BackFire

Just about played them all, here's my votes so far:

Best Arc - Villainous or Rogue

#1: Grunty McFisterson's Two Step Guide to Winning Respect #519044 by @Twoflower
#2: Arena #456200 by @FredrikSvanberg

Best Arc - Heroic or Vigilante

#1: Legacy of a Rogue #459586 by @Night-Girl
#2: A Very Special Episode #457506 by @Wrong Number


Best Arc - Comedy

#1: Crime is Art and Art is Crime #517859 by @Twoflower
#2: Dating Ms Liberty Isn't Easy #464550 by @Jinkobi

Every great movie deserves a sequel and it's the same with great AE Storyteam themes! This week we continued our run through this year's Players' Choice Award finalists. Remember, if you haven't put in your vote yet, you have until December 5th to play and vote for your favorites! This week, we chose 2 arcs from the most highly competitive category: Best Heroic or Vigilante arc.

#497506 "A Mosaic of Shattered Dreams"
5 missions/Heroic by @Avonlea

#522236 "The Ouroboros Chronicles: the Tales of Nemesis"
4 missions/Neutral by @Neon Rider

These 2 arcs could not be more different in terms of theme and concept, but they are both incredible examples of detailed storytelling and game mechanics. Definite standout entries in this year's competition. Good luck to them and all the finalists!

If you like mysteries and plots with dark & twisty turns then A Mosaic of Shattered Dreams just may get your vote!

An apparently simple rescue mission kicks off this very dark arc of family tragedy and redemption. The characters are well fleshed out, the action flows smooth, and everything is balanced with standard enemy groups (tho many are renamed into customs groups.)

But what really makes this arc shine are the mechanics. In mission 4 the author managed to pull off something I've never seen before in a player-created arc! Then, the final mission takes advantage of creative mechanics, again, to do something very unique and very player driven.

The only drawback I see to this story is the "hijacking" of the player's thoughts and emotions in the mission text. On one hand, it helps create the overall mood and motivation. But on the other, as a player, I would rather be the one deciding what my character is thinking and feeling.

Still, Mosaic is a very strong contender and a well-crafted arc BEST MECHANICS & BEST MYSTERY!!

If you like arcs rich in CoH lore, then maybe The Ouroboros Chronicles can sway your vote!

This arc features a creative take on the history and future of one of CoH's biggest villainous personalities...Nemesis. And while you travel through time to undo Nemesis' biggest exploits, it's also an extension of the Ouroboros arc of Mender Silos.

The fun-factor of this arc is playing out Nemesis' most historic plots: Brass Monday and Emperor Nemesis. The player is transported to these 2 previously only read about events to be a key in saving the world as we know it! Filled with a mix of standard and custom automatons, these adventures bring to life the lore of Nemesis!

As if that weren't enough, you're then transported forward in time to stop yet another Nemesis plot. All the while, learning more and more about the mysterious Mender Silos of Ouroboros. Is he fighting to save the future or just pulling your strings? You'll have to play to find out.

The only drawback I found with this arc was length of it. It's only 4 missions long, but many of those missions have chained objectives and large maps which leads to a lot of back-tracking. And because of that, patrol dialog becomes repetitive and the story slows down.

Still, the rich details, ties to CoH lore, and custom additions to both the enemy group and Nemesis' plots more than make up for the extra grind BEST CUSTOMS & BEST LORE!

If you noticed, I did not choose a BEST OVERALL this week cause I'm going to leave that designation to YOU! Check out all the finalists and get your votes in by December 5th!

Next week: 11/27/11 we may be a little late for the holiday but what's better than Thanksgiving LÆftovers! Join us on Triumph server as we serve up the best turkey sandwiches and pie we can find in AE! All levels and ATs are welcome

Every great movie deserves a sequel and it's the same with great AE Storyteam themes! This week we continued our run through this year's Players' Choice Award finalists. Remember, if you haven't put in your vote yet, you have until December 5th to play and vote for your favorites! This week, we chose 2 arcs from the most highly competitive category: Best Heroic or Vigilante arc.

#497506 "A Mosaic of Shattered Dreams"
5 missions/Heroic by @Avonlea

#522236 "The Ouroboros Chronicles: the Tales of Nemesis"
4 missions/Neutral by @Neon Rider

These 2 arcs could not be more different in terms of theme and concept, but they are both incredible examples of detailed storytelling and game mechanics. Definite standout entries in this year's competition. Good luck to them and all the finalists!

