits what the author is presenting. I do have a issues with how the story is present (Contact Text and Clue wise for the 3rd and 4th missions); but if that were cleaned up a bit; I'd be inclined to rate this one a bit higher.

But, my overall rating as the Arc stands now: ** (2 stars)

So, with a review done; I submit my own MA Arc for review; and honestly welcome any and all comment/critique on it from those who are willing:

Title:Is it Live or is it Memory-X?
--------------------------------------
Story Arc ID: 70210
Author’s Global Chat Handle: @Armsman
Length: Very Long (5 missions)
Alignment: Heroic
Type: Story-Focused
Groups: 5th Column, Crey, Custom Group
Has: Bosses; AV (Scales to EB based on team size/difficulty setting).

Story Description: The 5th Column is building a device to control the world. Can you save the world from TOTAL DOMINATION?! (Hey it worked to get my Villians and Vigilantes pen and paper RPG group interested back in the day.)

Designer Notes: The Arc can actually be soloed by most Scrapper (Level 50 MA/SR), Tank (Level 41 SS/INV) and MasterMind (Level 39 Robot/Traps) builds. My level 41 Gravity/Force Field Controller made it through mission 3 solo with no issues, but starting getting defeats in mission 4; so if you’re a support class or a blaster, you probably need a team-mate. This arc is actually based on an adventure I ran players through in the “Villians & Vigilantes” pen and paper RPG a number of years back. I was surprised at how much of the original ‘flavor’ I was able to keep in adapting it to fit in the CoX universe. There was only really one element I couldn’t include due to MA limitations.

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Arc #70210: Is it Live or is it Memory-X?
Rating: 3 stars
The short of it: Decent plot with a few issues, annoying custom enemies, problems with mission design

Plot Overview

The 5th Column are robbing a bank, and Citadel has asked you to stop them. You arrive on the scene and dispatch the soldiers, who are being led by a Wolfpack Mk II robot. One of the guards drops an encrypted 10 GB flash drive. (Yes, it's that specific) Citadel is unable to fully decrypt it, but from what he was able to extract from it, he is able to discern that the 5th Column are attempting to build a new highly advanced AI system called Memory-X, and the flash drive contains the schematics for it. Your next goal is to go to a Crey computer research lab, where an experimental AI is being developed. The 5th Column are going to strike there next, and it is your mission to destroy the AI before they can steal it, and obtain a copy of some decryption firmware that is being developed at the lab. After fighting through both Crey and 5th Column forces, you manage to find the firmware and destroy the mainframe. Upon decrypting the flash drive fully, Citadel discovers that apparently the 5th Column has already built Memory-X but lost it, and is now trying to build another one to find and correct the problems with the first one.

With scans made by Positron, Citadel is able to direct you towards an abandoned lab which may contain clues to Memory-X. When you arrive, you find that the lab is not abandoned, and in fact is crawling with 5th Column forces. You're able to find the data that you came for, and surprisingly, you find Citadel being held captive by robots within the base. Citadel claims that he hasn't sent you on any of your previous missions. As it turns out, the previous Citadel was a fake. Memory-X had kidnapped Citadel and replaced him with a replica version as part of its plan. The real Citadel is able to discern from the data you collected that Memory-X's purpose was to create replicas of all of the world leaders to bring the world under complete 5th Column control. However, the AI has rebelled against its masters and is now working towards its own ends. After scanning for the energy signatures of the battle droids that you encountered in the lab, Citadel pinpoints some of the robots at a new Portal Corp. Facility, and asks you to check it out while he consults with Statesman. He gives you a bio-scanner designed to pick up life-signs so you can find if there are any hostages inside. When inside, you find the President of the United States and Statesman captured by the robots. The robots are preparing to teleport them to a facility where they will be replicated, and upon learning of your intrusion attempt to destroy the mainframe which houses the co-ordinates. You successfully prevent that from happening, and rescue the hostages. However, it turns out (not surprisingly) that Statesman is a replica.

Memory-X's base is located underground on the moon, and Portal Corp. is capable of teleporting you there. Citadel says that he has found a reliable way of determining who is real and who is a replica, and the Freedom Phalanx will sort out the world leaders who have been kidnapped and not with the help of the United Nations while you go to the moon base. On the moon base, you rescue the hostages that Memory-X has held there, including Back Alley Brawler. With his help, you destroy the mainframes that house Memory-X, and the Master Builder droid that he downloaded himself to, ending its threat. Upon your return to Earth, Citadel informs you that the Freedom Phalanx was able to find the world leader replicas and destroy them, and thanks you for saving the world.

Mechanics

The first mission is on a 15 minute timer, and the contact doesn't tell you that until after you accept the mission. Bad move, made even worse by the really short timer. The specific amount of time isn't a big issue, as it's a really small CoV heist map. However, how small the map is an issue, as the final boss runs at low life, and if you don't have knockback resistance, the amount of KB that higher level 5th Column have will ensure that he escapes. The mission is a defeat all, but that's not a huge deal considering how small the map is.

In the next mission, you have Crey and 5th Column facing off, and it looks like the 5th Column are the main enemy with Crey on Rogue. However, it looks like the author made a couple mistakes with the details, because I would often see groups of Crey killing each other. There are too many fake computers in addition to the real one. Finding the right glowie in this mission is a major pain. The map is also the Crey cloning lab, which doesn't make sense considering the story. The lab is supposed to be developing software, not bio-engineering humans.

