BackFire

May have to give this one a read once I finish Samuraiko's "The Course of Superhero Romance." Hopefully the edits will be in by then!

Background:
What originally started in October of 2009 as the MA Superteam has evolved into what is known today as the "AE Storyteam"; a group of AE enthusiasts and authors, from across all servers, who gather each week to play non-farm AE arcs. We focus on the story, not the XPs, and do our best to promote and improve the AE experience.

Originally, we were based on Triumph but have since dropped the need for a "home server" in an effort to reach as many players as possible. We now rotate to different servers as we see fit, meeting at the same time each week: Sundays at 9am Pacific/12pm Eastern/5pm British.

CURRENT SCHEDULE:
(Updated weekly or as needed)

7/17/11 - Liberty Server - Ædvertised arcs (9am Pacific/12pm Eastern/5pm British)
7/24/11 - Pinnacle Server - "Mystery" High Roller (9am Pacific/12pm Eastern/5pm British)
7/31/11 - Union Server - The Surviving Æight! (9am Pacific/12pm Eastern/5pm British)
8/7/11 - Freedom Server - Tales of the MundÆne! 9am Pacific/5pm British
8/14/11 - Triumph Server - Double XP Dev Choice Roundup - 9am Pacific/5pm British
8/21/11 - Virtue Server - Æptimized Arcs? - 9am Pacific/5pm British
8/28/11 - Victory Server - Lowbie Ædventures! - 9am Pacific/5pm British
9/4/11 - Triumph Server - Higher Æducation! - 9am Pacific/5pm British
9/11/11 - Guardian Server - Ægg MacGuffins - 9am Pacific/5pm British
9/18/11 - Exalted (VIP) Server - Time TrÆvels - 9am Pacific/5pm British
9/25/11 - Freedom Server - FrÆedom for All! - 9am Pacific/5pm British
10/2/11 - Triumph Server - Ænemy Spotlight- CoT - 9am Pacific/5pm British
10/9/11 - Union Server - New RelÆses! - 9am Pacific/5pm British
10/16/11 - Defiant Server - Æuthor Spotlight on TwoFlower - 9am Pacific/5pm British
10/23/11 - Liberty Server - HallowÆen High Roller! - 9am Pacific/5pm British
10/30/11 - Justice Server - StreÆt JustÆce! - 9am Pacific/5pm British
11/6/11 - Infinity Server - Zombie Æftermath! - 9am Pacific/5pm British
11/13/11 - Champion Server - Players' Choice Æwards! - 9am Pacific/5pm British
11/20/11 - Guardian Server - Players' Choice Æwards ptII - 9am Pacific/5pm British
11/27/11 - Triumph - Thanksgiving LÆftovers! - 9am Pacific/5pm British
12/4/11 - Pinnacle - Pet Ædoptions! - 9am Pacific/5pm British
12/11/11 - Liberty - Western Ædventures! - 9am Pacific/5pm British
12/18/11 - Liberty - Christmas PrÆsents - 9am Pacific/5pm British
12/25/11 - (no meet, enjoy Christmas with your family & loved ones)
1/1/12 - Liberty - 9am Pacific/5pm British

NOTE: as of 12/18 @Lord of Storms will be running the AE Storyteam on Liberty each week. Just head to RWZ's AE at the normal time and/or give him a shout in the global channel, "MA Arc Finder"

If you would like the AE Storyteam to visit your server simply let us know and we will do our best to fit it in the schedule above. Generally, we will visit the servers in the order they are requested but we will occasionally adjust the schedule for special events.

If you are interested in joining the AE Storyteam, simply show up during any of our sessions and ask to join in. There is no formal SG or membership requirement, just participation. You are encouraged to join the global channel, "MA Arc Finder" as that is where we often chat and form up teams.

Submit arcs for play/review by simply posting them in this thread.* While we can't guarantee every arc will get a detailed review, we're always looking for something new and fun to play. So this is your chance to get on someone's playlist fast!

*We do request that submitted arcs be in a final or near-final state and already play-tested by the author. There are already other player resources, such as Mission Æxcellence, which are geared towards works in progress.