If you like mysteries and plots with dark & twisty turns then A Mosaic of Shattered Dreams just may get your vote!

An apparently simple rescue mission kicks off this very dark arc of family tragedy and redemption. The characters are well fleshed out, the action flows smooth, and everything is balanced with standard enemy groups (tho many are renamed into customs groups.)

But what really makes this arc shine are the mechanics. In mission 4 the author managed to pull off something I've never seen before in a player-created arc! Then, the final mission takes advantage of creative mechanics, again, to do something very unique and very player driven.

The only drawback I see to this story is the "hijacking" of the player's thoughts and emotions in the mission text. On one hand, it helps create the overall mood and motivation. But on the other, as a player, I would rather be the one deciding what my character is thinking and feeling.

Still, Mosaic is a very strong contender and a well-crafted arc BEST MECHANICS & BEST MYSTERY!!

If you like arcs rich in CoH lore, then maybe The Ouroboros Chronicles can sway your vote!

This arc features a creative take on the history and future of one of CoH's biggest villainous personalities...Nemesis. And while you travel through time to undo Nemesis' biggest exploits, it's also an extension of the Ouroboros arc of Mender Silos.

The fun-factor of this arc is playing out Nemesis' most historic plots: Brass Monday and Emperor Nemesis. The player is transported to these 2 previously only read about events to be a key in saving the world as we know it! Filled with a mix of standard and custom automatons, these adventures bring to life the lore of Nemesis!

As if that weren't enough, you're then transported forward in time to stop yet another Nemesis plot. All the while, learning more and more about the mysterious Mender Silos of Ouroboros. Is he fighting to save the future or just pulling your strings? You'll have to play to find out.

The only drawback I found with this arc was length of it. It's only 4 missions long, but many of those missions have chained objectives and large maps which leads to a lot of back-tracking. And because of that, patrol dialog becomes repetitive and the story slows down.

Still, the rich details, ties to CoH lore, and custom additions to both the enemy group and Nemesis' plots more than make up for the extra grind BEST CUSTOMS & BEST LORE!

If you noticed, I did not choose a BEST OVERALL this week cause I'm going to leave that designation to YOU! Check out all the finalists and get your votes in by December 5th!

Next week: 11/27/11 we may be a little late for the holiday but what's better than Thanksgiving LÆftovers! Join us on Triumph server as we serve up the best turkey sandwiches and pie we can find in AE! All levels and ATs are welcome

Forum regular, Zamuel, is actually well-known for running this sewer trial on his home server of Victory. He still runs it regularly on many diff servers, you may want to hit him up sometime and learn all the tricks!

I missed this week's AE Storyteam meet, but SupaFreak was kind enough to fill in with this recap of Sunday's fun:

Snipped from SupaFreak's post in the AE Forums:
Oh snap! Backfire couldn't make it this week and needs someone to pretend to be as good as him at posting the shenanigans of the AE Storyteam. Do you accept the challenge before you $name?

(Mission Accept) Put on "poser" britches!

Alright... Players' Choice Æwards! was the theme for the week and here's a summary of what transpired:

#470181 "Tutorial Arc 3: Dark Harvest"
5 missions/Heroic by @Khonshu

#474611 "Cole in your Stocking"
5 missions/Vigilante by @Venture

We decided to try out the lowbie arcs since a majority of us were on with lowbies. Hey, 2+2 really does equal 4... just like Barney teaches us!

Dark Harvest Looking for a fresh spin on manipulation of Kheldians? You got it right here, pal. It was a "keep you on your toes" arc with a solid mix of patrols with static enemies! BEST ACTION!!

Stocking The Resistance are looking to rob us of Christmas in Praetoria? I got my poser britches on already... so seems this calls for donning my vigilante boots too. BEST OVERALL

Next week: 11/20/11, join us for Players' Choice Æwards pt II on Guardian server! We'll put out the red carpet for our finalists' arcs so join us! All levels and ATs are welcome

Nice job Supa, you fill those britches well!

