Bubbawheat

Another parade rainer here: The new forum did combine NA and EU forums, so that does bring in a bit of an influx from over there.

Oh, and 6671!

#9882 Save Scruffles! is actually named "LOST DOG" I didn't remember it at the time I wrote the review.

1 star: No effort, no story, deliberate farms, etc. The worst of the worst.
2 stars: Problems with story, incomplete story/objectives, missing glowie texts, little to no dialog, single objective missions, unbalanced/uninteresting customs. An arc gets this rating if it has at least a couple of these, if not more.
...

5 stars: Excellent Story, excellent mechanics, fully fleshed out. OR: good story, good mechanics, with a certain something extra that makes it stand out from the rest.

The other two are a little more nebulous with mostly equal weight given between story, mechanics, gameplay, and details (a little less weight on this one), just like the criteria used in CoH Mission Review.

Nice, I didn't realize I was one of the worst review [censored] with my two arcs having the 2nd and 3rd most reviews of anyone else. Also, my normal review threads never had star ratings, I only added those when I moved threads and put up a short list, I'll go through later on and PM you the star ratings so you can add them in. I typically prefer my reviews to stand on their own merit without putting a star rating at the beginning or the end, I make an exception on my in-character thread since it's more of an informative review than a critical review.

These aren't mine, and they are tragic on more than one level.

These are the only ones I have that have a tragic bent to them, and I did flesh it out in a slightly altered way in my AE arc #3369: Matchstick Women. I'm also trying to figure out how to tie in my other Burnt Matchsticks on different servers (I've got the name saved on all but Freedom right now) into the same event in a different way.





this one's pretty tragic too:

Arc Name: Destined Champion of the Multiverse
Author: @Purple Badger
ID#: 128476
Moraility: Heroic
Level Range: 1-54 custom
Description: Destiny itself has chosen you to become its champion to protect the peace of the multiverse. Quest to discover the cause of the destruction of the Interdimentional Task Force, a group which had dedicated itself to the protection of the multiverse.
Played at: level 24
How I found it: Was a submission PM'ed to me early on.

My contact today is Deegan, an ex-member of the Interdimensional Task Force, and I say ex not because he quit, but because the TF is no more. He is currently tracking down Champions like myself from various universes in order to help him and the remaining IDTF to stop a group of as yet-unidentified enemies that are attacking them. And these enemies have found them now through the powerful energy he used in the spell to track me down. Deegan asks me to rescue him, which is odd as he's still standing in front of me, I wonder if he's actually currently somewhere else and seeing people come for him, or if he is going in on his own and expecting to get caught. Either one would make a bit more sense.


Lizards and Blue Robots.

Anyway, I get there and the place is overrun with Lizards, and there are several groups of Blue Robots wandering around. I eventually find and rescue Deegan and he thanks me for rescuing him from the Blue Robots, though he never mentions the Lizards that were hanging around at all. How odd. Anyway, he tells me that the spell he used to transport me to where the Blue Robots were has now bound me to them through Destiny, as part of his destiny magic. And he is now able to transport me to wherever these Blue Robots are, even though he himself does not know where that may be.


Blue Robots, or possibly the Blue Man Group.

My next mission for him transports me to another time and dimension, Deegan tells me where I am after I get there, though he should have also mentioned that he updated my nav computer with his scans showing five computers in the area and a boss: Cyberzombie. I also run into an interesting character named Koji who was being attacked. He tells me about a system of nanites that could be used for mind-control which have their research stored in one of the computers here.


Koji, beset by one of the Blue Robots.

Next up, I'm sent to yet another unknown universe through the destiny magic, and am filled in when I get there. The place is overrun by monsters of all shapes, sizes, and sorts. I deduce that they are being controlled using the nanites found in the previous dimension, and Deegan later confirms my suspicions. I also find and free a Cleric who helps me in return to fight the leader of these blue robots, named Milon, who escapes. Later, Deegan tells me that he used to have a student named Milon, but he died recently. I think we all know that this is not a mere coincidence. I also happen upon a dimensional portal, which must be what they are using to travel dimensions, and we can use it as well to catch up with them more quickly.


Examining the dimensional portal.

Once again, I'm sent following the Blue Robots to yet another dimension with more mind controlled monsters. This time I meed up with Magical Girl Nekochan, what an interesting universe she comes from. Together we once again find and defeat Milon, but instead of escaping, he chose to activate his self-destruct. But Deegan is unconvinced that he is gone, and tells me the tale of when Milon died in a mystical explosion, ripping his soul from his body. We realize that his soul transposed itself in this robotic body, and there's no reason to think it can't happen again. This time we need to capture Milon so his soul cannot escape again.


Nekochan, she's magic!

Finally, we must go to where Milon is now and capture him. There are no more mind controlled monsters, but many blue robots around. I eventually find Milon who, when struck down had become even more powerful than before, or something like that. But with some perserverance, I was able to subdue him and end his reign of terror, trying to control the other multiverses in the name of the IDTF instead of protecting them as was their original plan. The multiverse is safe once again, until I might be called upon once again.

Three stars: Good.

(Thinking back on this mission, I don't remember if Cyberzombie in mission 2was surrounded by the Blue Robots as minions or not. I originally thought that he was a part of the Blue Robot group, but now I think that he was a part of that world and was being attacked by the Blue Robots. If that is the case, it should be made clearer, and have him surrounded by minions of that world, maybe Banished Pantheon or something similar. Just remember that if you use a standard group, you should try to normalize your level range throughout your arc as much as possible. I guess it would also make sense that the Lizards in the first mission were also residents of the first universe, it's just not made clear anywhere in the story, and they use 2 custom enemy slots which would be better used to diversify the Blue Robot group themselves, as they appear in all 5 missions and are very boring with only 1 minion, lieut, and boss)

*Note: I've just finished going back through this thread and embedding select screenshots in all the previous reviews that had screens associated with them, as well as editing them for size and many times for dark lighting

Arc Name: The Luxury of Time
Author: @Novanaut
ID#: 89989
Moraility: Neutral
Level Range: 1-54 custom
Description: Time becomes a loop...Time becomes a loop...Time becomes a loop... A group known as the Order of 8 has pulled various scientists and heroes from their places in history, using limited time travel technology, in advance of a plot to control all space and time. You must help stop them.
Played at: level 23
How I found it: searched my level for "temporal" and scrolled through for something to catch my eye. This arc had 2 ratings with a 1 star average, but the description mentioned a time loop more or less so I thought I would give it the benefit of the doubt.

My contact today is Escher's Ghost, who looks just like the mission architect hologram. He tells me about a group called the Order of 8 who are pulling scientists from time for some reason and I'm being enlisted to help stop them. My nav bar is a bit of a boring mess with not much to go on, but I find a glowie, rescue one scientist from no one and attack another scientist. Although I mostly just sat back and watched my ally scientist take out my enemy scientist. Their names sound quite familiar as real scientists, but I'm not always familiar with what they are known for.


One of the Order of 8, a Mixer.

Afterwards, I return to my contact and he reveals that the order are after another scientist although they haven't quite gotten him yet, so I am to go retrieve him before they do. And once again I find some glowies, rescue this new scientist, and together we fight yet another scientist.

Finally I am after the mastermind behind the Order of 8 who has a secret sidekick this time. And now when I go back, I am face to face with Miyamoto Musashi. I take him along to fight another samurai from the past while I sit back and watch, before going after the leader of this order. Unfortunately, just before he is defeated, he calls for back-up. One of the reasons that he has been going back in time is to create superpowered clones of these figures from history and now all of them are coming to attack me. With all of this back-up, and me with only Musashi, as powerful as he may be, we are no match for this group and I must return to Escher's Ghost empty handed.

Two stars: Unbalanced and Incomplete.

((This arc has promise, there is some genuinely good writing here and there, as well as good character designs and outline of a story. The group is fairly well balanced, I had difficulty at times, but with the right tactics I was able to defeat them proper. Unfortunately all of the glowies had no text at all. No progress text, completion text, or clue, only a name. The EBs throughout the missions were interesting matchups between the ally EB and enemy EB, with the ally EB always being slightly stronger, I have some great screenshots of the two samurai battling it out which I will be showcasing right below this paragraph. But, the four EB ambush at the end was uncompletable solo, and difficult in a team. But this could very well be an error in judgement and the architect was expecting an ambush of one random EB and just never tested it. Also, I noticed that the random enemy groups almost always were grouped in one of two different patterns.))


The two face off (Miyamoto is on the right, and a "Holder" is being held behind them)


The first blow.


Retaliation.


Preparing for the final blow.

All of the arcs played in my thread here are played as a solo controller. Though a controller might be a bit safer than a blaster in some cases. I also tend to list the level range and enemy groups and point out in the review if I ran into any serious problems.

Nice pics... though I've heard and seen other posters with problems posting more than 4 images in one post.

Wow, my arc's a classic? Thanks for the review, though it's one of the most... interesting short reviews I've read.

Could I get a couple quickie re-reviews of my arcs, I'd like to hear what you think of my updates since you played them last. I believe Ctrl + Alt + Reset #137561 has gone through quite a few changes since you played last, and so has Matchstick Women #3369.

would love to have some more submissions, the only requirement is that there's time travel in some form in it. I've got SOs so I should be able to handle most custom mobs, and even auto-sk'ing to some higher level enemies. I'm still wary about Archvillains, even downgraded to EBs, but willing to try if there's some good help, or they're not too difficult.

