BackFire

Today's theme was Oktoberfest! We found 3 that fit the theme by doing a random search for "Beer":

Beerfest, ID #182758 by @bkstumpf
3 mission arc, Neutral

Beer-The Nectar of the Gods, ID #170792 by @NJ Raingod
4 mission arc, Neutral

The Quest for Beer, ID #410210 by @Hakar
2 mission arc, Neutral


Next week: join us for Dr. Aeon's 3rd Challenge Arcs - Round 2!! It's the last week for players to submit arcs to Dr. Aeon's latest challenge and there have been plenty of new contenders announced so we'll pick 3 or 4 and give 'em a run! Hope to see ya there

Today's theme was Oktoberfest! Unfortunately, there's not really any Oktoberfest themed arcs in the MA that we could find. (NOTE to authors- here's an untapped subject)

So we wound up doing a search for random "Beer" arcs and found quite a few:

Beerfest, ID #182758 by @bkstumpf
3 mission arc, Neutral

Arachnos and Beer, ID #93386 by @Sulaiman
4 mission arc, Villainous

Beer-The Nectar of the Gods, ID #170792 by @NJ Raingod
4 mission arc, Neutral

The Quest for Beer, ID #410210 by @Hakar
2 mission arc, Neutral

Most of these arcs were mediocre at best and seemed to be variations on the same basic ideas: find beer barrels & rescue brewmasters...often on the same outdoor forest map (ugh!)

In the end, I think we all agreed that The Quest for Beer was the most solid and had the best costumes, while Beer-the Nectar of the Gods was a close second, but got knocked down by one of the most 'out of left field' final missions, ever. Don't even bother with Arachnos and Beer, which is an obvious Freak farm.

Next week: join us for Dr. Aeon's 3rd Challenge Arcs - Round 2!! It's the last week for players to submit arcs to Dr. Aeon's latest challenge and there have been plenty of new contenders announced so we'll pick 3 or 4 and give 'em a run! Hope to see ya there

Looks more like he graduated from "Viale" University to me...

Weight Watchers.

I know, it sounds too easy, but it works. They teach you the basics. You can eat the foods you like. You get a support group, access to decades of experience, and they even have an online program if you don't like going to meetings. Tho, the meetings are great, as they teach you more than just the right things to eat. They also help you get the right attitude, which is KEY to making it all work and sticking with it.

I hit goal in 40 weeks, losing around 2 lbs/week and never starved, never denied myself the kinds of foods I liked, and still played CoH 4-8 hours/night!

Here's a local news package about my WW experience.

Seriously, it's more than worth the price and it's free to sit in on your first meeting.

The trivia chat was even funnier the 2nd time around!

Today's theme was Dr. Aeon's 3rd Challenge Arcs. We ran 3 early entries:

A Wake for Dead 6, ID #379160 by @Clave_Dark_5
4 mission arc, Heroic

This arc takes a unique spin on the concept of a Flashback and is told in a manner and perspective that can be at times ingenious and confusing. Find out the impact a hero can make on others first-hand (or is it second-hand?) in this complex arc.


A Clone of Your Own, ID #453091 by @Bubbawheat
3 mission arc, Rogue

Mad doctors, Freaks, and science gone awry. Normally you wouldn't care unless you got paid to, but this time it's personal. Even bad guys have a moral code...where is yours? Find out in this fast-paced arc featuring the always fun Dopplegangers.

The Vigilante, ID #395861 by @Gypsy Rose
4 mission arc, Vigilante

The search for a missing person leads you to the door of a very different kind of Supergroup. Will you survive the initiation process and save the missing brother? And are you and this Supergroup really working for the Greater Good?

Note: all the arcs were still works in progress and I'm sure they're going to change dramatically before the contest ends. Give 'em a shot and help the authors out with some good feedback.

Next week: join us for Oktoberfest!!! Unfortunately, I will not be there to lead, but I hope to line up another Superteam member to keep the spirits flowing!

*shakes fist*

I'll get you next time, Whisky Jack...

What? Does she smile?

Had a good time tonight. Instead of running the arc solo again, I hollered out in my main server's global channel for anyone interested in giving it a run. Found 3 more people to join me and we gave it a whirl!

It wasn't as easy as I remember it, tho, since you get Paragon Protector Elites as bosses with a team of 4 >.<

Despite a few defeats, everyone seemed very impressed with the amount of detail you put into the arc, the punny jokes, and (of course) the costumes in the final mish. Hopefully you got some good rates and feedback.

