Bubbawheat

Note: Rating a thread doesn't show anything until it has 2-3 or so rates.

Arc Name: The Fracturing of Time
Author: @Tahlana
ID#: 171031
Moraility: Heroic
Level Range: 25-54 (1-3) / 41-54 (4-5)
Description: A mysterious entity has sought you out to help save a doomed world. When all goes awry, it is your task to repair the Fractures forming in Time but to do that you must first confront yourself (Very surreal Science Fiction with an unconventional story and some philosophical elements)
Played at: level 23
How I found it: It was an early request, and I feel I'm high enough level with SOs to take on more full custom enemies and the occasional up-scaling as long as there's no EBs+

(Note: I'm sorry but I've forgotten the names of the aliens, though they all have very good custom models. From the enemy dragon looking mobs, to the high tech aliens, to their echoes. Although I feel like the echoes were the weakest designs with the fewest variations, and you see them through most of the arc)


My contact today is The Essence of the Void and he has a tale to tell my about an alien race whose world is about to end, being attacked by a group of dragon aliens. You are tasked with activating a device that will transcend all of the aliens into pure conscious energy, except those that are here with you fighting the enemy. (This is obviously a caveat to explain why the allies aren't turned into energy, though you could just have it be either time delayed, or a slow process, and change the clue to reflect it) The scientist gave me instructions on how to use it, as only an "outsider" is able to make it work correctly. And finally I defeat the World Destroyer.

When I get back I find that there is a problem with the aliens and their transcendence into pure energy. I can be sent to the edge of the void so I can interact with them and find out what the problem is. When I get there, I see the aliens, although they are mere echoes of themselves, and they are quite angry. Apparently the transcendence didn't fully take as many of them were unable to let go of their previous existence completely and by holding onto the part of the world, they were not able to fully transcend and are now stuck inbetween in a tortuous existence and want revenge against me, and everyone else.

My contact now tells me that these echoes are creating fractures in time in order to completely unmake time itself. So it's up to me to go back to the edge of the void and destroy these crystalline fractures in time before something unbearably bad happens.

Unfortunately, this isn't enough, the echoes are creating bigger and bigger fractures in time. So I have to go deeper into the void, but before doing that, I must relinquish my ties to this world or else I will myself become an echo. My contact disagrees with this course of action, but I am dead set, hopefully not literally. I am in a vision of a destroyed world where I must relinquish my Mind, my Hope, and my Love. While the second two are easy to relinquish for myself, the representation of my artificial mind is difficult for me to give up. They also remind me quite of bit of my mysterious contact, which reminds me, I have been having dreams of my contact for weeks even though I have never met him before.

And returning to my contact confirms that he is in fact a part of my essence, trapped in the void and lost in time. Now free from time I must absorb all of the larger fractures in time before the world is unmade in no ones image. As I search for these fractures, I see the echoes are still here, although their grip on reality is fading fast. I am also aided by the essences that I had previously released, appearing to me now as the one who was, the one who is, and the one who will be. After destroying the last fracture, I return from the void, my essences returned to me.

I return and my contact isn't exactly happy to see me return, as that means that he will still be trapped forever. But before I leave, I take him back into me, becoming whole once again and saving my essence from eternity.

Four stars: Recommended.

(I really liked this arc's story as something different than normal. It has a real sense of self-sacrifice which is the ultimate heroic act. Unfortunately it can't be a true sacrifice as nothing really changes after the arc to your character. So that means that it has to come back to normal at the very end, which felt a little off compared to the rest of the arc. Also, the echoes which you fight the most often, seem to have a small group, as I only saw 1 of each minion, lieut, and boss. I understand this is probably due to size, with the live aliens (1 mob), the enemy aliens (3? mobs), the essences (1 mob), and the echoes (3? mobs) If you do have room I would suggest one more minion and lieut of the echoes. If you do happen to have more than one live alien, you only need one.)

3.1428571428571428571428571428571
Or 3 remainder 1
Or 3 1/7

Time Shifter would be happy to have some art.