Arc Name: It's just a Jump to the Left...
Author: @Aphrodite
ID#: 83476
Moraility: Heroic
Level Range: 1-54
Description: Even the simplest of tasks get thrown into turmoil when time travel is involved...
Played at: level 23
How I found it: Searched for "Time Travel" at my level and the title caught my eye towards the bottom of the first page as I'm a RHPS fan, though I skipped an earlier RHPS reference that "May include: Archvillains"
**Time Loop #5**

My contact today is a colorful magician named Magnifico, and he would like me to retrieve an object from some Arachnos in an abandoned Longbow base. Though I'm not sure why they are in a longbow base instead of just being in an Arachnos base, I mean, they've got plenty of those lying around. Anyway, he's old and starting to creak so he can't go by himself, but he's more than willing to tag along, despite my attempts at a protest. When I find him, he's reading his magic book trying to fend off some Arachnos. I rescue him and together we find the crate where the object was supposed to be, but it's not there. Strange.



So while he's scratching his head, he decides that the best approach is to go back in time, just a few hours, to when he knows for sure that the object is there. I'm not sure quite how he knows though. So we go back in time and everything seems just the same as last time, except everything also says "Again." at the end. I rescue Magnifico once again, and find the crate, this time the object is actually in it, though he won't let me see what it is. How ungrateful!

Ah, back to the present once again. But Magnifico's not quite done with me yet. Apparently he's a little lazy and also not quite that smart. He realizes that we created a time travel causality (my words, not his). e.g. the fact that in the future: point C, we traveled back into the past: point A, and took the artifact, it wasn't there in the present: point B. So he wants us to go back to point A and prevent ourselves from stealing the artifact so it will be there in point B and we won't have to travel back in time at point C. Got it? Good! Yet again it's time to rescue Magnifico, as his time travel spells don't seem to be exact enough to keep us together. We find past Magnifico and defeat him, much to his consternation, I'll leave you to figure out who I'm talking about. And we check the object to make sure it's still there.

Ah, the troubles with time travel by an amateur. When we come back, his object vanishes. Apparently he figured out something wrong in the process, he pops back to his past self for a quick conversation and tells me that he and himself have decided that we need to go back in time to stop ourselves from going back in time to stop ourselves from taking the object when we went back in time. Confusing? For you maybe, but I find it to be perfectly clear. Wrong, but clear. And my thoughts are proved to be correct as I find myself not in the Arachnolongbow base, but in the ruined Atlas park, surrounded by angry and confused Magnificos. I smack around the Magnifico with half a clue and we go back to the present once again.

Now he finally realizes that all this time travel nonsense isn't cutting it and the person we really need to go after is @Aphrodite. That's right, the author of this story arc. Despite her claims that she will just unpublish the arc, I go after her anyway. To spite me, she sends me into Oranbega to find her, and when I do she confesses that /Willpower is what she normally uses, but is overpowered in AE, and her supergroup was the one that convinced her to place herself in the arc so that makes it better.

Coming back to Magnifico whose arc is still up, but he got a sense of satisfaction, and a realization that he doesn't need some object to make himself famous once again, he is content with the powers that he already has.

4.5 stars. Quite Recommended!

(I honestly didn't have much hopes for this arc after starting the first mission, but the names of Magnifico and the nav bar text got funnier with each loop, as well as Magnifico's contact dialog. I was also expecting more Rocky Horror references based on the title, but the only references are the title of the arc, and a couple of the missions. This arc hasn't been updated since I15, and I think a little polish would go a long way in making this a fully fledged 5 star arc.)

Whoo! LBox isn't just in the "Other" category!

I'm not sure what to think about the review for the Missing. While Venture mentions that it "has a theme and is fairly well written" it loses two stars because of what?

1. Author insert. I don't think that the author is called "Shadowrush" in real life, so who is Shadowrush but a character of the author. Just because he chooses that character for his in game name doesn't mean that Shadowrush is equivical to the author himself. What would you suppose he use instead? What about a random custom contact? If you didn't know that his global and forum handle were Shadowrush, would you be able to tell that Shadowrush was an author insert?

2. Expys to Batman and Leslie Thompkins. I'm not big into comics lore, I'm more of a television and movies person, and I don't remember Leslie from the animated series or any of the movies so I had to wiki her. I was expecting to see something closely following the story of this arc. What I found was a fairly generic link. Shadowrush and Batman are both heroes, Leslie and Charlestin are both doctors and friends of the previous heroes. And... that's it? No one can have a dark hero with a doctor friend without being called a Batman ripoff?

3. Overpowered custom Family. I'll agree with you on this one, though I don't remember having trouble with them. Of course, I might have been playing my easy-mode 50 scrapper.

You're obviously allowed to rate arcs however you want, I'm just giving you a different perspective on some of your judging criteria based on how it was presented in your review.

voted, though I want to see the current results!

Missed one:
Better Living Through Technology: Robotics / Trick Arrow Mastermind

edited to be current and up to date.

I guess it's because I went with the long clever title that doesn't have Mastermind in it.

I just stick to posting in the stories and lore section where nobody sees my posts.

smilies count as images, you can only have a max of 4.

Nope, never heard of it, pay no attention to my current sig... >.> ... <.< ... >.>

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