Today's theme was Dr. Aeon's 3rd Challenge Arcs. We ran 3:

A Wake for Dead 6, ID #379160 by @ClaveDark 5
4 mission arc, Heroic

A Clone of Your Own, ID #453091 by @Bubbawheat
3 mission arc, Rogue

The Vigilante, ID #395861 by @Gypsy Rose
4 mission arc, Vigilante

All the arcs were still works in progress and I'm sure they're going to change dramatically before the contest ends. Give 'em a shot and help the authors out with some good feedback.

Next week: I will not be able to make it, but we have a great concept lined up! Break out your liederhosen for Oktoberfest!!! Bier, Steins, and silly hats galore as we search out the best Oktoberfest themed arcs out there. Drink a pint for me!

The Hunt for Hall of Fame! was a success! We had a great turnout and ran 3 of the top rated arcs on their way to HoF status:

Golden Age Secret of the Paragon Society, ID #344596 by @Wrong Number
5 mission arc, Heroic

The Lazarus Project, ID #124906 by @Flame Kitten
5 mission arc, Heroic

Doctor Geist and the Scientific Method, ID #111022 by @Scuzzbopper
4 mission arc, Villainous

Next week: our tentative theme is Dr. Aeon challenge arcs. If there are none posted by Saturday we may pick some forum arcs looking for feedback instead.

We had a great turnout for Saturday's Hunt for Hall of Fame! theme and we ran 3 of the top rated arcs on their way to HoF status:

Golden Age Secret of the Paragon Society, ID #344596 by @Wrong Number
5 mission arc, Heroic

Help the now-retired, aged, and grumpy super sidekick, Firecracker Kid get to the bottom of a mystery involving the Golden Age superteam: the Paragon Society. Nazi stomping fun with richly detailed backgrounds, characters and LOTS of fast-paced action.


The Lazarus Project, ID #124906 by @Flame Kitten
5 mission arc, Heroic

Why would anyone WANT to become a Vahzilok Eidolon? Much less, a newer, more dangerous version of one? Find out what motivates some of Paragon's richest citizens to attempt just this! Nice ties to canon and a very gritty look at one of CoH's more famous enemy groups. WARNING: story is a big dark at times and it had a mechanical bug from the latest update which, hopefully, will be fixed asap.

Doctor Geist and the Scientific Method, ID #111022 by @Scuzzbopper
4 mission arc, Villainous

Help Dr. Geist pull one over on his nemesis, Dr. Creed!! And do it all in the name of SCIENCE!! The neat thing about this arc is it can also be used as an educational lesson in scientific method!

Next week: our tentative theme is Dr. Aeon challenge arcs. If there are none posted by Saturday we may pick some forum arcs looking for feedback instead.

Please join us in the AE Building in Rikti War Zone on Triumph server @9am Pacific. All ATs and Levels are welcome and we also have a Ventrillo server for realtime voice chat! We'd love to see you there.

Thanks to you and Fred for joining us in Vent! Getting the "Director's Cut version of Golden Age Secret" with you voicing as we go was priceless

I apologize for all my ramblings and non-sensical mumbling, I really shouldn't drink Chai Tea before logging on >.<

I hope to have more of the superteam join us next week, if for nothing else, than to hear Fred's sexy accent! (Yes, I am man enough to admit that another man has a sexy voice. Don't judge.) Anyone wanting the Ventrillo login info, just PM me here or in-game to the global @backfire.

Yes.

Wow. Who poured Haterade all over what was supposed to be a fun little contest?

Give Dr. A a break, at least he's trying to inject some fun and interest into the MA community. I look forward to seeing what people come up with and wish them all luck!

That's right! One of our new MA Superteam members has kindly opened a channel on his Ventrillo server for use by the MA Superteam each Saturday morning. Now you can talk in team without typing (say THAT 10 times fast!) or just listen in to the rest of the group.

You'll need to download and install the Ventrillo client and, of course, have a mic & speakers or headset of some sort.

PM me here or in-game via my global @backfire for the login info.

@Cry Havoc is the Vent server's owner/admin and hopefully he'll be available a little early this Saturday to help anyone having technical problems.

Anyway, we hope you to see and HEAR you this weekend.

Next Saturday's theme is something we haven't done before: the Hunt for Hall of Fame!

We'll choose our arc randomly from the top 6 Hall of Fame hopefuls via /e dice. Most of the arcs that are on the list are 4 or 5 missions long, so we'll probably only have time for 2 or 3 but they should be fun! NOTE: After the first roll we will include the 7th arc on the list to replace the one we just played, and so forth if we continue after 2.

The filters I'm using to find the top 6 are: "Final" status & 5 Star rating, then sorted by # of plays/rates. Surprisingly, I've only played 2 of the current top 6. I know many of you have already played them all, but we have new members that haven't and I think it'd be nice to bring these arcs some more attention.

See ya'll Saturday!

