Bubbawheat

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Digital Transition (143017)
Description: A strange message appears in your email. The citizens of Paragon City are about to be enslaved by Television. You must break into a Freakshow base and recover the parts to the one being that can defeat it - the Radio! [Type: Story, Estimated Time: 1 hour, the 3rd mission has 30 min timer and EB]

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Played as lvl 40 fire/fire brute. I really enjoyed this arc. The concept was great, I loved the contact. You have a great format and voice for the computer, and it worked well with the Radio as well. I would love to see this idea expanded on a bit into a larger storyline. There's always the concept of television trying to break into the computer as well. Hulu is a pretty big site nowadays. The only other downside was there's a bit too much psi for me, and television is pretty tough. He stacked enough confuse to overcome a break free. Burn isn't very friendly when you're confused. But I was able to beat him without hosping. Looking at the description again, was he still an EB, or did you downgrade him to a boss? If he's an EB you might just downgrade him to a boss, or when i15 comes just give him only one confuse power. Definately enjoyed it!

Yes!

List of things only the leader can read currently:

Mission debriefing (mission return text): This is ESPECIALLY important for the final mission, as it is typically the ending of the story, which up to 7 out of 8 players completely miss out on.
Mission "Accept" text (if it has been altered)

Also, objective completion text is only seen by the person that clicks the glowie or gets the defeating hit on the boss. It should be seen by every member on the team.

So, are we doing anything else with this thread after the last few stragglers finish up, or we just moving on to the next round? Vote for a winner? At least have a collection post with all the pics put together with the pairings? Any other ideas?

Another note: You don't *have* to write up your description in horoscope format, though you can if you want to. And thanks for all the submissions. If I keep getting enough, it might be bumped to weekly instead of bi-weekly. Look for the first installment next Friday.

I will be starting a new article called AE Horoscopes where I would basically advertise AE arcs in a somewhat humorous way. If you'd like your arc to be featured, just list your arc ID, arc name, a quickie description, mood (serious, humorous, etc), and if it's a longer arc please leave a link to a feedback thread, or a review since I'm not sure if I'll have enough time to verify all of the arcs personally.

For the arcs I do play, I might write up a review in my Reviews for Short Arcs thread, so if you would not like your arc reviewed, please say so.

Edit: for a quick example of what I'm talking about in case I'm not being clear enough, I'll use one of my own arcs.

Gemini: You're feeling beside yourself this week, like a feeling of deja vu. Maybe trying out Arc # 137561: Time Loop will pull you out of your rut.

Second edit: You don't *have* to write your description in horoscope format, I got to do some writing to get credit for this article, right? But feel free if you want to.

Current Queue

Digital Transition (143017)
Zero Entertainment: 44824


Lots of room for more!

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Arc Name: Coming Unglued
Arc ID: 6015
Faction: Heroic
Creator Global/Forum Name: @Linarra
Difficulty Level: Easy/Medium
Synopsis: Something has “dislocated” this dimension from the other dimensions…
Estimated Time to Play: 35min - 1 hour
Notes: 3 missions. Small maps. No missions are ‘kill all’; can be a quick set of missions or longer at your discretion. Story based. Crey enemies, with a few ‘surprises’.

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Played as a level 26 fire/fire tanker. I enjoyed the arc pretty well, even sk'ed up to 40, I didn't really have a problem with the crey, and the others. On the second mission, it was a real "What the heck was that" when I saw one of the patrols flying across the screen in the background. That's the kind of stuff I absolutely enjoy in AE missions. Storyline was a little basic, I know what you were going for, but the dialog from the Pylon was a little odd seeing it that way. I was surprised that the ambush on the second mission came with the last of the glowies. In my experience, they usually come on the first glowie if it's a multiple. Don't really have any suggestions for you today. Was pretty good. Not great, not bad, just good.

So how long before someone copies this and makes it completable to say they succeeded?