The third mission takes place on an abandoned tech map, and you have to find 4 computers in a sea of fake ones. It's not as bad as the first mission, but still annoying. Citadel spawns after you find the 4 correct ones, and he spawns as the AV version instead of the Pet version. I would switch him to the pet one. This map is also a defeat all, but here it's much more of a big deal considering that the map is a larger size. After you rescue Citadel, patrols of 5th column spawn, meaning you have to hunt all of them down in the random areas they pop up at. Considering that this mission is an escort, the defeat all can just be taken out. Even if you stealth the glowies you're going to have to fight things as you haul Citadel back anyhow.

The fourth mission uses a portal corp map, not really any problems with the map itself. Really, the only two problems with this mission that I can think of involve the President. First, he's not set to non-combat, but is a person, meaning that he'll run into fights and begin brawling people. He should be set to non-combat. Also, right after killing his captors, the defend object appears. Based on the clue you get when you return him to the door, it sounds like it should spawn after you haul him to the door.

The 5th mission takes place in one of the Rikti Caves, a pretty big one. I didn't really have a problem with the size, as it was the last mission. In my opinion, your last mission has the freedom to be rather large. However, there are far too many non-essential boss spawns, and the bosses themselves are really annoying. Even if you decide to grab Back Alley Brawler (he's non essential to the mission) he doesn't help much as the bosses are all masterminds who summon 5 robots, meaning BABs will inevitably start beating up a protector bot or something.

The custom group has a few problems. The aforementioned bosses are a bit too much. Bots/Devices, with what appears to be hard/standard. My scrapper had no issues with them, really, but my all-human peacebringer was having major problems. First, they'd immobilize him, and plus the protector bots would just wreak total havoc on him with their forcefields, seeker drones, and stuns. A squishier character is going to have major problems with these guys. The LTs just plain have too many powers. One of them is Forcefield/Energy Blast. The energy blast is definitely on hard, as they have energy torrent, but I'm not sure what the Forcefield is on. Regardless, they have force bolt, dispersion bubble, and aid self. On my peacebringer it was just constant knockback, and I couldn't even hold them to stop it due to the dispersion bubble. The other LTs are Axe/Elec Armor, axe is on hard, not sure of the elec armor. I will tell you however that they were annoying as all hell to kill, even on my scrapper. My peacebringer eventually just skipped all of these whenever he could, because since he only uses energy it was like fighting someone with unstoppable running constantly. Lastly, one of the minions uses Electric Blast/Electric Manipulation. The end drain from these minions was incredibly brutal, thanks to the custom critters using the same power effects that players do, and the fast recharge of charged bolts and electric fence. Even with conserve power on, my Peacebringer's end was floored practically the whole time.

Story

The overall plot is a decent one, but it has issues. First off, in the first two missions Citadel says that he was built by the 5th Column and that they will take control of him if he goes with you. I really hope this is foreshadowing the fact that he is the fake Citadel that was created by Memory-X, because Citadel wasn't created by the 5th Column. Another issue is that the plot, while it makes sense, is pretty hard to follow. After playing through it with 2 separate characters, I had to run through part of it a third time when I sat down to write the plot overview and drew a complete blank as to how the transition between the plot of the first three missions went. After playing it again, it made sense, but barely. Things need to be made clearer. Also, a minor nitpick, but the Flame Protector that spawns claims that he has a powersuit, when Flame Protectors have demon faces under their helmets. After they use a certain power their demon heads are visible. If you really do want him to be someone in a power suit, there is a Paragon Protector Elite that uses fire powers that you could use instead.

Final Thoughts

With some improvements, this arc could be turned into a pretty good one. The plot isn't a bad one, just hard to follow at places. The custom enemy group does need work, however.

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Thanks again very much for the review. I just thought I would mention that I have made some changes/updates based on two reviews (including this one); and a few other comments I received from players kind enough to send them:

Mission 1:
-----------
Redid a portion of the Contact's (Citadel's) text so that it is in line with the CoH in-game lore for the Citadel; (specifically the '5th Column' version of the old Bastion/Citadel Task Force before that Task Force was retconned and changed to use 'The Council').

Mission 2:
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Cut down on the 'sea' (a term used by more than one commentor and reviewer ) of false glowie 'Computer Terminals'; making it (I hope) easier to find the one you need to complete the mission requirements.

Mission 3:
-----------
COMPLETELY REMOVED the 'Defeat All' mission requirement from this mission.

Mission 4:
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Changed the text for the Navigation Bar mission objectives display to more clearly state what the mission objectives are in the mission; and also changed the success description text in the mission to more clearly state was was done by the player; as well as the resulting Clue text..

I'm also considering making changes to the custom group I created (althogh the comments to date are 80% positive to 20% negative about the 'level of challenge' they give those running my arc); but I'm going to wait until after the build currently on the Training Room server goes live before maiking a final decision on this.

So thanks again, LaserJesus; the review was very helpful (and also balanced/fair IMO); and I'm still looking for feedback from those willing to give it (15 people have rated it so far and it remains at four stars overall ).

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I'd like to offer my arc up for a review when you have a chance (and I'm sure you're now utterly swamped) as I'm looking for feedback (only had 3 plays so far as of yesterday; and two comments - one for a spelling error I had missed, now fixed; and another who said she liked it a lot and found it fun).

Title: Is it Live or is it Memory-X
-------------------------------------

Story Arc ID: 70210
Author’s Global Chat Handle: @Armsman
Length: Very Long (5 missions)
Alignment: Heroic

Story Description: The 5th Column is building a device to control the world. Can you save the world from TOTAL DOMINATION?! (Hey it worked to get my Villians and Vigilantes pen and paper RPG group interested back in the day.)

Designer Notes: The Arc can actually be soloed by most Scrapper, Tank and MasterMind builds. In testing, my Gravity/Force Field Controller made it through mission 3 solo with no issues, but starting getting defeats in mission 4; so if you’re a support class or a blaster, you probably need a team-mate. This arc is actually based on an adventure I ran players through in the “Villians & Vigilantes” pen and paper RPG a number of years back. I was surprised at how much of the original ‘flavor’ I was able to keep in adapting it to fit in the CoX universe. There was only really one element I couldn’t include due to MA limitations.

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Running this with a Level 50 Katana/Regen Scrapper.

Mission 1: Citadel tells us this is a 5th column mission and it is a 15 minute timed one, but that is fine since it is a bank map. Fairly straight-forward kill-all mission on a tiny map. We obtained a flash drive and Citadel will decode it.

Mission 2: We find out from Citadel what big plans the 5th have: creating some type of AI. Mission 2 sends us to a Crey lab to destroy some parts and get a decryption device so we can read everything on the flash drive from mission 1. The mission has 2 objectives: destroy an item and click an item. there is also a battle between Crey and the 5th. At level 50, Crey wins in a landslide. This mission wins the award for Most False Glowies used in a mission. I must have clicked on 30 computers that didn't have the information I needed. And of course, when I get to the end of the map (large Crey Tech) it turns out I missed one, so I have to retrace my steps all the way back. Perhaps I am nitpicking, but way too many fake computers.

Mission 3: We found out the 5th have completed the AI but have lost it apparently. We are sent to an old warehouse to find some clues. The mission was a little rough...it is a defeat all for no apparent reason. The clue says Citadel is held in this warehouse, but he doesn't spawn until you collect all 4 glowies. Luckily, he was easy to find after he spawned. He said he doesn't know me...could this be a Citadel clone?? He needs to be led out, not sure why he can't make it on his own. I don't know if all the patrols spawned after Citadel spawned or if I missed them going through the mission, but patrols on a defeat all are harsh, and beyond harsh if they spawn after you have already gone through the map.

We see your custom group in this mission and they look incredibly great!

Mission 4: Story is starting to get very convoluted. Citadel doesn't remember sending me on the other missions, but he knows enough about what is happening to know about this AI and that the 5th are going to replicate heroes and world leaders. He sends us off to find info on the custom group. I have mixed feelings on this mission. On one hand, the custom group is so great and very fun to fight. On the other hand, you have to rescue 2 hostages, Statesman and the POTUS and they need to be led back to the door (but the mission objectives don't actually tell you this). Also, after you rescue them a new objective spawns. The story is losing its strength at this point too.

On an amusing note, Statesman and The POTUS fight each after you lead them back to the door. Statesman also takes some shots at me too.

Mission 5: We are being sent to the moon to disassemble The AI. The whole story just started getting a little too far-fetched for me around the end of mission 3. In the mission you have to destroy parts of the AI and rescue hostages.

Overall this one started out strong, but started to fizzle with the not so friendly mission objectives and mission design as well as the story fizzling out. It wasn't bad by any means and I am torn between a 3 and a 4...I ended up giving it a 3 because I just didn't find enough of the missions to be fun. 5 stars on the custom group though. Their look and their abilities were perfect.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks very much for the review. I just thought I would mention that I have made some changes/updates based on two reviews (including this one); and a few other comments I received from player kind enough to send them:

Mission 1:
-----------
Redid a portion of the Contact's (Citadel's) text so that it is in line with the CoH in-game lore for the Citadel; (specifically the '5th Column' version of the old Bastion/Citadel Task Force before that Task Force was retconned and changed to use 'The Council').

Mission 2:
-----------
Cut down on the 'sea' (a term used by more than one commentor and reviewer) of false glowie 'Computer Terminals'; making it (I hope) easier to find the one you need to complete the mission requirements.

Mission 3:
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COMPLETELY REMOVED the 'Defeat All' mission requirement from this mission.

Mission 4:
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Changed the text for the Navigation Bar mission objectives display to more clearly state what the mission objectives are in the mission; and also changed the success description text in the mission to more clearly state was was done by the player; and redid the text on the resulting Clues the mission gives at the end.

I'm also considering making changes to the custom group I created (althogh the comments to date are 80% positive to 20% negative about the 'level of challenge' they give those running my arc); but I'm going to wait until after the build currently on the Training Room server goes live before maiking a final decision on this.

So thanks again, Beach_Lifeguard; your review was very helpful (and balanced/fair); and I'm still looking for feedback from those willing to give it (15 people have rated it so far and it remains at four stars overall ).

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I got myself a new PC today. Brand new package deal, comes with everything, including an ACTUAL sound card, which is something I'd been missing for years. You'd think this would be a great thing, a massive step up from the motherboard audio card I had before. Well, either I have NO idea what I'm doing, or something is seriously wrong here, because my sound quality has actually gone DOWN. Let me explain.

Before, I had some kind of Realtek on-board audio card that came with its own controller and a set of pretty simplistic controls, but the sound was relatively good and 3D surround sound was accurate. I run a 5.1 speaker setup, so it's easy to tell. However, my new PC came with a Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio card, and as soon as I ran it, I remembered an age-old problem I've had with Creative audio cards - their stereo is front-loaded. Back in the old days of Half-Life 2, I had to be facing Dr. Kleiner directly, or I would barely here him speak, and as soon as I turned my back on him, I'd hear nothing. With Realtek, this wasn't the case. With X-Fi, it once again is.

I tested this with a Portal Corp portal in City of Heroes. I trust we all know how annoyingly loud they are - you can hear them as far away as the the corridor. However, when I went right up to the portal and turned around, I lost ALL sound coming from it. All I could hear was the ambient rumbling which I'm pretty sure is either omnipresent or coming from the centre of the room. Bad.

Now, City of Heroes has a really weird take on 3D sound, using some kind of muting and dumbing effect on sounds not coming from dead centre, and turning this off removes ALL stereo and surround, so I've had to keep it on. I've additionally activated some weird options on X-Fi that I've never heard about before, called "X-Fi CMSS-3D" and "X-Fi Crystalizer" and that seems to have taken care of SOME of the oddities, but... Not all. The 3D thingy, when activated, does allow me to hear things "behind" my camera better, but still more muted and I'm pretty sure it does NOT allow me to hear things right directly behind me, as I'm unable to hear the "whoosh" you get when, say, switching from Hover to Fly. And whatever that Crystalizer did, I'm still missing most of the "punch" in my punches, specifically Energy Melee, that I used to have before. With Realek, they sounded like slaps. With X-Fi, they sound like parade drums.

I'm really not sure what I'm doing wrong and I'm not even sure things are wrong now, as I may have been hearing wrong before. I've no way to test it, however, as the Creative console has no means to test surround other than having a cute female voice narrate my channels. The Realtek control centre had this test where I could move a buzzing ball around my "head" in 3D and would play audio accordingly, letting me test my surround thoroughly, but Creative does not have that, and I'm completely unable to find a programme to do that on the 'net. If anyone knows of a good programme to do that, or at least a good way to test it that doesn't consist of "just play some Doulby Surround DVD," I would be very thankful.

In general, though, if anyone has any idea how I can set this... This THING up so that it plays proper surround with the correct sounds, I would really appreciate it. The thing is, I'm not sure what settings my Realtek setup had before, and it may very well have imposed some heavy filters I had no control over, so any help at all is appreciated.

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Yes, I know they're listed on the CoH website; but (imo) X-FI cards suck the big one when it comes to CoX. You may want to DL the latested X-Fi drivers (and be SURE you get the right ones as there are plenty of types of X-Fi cards, and the X-Fi drivers aren't unified, so you need to be sure you have the right one for your X-Fi card type.

Up until the latest X-Fi drivers on mine (the 'Extreme Music' version); I couldn't play ANY MMO (CoH, WoW, etc.) for more than an hour before I'd get the high pitched 'whine of death' (just a high pitched screech from the card - didn't crash the PC or the game, just rattled my teeth. Creative TRIED to claim this was a motherboard issue with ALL NVidia based MBs UNTIL people running AESUS, Trend-Micro abnd a variety of other MBs reported the same behavior. But, after over 18 months; it looks like they finally had a driver that fixed the issue.

There WAS a time when Creative was the 'king of sound'; their drivers worked, and they were compatible with everything; but that stopped and they started going downhill when teh SB Live! line was introduced. I know I'll now NEVER get another Craetive soundcard for future PCs I build.

You know, I'm all for promotion, but come on:

From Positron's 5th anniversary address:
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Speaking of Issues, I know you are chomping at the bit for any news on Issue 15. Well, I can give you the title: Anniversary. The plan is to get it on the Training Room very soon. As part of our gift to you, we are going to give ALL accounts access to the closed beta portion of the testing! That's right; EVERYONE gets into the closed beta!

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Um, if everyone has access to the closed beta; wouldn't that just make it a normal open beta?

(And BTW until issue 9 - with the notable exception of the CoV expansion testing prior to issue 6; there was NO SUCH THING as a closed beta for issues on the Training Room server); but sheesh - to say "Everyone gets access to the closed beta." is kind of a contradiction interms here.

Three of the five comments (and one full detailed review) I received on my arc to date, state I should 'tone down' my custom group They all stated they were able to finish but that the custom group was overly powerful and a bit more of a challenge then they wanted. I've been debating on how or if I should tone down the group as the other two who commented, loved fighting my custom Villian group. I didn't do any large group testing, so if your group is willing; I'd love some feedback from a group.

With that said:

Title: Is it Live or is it Memory-X
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Story Arc ID: 70210
Author’s Global Chat Handle: @Armsman
Length: Very Long (5 missions)
Alignment: Heroic

Story Description: The 5th Column is building a device to control the world. Can you save the world from TOTAL DOMINATION?! (Hey it worked to get my Villians and Vigilantes pen and paper RPG group interested back in the day.)

Designer Notes: The Arc can actually be soloed by most Scrapper (Level 50 MA/SR), Tank (Level 41 SS/INV) and MasterMind (Level 39 Robot/Traps) builds. My level 41 Gravity/Force Field Controller made it through mission 3 solo with no issues, but starting getting defeats in mission 4; so if you’re a support class or a blaster, you probably need a team-mate. This arc is actually based on an adventure I ran players through in the “Villians & Vigilantes” pen and paper RPG a number of years back. I was surprised at how much of the original ‘flavor’ I was able to keep in adapting it to fit in the CoX universe. There was only really one element I couldn’t include due to MA limitations.

My Arc (in my Sig) can be soloed by Scrappers, Tanks, Brutes, Brutes, Masterminds within the level range 35-50.

Controller and Defenders (and other support types) should be able to solo through Misson 3; or duo the whole thing.

All testing with regard to the above was done on the Unyielding difficulty setting; if you go lower support classes might be able to solo it. From the end of mission 3; you also have one Ally to assist per mission.

Like it was stated above, it's hard to just issue a blanket 'yes' or 'no' without at least knowing the AT and Pri/Sec power setup of the character wanting to attempt a given MA arc.

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What do I set it for an Intel Celeron D processor and an nVidia Geforce FX 5500?

Is there a Nintendo 64 level graphics setting?

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Sorry, but for that combo - Safe Mode. I was using a FX5500 during CoH CLOSED beta 5 years ago (and the graphics engine and other parts of the gam have seen signifigant upgrades that now require more horsepower for anything aboove the absolute minimum settings); and it barely did the job then.