This weekend was a lot of fun and it was good to see some new faces. We ran 2 High Roller arcs, both were 5 Star-worthy stories:

The Doctor Returns, ID #1152 by @FredrikSvandberg
5 mission arc, Heroic

Help the rogue Crey AI, "the Doctor", defeat some malicious code in the Architect Entertainment programming that treatens the heroes of Paragon City & yourself! Full of clever easter eggs, creative use of Dopplegangers, and a new challenging enemy group. And best of all, it fits in perfectly with existing CoH lore.

Uranmensch: The Atomic Man, ID #440730 by @Stone-Fox
4 mission arc, Heroic

Travel thru time to stop the Furhrer's plans to create a living nuclear bomb! While it sounds pretty serious, this arc features lots of good humor, hidden extras, and amazingly accurate references to German culture and history. Oh, and it's easily soloable!

Next week: the Hunt for Hall of Fame! We'll randomly pick arcs from the top 6 Hall of Fame hopefuls. Should be a good time, join in next Saturday!

Yep, this weekend was a lot of fun. We had some fresh new faces and quite a few of our original team back in action!

First up for High Roller Player's Choice was:

The Doctor Returns, ID #1152 by @FredrikSvandberg
5 mission arc, Heroic

Once again, Fred weaves a tale into CoH canon with an enviable ease, pulse-pounding action, and spot-on characters.

When you get an email from the sentient, rogue, Crey AI, "The Doctor" (originally from the "Doctor's Ally" badge arc) you're sent deep into the heart of Architect Entertainment's programming on a mission to save the city's heroes and your own identity!

This arc features prolific use of the new Doppleganger ability in AE and introduces a new enemy group in the form of AE's own programming security. Virtually fight your way thru buggy code and alternate versions of yourself without the brainbending pitfalls of time loops and alternate dimensions.

One of the interesting aspects in this arc was the way Fred took advantage of meta-humor, as you find yourself in someone else's Morality Mission and an XP farm! The humor, the detail and overall cleverness of this arc richly deserved it's:
***** 5 STARS!!

Next up was:

Uranmensch: The Atomic Man, ID #440730 by @Stone-Fox
4 mission arc, Heroic

Okay, Nazi-stomping is pretty much standard hero fare, but this arc is much more than just a time-travelling romp thru war-torn Germany. There's also lots of humor, bonus easter eggs, and uncanny ties into actual German history/culture.

Having just recently visited Germany (and Neuschwanstein Castle, in particular) I was greatly impressed by the history of the characters and references to things uniquely German. While it was fun fighting to save the world from a living nuclear bomb, I actually found myself enjoying the little extras like the bonus boss in Mission 2 (that spawns after mission complete) and references to Dunkel beir, the Black Forest and Ludwig. They made me want to book an immediate flight on Lufthansa!!

My only problem with the arc was the final mission: I figure the author didn't want the whole thing to take place in cave maps, but the office map used in M4 doesn't match the timeline nor the mission briefing. Also, I have issues with being sent to "kill" anyone when I'm playing a hero...yes, even the Führer.

In the end I was able to look past those 2 shortcomings and gave this arc:
***** 5 STARS! Ich liebe dich!!

I'm still working on a theme for next Saturday, will post it later this week

Just gotta thank the OP for this thread. Loaded up my lowbie on WW temp power attacks last night and had a blast!! Now to get working on those empowerment buffs...

I first noticed this when visiting the Dev Digest and Going Rogue sections of the forum. For a while I thought there was a connection but then it happened visiting other sections. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to replicate it reliably for a proper bug report, it seems pretty random.

Sparkly Goth's hero-blog of awesome awesomeness:
Entry #1:

Okay, so I didn't ask to become some darkity dark conduit for Netherworld energy, it just happened by accident when I was playing Oiji at that lame slumber party.

Sure, I was bummed at first, cuz like, I had to confront my inner demons and stuff to get control of the energies. And they were all like "you're too fat" and "nobody understands you" and "what were you thinking when you put on that shade of eyeliner?"

So I was all, "whatevs." And they like totally shut up cuz like I don't care what people think about me, and I'm totally vegan which makes me better than them, anyway. Oh, and I have junk in my trunk cuz real girlz have curves, y'know... (but they were right about the eyeliner) >.<

Then I texted my BFF Kris, who's like a total beauty school rockstar, and she gave me this sic makeover. So we went clubbing and now I like fight crime and stuff. Kewl, I know, right?

But I'm still like totally emo inside. I think. Maybe. Whatevs! I mean, just cuz your soul is black as night doesn't mean you gotta be dull, y'know?

Anyway, thanks for the read and friend me!

Huggles, kisses, and despair,
-Sparkly ^.^

At first I was thinking it may be linked to certain portions of the forums but it seems to be randomly doing it now. Yeah, very annoying and seemingly getting worse.