Mission name: Time Loop
Arc ID: 137561
Morality: Neutral
Length: Medium
Description: You are stuck in a time loop and you have to find your way out.
You are stuck in a time loop and you have to find your way out.
You are stuck in a time loop and you have to find your way out.
.tuo yaw ruoy dnif ot evah uoy dna pool emit a ni kcuts era uoY
You are stuck in a time loop and you have to find your way out.
What you were drinking when this was created?: Vanilla Coke

Original Volt Sentinel

New Volt Sentinel

New Bio: Volt Sentinel is a sentient machine from the distant past. A living relic of an ancient race lost to history. He was only recently uncovered during some of the destruction caused by the Rikti war. Charged by a powerful energy source, the Volt Sentinel's only directive is to protect. And now that his people are long past, he has taken the meaning of this directive to protect the people of Paragon City from those who would attack its citizens.

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Here's something short I've published with my EU account.

One shot wonders: Rescue Wreckless Jo
Name: @RedKnight
Arc ID: 128214
Synopsis: A rookie superhero, Wreckless Jo, is about to get in over her head. Her brother, Combat Rock, has asked you to rescue her.

One mission, Malta.

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Played as my level 50 MA/SR scrapper. Enjoyed this mission pretty well, liked the look and the style of the contact and ally, enjoyed the concept. I thought the optional ally was handled the best I've seen so far. He mentions in the text that you can use the desk to give him a call, there's a note that the desk is an optional glowie that will spawn him as an ally. You click the desk and it's a 10 second or so glowie that says on the progress bar "Calling Combat Rock for help, hang up now if you don't need it" so you can interrupt it if you didn't realize what it was, or didn't read the opening text. And he spawns in the front by himself so you can just walk over and pick him up. Obviously, this doesn't work on all maps, but here it worked great. Oh, but he does say "I'll be there soon as.". You should drop the 'as' at the end.

There is still a lot that could be improved. The opening text goes way overboard with the colors, orange and red all over the place. Just stick with highlighting the red text and drop the third color. "whilst" seems really out of place in the opening text as well. There's a 30 min time limit for no real reason. You're fighting the Malta for no explained reason. There's a bunch of dead skulls lying around that died from lead poisoning that's not explained at all, other than a footnote where Jo says she expected Skulls and not Malta.

But the concept and dialog was good, I enjoyed it pretty well.

These are some nice looking reviews. I'll throw mine into the mix because I always like getting good feedback. I can't decide which one to give you, so take your pick, or do both if you want to.

Arc ID: 3369
Arc Name: Matchstick Women
Group: Council, custom
Level Range: 1-54, SOs+ recommended
Synopsis: A mysterious flame shows you the tale of a strange group of women arsonists and their troubled leader.
Notes: 3 missions, 1 AV on standard difficulty, lots of descriptions and clues.

Arc ID: 137651
Arc Name: Time Loop
Group: Wyvern
Level Range: 15-25
Synopsis: Foreshadow sends you to recover an unknown time-altering artifact. The result makes your head spin.
Notes: 4 missions, no AVs, lots of descriptions and clues, as well as a couple easily overlooked notes, let me know if you find them.

Same here, Psygon must have really cranked a few out the past couple days.

Burnt Matchstick

...on a modest budget. I currently am level 42 and have been going for Damage bonuses since it was easy to shoot for, currently at 18% with 4x 3% and 3x 2%. Also, any tips on build would be appreciated, not sure what other powers to pick. Empty slots listed are a mix of SOs and frankenslotted set IOs. Also, this is a superteam build, and have rarely had a problem with endurance.

Quick rundown (not in Mids, sorry)

Flash Arrow: 5x Dark Watcher's Despair (health, recovery, recharge, damage)
Glue Arrow: 3 slots
Ice Arrow: 2x Lockdown (damage)
Acid Arrow: 2x Undermined Defenses (damage), Achilles proc
Disruption Arrow: 2 slots
Entangling Arrow: Trap proc, 2 more slots
Oil Slick Arrow: 2x Undermined Defenses (damage), Achilles proc
EMP Arrow: 2x Lockdown (damage)

Mental Blast: 4x Devastation (regen, health, damage), 1 more slot
Subdue: 5 slots
Psychic Scream: 6 slots
Will Domination: 2x Thunderstrike (recov), 4 more slots
Psionic Tornado: 6 slots
Psionic Lance: 2 slots
Psychic Wail: 2 slots

Assault: 2 slots
Tactics: 2 slots
Vengeance: 1 slot

recall friend: 1 slot
Teleport: 3 slots

Psychic Mastery: Dominate: 2x Lockdown (damage)

I was planning on doing this, but haven't played through any fully worthy arcs yet, though some are close.

Nice! (Originals for everyone else, BTW)

Updated with a near complete story re-write. Now 4 missions long with bigger changes starting around mission 3, a bit more of a surprise finish, and lots more humor, clues, and dialog. Also a couple easter egg-ish details, let me know if you find them.

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Arc: Time Loop
ID: 137561
Written by: @Bubbawheat

Ooh, Foreshadow's the contact. This is a guy who we pretty much know nothing about, so what does he have planned?

Mission 1: Hmm. I know the morality is neutrality and that the Wyern are "rogues" but the (in a rp sense) "hero" part of me feels a little unsettled by this. (I'm not saying you have to change the morality, nothing like that. I think neutrality is a good choice so far)


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Updated the feel of the Wyvern slightly. They're still the enemies, but they're a little less shifty.

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The mission completed rather suddenly--and there's no clue that tells me anything to go on to the next mission. Also when you exit, it says that the player found the device. The NPC dialog beforehand does hint at it and I know you put a message after the LT. was defeated, but maybe a "clue found" as well that states he had it on him or something. Returning to the contact DOES explain things a little better.

Mission 2: Much better now that I know what to expect, but I'd still like to know what the heck he has, lol.


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done and done.

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Mission 3: You're missing a "." right before Foreshadow sends you off. Just a nitpicky thing of mine.

I didn't know there was already a computer beforehand in the previous missions until my second walkthroug because the mission already completed and I didn't bother to go look for it. Suggestion: Maybe you could make the computer the mission complete and, instead of having it say something, just have blank information when the player clicks on it.


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Moved the computer to the front so it's harder to miss. Still not required though, and mission 3 begins a bit of a bigger change (hint: the glowies are actually not required, but I did throw in a unique and somewhat humorous clue for each one for your trouble)

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Mission 4: I really think three missions is enough for this arc, even though you do change things up a little. Four is getting, well, tedious. (sorry) and it's draining my enjoyment factor because it keeps repeating the same thing over and over again.


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Now with 40% less repetition, and 20% fewer missions (now 4)

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And I believe this is the first "clue" I've received. Up to this point, I've been noticing the lack of clues. The lack of clues/information hurts this arc because it makes you feel like you're in the dark and unsure of what the plot ACTUALLY is.


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And with many more clues.

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Mission 5: Usually, I just take my time defeating everything, but I rushed straight to the end. I'm thinking other players will feel the same thing. Mission 5 should really be moved up to mission 4.

I DO like the chronological backwards storytelling, though, but again--shorter is better. Foreshadow's ending comment just made me want to slap him, heh.

I was enjoying this up until the third arc, when it began to look like this would never end. I would suggest shortening it to three arcs and the lack of "informative" clues really hurt this one because I felt the story was lacking any meat.

Solo-ability: 5 out of 5. Wyern LTs. are a tad pushy with their explosive arrows, but otherwise, it was easy.

2 1/2 Stars.

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I'd love it if you would take a second look at it. I've changed almost all of Foreshadow's dialog (you're still going to want to slap him at the end though), and added bigger changes of pace in mission 3 and 4 and got rid of mission 5. Also added quite a bit of humor. There's also a couple easter egg-ish clues, let me know if you find them.

arc name: Time Loop
Arc ID: 137561
Creator: @Bubbawheat
Level range: 15-25
Group: Wyvern
Morality: Neutral, suitable for contract villains and heroes who don't strictly follow the law.
Synopsis: Foreshadow has contacted you because Wyvern has unknowingly aquired an artifact capable of creating major time distortions. He needs some outside help in order to get it out of their hands before it causes any serious time disruptions.

Note: No AV/EBs, lots of clues, and a couple more subtle easter egg-type hints/clues. Tell me if you catch them. Somewhat in the middle of a story update, but should be fully updated by the weekend.

edit: update complete, play at your own leasure.

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Name: Mystic Fridge
ArcID:139882
Length: Very short
Notes: Your at a refridgerator getting a soda and you get a vision of a mystical treasure. this is a click the glowie heavy mission there is a boss but you don't have to kill it to win. everything has descriptions. this was my first arc and ive been obsessivly reworking it.


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Played as a lvl 50 MA/SR scrapper. This was an interesting little mission. It was very weird to say the least. Weird in a good way though. The whole concept of the mission was pretty bizarre, with varied results on the humor. I liked the glowie descriptions, it wasn't a huge map to really have to dig for the correct glowie. The boss's dialog was ok, though from the description I was expecting more custom mobs. A few spelling errors in the intro text: beconing should be beckoning, it's should be its, and probibly should be probably. Not bad, enjoyed it fairly well.

Also, from the G4 interview with Matt Miller, he mentioned that having a mission title is a big deal for him in reference to Dev Choice qualification.

Just got a new e-mail from City of Heroes about the new expansion: Going Rogue. Play in Praetoria, switch from hero to villain and vice versa.

New expansion? Side Switching? Awesome!

website (not up yet, apparently)

Full text:

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Paragon Studios™ is proud to officially announce the next City of Heroes® expansion, City of Heroes Going Rogue™! This will be the first major expansion for the City of Heroes franchise since the launch of City of Villains® in 2005.
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Praetoria, a utopian mirror to our own world, hides a dark secret. Exploring this mysterious alternate earth, the heroes and villains of this world feel an uneasiness of doubt creep over them. Loyalties are questioned. Choices are made. Lines are drawn. As they search for the truth behind Emperor Cole and his Praetorian guard, brutal foes and fierce allies emerge, turning this once blissful paradise into a battle ground.
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City of Heroes Going Rogue officially opens the "mirror universe" of Praetoria and an all-new alignment system that explores the shades of gray that lie between Heroes and Villains. For the first time, Hero characters can become Villains and vice versa, enabling Heroes to cross over to the Rogue Isles™ and Villains to experience Paragon City™.
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For more information, read the official press release and check out our new Going Rogue website to view the announcement trailer and register for the latest news and updates for City of Heroes Going Rogue.


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One Mish Arc: They HATE those Boxes
Name: Senter RR
ARc ID: 134741

This is s quick Arc mish I put together. I run a lot of alts and always come across hellions busting up boxes, and I figured that the boxes must get weary of that. heh...

So, the result is this mission. It is only one short map, very quick and playable. Not extremely difficult, and good for any level toon.

The Story is completely fleshed out and has all original content, not just a bunch of stock bad guys on a map.

If any get a chance to run it, would love the feedback.

Thanks...

Senter RR


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Played with my level 26 fire/fire tank, solo. The opening contact's dialog was a little bit confusing. You make it a little bit too convoluted. I get the feeling that you're trying to say something without saying it outright, but it just seems like you're going a bit overboard with it, and a little bit confusing. The custom enemies descriptions are hilarious. I really enjoyed reading them. And the critter design was very nice as well, it really invoked your inspiration. The box glowies were also confusing, as you are only told to rescue the boxes, but when you come to them you are deactivating them, scrubbing them, and once they are cleared of radiation, they vanish. Why am I deactivating them? What radiation? The vanishing? That I can deal with as a funny absurdity. But the first two make no sense, and not in a funny way, and aren't explained until later. I would change that unless the boss spawns before the boxes consistantly. Overall, it had its funny moments and confusing moments, but it was fun to play.

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Angela Starr
Mutation Sonic/Sonic Defender
Angela Starr is a disco diva who lives her life like it is still the 1970s. She is a singer with a fair amount of fame and a voice that kills - literally. She has absolute control of her voice, capable of using it for speech, singing or as a mechanism for defense and offense.
Looking for: Heroic or Neutral arcs, Arcs related to the 1970s, fame, or music, Any large or global threat.


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I read this and immediately thought of "Death to Disco" by @WrongNumber. She may not light fighting Disco Baddies, but she'll probably feel at home while she's there.

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Yeah. I have a lot of characters.

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Really? I only see 8.

Arc 137561: Time Loop
Morality: Neutral
Level Range: 15-30
Difficulty Level: Easy
Length: Medium
Synopsis: Wyvern have unknowingly recovered a time-altering artifact, and it's your job to get it back before something strange happens... Wyvern have unknowingly recovered a time-altering artifact, and it's your job to get it back before something strange happens.