More references Here

Updated first post, and back with some more feedback:


[Tell] 2009-07-12 18: 53:44 Message From @Draggynn : Feedback on Architect Mission Ctrl + Alt + Reset! aka Time Loop: Very enjoyable, i liked the way the second wyvern boss played into the story, very nice

[Tell] @Dalghryn: Feedback on Architect Mission Ctrl + Alt + Reset! aka Time Loop: Bubbawheat, I'll probably post a short review of sorts on your thread, guilting you into figuring out a way of adding my arc to your queue, but in the mean time... This was absolutely sweet. The character I ran it with is a time traveler, and this just had RP written all over it for my wife and I. I absolutely loved the concept. It was very well-written, concise yet well-detailed. We caught five typoes, and that's the extent of the negative... (continued)
[Tell] @Dalghryn: ...with teh exception of a suggestiion to add custom descriptions to the Holo Time Shifters. The spelling errors are: alright versus all right at the beginning of the first mission (yeah, I know, my wife the English teacher insisted )..
[Tell] @Dalghryn: ...((He says as he typoes his tell to death)... You had a comma splice in the #3 pop up, The Lab Equipment clue has separate spelled "seperate," Marc says, definately instead of definitely, The Time Shter description has monsterous...
[Tell] @Dalghryn: ...instead of monstrous, and the Time Shifter's Remains have hundreds spelled, "hundereds." That's it. Most certainly not enough to rate this any les than 5 Rick Rolled Stars out of 5. Superb!

[Tell] 2009-07-25 15: 50:19 Message From @Jetpack : Feedback on Architect Mission Ctrl + Alt + Reset! aka Time Loop: Mission 1 - Agency Marx diaolgue - may want to consider "It was confiscated it" do you need the 2nd it? Seems odd. Mission 3 - great clues - was the Bozeman the ship in the Philadelphia experiment? Last missio n- you may want to give Marx some dialogue if you lose him, and then reacquire him. Which I did. All in all, very fun arc. Easy 5 stars to award!

[Tell] 2009-07-27 15: 53:08 Message From @Mr Right : Feedback on Architect Mission Ctrl + Alt + Reset! aka Time Loop: The glowie idea in the third mission is cute, but I really don't think that many clues need to be there. It just clutters up the clue tab and obfuscates the story I could normally follow through the clues

[Tell] 2009-07-27 16: 09:25 Message From @Mr Right : I absolutely loved the story arc: Ctrl + Alt + Reset. I gave it five stars, dispite the abundence of Clues in the third mission, and the slight typing error in the final contact text. The Souvenir title could be shorter, but over all good.

--------------------------


[Tell] 2009-07-14 06: 44:51 Message From @Aehaed : Feedback on Architect Mission Matchstick Women: What a grim and sad story! Some really great, imaginative elements, but some awkwardness getting through it. I'll post a review.

[Tell] 2009-07-19 05: 45:47 Message From @Gypsy Rose : Feedback on Architect Mission Matchstick Women: Loved the fire images. Great customs. Mission 1 entrance pop-up made me smile

In my opinion as a reviewer, one should try to list at least something positive in every review. If there's nothing positive to be said, then the arc's not worth reviewing and giving any attention to it at all.

Though I have decided to try and be even more positive by showcasing the most recent arcs that I've played and given at least 4 stars to.

Isn't the point of a signature banner to show it off in every thread you post in?

Maybe I'm just bitter because I don't have one yet.

Either way.

One comment I'm reminded of: If it takes this much text to explain what you were going for in your arc, your arc probably isn't clear enough by itself. Though I am curious about it, I think I should give it a spin soon.

Love the fact that the new forums allow old edits. This guide is now updated through i15, though i13 was the last issue with pertinent changes.

Changes:

Changed suggested slotting for the robotics upgrades now that they are AoE so they don't need recharge.

Added new hold sets as suggestions for Ice Arrow.

Added new patron powers in the patron pools sections.

Fixed table of content links that were broken with the forum change.

Arc ID: 60197
Arc Name: Becky's Revenge
Author: @New Age Ronin


Played as a level 42 fire/fire Brute on challenge level 4. My contact is the totally awesome Becky the Tarantula Mistress with spot on funny writing in the descriptions. The concept is that Fusionette called Becky fat and now it's time to get revenge. But a spider's method is not to just go for the straightforward attack. First we have to go to Faultline, both the place and the man: Jim Temblor.

After capturing Jim Temblor and getting in good with some of the other Arachnos who want to check out Fusionette's Nuclear heart. But they were a little bit of a blabbermouth and word got out through ambassador Kur'ekt to the Rikti and they want revenge on Vanguard members Faultline and Fusionette as well. So now I have to reaquire Faultline from the Rikti and take out Fusionette when she comes to the rescue.

All in all, it was great fun, a short arc with lots of good detail and dialog. I really enjoyed this one.

• 5th Elemental (Focus on Custom Characters in arcs)
• Airhead
• Beach Lifeguard
• Bubbawheat (In Character, Time Travel themed)
• Citizen Razor
• GlaziusF (Read first post for details)
• JadKni
• LaserJesus
• Lazarus (semi-QPQ)
• Master Zaprobo (In Character)
• MrCaptainMan
• OzzieArcane
• PoliceWoman (QPQ)
• Red Warlock (Focus on CoH neighborhood stories)
• Talen Lee
• TerminusEst13 (Focuses on BAD arcs)
• Venture

Review sites

• City of Guides - Mission Architect
• CoH Mission Review
• Mission Architect Advanced Search Site
  
• Choosing the right reviewer: This lists most of the currently active reviewers and gives a short synopsis on their style of reviewing in order to help you choose who you want to review your arc.

Note: QPQ = quid pro quo: Play and rate/give feedback to the reviewer first in order to get a review on your arc, some are more lenient on this than others. Also, tends to have a shorter queue.

Also, some non-QPQ have more than one reviewer with some not accepting new submissions, check the most recent page for up-to-date information.

Semi-QPQ means that the reviewer only requires it for longer, in depth reviews and not for short, quick reviews.

Arc Name: The Magic Man
Author: Mercedes Sheldon
ID# 590
Moraility: Heroic
Level Range: 20-35
Played at: level 23
How I found it: Mercedes gave me this after I completed her first arc.

Mercedes found out through Amanda Gates about someone calling himself The Magic Man. This is the one who stole the Dirge of Chaos originally, and he has other artifacts still. Somehow the Tsoo must know where he is, so that's who I decide to pick on to get some information.

I'm led to a warehouse of Tsoo and overhear them mention something about the Family being involved. Mercedes fills the rest in that Jimmy the Preacher has some information that needs pulled out of him in one way or another. This then leads me to a Cargo ship in Striga where I'm supposed to find Mickey "The Magic Man" Maloney.

Unfortunately all I find in this ship are more Tsoo and Family fighting each other. Though the Tsoo Sorcerors have no qualms against healing the Family they were fighting moments ago. And leaving empty handed, The Magic Man taunts me though pop-up. Coming back to Mercedes, she realizes that he must have The Devil's Timepiece. This timepiece shifts the wearer through time, although it is PURE EEEEEEEVEEEL!!! Mercedes thinks that is why I haven't fought him before now. I fight him, win, but then he goes back in time and avoids me instead. It's time to end this game of cat and other cat once and for all, somehow.

So I actually come face to face with Mickey Maloney. He's not too much of a threat, but when he's almost defeated he calls for help from... Micky Maloney. And when I've almost defeated him, he calls for help from... Micky Maloney and the Magic Man. But after that, his watch stops working... for some reason. Mercedes once again fills me in that the watch stopped working because of the paradox he created by being in the same place at the same time where he already was. But now he's gone for good, or as long as any villain is gone for.

Four Stars: Recommended.

My wife was a tough critic this month, the only one she liked was Lousy Day (don't know if her vote counted last month or not).

My vote for this month is Toxic Shia, that was just hilarious. With Juggy and Foo coming in with honorable mentions for style.

As mentioned by Luminara, I wrote a Bot/TA guide (working link in sig), it was my first level 50 character. It's been a while since I played her, more of a falling out with MMs for some reason, though I've made two other TAs, and one of them became my third 50.

Like everyone else said, it's fun and unique. Good solo, good in teams, just good overall. And after 32, amazing.

I'm Bubbawheat and I hang out here once in a while. I don't draw, I take the occasional screenshot, design the occasional costume to share, and jump in the occasional thread here and there.

And I have to test out the img tag showing off my latest creation: Afrogator.

Arc Name: Temporal Anomaly
Author: @Crazyman UXB
ID# 134013
Moraility: Neutral
Level Range: 1-54 - 5th Column
Description: Go back in time and save someone you've already saved?
Played at: level 23
How I found it: Searched for "Temporal" at my level, this one had 0 plays, 1 mission, and no customs. I was in the mood for something quick.

My contact today is Technician Naylor. Although he sounds like he has completely lost his trademark accent. Anyway, he tasks me with saving... himself in the past. At least, his past and my future, as it's something that's already happened to him but is about to happen to me. Difficult to explain, but I understand it completely. He doesn't explain why he needs to be rescued from the 5th column, but it's just a quick mission so I'm not too worried.

Two point five stars: Ok.

(The voice of Technician Naylor was way off, the premise was pretty basic, though I rounded up on my voting because the return popup and dialog was very enjoyable.)

Thanks for the review, I started re-working some things but hit some bugs I didn't have time to fix tonight. I plan on re-working the first mission, even though you did enjoy it quite a bit, to make it fit more with the other two missions. I plan on adding in the Curious Woman in some form, I tried to make her guard the bomb, but I ended up with too few or too many of her. I also got rid of the guards on the water mains, but forgot that having no guards makes them untargettable.

And doing that, I (hopefully) removed all Council references, and changed Curious Woman's dialog in the second mission to refer to your earlier meeting. I also added in a flavor boss (non-required lieutenant class boss) in the final mission to add some extra animation and dialog (and plan on adding at least one more).

I ran into that Steel Canyon map problem one time before, and I later found an extra piece of the map that's harder to notice. I've been meaning to change that to a smaller map as well.

Just out of curiosity, I sumit my arc #137561: Ctrl + Alt + Reset! aka Time Loop.

The story is completely custom, although I stick with standard enemies in all but the last mission. Though I do pick some lesser used enemies, especially heroside. Level range is 15-30 by the way. I would submit my other arc, Matchstick Women, but it's currently bugged (should have it fixed tomorrow though).

edit: Matchstick Women #3369 is fixed, and is really a better submission, as it has a full custom enemy group, and several custom hostage/allies.

So a Fire/Kin Controller, a Granite Tanker, and a Trick Arrow Defender walk into a bar...

sounds like it might be hard to come up with a consensus. Is there going to be a vote or something?

I don't typically see many enhancement screenshots, but if you look in the AT sections, many people post Mids builds that you can copy/paste into the program so you can look at it in detail yourself. Just try and find a post of the combo you're interested in, and often you will see a mids build in there.

The problem with screenshots is that you can't see the entire build at 50, and you can't tell exactly what enhancements they are. You might be able to recognize what set they're from, but only if you're familiar with the icon.

Jim Temblor won't introduce you if you've outleveled his arc at level 20, but Mercedes Shedon's second arc "The Magic Man" which is 20-30 also awards Entrusted with the Secret, which is next on my list.

Arc Name: The Dirge of Chaos
Author: Mercedes Sheldon
ID# 587
Moraility: Heroic
Level Range: 20-30 - Freakshow
Played at: level 21-22
How I found it: She was standing in the front lobby of the Midnighter Club.

After making my way into the Midnighter Club for the first time, I am greeted by one Mercedes Sheldon. She starts by telling me about a Troll Rave that has erupted into chaos... well moreso than a typical Troll Rave, and there appears to be a large number of Freakshow behind it all. When I get there, it's more like it's all freakshow. Ok, I take it back, there is one troll raver that wants to join the fight even though he's a couple levels lower than the rest of the map. After freeing some of the ravers, I take a little time for myself.


Even a time travelling robot needs to take some time for himself on occasion.

Returning to Mercedes and she tells me that this sounds like one of the artifacts that she used to own, but recently went missing. Maybe she should meet up with Azuria, they sound like they have a lot in common. Anyway, this Dirge of Chaos is a cassette recorder, whatever that is, that creates chaos obviously enough. Also, she notes that one Amanda Gates was seen with the Freakshow in Talos Island and it's up to me to beat some information about their hideout. After a lot of busted heads and no results, finally the thirtieth Freakshow opens up with some information about a Killdozer and Amanda Gates.

While I'm at the base, I find a crumpled up piece of paper that happens to be a map with several circles and all of them crossed out except for one. How convenient. And when I finally find Killdozer and am about to get all the information from him, his vocal amplifier shorts out before he can tell you the most important information. How convenient. But I find enough clues here to figure out for myself what is going on. Amanda is plannning on broadcasting the Dirge of Chaos across the airwaves to plunge Talos Island into complete chaos and pick up the pieces afterwards. I call Mercedes and she agrees with me, so I go to take out Amanda and the Dirge of Chaos, which is actually a trapped demon inside this cassette player.

Another warehouse, and more freaks. Floor after floor of freaks before finding Amanda Gates cowering before a released Dirge of Chaos. I destroy the Dirge's avatar, and bring Amanda along with me to take her to the authorities, battling and avoiding waves of Freakshow trying to free her.

Three Stars. Good.

((I wanted to go into a little more detail, thinking back on the arc, I think it deserves an extra half-star. I thought it was great that my character put the clues together to find the final map by himself instead of having it handed to him by the contact like most of the previous dev arcs. The biggest downside is it's just map after map after map of freakshow, which I know some people like, but I got a little freak fatigue before the end. And I know it doesn't have time travel in it, but it was required to get Mercedes's second arc for Entrusted with the Secret))

<font class="small">Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>

B
I
H R
A T
P H
P D
Y A
Y

</pre><hr />