Active & Reserve Member List:
(if I missed you, please PM me and I'll add it)

@1st. Son - Home server: Freedom
@Backfire - Home server: Justice
@Bubbawheat - Home server: Pinnacle & Virtue
@Clave Dark 5 - Home server: ??
@Doctor Gemini - Home server: ??
@Gunbunny - Home server: Union & Defiant
@Lord of Storms - Home server: Liberty
@Loreleii - Home server: Liberty
@SupaFreak - Home server: Guardian
@Zamuel - Home server: Victory

Arcade
Babaylan
FredrikSvanberg
Jail.Bird
Lazarus
MrCaptainMan
PoliceWoman
Rayonn
Wrong_Number (MA Superteam Founder)
Rainmaker
Sister Twelve
StratoNexus
Sumerian
Teh Hippeh
Unknown Hero

Thanks Gill, we had a blast too! Here's the recap for those that missed out:

13 weeks ago the AE Storyteam set out on a mission: to explore strange new servers and seek out new AE players & enthusiasts! This week, the team reached its first major milestone by completing its tour of every English speaking server. Union was our 1st cycle's final Ænvasion target and we met a good crowd of mates to play with. We fit 2 arcs into today's session:

#204942 "Chris Jenkins: Attorney at Law" by @Jophiel
1 mish/Heroic

#1166 "Taking Flight" by @Morgenstern COH
4 mish/Heroic

Honorable Mention: (ran out of time to play)
#379668 "W is for Vengeance x2" by @Khonshu
5 mish/Heroic

For today's arcs I wanted to spotlight stories that feature less-explored characters from the rich CoH lore. We all know who Azuria & Fusionette are and they get a lot of attention, both in-game and in AE. But there's a lot of other relatively unused characters out there that have interesting stories to tell. With the magic of AE, they finally get that chance!

Chris Jenkins: Attorney at Law has been a fixture of CoH lore since launch. His billboards plastered all over Paragon City; it's a wonder it took an AE arc to finally give him his day in the sun.

This lowbie-friendly, 1 mission arc explores what would happen if some of Paragon's more unscrupulous crowd discovered Chris' services and what kind of direct effect that could have on your hero. There's a lot of canon-related and meta-humor in this arc and it's fast, fun action for any size team. BEST OVERALL & BEST SANDWICH!

Taking Flight expands on the character of Tony Kord. Maybe you remember him from the Clockwork vs Skulls badge mission for "Negotiator." Or maybe you've been to the helipad atop Kord Industries in Kings Row. Well, this time Tony has a problem only your hero can fix and it's going to take more than words to "negotiate" a solution!

Along the way you'll witness & influence the birth of new hero and maybe learn a secret or 2 about Tony Kord you never imagined before!

Note: I've played this mission multiple times as a solo hero and never had a problem. But it was very difficult to complete on a full, mid-level team. It is just not balanced well for a team setting so I suggest you run it solo or duo.

The story, dialog, details and custom heroes are a real treat. It's a shame that it's not balanced for teams, as it is a fun and touching origin story which you don't find often in AE. BEST CUSTOMS & BEST SOLO EXPERIENCE

Well, that wraps up cycle 1 of our Ænvasion! Thank you again to the players of Union for being gracious hosts and tackling the challenge we put before you The AE Storyteam is going to take a couple weeks off of Ænvading as we prepare cycle 2. But fret not, we shall return!!

Next Sunday (7/17/11): the AE Storyteam will meet for a regular session on back-up home server #1: Liberty. Anyone wanting to join the AE Storyteam, you'll find us in the AE Building in Rikti War Zone at our regular time: 9am Pacific/noon Eastern/5pm BST. New members are always welcome.

13 weeks ago the AE Storyteam set out on a mission: to explore strange new servers and seek out new AE players & enthusiasts! This week, the team reached its first major milestone by completing its tour of every English speaking server. Union was our 1st cycle's final Ænvasion target and we met a good crowd of mates to play with. We fit 2 arcs into today's session:

#204942 "Chris Jenkins: Attorney at Law" by @Jophiel
1 mish/Heroic

#1166 "Taking Flight" by @Morgenstern COH
4 mish/Heroic

Honorable Mention: (ran out of time to play)
#379668 "W is for Vengeance x2" by @Khonshu
5 mish/Heroic

For today's arcs I wanted to spotlight stories that feature less-explored characters from the rich CoH lore. We all know who Azuria & Fusionette are and they get a lot of attention, both in-game and in AE. But there's a lot of other relatively unused characters out there that have interesting stories to tell. With the magic of AE, they finally get that chance!