And since you did such a good job, we'll meet on YOUR home server of Guardian next week for part II of Players' Choice Æwards. I'll try to be there, too

I bet you thought I forgot to update the AE Storyteam thread this week. Wrong!! I've just been recovering from the Zombie Æftermath action (and still working overtime at my new job.) So, in case you missed it, last weekend we found 3 zombie arcs and brought them back from the dead:

#129569 "Brains!"
2 missions/Heroic by @Radisonx

#394516 "Z-Day 2039: Part One"
5 missions/Heroic (NOTE: removed by author, no longer playable)

#165163 "City of Zombies"
2 missions/Heroic by @Valegor

Whether you like your zombies slow moving & shambling or cracked out & amped up on RAGE!!! the AE has a zombie arc for every undead slayer out there!

Brains! Is a fun action-oriented zombie slaying arc that has a nice bit of story mixed in with its gore. Rescue a hero and beat up zombies for fun and XP! BEST ACTION!!

Z-Day was a highly detailed zombie story that took place years after an undead apocalypse. While it had some mechanical problems and a couple grindy missions, the concept, characters, and overall execution was going to earn it BEST OVERALL for the week...but the author pulled the arc shortly after our run-through so, sadly, unless someone can coax them to put it back up Z-Day is just a fade memory...

Our final zombie bash was City of Zombies! Another quick, fun, action-oriented arc but this one has some humor thrown in and a super-wide variety of undead enemies to try and survive! Be sure to check out the bios on this week's BEST CUSTOMS!!!

Overall, zombies seem to be a popular theme in AE and I'm sure there's many more unexplored gems in this genre. Check 'em out and let us know if you find any good ones...and survive the experience!

Next week: 11/13/11 we check out the finalists in the Players' Choice Æwards! Join us on Champion server, all levels and ATs are welcome

I bet you thought I forgot to update the AE Storyteam thread this week. Wrong!! I've just been recovering from the Zombie Æftermath action (and still working overtime at my new job.) So, in case you missed it, last weekend we found 3 zombie arcs and brought them back from the dead:

#129569 "Brains!"
2 missions/Heroic by @Radisonx

#394516 "Z-Day 2039: Part One"
5 missions/Heroic (NOTE: removed by author, no longer playable)

#165163 "City of Zombies"
2 missions/Heroic by @Valegor

Whether you like your zombies slow moving & shambling or cracked out & amped up on RAGE!!! the AE has a zombie arc for every undead slayer out there!

Brains! Is a fun action-oriented zombie slaying arc that has a nice bit of story mixed in with its gore. Rescue a hero and beat up zombies for fun and XP! BEST ACTION!!

Z-Day was a highly detailed zombie story that took place years after an undead apocalypse. While it had some mechanical problems and a couple grindy missions, the concept, characters, and overall execution was going to earn it BEST OVERALL for the week...but the author pulled the arc shortly after our run-through so, sadly, unless someone can coax them to put it back up Z-Day is just a fade memory...

Our final zombie bash was City of Zombies! Another quick, fun, action-oriented arc but this one has some humor thrown in and a super-wide variety of undead enemies to try and survive! Be sure to check out the bios on this week's BEST CUSTOMS!!!

Overall, zombies seem to be a popular theme in AE and I'm sure there's many more unexplored gems in this genre. Check 'em out and let us know if you find any good ones...and survive the experience!

Next week: 11/13/11 we check out the finalists in the Players' Choice Æwards! Join us on Champion server, all levels and ATs are welcome

Love it! Great choice Doc

This is great for 2 reasons:

1- This fits perfectly with our Zombie Æftermath theme for the AE Storyteam next Sunday on Infinity.

2- Since it's just silly consumables I wont buy, that means 1 more week of saving my monthly stipend for something truly awesome!

They need more off weeks like this so I can build up more bank!

Batman cleans them up. Daredevil prowls thru them. And even CoH's Nemesis is down with them, as it were, yo. I'm talking about "the streets!" And with the recent addition of Street Justice to the Paragon Market, we thought it'd be a good time to visit some arcs that dish out some good, old fashioned StreÆt JustÆce!! 2 arcs made the playlist this week:

#115935 "Cracking Skulls" by @Flame Kitten
3 mish/Heroic

#6600 "'Dyne of the Times" by @Samuraiko
5 mish/Heroic

What better way to kick off StreÆt JustÆce week than by Cracking Skulls!?! The lower rung of Paragon's criminal food chain has been peddling a new drug and it seems to have made them more powerful! The Skulls are no longer the pushovers they were before and it's up to you to not only put a stop to their new drug, but possibly save their lives, too!

