Bubbawheat

That's one reason why I decided to move my non-shifting through time reviews to the actual author threads, like Glazius has been doing from the beginning. Where my Time Shifter thread is more of a project in and of itself, and many of the arcs don't have their own thread anyway.

Arc Name:Entrusted with the Other Secret
Author: Parkin/ @ObsidianDevil
Arc ID#: 120462
Morality: neutral
Enemies: 5th, council, custom
Description: Mender Tesseract has a task for you which leads down a winding path through the time-stream which reveals many of the Mender's secrets, and rewrites the future of Ouroboros. Is designed to be run after the normal Ouro' arcs. [SFMA]
How I found it: PM'ed as a request quite a while ago, suggested to play after the Ouroboros arc, which I just finished.
Played at level: 26

BTW: Heya Troy, thanks for stopping by. When I was reviewing the Ouro arcs for this thread, I didn't expect one of those authors to pop in and say hi.

My contact today is Mender Tesseract and she is her usual grumpy self, though it sometimes feel like she's a bit over the top on her condescension. And her task is for me to find out who has blocked the menders out of the timestream. She has determined that the people behind the disturbance are from a group called Timelock: Time's Arrow, Clubbor, and a name that sounds awfully familiar, Time-Shift. While I'm there, I also see someone named Alpha who isn't required, but seems like he could be important. There's also a virus transmitter device that I destroy, but I happen to see video of my future death.


Timelock minions

Unfortunately, I failed and the menders are still locked out of certain points of the timestream. Next up it's time to head over to Time-Shift's inner sanctum in order to get more information about what they are really planning. I find some disturbing information, apparently future me is working for Time-Shift, and I run afowl of them for some reason. I defeat Time-Shift yet again and return to Mender Tessaract to find out what damage and/or repairs I have made.


Time's Arrow

Well apparently I have failed once again, and Meg Tesseract makes no qualms of reminding me, and not only that, but she insists on coming along for the next mission to make sure it gets done right. She has managed to track Time-Shift's time-jamming device to a 5th column base in the past before their war with the Council. I free her and together we find a small drive that was used to create the jamming virus.


Tessaract fighting with the 5th Column.

Successful for the first time, I am now sent to check on the near future from the first mission to check what changes have been made while Meg investigates the drive on her end. But when I get there I feel a pain similar to temporal scaling, only much worse. I think the timestream is trying to tell me something. Time-Shift is here, but his other minions aren't. And Omega is here as well, also optional, and also with some interesting information. What disturbs me the most though, is the three bodies I find: Twilight's Son, Mender Roebuck, and my contact, Mender Tesseract. Also after I defeat Time-Shift, I find that he is in fact a Mender himself, commended by Mender Silos even.


Clubbor, he was brought back in time and bashor'd the time machine.

Having studied the drive, she realizes that she herself will be Time-Shift's benefactor, who will work to protect Ouroboros from rogue menders who will be trying to take over the organization. And we have just undid all the work that she will end up doing. So now we have to re-do that work once again by replacing the drive into the 5th council base in the past. Things are mostly the same as I remember it, though there are some council here and there extolling the virtues of their organization over the 5th column.


Alpha, and later, Omega

And after all that work, Mender Tesseract forgets everything that we just did, as I have altered her own past, though she did give me a letter to return to her explaining what happened, and I finally get a word of thanks and the title of Mender.


Time-shift, not to be confused with Time Shifter.

(I enjoyed this arc pretty well. It did have a few annoyances, like Time-Shift spawning later in both of the large outdoor maps. Also, I know Mender Tesseract is condescending, but I think this arc takes her a little over the top. Although I could just not be remembering her very well. She only gets a couple paragraphs in the Ouroboros Initiation arc. Also, Alpha and Omega seemed like a little hidden easter egg, I was hoping something more would payoff from it, and I also noticed a few random Alphas in mission 2 which I wasn't sure if they were supposed to be there.)

Nice, the kitten doesn't quite have the same feeling of a soul-sucking stare though. Mostly just cute.

We have radio missions available in every non-hazard zone, why not streamline it and add an extra level of immersion in the process. The ability to enter any door. You enter an office building, you automatically get to check your police radio to see what's happening in this building. You enter a sewer or cave, you get a cave/sewer radio mission.

There would be some limitations: if you aren't in the correct level range, you'd still get the error message, or if you already have a radio mission selected. But it would open up a nice level of immersion to the game by being able to enter any door in any building.

Awesome, love the crane one.

I have less than 100 plays on my Matchstick Women arc which I made during open beta, advertise quite often, have gotten it reviewed (and gotten mostly high marks) by almost every reviewer on this thread, advertise on my bios that the arc is based on, ran teams through it for testing, *and* have gotten nearly all positive comments. So there ya go.

Oh hello again thread!

The first one I ended up actually playing was my fire/fire blaster, which I just tweaked the flame to be a bit darker on some and a bit brighter on others. Dark fire for the single target blasts and rain of fire, bright orange/yellow flame for fireball, bright yellow for aim, bright red for buildup, and a dark red/orange for fire breath.

The next one was my wife's ice/emp troller, I made the emp from an icky green to a calming ice blue. I liked it a lot more than I thought I was going to.

Especially considering the much higher number of devs on staff now, you'd think SOMEONE was still playing the game for fun, and playing AE missions.

I'm not here to pick on anyone, or call anyone out for having uninteresting reviews, but I would like to try and add a bit more discussion in this forum, as Dalghryn has pointed out this forum is lacking.

Anyway, what does make the most interesting review? A harsh and sarcastic breakdown of everything done wrong, whether done in a serious tone or a humorous tone? An in-character review, where the story is looked at from the perspective of an actual hero/villain doing the arc? Screenshots, whether posed, or just to showcase other's customs.

If you want to call out names, feel free, but mention why their reviews are the most interesting and why you keep reading them.

Arc Name: Smoke and Mirrors
Author: Twilight's Son
ID#: 456
Moraility: Heroic
Level Range: 25-34
Description: Hello. I knew the time was right for you to seek me out. We have much work to do if we are to save this plane of existence. It is only with your help that we have a chance of setting things right, in this time and others. Steel yourself, hero, as what is to come will test every bit of your strength and resolve. For this task, you will be required to travel into the recent past and restore the natural order of the Chronoverse. Your quest is to stop the Circle of Thorns from opening a portal to the netherworld and bringing their demonic master here to Earth. If not, all is lost. You must seek out three individuals who serve as the 'cosmic key', and keep them out of the Circle's evil hands. If they succeed... well, I can't bring myself to think of it...

Editor's Note: Story and dialogue by City of Heroes' favorite comic book author Troy Hickman. Originally published in issues #4 - #6 of the City of Heroes comic book.

Played at: level 25-26
How I found it: He's in Ouroboros, just inside the building.

Twilight's Son is my contact for today, and he has a grand task for me. I must stop the Circle of Thorns from capturing and sacrificing three individuals who are 'cosmic keys' in order to bring forth their demonic master. My first task is to rescue Cyrus Thompson from the Skyway City train station. When I make it to the station, I see Cyrus and Malico - a random CoT boss - talking with each other, but when I make it to Malico and defeat him, Cyrus is gone, and I assume he has been captured... by someone else apparently.


Generic CoT Boss named Malico

So I failed at my first task, but there's still two more keys that I can protect. My next stop is one Jimmy Preston... a... ch - i - l - d? What's a child? I've never seen one of those things before. Anyway, he is in a warehouse and it's up to me to rescue him. This time when I get to Juikon, another random CoT boss, he talks about already having Jimmy but I don't actually see him. So once again I am too late even though I crush Juikon to little pieces.


walking the red carpet

So two failures in a row, maybe I should tell Twilight's Son to send me in about 30 minutes earlier than he was going to for the last rescue, which is during an Atlas Park fashion show, where I have to rescue Candy Lebeaux, as well as the other Fashion Victims. I also get to beat on random CoT boss number three: Sitrix. At the end of the runway, I find Mandy Lebeaux instead of Candy, who tells me that once again, I have come to late to save her sister from the Thorns. There's also another handwritten letter in a trash can convincing me of the possible double dealings and misguided direction of the official Ouroboros organization.



Fashion Victims

So, I have failed all three times to rescue the cosmic keys, but with all the clues I have recovered, Twilight's Son tells me that they will be able to divine where the final ritual will be held so they can maybe finally send me there before something happens, instead of afterwards. And I'm sent down into the depths of Oranbega, where I search for quite a while before finally finding the final chamber where Jimmy Preston and Candy Lebeaux are being held by Baron Zoria. When I get there I find that Cyrus Preston, also known as Breakneck, either wasn't captured, or has escaped, and has made his way here to fight Baron Zoria. He may be old, but he's still a hero, and at least he might be able to buy some time. But even when I go straight to Baron Zoria to fight with Cyrus, he just stands there looking dumb. I thought he was a hero? Anyway, the baron proves to be too much for me, and even with a full helping of inspiration, I am unable to defeat him proper, and so have failed for a final time.


You might hate Oranbega, but you gotta love this view.

Four Stars: Recommended

(I enjoy this arc pretty well and have defeated the Baron solo on other characters before, but not being able to mez him cuts into my damage so much I was barely able to get him to half health before being killed myself. Though it is quite annoying that you fail all three of the first missions. I understand that it's necessary to setup the final mission, but it still feels pretty bad. Aside from that, there are some great maps that I wish we could use in AE - from the first map with the train station, to the fashion show map, to the final Oranbegan map - which might actually be included, but I'm not sure. Will definitely try this again at a higher level, or with a team.)


Hey look, it's a kid in CoX! I found him!

Yes, I would love to see fire stalkers

I dunno, I like reading about I16: Kaliedoscope. I think it sounds better than Power Spectrum.

Origin 5th Element - Part 1 Get Max
#41646
@Cain Lightning / 5th Elemental


My contact today is Drake Steel who wants me to rescue his partner Max Savage, to reunite the crimefighting duo of "Savage Steel". Well, techinically, it's represented as a recreation of past events of these established heroes. I ran this as a level 45 fire/fire brute on challenge level 4, solo even though it's recommended for teams.


Some Intercrime thugs.

My first task is to "get some information" from someone named the Pulverizer who is a member of Intercrime, which is a new crime organization filled with some castoffs of the Family, though they have newer technology, and many of them are dressed as ski-mask wearing thugs.


Boneyard

This arc is fairly straightforward, there is a mind control device called a "Mind Swiper" (Swiper, no swiping! Aww man!) and a powerful mentalist who can use this device to its fullest potential to completely control the minds of heroes, including one Max Savage.


The next mission sends me against two more members of Intercrime, who end up not being very loyal after I defeat them. I did quite enjoy the bit of comic relief as Bonfire keeps mentioning that his backup is coming soon, but they don't end up showing up until after he is defeated.

Finally, I have to defeat the mind controlled Max Savage in order to free him of his control - this might be a good choice to have him regain his mind at 1/4 health and run away instead of fully defeating him. Though I guess that would muddle with the mission's fail/success by having him required. Possibly have him in the back and Lustre - the Ill/something final boss - in the front, as her mind control wouldn't necessarily dissapate as soon as she is defeated. And have the "fail" condition be just slightly different from the success dialog as you didn't have to fully defeat him.

I don't understand why the level range of the arc is 50-54 for all three missions. It doesn't seem like there's anything in here to force it up that high, as all of the mobs are custom. There's nothing wrong with it, though it makes it appear to the casual observer to be a farm judging only by the level range.

I enjoyed it fairly well, the bosses were a challenge, but completable for me - not a major complaint because I am at challenge level 4.

Mostly because I'd like to get a little more light on this one-off mission:

#2711 Whack-a-mole
lvl 1-54 - standard diff custom bosses only - play it before i16 nerfs the already minimal xp!
Play a quick game of Whack-a-mole! Guaranteed to take no longer than 5 mins! Solo recommended as it doesn't spawn more for teams, see who can get the better score, or the quicker time! Don't forget your mallet!

BackAlleyBrawler = 66
pohsyb = 80
TheOcho = 48
The Television = 7
War Witch = 49

tv +
ww -

Not enough motivation to make it into a poster, but here you go anyway.

Back Alley Brawler: 84
pohsyb: 61
Ocho: 50
The Television: 9
War Witch: 46

TV +
WW -

I'll offer up Burnt Matchstick to pose along with Grey Huntress. Feel free to choose which one suits her best should I win.

BackAlleyBrawler = 79
pohsyb = 61
TheOcho = 47
The Television = 19
War Witch = 44

tv +
ww -

Actually remembered to take a screenshot this time. My character Ghoulish - Necro/Thermal. She's Necro/Storm on live, but that white fire gives a nice... ghoulish quality to the zombies.

BackAlleyBrawler = 76
pohsyb = 64
TheOcho = 47
The Television = 19
War Witch = 44

TV +
WW -

My vote goes to Lousy Day and my wife agrees. They're all very funny this month.

BackAlleyBrawler = 74
pohsyb = 64
TheOcho = 49
The Television = 18
War Witch = 45

TV +
WW -