Chris Jenkins: Attorney at Law has been a fixture of CoH lore since launch. His billboards plastered all over Paragon City; it's a wonder it took an AE arc to finally give him his day in the sun.

This lowbie-friendly, 1 mission arc explores what would happen if some of Paragon's more unscrupulous crowd discovered Chris' services and what kind of direct effect that could have on your hero. There's a lot of canon-related and meta-humor in this arc and it's fast, fun action for any size team. BEST OVERALL & BEST SANDWICH!

Taking Flight expands on the character of Tony Kord. Maybe you remember him from the Clockwork vs Skulls badge mission for "Negotiator." Or maybe you've been to the helipad atop Kord Industries in Kings Row. Well, this time Tony has a problem only your hero can fix and it's going to take more than words to "negotiate" a solution!

Along the way you'll witness & influence the birth of new hero and maybe learn a secret or 2 about Tony Kord you never imagined before!

Note: I've played this mission multiple times as a solo hero and never had a problem. But it was very difficult to complete on a full, mid-level team. It is just not balanced well for a team setting so I suggest you run it solo or duo.

The story, dialog, details and custom heroes are a real treat. It's a shame that it's not balanced for teams, as it is a fun and touching origin story which you don't find often in AE. BEST CUSTOMS & BEST SOLO EXPERIENCE

Well, that wraps up cycle 1 of our Ænvasion! Thank you again to the players of Union for being gracious hosts and tackling the challenge we put before you The AE Storyteam is going to take a couple weeks off of Ænvading as we prepare cycle 2. But fret not, we shall return!!

Next Sunday (7/17/11): the AE Storyteam will meet for a regular session on back-up home server #1: Liberty. Anyone wanting to join the AE Storyteam, you'll find us in the AE Building in Rikti War Zone at our regular time: 9am Pacific/noon Eastern/5pm BST. New members are always welcome.

The time has come to respec my TA/A Defender for inherent fitness and I think I've got it figured out. I've never been a min/maxer or really understood the full functionality of Mids, but here's what I've come up with so far.

I feel happy with the power selections, as these are my favs and the ones I used to get to 50, but I am overwhelmed at trying to figure out slotting and which IO sets to take.

I like to do damage, control enemies, and be a useful member of a team when not soloing.

Any help or build advice would be greatly appreciated

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.942
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Longshaft: Level 50 Magic Defender
Primary Power Set: Trick Arrow
Secondary Power Set: Archery
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Teleportation
Ancillary Pool: Psychic Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Entangling Arrow -- TotHntr-Acc/Rchg(A), TotHntr-Immob/Acc(50), TotHntr-Acc/Immob/Rchg(50), TotHntr-EndRdx/Immob(50)
Level 1: Snap Shot -- Decim-Build%(A), Dev'n-Hold%(34)
Level 2: Aimed Shot -- Dev'n-Acc/Dmg(A), Dev'n-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Thundr-Acc/Dmg(3), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(11), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(11), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(43)
Level 4: Glue Arrow -- P'ngTtl-Acc/Slow(A), P'ngTtl-Dmg/Slow(5), P'ngTtl-Acc/EndRdx(5), P'ngTtl-Rng/Slow(13), P'ngTtl--Rchg%(13)
Level 6: Fistful of Arrows -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(7), Posi-Dmg/Rng(7), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(15), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(15)
Level 8: Poison Gas Arrow -- CSndmn-Acc/Rchg(A), CSndmn-EndRdx/Sleep(9), CSndmn-Acc/EndRdx(9), CSndmn-Sleep/Rng(17), CSndmn-Acc/Sleep/Rchg(17)
Level 10: Blazing Arrow -- Dev'n-Acc/Dmg(A), Dev'n-Dmg/EndRdx(19), Thundr-Acc/Dmg(19), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(21), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(21), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(43)
Level 12: Acid Arrow -- AnWeak-Acc/Rchg(A), AnWeak-Acc/Rchg/EndRdx(37), AnWeak-DefDeb/EndRdx/Rchg(37), AnWeak-Acc/DefDeb(40), AnWeak-DefDeb(40)
Level 14: Super Jump -- Jump-I(A)
Level 16: Aim -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(23), RechRdx-I(23), AdjTgt-Rchg(45)
Level 18: Disruption Arrow -- EndRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(25), RechRdx-I(25)
Level 20: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-EndRdx/Rchg(27)
Level 22: Acrobatics -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(29)
Level 24: Flash Arrow -- DarkWD-ToHitdeb/Rchg/EndRdx(A), DarkWD-ToHitDeb/EndRdx(27), DarkWD-ToHitDeb/Rchg(46), DarkWD-ToHitDeb(46)
Level 26: Oil Slick Arrow -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(29), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(31), Posi-Dmg/Rng(31), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(31)
Level 28: Hover -- Frbd-EndRdx(A), Frbd-Fly(33)
Level 30: Recall Friend -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 32: EMP Arrow -- Lock-Acc/Hold(A), Lock-Rchg/Hold(33), Lock-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(34), Lock-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(34)
Level 35: Stunning Shot -- Rope-Acc/Stun(A), Rope-Stun/Rng(36), Dev'n-Acc/Dmg(36), Dev'n-Hold%(36), Dsrnt-I(37)
Level 38: Rain of Arrows -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(39), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(39), Posi-Dmg/Rng(39), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(40)
Level 41: Dominate -- Dev'n-Acc/Dmg(A), Dev'n-Dmg/Rchg(42), Thundr-Acc/Dmg(42), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(42), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(43), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(46)
Level 44: Mass Hypnosis -- CSndmn-Acc/Rchg(A), CSndmn-EndRdx/Sleep(45), CSndmn-Acc/EndRdx(45), CSndmn-Sleep/Rng(48), CSndmn-Acc/Sleep/Rchg(48)
Level 47: Telekinesis -- EndRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(48)
Level 49: Teleport Foe -- Acc-I(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Vigilance
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Swift -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Health -- Numna-Heal(A), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(33)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- P'Shift-End%(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
------------
Set Bonus Totals:

• 6% DamageBuff(Smashing)
• 6% DamageBuff(Lethal)
• 6% DamageBuff(Fire)
• 6% DamageBuff(Cold)
• 6% DamageBuff(Energy)
• 6% DamageBuff(Negative)
• 6% DamageBuff(Toxic)
• 6% DamageBuff(Psionic)
• 7.5% Defense(Energy)
• 7.5% Defense(Negative)
• 3.75% Defense(Ranged)
• 4.5% Max End
• 10% Enhancement(Sleep)
• 43.8% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
• 2.5% Enhancement(Held)
• 2.5% Enhancement(JumpSpeed)
• 77% Enhancement(Accuracy)
• 5% Enhancement(Immobilize)
• 2.5% Enhancement(RunSpeed)
• 2.5% Enhancement(FlySpeed)
• 2.5% Enhancement(JumpHeight)
• 72.5 HP (7.13%) HitPoints
• MezResist(Held) 4.95%
• MezResist(Sleep) 2.75%
• MezResist(Stun) 2.2%
• 16% (0.27 End/sec) Recovery
• 94% (3.98 HP/sec) Regeneration
• 4.73% Resistance(Fire)
• 4.73% Resistance(Cold)

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

I agree with the OP. You shouldn't have to turn off XP or consult a 3rd party guide just to experience the content in the game. It should flow naturally.

While we all know the workarounds by now, the developers should still strive to design a game that is intuitive and self-contained.

Admit it: Steelclaw helped you with that list.

Great job GG

Consider yourself signed! BTW- that's 12 noon Eastern in the US, 5pm in Britain (if I did my math right) Look forward to meeting everyone

Did this get canceled this week? I was on around 5pm Pacific and no dice.

Good to hear! I haven't had any suggestions for arcs yet so I guess you're in for whatever crazy stories I happen to be in the mood for. Muwhahaha!

Going over my favs list recently and wanted to nominate another arc:

#144447 "Gladiators of Venus
5 mish arc

Not sure if they're exactly what you're looking for, but here's a couple darker tales you can find in AE:

#140423 "Blight" by @Witch Engine

#6391 "Young Love" by @TA

As the Ænvasion nears the end of its first cycle it seems to be picking up even more steam! Week 12 took us for our first trip across the pond to Defiant Server and nearly 2 full teams showed up to experience Mad Science themed Mission Architect mayhem! We played 2 arcs this week!!

#177370 "Relativity be Damned" by @Tragic Eight Ball
4 mish/Heroic (Dev Choice)

#115174 "Vernon Von Grun's Extraordinary Extradimensional Excursions" by @Igor Blimey
5 mish/Villainous

Comics and Paragon City are ripe with stories of Mad Science, but I chose these 2 arcs to really illustrate what makes Mad Science work..."passion."