^^^
Thanks again Laser, that actually does help (as I want to look over the clues and see if I can weave them together a bit better); as to Citadel, I now have to see if there's any old CoH site with his original 'lore'; since I honestly thought (and I could very well have a bad memory) that in his original discription, he had been developed as 'soldier' for the 5th Column, but encountered/fought or someone in the FP and was self-aware enough to decide he didn't want to be a pawn of the 5th Column any longer, left and became a Hero. Either way, I did want to try and remain 'faithful' to the original characters origin, so I have some lore hunting to do.

Thanks very much for the review, It's the type of feedback I was looking for, and appreciate it.

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Arc #70210: Is it Live or is it Memory-X?
Rating: 3 stars
The short of it: Decent plot with a few issues, annoying custom enemies, problems with mission design

Plot Overview

The 5th Column are robbing a bank, and Citadel has asked you to stop them. You arrive on the scene and dispatch the soldiers, who are being led by a Wolfpack Mk II robot. One of the guards drops an encrypted 10 GB flash drive. (Yes, it's that specific) Citadel is unable to fully decrypt it, but from what he was able to extract from it, he is able to discern that the 5th Column are attempting to build a new highly advanced AI system called Memory-X, and the flash drive contains the schematics for it. Your next goal is to go to a Crey computer research lab, where an experimental AI is being developed. The 5th Column are going to strike there next, and it is your mission to destroy the AI before they can steal it, and obtain a copy of some decryption firmware that is being developed at the lab. After fighting through both Crey and 5th Column forces, you manage to find the firmware and destroy the mainframe. Upon decrypting the flash drive fully, Citadel discovers that apparently the 5th Column has already built Memory-X but lost it, and is now trying to build another one to find and correct the problems with the first one.

With scans made by Positron, Citadel is able to direct you towards an abandoned lab which may contain clues to Memory-X. When you arrive, you find that the lab is not abandoned, and in fact is crawling with 5th Column forces. You're able to find the data that you came for, and surprisingly, you find Citadel being held captive by robots within the base. Citadel claims that he hasn't sent you on any of your previous missions. As it turns out, the previous Citadel was a fake. Memory-X had kidnapped Citadel and replaced him with a replica version as part of its plan. The real Citadel is able to discern from the data you collected that Memory-X's purpose was to create replicas of all of the world leaders to bring the world under complete 5th Column control. However, the AI has rebelled against its masters and is now working towards its own ends. After scanning for the energy signatures of the battle droids that you encountered in the lab, Citadel pinpoints some of the robots at a new Portal Corp. Facility, and asks you to check it out while he consults with Statesman. He gives you a bio-scanner designed to pick up life-signs so you can find if there are any hostages inside. When inside, you find the President of the United States and Statesman captured by the robots. The robots are preparing to teleport them to a facility where they will be replicated, and upon learning of your intrusion attempt to destroy the mainframe which houses the co-ordinates. You successfully prevent that from happening, and rescue the hostages. However, it turns out (not surprisingly) that Statesman is a replica.

Memory-X's base is located underground on the moon, and Portal Corp. is capable of teleporting you there. Citadel says that he has found a reliable way of determining who is real and who is a replica, and the Freedom Phalanx will sort out the world leaders who have been kidnapped and not with the help of the United Nations while you go to the moon base. On the moon base, you rescue the hostages that Memory-X has held there, including Back Alley Brawler. With his help, you destroy the mainframes that house Memory-X, and the Master Builder droid that he downloaded himself to, ending its threat. Upon your return to Earth, Citadel informs you that the Freedom Phalanx was able to find the world leader replicas and destroy them, and thanks you for saving the world.

Mechanics

The first mission is on a 15 minute timer, and the contact doesn't tell you that until after you accept the mission. Bad move, made even worse by the really short timer. The specific amount of time isn't a big issue, as it's a really small CoV heist map. However, how small the map is an issue, as the final boss runs at low life, and if you don't have knockback resistance, the amount of KB that higher level 5th Column have will ensure that he escapes. The mission is a defeat all, but that's not a huge deal considering how small the map is.

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That was something I was mulling over in the mission design (whether to state it was timed in the opening contact text, or wait until after the mission was accepted and opted for the latter because I felt it 'ramped up' the drama to have it sprung on the player - and if you really do hate timed missions, you can always drop; and if they're reading the details before selecting the Arc itself (something I always do anyway, but other folks may not); it shows the first map is timed). So, this was a deliberate choice on my part; but I completely understand why folks may not feel it's a good one. As to the shorter time limit; if there was any 'travel time' involved, I might up it to 30 min.; but here I wanted to convey a sense of urgency; and honestly, I think there's no problems with the possibility of a 'Hero' sometime actually failing (and on the missions where failure is possible; I've still written te resulting contact text in such a way that the story and mission continues logically; and doesn't 'beat up the PC' as it were just because there was a 'road bump' of sorts. The story and missions go on, and as long as you complete the final mission, you win/save the world. Personally, I wish we had the ability (and hell the regular missions the Devs create) to ALLOW for actual branching so you could send someone down a slightly different path if they happen to fumble a bit; as always 'winning' at everything gets boring (imo). But I tried to include failure as an option, but thagin, that's me.

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In the next mission, you have Crey and 5th Column facing off, and it looks like the 5th Column are the main enemy with Crey on Rogue. However, it looks like the author made a couple mistakes with the details, because I would often see groups of Crey killing each other. There are too many fake computers in addition to the real one. Finding the right glowie in this mission is a major pain. The map is also the Crey cloning lab, which doesn't make sense considering the story. The lab is supposed to be developing software, not bio-engineering humans.

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I chose the map because I liked the overall layout (it's one I hadn't seen used a lot); and I did like the layout in the final room, where the last objective always spawns; and it's Crey, and a new research facility; and since Crey always need their Paragon Protectors; any Crey research facility would have Clone tanks no matter what they were working on. As to the number of fake Glowies, cutting them back is probably a good idea as of the comments I've received from the few folks who have bothered to send any, it's also an issue they've mentioned.

As for the Crey sometimes attacking each other, it happens if one of my Crey Patrols encounters one of the Crey/5th Column Combats. I think it may be an MA bug because I have checked the faction settings and neither the Patrols nor the Battle Groups are set as Rogue; but if I can figure out what's causing it, I'd definitely like to correct it.

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The third mission takes place on an abandoned tech map, and you have to find 4 computers in a sea of fake ones. It's not as bad as the first mission, but still annoying. Citadel spawns after you find the 4 correct ones, and he spawns as the AV version instead of the Pet version. I would switch him to the pet one. This map is also a defeat all, but here it's much more of a big deal considering that the map is a larger size. After you rescue Citadel, patrols of 5th column spawn, meaning you have to hunt all of them down in the random areas they pop up at. Considering that this mission is an escort, the defeat all can just be taken out. Even if you stealth the glowies you're going to have to fight things as you haul Citadel back anyhow.

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The 'Pet' version of Citadel is a nice suggestion if it's now possible, when originally created this arc on the Test server (and it's the version I put on live once I had bought the needed MA 'extras'; as I spent most of beta testing and refining it); the 'Pet' version wasn't available as a selection on Citadel - if it is now, and doesn't lower the overall level range; that's a change I'll definitely make. As to the number of 'fake' computers; there were 6 'fakes' for a total of 10 click objects (including the 4 you need) so on that score I personally don't see that as a 'sea'; but obviously your's (andother people's) milage may very.

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The fourth mission uses a portal corp map, not really any problems with the map itself. Really, the only two problems with this mission that I can think of involve the President. First, he's not set to non-combat, but is a person, meaning that he'll run into fights and begin brawling people. He should be set to non-combat. Also, right after killing his captors, the defend object appears. Based on the clue you get when you return him to the door, it sounds like it should spawn after you haul him to the door.

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Making the President a 'combatant' was a very conscious decision on my part (and IMO, for any 'escorts' I think the non-combat oprtion shouldn't be available as IF a villian group decided to go through the trouble of kidnapping someone, they wouldn't just let them walk right out with you (leaving them alone as they fight you) - and especially with the story I was telling here - so the fact you can effectively set that in CoH really strains the 'suspension of disbelief' beyond even comic book level (imo). Thus I will never set an escort as 'non-combat').

Plus, I again liked the idea of the player deciding if he/she should take the President back first, or continue with the mission with him in tow, because again, if he's defeated, the mission fails.

As for the President's clue and when it appears I WISH I could have it spawn on his rescue (the point where you defeat the group surrounding him and 'free' him); but the clue is only allowed to be spawned after the escort is completed. Also, I needed a Portal Corp map (only 2 available ansd the second one really didn't fit)for the story and it's one of those wierd maps where VERY OFTEN stuff you set to spawn in 'Front' ended up in the 'Back'. (I tried to have The President' spawn in te Front area, thinking most players would lead him out first - but due to that MA bug I moved The President to the Middle).

As for spawning the last mission objecive when The President is first rescued; If I had waited until The President's full escort out was completed to spawn it - then the Player (in most cases) would also have to defeat the fake Statesman because (in most of my playtesting with friends) we often found Statesman first, or near The President; or the group decided (even hough he was a combatant) to drag The President along thinking they could prtect him; and defeating my 'Fake Statesman' was not something I wanted to make a pseudo-requirement depending on circumstances, EVEN THOUGH in testing, I found my Level 50 MA/SR scrapper and Level 41 SS/IMVB Tank could defeat him 90% of the time. The two groups I ran through in testin ALSO decided to hand Statesman his butt; but again, although I do enjoy having a chance at failure; defeating a 'surprise EB/AV' level foe (and no, I wasn't going to announce the 'Fake Statesman' prior to it happening because it was supposed to be a 'surprise' part of the mission, even though I'm sure many players might be thinking that's what may happen, and it is a cliche, but hey, we ARE taliking a comic book story here ).

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The 5th mission takes place in one of the Rikti Caves, a pretty big one. I didn't really have a problem with the size, as it was the last mission. In my opinion, your last mission has the freedom to be rather large. However, there are far too many non-essential boss spawns, and the bosses themselves are really annoying. Even if you decide to grab Back Alley Brawler (he's non essential to the mission) he doesn't help much as the bosses are all masterminds who summon 5 robots, meaning BABs will inevitably start beating up a protector bot or something.

The custom group has a few problems. The aforementioned bosses are a bit too much. Bots/Devices, with what appears to be hard/standard. My scrapper had no issues with them, really, but my all-human peacebringer was having major problems. First, they'd immobilize him, and plus the protector bots would just wreak total havoc on him with their forcefields, seeker drones, and stuns. A squishier character is going to have major problems with these guys. The LTs just plain have too many powers. One of them is Forcefield/Energy Blast. The energy blast is definitely on hard, as they have energy torrent, but I'm not sure what the Forcefield is on. Regardless, they have force bolt, dispersion bubble, and aid self. On my peacebringer it was just constant knockback, and I couldn't even hold them to stop it due to the dispersion bubble. The other LTs are Axe/Elec Armor, axe is on hard, not sure of the elec armor. I will tell you however that they were annoying as all hell to kill, even on my scrapper. My peacebringer eventually just skipped all of these whenever he could, because since he only uses energy it was like fighting someone with unstoppable running constantly. Lastly, one of the minions uses Electric Blast/Electric Manipulation. The end drain from these minions was incredibly brutal, thanks to the custom critters using the same power effects that players do, and the fast recharge of charged bolts and electric fence. Even with conserve power on, my Peacebringer's end was floored practically the whole time.

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Actually, none of the minions are on 'Hard'; and the only LT set on Hard (secondary) was the 'MB Battle Droid' (Axe) LT; and I may dial him back as he does tend to eat squishies; but that said; I've always been upfornt and stated if you're more a support class you'll need one team-mate; and I've steamrolled with a Tank/Defender and also a Scrapper/Controller duo (and all this on 'Unyielding' difficulty). The MM bosses are 'Standard'/'Easy' I believe, but yeah MMs are just plain nasty; but I like presenting a challange; and most people I've played this with ignore the MM bots and just pile on him. I steamrolled through all five missions during testing with my Robot/Traps MM; (also on the second highest Villian setting), and actually yours is the first comment I've had saying the Custom Group is a bit too hard, but it's definitely an issue I'd love more feedback on because I am trying to stradle the fine line between challenging and pain in the butt (but again that's me.

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Story

The overall plot is a decent one, but it has issues. First off, in the first two missions Citadel says that he was built by the 5th Column and that they will take control of him if he goes with you. I really hope this is foreshadowing the fact that he is the fake Citadel that was created by Memory-X, because Citadel wasn't created by the 5th Column.

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Actually, when CoH was in beta and for the first few months the 'lore' started he was originally created by the 5th Column. That was retconned by the Devs when the 5th Column was replaced with 'The Council' (/barf); and it's one of the reasons I don't try to claim this as a 'current' canon arc (and also on of the reasons I like to use the 5th Column because IMO, their removal and retcon of a lot of the in-game story regarding them was one of the low points for me in CoH - although from a European marketing standpoint (and BTW, my father is of German decent, so I'm aware opf the supposed issues) I understand why it was done, even though the majority of German players didn't care for the change either).


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Another issue is that the plot, while it makes sense, is pretty hard to follow. After playing through it with 2 separate characters, I had to run through part of it a third time when I sat down to write the plot overview and drew a complete blank as to how the transition between the plot of the first three missions went. After playing it again, it made sense, but barely. Things need to be made clearer.

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That's the first comment of this type I've had regarding the story itself; (and the other 3 comments I recieved to date all liked the plot as presented); and if you're willing, I love to hear what aspects you found unclear or hard to follow so I could take a look at trying to fix that issue.

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Also, a minor nitpick, but the Flame Protector that spawns claims that he has a powersuit, when Flame Protectors have demon faces under their helmets. After they use a certain power their demon heads are visible. If you really do want him to be someone in a power suit, there is a Paragon Protector Elite that uses fire powers that you could use instead.

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You're refering to my Crey Nework Administrators (and I was rather miffed the Devs removed the 'drink coffeee' animation from their list during beta; but I left them the way they are (Demon Mask and all) because I work in IT as a Network Admin; and often (including the folks who help me test this arc as I was developing it) said, "Hey, don't people look at you as a devil/demon at times (a fact I can't deny); and "don't you sometimes flame people on boards and in your network group meetings (another fact I couldn't deny); thus if you look at all the dialog text I had for these MOBs - the flamingh suit (and demon face) worked on a certain level - and hell, even in comic books proper, there have been 'demonic' loooking power suits; and what I picked is part of the standard Crey MOB group. So while I do completely understand this comment and nitpick; they are the way they are in the mission for a reason (Mission 2 is where I tried to interject a bit of humorous dialog across the board; and if you do work in IT at some level, you might (or might not) get a small chuckle, or groan at the dialog). That said, I will at leat see what the 'Paragon Protector Elite' MOB you mention looks like and how it fights.

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Final Thoughts

With some improvements, this arc could be turned into a pretty good one. The plot isn't a bad one, just hard to follow at places. The custom enemy group does need work, however.

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So again, thank you VERY MUCH for the detailed review; I only wish I could get more feedback like this; and if you willing to follow up here or via PM as to what parts/elements of the plot/story you found unclear hard to follow on your first run through, I'd love to hear that so I could look to making improvements in that area.

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MA will kill COX as we knew it if it is allowed to continue without changes.

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And IMO - thank God for that. I'm sorry (and I've been here since closed beta); but CoH had become the most repetative MMO among MMOs. (And no, I've never farmed and just think farming is a real waste in CoX (and it's something I've never engaged in as it's pointless) since it's also an MMO with no real 'end-game' beyond Ioing out a Level 50.

Yes, all MMOs are glorified 'Whack A Mole" type games, but the content for CoX was ALWAYS extra-repetative; and if anything the MA has solved that because some of the player made Arcs have been very creative and have been a breath of freash air to this game.

What I hink the Devs need to do is DRASTICALLY rerfine the current MA search engine - and BAN from using the MA; those who REPEATEADLY create and re-publish farm missions. If they don't like AE farms they need to ban those who create them from creating them. Of course to be fully effective; this means trial accounts should not be able to create MA missions, period; as this is probably where most MA farm missions come from. But the main problem I have with teh MA search function is that it's not robust enough to allow one to really pair down and find good story focused, non-farm content.

As for teaming? Come on, if ANYONE thinks it's hard to get a Team; then you really need to look at other MMOs and see what being hard to find a team really is; because teaming has never been hard in CoX (and I still see and have answered TF and SF group tells and requests since I14 hit).

Also looking for more feedback, and my arc definitely fits the bill (5 or so plays to date); so when you have a chance, would love a review:

Title: Is it Live or is it Memory-X
-------------------------------------
Story Arc ID: 70210
Author’s Global Chat Handle: @Armsman
Length: Very Long (5 missions)
Alignment: Heroic

Story Description: The 5th Column is building a device to control the world. Can you save the world from TOTAL DOMINATION?! (Hey it worked to get my Villians and Vigilantes pen and paper RPG group interested back in the day.)

Designer Notes: The Arc can actually be soloed by most Scrapper, Tank and MasterMind builds. In testing, my Gravity/Force Field Controller made it through mission 3 solo with no issues, but starting getting defeats in mission 4; so if you’re a support class or a blaster, you probably need a team-mate. This arc is actually based on an adventure I ran players through in the “Villians & Vigilantes” pen and paper RPG a number of years back. I was surprised at how much of the original ‘flavor’ I was able to keep in adapting it to fit in the CoX universe. There was only really one element I couldn’t include due to MA limitations.

Thanks

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i am reading the forums a lot lately and it is the same as always. we have a new issue and this is one that everyone can like no matter how you play. farmer, powerleveling, tfs, mission after mission, teaming, solo you name it MA has it and you can do it. but i see the same trend happeing. people cry because they cant control what other do or make them play how they like to play this game. some didnt like street hunters like i used to be so they nerfed the mob spawns on the streets because of cry babys. people complained bout certain missions because people used them for farms and powerleveling (drek and shadow hunter to of the most famous lol), nerf bat swings again. they complained said game wasnt made to be played the way farmers and plers were doing things and it interfered with what they were doing. let me say this, any good game will be made in a way so player can take it were developers never dreamed. So devs gave us MA, Mission Architect and said now it is like burger king, make it your way. and here we go again crying because your friend loves it and you dont. you like regular game play. but you cant just do your thing you have to try and mess it up for others. Devs!! balls in your court will you listen to the powerhunger wanna control the game players or those like me who like that i can make it my way, play others stuff or play regular content. dont mess this up. tell those others who dont like MA or tickets to go do something else and leave those who like MA alone. things were getting boreing till MA. Devs what will you do? just be scared of complainers who are mad because people can do it there way or show some guts.

blackmelee out

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its like an ed wood movie..

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But without the things that make them hilarious!

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so..Uwe Boll then?

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More like Michael Bay (but WITHOUT any mindless action or explosions)

$name only works correctly when the MOB you have a line assigned to is close enough to have you as a target. Currently, with Battles, any battles items on a given floor/map ALL 'go active' as soon as a PC enters the floor/map.

The result:
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1) Any inactive text you have set will never be displayed.

2) Any active text from any moderately spawns will spam the PC all at once.

3) $name, $heshe, $origin variables will rarely pickup the PCs info (unless they are REALLY close to a Battle when it activates).

The only workaround is to be more generic with your Battle dialog, or live with stuff like "$name is here?!" until the Devs decide if this is something they can fix, or come back with a 'working as intended' response; and say - "Hey, don't use any $ variables in your Battle dialogs.

Bugged it, but I'm not sure wether thr Devs consider this as a actual bug since

Trying to get more feedback (5 plays to date, and up on the other two review threads, but it looks like the other folks are still swampped as the only return review I received was an 'Arc Trade'). So, if/when you get a chance I'd like to see what you think (and to be upfront, it does have a Defeat All in there, but using small maps).

Title: Is it Live or is it Memory-X
-------------------------------------
Story Arc ID: 70210
Author’s Global Chat Handle: @Armsman
Length: Very Long (5 missions)
Alignment: Heroic

Story Description: The 5th Column is building a device to control the world. Can you save the world from TOTAL DOMINATION?! (Hey it worked to get my Villians and Vigilantes pen and paper RPG group interested back in the day.)

Designer Notes: The Arc can actually be soloed by most Scrapper, Tank and MasterMind builds. In testing, my Gravity/Force Field Controller made it through mission 3 solo with no issues, but starting getting defeats in mission 4; so if you’re a support class or a blaster, you probably need a team-mate. This arc is actually based on an adventure I ran players through in the “Villians & Vigilantes” pen and paper RPG a number of years back. I was surprised at how much of the original ‘flavor’ I was able to keep in adapting it to fit in the CoX universe. There was only really one element I couldn’t include due to MA limitations.

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Happened to me too--I modified the description to make it clear it wasn't a farming mission. And while I have a local copy, it's not completely up to date.

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How does this happen? Doesn't the system update your local copy every time you make changes and hit 'Republish'? Where are the changes coming from to go to the server? Are they only stored in RAM?

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You have to re-save the file again manually (the save as Local Arc option); and at that point it saves a copy, and stops editing the server-based version of the MA arc. I usually do it after I make all the changes and have re-published.

Talen_Lee, I read your opening post it this thread and would like to submit my arc for review as I do feel it's something you might like as it's story driven, has old friends and old enemies, etc. Even if you fail the missions where that's possible, I've written the contact responses in such a way that th story continues and you can still 'win' in the end.

With that said, here's my arc info:

Title: Is it Live or is it Memory-X
-------------------------------------
Story Arc ID: 70210
Author’s Global Chat Handle: @Armsman
Length: Very Long (5 missions)
Alignment: Heroic

Story Description: The 5th Column is building a device to control the world. Can you save the world from TOTAL DOMINATION?! (Hey it worked to get my Villians and Vigilantes pen and paper RPG group interested back in the day.)

Designer Notes: The Arc can actually be soloed by most Scrapper, Tank and MasterMind builds. In testing, my Gravity/Force Field Controller made it through mission 3 solo with no issues, but starting getting defeats in mission 4; so if you’re a support class or a blaster, you probably need a team-mate. This arc is actually based on an adventure I ran players through in the “Villians & Vigilantes” pen and paper RPG a number of years back. I was surprised at how much of the original ‘flavor’ I was able to keep in adapting it to fit in the CoX universe. There was only really one element I couldn’t include due to MA limitations.