This arc is well detailed, fast-paced, and balanced for new heroes up to level 14! The customs are a perfect fit into canon and the story is a solid mystery that unfolds at a perfect pace. BEST OVERALL!! BEST CUSTOMS!!

'Dyne of the Times is a very similar premise, but with a much deeper tie to CoH lore. Back Alley Brawler needs your help to get a new drug & new gang off the street and your success or failure could mean everything to Galaxy City's top dog!

As you can tell from the Arc ID #, this is a very early made arc, and as such, it's not as slick & polished as many arcs being made today. But, despite it's age, the core of the story is solid and the action is two-fisted fun for levels 1-50+! BEST LORE TIE-IN!

I wish I had time to search out more SJ arcs, as it's a superfun genre and such a staple of comic heroes. You just can't go wrong punching bad guys in the face!

Next Sunday, we explore the fallout of all these crazy Zombie Apocalypses with Zombie Æftermath!! Join us on the Infinity Server this Sunday, 11/6/11, at 9am Pacific/5pm British for some undead AE action! Remember, we meet in the AE building in the RWZ, all levels & ATs are welcome.

Batman cleans them up. Daredevil prowls thru them. And even CoH's Nemesis is down with them, as it were, yo. I'm talking about "the streets!" And with the recent addition of Street Justice to the Paragon Market, we thought it'd be a good time to visit some arcs that dish out some good, old fashioned StreÆt JustÆce!! 2 arcs made the playlist this week:

#115935 "Cracking Skulls" by @Flame Kitten
3 mish/Heroic

#6600 "'Dyne of the Times" by @Samuraiko
5 mish/Heroic

What better way to kick off StreÆt JustÆce week than by Cracking Skulls!?! The lower rung of Paragon's criminal food chain has been peddling a new drug and it seems to have made them more powerful! The Skulls are no longer the pushovers they were before and it's up to you to not only put a stop to their new drug, but possibly save their lives, too!

This arc is well detailed, fast-paced, and balanced for new heroes up to level 14! The customs are a perfect fit into canon and the story is a solid mystery that unfolds at a perfect pace. BEST OVERALL!! BEST CUSTOMS!!

'Dyne of the Times is a very similar premise, but with a much deeper tie to CoH lore. Back Alley Brawler needs your help to get a new drug & new gang off the street and your success or failure could mean everything to Galaxy City's top dog!

As you can tell from the Arc ID #, this is a very early made arc, and as such, it's not as slick & polished as many arcs being made today. But, despite it's age, the core of the story is solid and the action is two-fisted fun for levels 1-50+! BEST LORE TIE-IN!

I wish I had time to search out more SJ arcs, as it's a superfun genre and such a staple of comic heroes. You just can't go wrong punching bad guys in the face!

Next Sunday, we explore the fallout of all these crazy Zombie Apocalypses with Zombie Æftermath!! Join us on the Infinity Server this Sunday, 11/6/11, at 9am Pacific/5pm British for some undead AE action! Remember, we meet in the AE building in the RWZ, all levels & ATs are welcome.

Here's a few fun, villainous arcs from my fav list. They range from deep, dark evil, to light-hearted criminal fun, enjoy:

Kidnap the Super-Brats #358532
1 mish by @Kid Voodoo

Hopeless #29262
4 mishes by @TalonLee

Catastrophic Betrayal #1140
5 mishes by Atiaxi

Young Love #6391
4 mishes by @TA

Doctor Geist and the Scientific Method #111022
4 mishes by @Scuzzbopper

Jenkins' Guide to Villainy #84008
4 mishes by @Circuit Boy

Pinch me.

I'll give it a couple more weeks, but I felt they gave away too much in the pilot. Would have rather seen the Fairy Tale history side of things slowly revealed as it developed instead of plopping it all down on the first outing.

Made me feel like they were afraid it wasn't going to be picked up so they wanted to get everything in. Now to see if Grimm delivers on NBC...

Yay! Ace made the cut!

The leaves are changing color, the nights are getting longer, and giant bags of candy are flying off the shelves. You know what that means? It's Halloween time! So this week the AE Storyteam explored a few HalloweÆn Arcs:

#524193 "Once a Hero" by @Lord of Storms
5 mish/Heroic

#461308 "The Abandoned Hospital" by @Therianthrope
1 mish/Neutral

#461253 "The Pumpkin that stole Halloween" by @Nathras
1 mish/Neutral

When you think Halloween, you think of ghosts, goblins, and things that go bump in the night. And that's just what you get with our first arc, Once a Hero!

While trying to rid the streets of a powerful, new hallucinogenic drug, you stumble upon a mystery that threatens to engulf the whole city in a horde of nightmarish monsters and ghouls.

The action is fast-paced, the customs are great and the details such as bios and clues really show the heart the author put into the arc. BEST OVERALL!

What's Halloween without a Haunted House? Not to be outdone by the Devs, The Abandoned Hospital is a clever, moody mission that creatively uses standard enemies and settings to create a haunting story.

While the concept, mood, & characters are top notch, the arc does have 1 drawback: it gives almost NO rewards. A lot of the enemies used in the arc are Pets, and as such, give 0 xp or drops. Despite this, the arc is definitely worth a run thru for the setting, alone. MOST CREATIVE, BEST SETTING!

And finally, if there's one thing no Halloween can go without, it's a Pumpkin! The Pumpkin that stole Halloween is a fun, simple, action arc with exceptionally designed, holiday themed customs.

The story isn't too deep, but the costumes make up for it! I'd have liked to see more detail put in and maybe some more variety in the hostages, but if you're looking to get into the spirit of the season, it's a great arc to kick things off. BEST CUSTOMS!

On a side note: the two 1 mission arcs we played this week both had Corrupted Critters & Invalid Names from a recent patch. Hopefully the authors will get the feedback we left and give them an update soon, as they're fun arcs.

Next Sunday, we celebrate the release of the newest addition to Melee powersets with Street JustÆce arcs!! Join us on the Justice Server this Sunday, 10/30/11, at 9am Pacific/5pm British for some back alley beatdowns! Remember, we meet in the AE building in the RWZ, all levels & ATs are welcome.

The leaves are changing color, the nights are getting longer, and giant bags of candy are flying off the shelves. You know what that means? It's Halloween time! So this week the AE Storyteam explored a few HalloweÆn Arcs:

#524193 "Once a Hero" by @Lord of Storms
5 mish/Heroic

#461308 "The Abandoned Hospital" by @Therianthrope
1 mish/Neutral

#461253 "The Pumpkin that stole Halloween" by @Nathras
1 mish/Neutral

When you think Halloween, you think of ghosts, goblins, and things that go bump in the night. And that's just what you get with our first arc, Once a Hero!

While trying to rid the streets of a powerful, new hallucinogenic drug, you stumble upon a mystery that threatens to engulf the whole city in a horde of nightmarish monsters and ghouls.

The action is fast-paced, the customs are great and the details such as bios and clues really show the heart the author put into the arc. BEST OVERALL!

What's Halloween without a Haunted House? Not to be outdone by the Devs, The Abandoned Hospital is a clever, moody mission that creatively uses standard enemies and settings to create a haunting story.

While the concept, mood, & characters are top notch, the arc does have 1 drawback: it gives almost NO rewards. A lot of the enemies used in the arc are Pets, and as such, give 0 xp or drops. Despite this, the arc is definitely worth a run thru for the setting, alone. MOST CREATIVE, BEST SETTING!

And finally, if there's one thing no Halloween can go without, it's a Pumpkin! The Pumpkin that stole Halloween is a fun, simple, action arc with exceptionally designed, holiday themed customs.

The story isn't too deep, but the costumes make up for it! I'd have liked to see more detail put in and maybe some more variety in the hostages, but if you're looking to get into the spirit of the season, it's a great arc to kick things off. BEST CUSTOMS!

On a side note: the two 1 mission arcs we played this week both had Corrupted Critters & Invalid Names from a recent patch. Hopefully the authors will get the feedback we left and give them an update soon, as they're fun arcs.

Next Sunday, we celebrate the release of the newest addition to Melee powersets with Street JustÆce arcs!! Join us on the Justice Server this Sunday, 10/30/11, at 9am Pacific/5pm British for some back alley beatdowns! Remember, we meet in the AE building in the RWZ, all levels & ATs are welcome.

Want to REALLY put your money where your mouth is? Make these (as close as you can) in MA.

Very nice CR! I'll have to play more in the creator this weekend...

I don't know if I've done this already, but I gotta say "Thank You!" Zombie Man. These boards are painful without your skin!

No Justice no peace! >

(j/k I don't have any new arcs, anyway ;P)