In Relativity be Damned you meet a passionate scientist that (I think) is trying to teach you how to have a better appreciation of science. Personal risks are irrelevant in the face of her scientific achievements and, of course, things go slightly awry and need your intervention for fixing. Along the way you travel to alternate times, dimensions, and even get to team up with the biggest name in science: Einstein!

While some plot points aren't fully developed, motivations aren't always clear, and there are a few typos, the passion your contact has really brings her alive and elevates an otherwise simple story to something memorable. BEST EINSTEIN TEAM-UP!

Now, for a true Mad Science enthusiast you need to take a trip to the Rogue Isles. There you will find an uninhibited thirst for knowledge and Vernon Von Grun's Extraordinary Extradimensional Excursions! "Passion" is almost too tame a word for Vernon's exhuberance for science and this arc dials that aspect to 11!

The dialog, details, humor and customs in this story can scarcely be contained in the arc, much less explained in this review. Suffice to say, Portal Corp is doing dimension hopping all wrong and there's only one man that can make it right...Von Grun!! DUNN DUNNN DAAHHH DUMMMM!!! Warning: the difficultly level is a bit higher in Von Grun's world than your average AE arc. Bring friends, insps, and a spare keyboard if you plan to drink while playing! This is the kind of arc that deserves to be a Dev Choice. BEST OVERALL - BEST SOUNDTRACK

Major thanks to our mates overseas, on Defiant, for joining us! I'm so glad the severs now allow all of us to experience this game together and share our passion for fun stories & comic book action!

Next Sunday (7/10/11): the Ænvasion! wraps up it's first cycle on the other English speaking EU server...Union!! Join us in the AE Building in Rikti War Zone at our regular time: 9am Pacific/noon Eastern/5pm BST. I will be picking out more noteworthy arcs and leading the general mayhem that ensues!! Remember, all levels and ATs are welcome, so feel free to make an alt and join the Ænvasion!

As the Ænvasion nears the end of its first cycle it seems to be picking up even more steam! Week 12 took us for our first trip across the pond to Defiant Server and nearly 2 full teams showed up to experience Mad Science themed Mission Architect mayhem! We played 2 arcs this week!!

#177370 "Relativity be Damned" by @Tragic Eight Ball
4 mish/Heroic (Dev Choice)

#115174 "Vernon Von Grun's Extraordinary Extradimensional Excursions" by @Igor Blimey
5 mish/Villainous

Comics and Paragon City are ripe with stories of Mad Science, but I chose these 2 arcs to really illustrate what makes Mad Science work..."passion."

In Relativity be Damned you meet a passionate scientist that (I think) is trying to teach you how to have a better appreciation of science. Personal risks are irrelevant in the face of her scientific achievements and, of course, things go slightly awry and need your intervention for fixing. Along the way you travel to alternate times, dimensions, and even get to team up with the biggest name in science: Einstein!

While some plot points aren't fully developed, motivations aren't always clear, and there are a few typos, the passion your contact has really brings her alive and elevates an otherwise simple story to something memorable. BEST EINSTEIN TEAM-UP!

Now, for a true Mad Science enthusiast you need to take a trip to the Rogue Isles. There you will find an uninhibited thirst for knowledge and Vernon Von Grun's Extraordinary Extradimensional Excursions! "Passion" is almost too tame a word for Vernon's exhuberance for science and this arc dials that aspect to 11!

The dialog, details, humor and customs in this story can scarcely be contained in the arc, much less explained in this review. Suffice to say, Portal Corp is doing dimension hopping all wrong and there's only one man that can make it right...Von Grun!! DUNN DUNNN DAAHHH DUMMMM!!! Warning: the difficultly level is a bit higher in Von Grun's world than your average AE arc. Bring friends, insps, and a spare keyboard if you plan to drink while playing! This is the kind of arc that deserves to be a Dev Choice. BEST OVERALL - BEST SOUNDTRACK

Major thanks to our mates overseas, on Defiant, for joining us! I'm so glad the severs now allow all of us to experience this game together and share our passion for fun stories & comic book action!

Next Sunday (7/10/11): the Ænvasion! wraps up it's first cycle on the other English speaking EU server...Union!! Join us in the AE Building in Rikti War Zone at our regular time: 9am Pacific/noon Eastern/5pm BST. I will be picking out more noteworthy arcs and leading the general mayhem that ensues!! Remember, all levels and ATs are welcome, so feel free to make an alt and join the Ænvasion!

Well, I nominated it so it's kinda obvious I think it's Dev Choice worthy ;P

That'll do just fine

Awesome vids. Very creative and great job on FX!

I found a new arc that should be a lot of fun but I may need a lvl 50 to lead the group this Sunday. It's high on the challenge scale but totally worth it for the story!

Anyone who's planning to be there got a lvl 50? I can teach you all the tricks to sharing text with the team

Gorgeous, as usual!

*shakes fist at S's that look like 5's in the redemption code*

Just posted a recap in the official thread.

Sorry, I don't take pix >.<

Thanks for a fun time, Z.

For those that didn't make it, here's how it went down:

If you're at all familiar with these kinds of community events, then you know they usually start sometime between 4p and 6p Pacific. So, even tho there was no time posted, sure enough; about 530p a redname was sighted on Protector!

Zwill hovered above an enthusiastic crowd of heroes under the Atlas statue for about 20-30 minutes fielding questions on the upcoming CoH: Freedom update, then (after a suggestion) moved the party to RWZ's AE to get things started and allow villains to join in the AE fun.

We easily had enough for 2, maybe 3 teams but Z was the lone redname so, like the Highlander, there could be only ONE! He randomly picked names from Broadcast and formed team "Totally radical, 4shure, 4shure!" Okay, that wasn't the official name but it, like, sounded good in my head, 'kay!?!

Z let us know that we'd be playing an arc suggested in this thread: #60197, "Becky's Revenge." A couple of us on the team had played this arc before and there was one player who got particularly excited when they realized the arc was about THE Becky from CoV! (If you've played Vernon Von Grunn's arc, you know which one we're talking about!) We we not disappointed!

The action was pretty fast paced and I'm not sure people took much time to actually read and follow the story, but those that did seemed to enjoy the dialog and how well the arc fit into existing canon. Of particular note was how well the missions scaled up to a full team of 8. Nothing felt unbalanced and a good time was had by all At the conclusion of the arc, team chat exploded into like, totally, the most bitchinest, radical, valley girl speak eh-var! 4shure!!

On the flip side, the group missed some of the dialog, tho, as Z was not completely familiar with the workings of shared & unshared AE mission text. He didn't copy/paste any of the "Busy" text (the dialog the contact gives if you go back to them mid-mission), he didn't paste the contact bio (tho I'm not sure Becky had one), and he accidentally clicked the first mission's debrief text closed before pasting all of it for the team.

While I was sad the team missed out on more of the details that makes this arc great, I'm actually kind of glad a redname had to experience the issues we, as players, have to try and work around when teaming thru an AE arc every day. Maybe they'll be more likely to consider a future update to address these concerns.

All in all, it seemed like everyone had an awesome time and were hungry for more! Thanks again to Zwillinger for taking the time to put AE back in a good light and generate some interest in this unique game feature

Suggestions for future Thursdays:

1- Initially meet in RWZ so villains can also ask questions about CoH: Freedom or whatever you want to discuss, pre-AE event. (note: on certain servers you may want to choose RWZ 2 or 3 so as not to interfere with forming iTrials)

2- If more than 1 redname is available, have them lead a 2nd or 3rd team.

3- Educate rednames on the limitations of shared text in AE missions so they know what needs to be copy/pasted into team chat. Contact bio, Busy txt, and Debriefing txt are only available to the team leader. (also, the notification that a Clue has dropped only shows for the leader so they would need to say "Clue" in team chat to inform the rest of the team to check their Clue tab)

4- Encourage slower play & reading. Ask that the team takes the time to read the mission text before entering. This is for 2 reasons: 1: the mission text box refreshes each time someone zones, making it difficult to read if teammates enter while reading. 2: it avoids the "Hot Door" team wipe if a patrol or close spawn aggros on the team while they're reading inside and unaware.

5- Play more than 1 arc...time permitting, of course! Becky's Revenge was only a 2 mish arc so it was over pretty fast. Easily could have slipped in another 2 or 3 mish arc!

Again, a big thank you to Zwillinger and the CoH team for putting on this event! I look forward to more fun as the weeks go on!

MCM, go back and read the 2nd post. Avatea spells it all out: