Coulomb2

In a sense, the fire farms are a good thing for a very subtle reason: if they are *this* prevalent, it suggests the farmers out there haven't come up with anything better to exploit. To be honest, the idea of filling a custom group with nothing but comm officers (or immunes surgeons before that), or filling maps with mastermind "bosses" (which were really no stronger that lt's but gave boss-class XP) always struck me as somewhat clever. Unethical, but clever. (Hey, I loathe cheating and cheaters, but that doesn't stop me from being able to recognize when the method of the cheating is somewhat clever.)

On the other hand, the concept of a fire farm is so stupidly obvious that it really doesn't require any cleverness, creativity, or intelligence to think up. Heck, the entire time I was leveling up Pro Payne, it was really obvious to me that if I wanted to be really lame about it and just get him to 50 ASAP, all I had to do is fill a huge map with a bunch of mobs that do fire damage and basically have no real defense. I would have felt like a lazy slob for doing it, but I did know it was an option.

What I'm interested in seeing is if the developers ever do something about this. While I doubt it (I think they've given up on trying to do anything about the farms, and their disgust with the phenomenon has probably led them to ignore AE completely), I wouldn't be totally surprised if one day the alpha values for every fire-related power you can give to a custom mob would be reset to 0.

And now for Pro Payne’s next adventure (it’s actually futher down, after my responses to Clave Dark 5.)

First, thanks very much to CD5 for his responses, and the kind words. A few responses:

CD5: Mish 1 and 2 are supposed to be you reading what she did while actually 'walking in her footsteps' (afterall, the players need foes to whomp). I can see I may not have made that clear enough. On the other hand, having it a bit up in the air isn't at all a bad thing in my mind - the whole arc is intended to be a cryptic form of story-telling. I'll look into it though, maybe change it, maybe not.

Me: I actually ultimately got this pretty well, so I wouldn’t worry too much about it.

CD5: There is no ClockWork King involved with the Haunted Robots. This was me riffing on the metaphor I built the mission around, not working with canon stuff. Confusing, isn't it?

Me: Oddly, no CWK here is closer to canon than you might suspect; if memory serves, the Cap Clockwork aren’t actually animated by the King (at least not anymore) – they’re actually ‘powered’ by Bat’Zul.

CD5: I have to admit I'd never heard of the CoT Library of Souls so I looked it up on paragonwiki. I can see the similarities, but that's obviously not what I had in mind since I'd never heard of it before, right? More riffing off the central metaphor the arc is written around.

Me: Yeah, by the end of the arc it was pretty clear it wasn’t the Library of Souls either. Think of those references as a side effect of the fact that I try to write what I think is going on at the time; I won’t always go back and correct it as my impressions (or understanding) change, even if it turns out I was embarrassingly far off; I figure it’s a bit more useful (or entertaining) to the author if they know what I’m actually thinking while I’m playing.

CD5: Again, I thank you for that careful playing. I think you're one of the best reviewers around right now.

Me: Thank you!

CD5: can appreciate what you say, but it's not what I wanted this arc to be or end up as. "Broad brushstrokes", as I said above. If I had to compare the arc to a painting for instance, this is intended to be more of an impressionistic work rather than one of photographic realism. It also shares some similarities with a dream - beholden to its own logic that sometimes is just flat out confusing to consider once you wake up.

On top of that, I'm discovering the joys of creating something that is open to some interpretation - I get to hear other people's ideas about it! I didn't just randomly throw stuff into this arc to "let you guys figure out what it means, if anything." That's a common accusation of works like this, not that you made it - you approached it with an open mind and found patterns in it, some I intended and others I might not have, but still valid readings. Everything I put in does mean something and points to something I knew about the story and Emily Yikes, but spilling the beans would lessen the experience you have with it, the way you interact with the ideas and themes.

Me: To be completely honest, I try to focus on the one thing I know for sure – what would have made the arc more enjoyable for me. I try hard to make no pretext that what I think would make it better will actually make it more fun for anyone else. Heck, maybe I’ve got very strange tastes and what would improve it for me would make everyone hate it. And I’m not above admitting that sometimes what I *think* would make me enjoy an arc more might end up actually not if the changes were made and I played it again. Granted, I don’t think that’s the case here (I do kind of like to compare the ‘real answer’ to ‘what I thought the answer was’ – just the scientist in me coming out.) That’s a long way of saying I completely understand where you’re coming from.

For the record, I never got the impression anything in the arc was there at random (and you recognized I didn’t make that accusation – you correctly guessed why). I suspected everything had a reason based on what you knew about the ‘real’ story. I’m actually very happy to know I was right about that!

Nothing to Worry About: (Arc ID#500325, 3 stars, 4 stars given in game)

Consider this a very slight nitpick, but my preference is for tags to be in the description, not the title – they’ll work on a search either way, but putting them in the description looks ‘cleaner,’ IMO.

So I’m contacted by Dr. Keyes - deliberate, or does the profanity filter actually block Positron? I’d imagine it’s the latter.

According to Posi, a meteor has struck Atlas Park, causing considerable damage. Furthermore, the sensors in Peregrine Island are detecting interdimensional energy (IDE). Posi needs me to check it out, get some samples and set up some portable IDE scanners in the immediate vicinity of the meteorite to get better readings.

Notes: In Posi’s briefing, you’ve got a double period near the end of the first paragraph. And this is just me being nitpicky, but you really *wouldn’t* need police scanners to tell you about a meteor impact where the meteorite is the size of a bus – unless the thing kind of hovered to a landing, it would have impacted with the force of a small nuclear blast. Anyone is Paragon City would have flat out seen a fireball over Atlas Park. Heck, it’d probably be much more dramatic to have Posi approach it like: “You know that brilliant flash over Atlas Park? And that concussion that almost knocked you flat? That was a meteor impact, and…” You get the idea.

Oh! It appears you’re using the ruined Atlas Park map, rather than the meteor impact map. Actually, nice pick, since, ironically, Atlas Park *should* look like this after a meteor impact like the one in the other map.

And it also appears the ruins of Atlas Park are inhabited by … well, basically zombies, although there are other strange creatures about. There must have been something really bad in that meteorite…

Note: Your custom faction is only giving half XP – at first I thought maybe your actual custom were just a bit ‘skimpy’ on the attack powers, but then I noticed the repurposed Developer mobs were also awarding half XP. That means your faction doesn’t have a (viable) spawnable boss. You should really fix that … no reason why the faction should have bosses available.

Another Note: Your impact conflagrations have a typo in their description (“genergy” instead of “energy”). A few more “early impressions” regarding the customs: the fact the corrupted women were attacking me with kinetic melee seemed … odd … not sure why exactly; it just didn’t seem to reflect “corrupted by meteor energy” (oddly, energy melee would have – but that’s probably just me). Also, I was wondering if there was a way to make the Corrupted Behemoths look more “stitched together”? They almost seem too ‘clean’ for an abomination of cobbled corpse parts – now part of that might just be their color scheme making their zombie components blend in, but I might suggest making their skin tone a more ‘gray’ color, using a bright red “claws” or “razor” pattern (whatever that ragged looking one is – it’s actually in the patterns you can overlay on the base costume pieces), and maybe adding an aura of flies. Alright, and one final note – it seems odd to me that the corrupted women are called ‘corrupted women’ but the men are ‘corrupted headbangers’ – it would make more sense to me for them to be corrupted men.

As promised by Posi, the fragments were right around city hall. That’s also where I set up the portable IDE scanners. I then had to scour the ruins looking for the seven citizens that had been captured. I rescued them all, then returned to Positron.

More Notes: Two first impression sorts of things: one, I think the mission really needs more ‘flavor’ clues – if anything to break the potential monotony. Let’s face it, having seven rescues scattered across a large outdoor map gets boring – but each (or some) of the rescued citizens had their own “here’s what I saw” type story for you to read, it’d catch interest a bit more. If you really want to make the gameplay flow better in this mission, you could also choose a really visible emote for the citizens (or their captors) to make them stand out better from a distance.

A few days later, the rebuilding of Atlas Park was already underway. Positron had been up for days pouring over his data, and come to two unsettling conclusions:

One, the meteor had, in fact, opened a dimensional tear. Many of the creatures roaming Atlas Park had “leaked” through the tear.

Two, the meteor had borne some sort of (as yet unknown) life form. More specifically, some mysterious cellular material. Although Positron didn’t actually say so, I suspected ‘infection’ with these cells may explain the corrupted – and perhaps some of the other ‘undead’ that were present.

With very little warning, Positron got an alert that Portal Corporation was under attack. Presumably it was creatures similar to the ones that were roaming Atlas, although I suppose it really could have been anyone (maybe Crey wanted to get their hands on the meteor fragments?). It didn’t matter – it looked like I needed to be saving Portal Corps.

Note: That does bring up a minor point – there really isn’t anything in the briefing per se that spells out what exactly is attacking, and although there is a ‘most logical’ assumption, it wouldn’t be unjustifiable for it to be some other faction that also has an interest in the meteor. Whoever sent Posi the alert most likely mentioned what Portal Corp was being attacked by: and you’d figure Posi would pass on the information to me, so that I’d know for sure what I was going to be up against.

The moment I enter the Portal Corp. lab, it’s clear my suspicions were correct. The attackers, while subtly different from what was in Atlas Park, are clearly related. I’m going to need to retrieve the fragments, rescue anyone who needs rescuing, and make sure these things don’t destroy the central computer.

Note: Hmm … it’d actually make slightly more sense for me to be protecting something like a dimensional stabilizer; Positron did mention the attackers might be there to smash it. By the end of the mission, it is clear that the stabilizers have already been taken (or destroyed); but for clarity, it might be better to have Posi direct me to try to protect both the central computer and the stabilizers as part of the mission sendoff.

I am really liking the descriptions for the custom mobs – well done! And this particular version of their faction has bosses, so their giving full rewards.


Thanks to you, I get full XP now!

The central computer actually isn’t all that far into the lab; I destroy the corrupted beings poised to smash it, and then move deeper into the lab.

Note: The computer’s description actually says “This computer must be destroyed.” Probably want to change that…

I find several of the corrupted guarding a metal crate, but there’s nothing in it. The fragments must be in another one. It’s about three floors up that I find Dr. Kryten (the scientist I have to save). I rescue him, and have to lead him out?! Argh. Dude, the way behind me is totally clear! It’s *your* own dang lab! Surely you know how to get out on your own! *Sigh*

I lead him all the way down through three floors. Then go all the way back up to where I was, and continue my search.

Well, at least he handed me a scrap of paper with a few notes jotted down. Something about the dimensional disturbance giving bizarre readings, and there being nothing beyond it – nothing at all. He has an idle speculation that it might be hell, or perhaps just total oblivion. Either way, it doesn’t sound good.

It appears that the Portal Corp staff had stored the meteor fragments at the very back of the lab – I found them in the third crate I searched (Edit: Oh! No I didn’t – it was some smashed equipment; the meteor fragments *aren’t* here after all), and the corrupted were not very keen on it. They sent a pretty big ambush in to take me out. Thankfully, they all proved satisfactorily flammable.

Note: While I’m not sure it is set up to always work this way, the fact that the ambush hit after the mission completed was really nice. I’m not a fan of big ambushes, but if you can just click ‘exit’ if you start to get overwhelmed, it’s a really good no harm no foul type situation. Ah ha! Actually it looks like I got somewhat lucky in this case. I need to watch those clues more carefully – I *didn’t* find the meteor fragment. I found a broken piece of equipment with a bloody, torn coat belonging to Dr. Kryten. It seems like I was supposed to find this first, and Kryten second. If that’s the case, you might want to consider easing on the ambush – it’s a ‘soapbox’ I’ve been on many times before, and I’m sure not everyone agrees with me, but by and large I assume players will select the highest difficulty setting that they can manage where the ‘basic’ spawns are still fun, versus frustrating. With the exception of a ‘patrol’ (which produce smaller than normal spawns for their setting), an easy setting for difficulty basically spawns something ‘on par’ with the players’ actual difficulty. So every time you don’t use easy, you’re probably going to spawn something that is in danger of crossing that line from fun to frustrating. I *don’t* dock points for ambushes set to something other than easy (well, unless you chain three or four ambushes all set to hard on a boss or something), but it is something to think about.

Okay, so what I’m noticing is that the ‘underling’ types for these ‘children of the meteor’ are basically normal citizens that have been corrupted – I’m guessing the cells hitching a ride on the meteor were responsible. *But* the ones directing the corrupted all have an ‘emptiness’ or ‘nothingness’ motif going for them. And I noticed no demons or other ‘hellish’ entities this time around – so I’m guessing the second of Dr. Kryten’s speculations about what’s beyond the dimensional disturbance might be closer to the mark.

I also find a note on the body of a corrupted directing these strange beings to assemble for a ‘ritual’ in a cavern below Atlas Park, where the meteor actually came to rest. Whatever the ritual is, it seems it’ll draw the world into the darkness (and oblivion) on the other side of the disturbance.

Note: Hmm … to be honest, I’m not sure if I like this. It really seems odd a corrupted would be carrying around a “let me explain my evil plan to my own followers” note. It might actually be a better idea to more slowly reveal this information through the story itself. Perhaps Kryten has noted that the source of the disturbance is buried in a cave below Atlas – where he believes the meteor landed. And then, in the next mission, some placed mobs spout dialog hinting at the Herald, and this ritual, and what the ritual will do (one advantage of having a custom group is that you can actually have a minion as a ‘boss’ – and therefore use boss details to provide flavor text without needing to actually have gobs of boss encounters).

In any case, I return to Positron to fill him in – it’s clear, though, that my next move is going to need to be to head into that cavern and put an end to this ritual.

According to the note, the corrupted actually dug into the cavern through an office building (although Posi refers to it as a ‘warehouse’, which might actually be a typo), so I first have to get to the tunnel through said office.

And the news is already looking bleak. The ranks of the corrupted have now been swollen with the walking dead, and other horrific abominations – it would appear that walking death is the ultimate fate of the corrupted (Edit: Or perhaps not; according to their descriptions, they’ve been dead a very long time. The corrupted likely managed to dig up and animate a cemetery, or something). Even worse, before sending me to the office, Positron told me he’d already arranged for the military (and, presumably, the police) to secure the area. Well, it looks like they got here before me, and didn’t last long in the face of the corrupting influence of the meteor – they had become corrupted themselves.

Quick Note: I think you meant for the corrupted officers to be armed with nightsticks – but they’re using the regular mace. It’s kind of jarring to see a cop pull out a giant spiky ball on a stick…

The office is pretty straightforward. I fight through hordes of the corrupted to get to their tunnels. Within the tunnels, I locate the magical empowerment glyphs, and proceed to destroy them.

More quick notes: The glyph text actually says destroying the glyph will put a ‘rench’ in their plans – just a little typo. And you actually get the clue (the tome of legends) after you destroy the first glyph, not the last.


Pro Payne throwing a ‘rench’ in the cult’s plans. (Sorry! I couldn’t resist!)

The Tome of Legends actually warns that the Herald the corrupted note refers to is about to make his move. Heck, apparently he’s the one directing the ritual – at least I think he is. I’m not sure how I suddenly knew his name was Mr. Grey, though (might be better to say ‘Stop the Ceremony’ or something).

Unfortunately, as I approach, Mr. Grey brags that the ritual is complete, promising that our battle is a mere formality that will usher one or both of us to oblivion just a bit faster than the rest of the world.

After a running battle (literally), he expires, warning me that whatever is going to draw the world into the void is now summoned into a cavern deep below. Hopefully, Positron can help me pinpoint where this cavern is, and provide a means for me to get there.


But how can nothing actually be considered ‘strong’? There … did my expert logical paradox reduce you to a whimpering shell of yourself? No? Oh well. (And here you can actually see a corrupted officer pulling out their spiked mace.)

Oh – the exit message makes it clear the Herald is actually the entity summoned, not the guy performing the ritual. Well, semantics really. Either way, I’ve got a big, nasty, evil thing to put a stop to…

I’m right about Posi being able to help me. With his help, Portal Corp is back online, and ready to teleport me directly into the cavern. They also inform me that a dimensional rift a few light years across is opening, centered on Earth. It’ll probably rapidly expand to encompass the universe if something isn’t done quickly.

So into the cavern I go…

There I find the last of the Herald’s servants – his own personal retinue seemingly composed of nightmares and entities of destruction. It looks like I’ve got a horde of them to fight through to get to the Herald himself.

Note: They’re worth half XP too – you need to add a spawnable boss to this group. Interestingly, the Hammers are actually worth a lot less. I wonder if they don’t have any ranged attacks?

Interestingly, I actually run into the Herald pretty quickly…

Oh no. He’s taken on my appearance and powers (well, the appearance is kind of a twisted mockery). Oh god no.


We’re both highly resistant to each other’s attack powers. And have a healing ability in our defense set. It’s going to be (and was) a *long* fight.

Ten minutes later I manage to whittle his last sliver of life away. He mocks me as he falls, claiming that he’s now going to shed my form and face me with his true, awesome power. The irony is, unless his true awesome power also has fiery aura, I suspect his final form will actually be an easier fight…

…turns out I was wrong. Actually, Apolinus really wasn’t that bad on his own. It was the massive waves of ambushes that served to bolster his defenses as his health went down.

Now, mind you, these were not your ordinary, run of the mill ambushes. Well, I think the first one might have been. But the next two (unless it was just one really huge one) were drawn from an ‘all boss’ faction. And the bosses were these things called Void Titans. Which had Elude (or some other tier 9 that made them impossible to hit) and Void Elementals, who had a nice array of psi powers, and the ability to summon in phantasms and spectral terrors. And they can fly. And it’s a big cavernous room.

The Herald, Apolinus, was a demon summoner, so, as you might imagine, the playing field was rather crowded by the time I went down.

What followed was a rather slow slog that involved slowly clearing out the waves of reinforcements (not easy as virtually everyone had a way of throwing me around like a rag doll – fortunately popping four purples at a time can put an end to that, for a while.) Rise of the Phoenix proved surprisingly useless – beyond the period of invincibility, once I can be hit again, the fact that I spent most of the time on my butt meant I wasn’t really getting anything accomplished.

So basically: clear a boss or two. Die. Buy a new round of inspirations. Run back to the end fight. Clear a boss or two. Die. Buy a new round of inspirations. Etc.

Anyway, once the ambushes were cleared, I could tackle Apolinus himself. He’d, of course, healed completely by this point, but without his hordes, he was a nice challenge, but not overwhelming.

That was really the low point of an otherwise pretty good arc. I’d definitely say that final encounter really needs to be toned back. I absolutely think that last fight can (and should) feel epic, but pounding the player into the ground repeatedly isn’t so much epic as it is frustrating.

Pros: The big one that stands out is the custom group. There’s a lot of variety, many of the visual designs are quite good (although some others could use tweaking, but I mention that earlier), and the power balance is, in general, just fine (I’ve noted a few exceptions in Cons that might be worth looking at). What’s more, while each mission draws from a ‘core’ faction, there are variations from mission to mission, which makes things interesting. The mob descriptions are particularly good. The story itself struck me as thematically similar to ‘zombie horror’ – but with enough of a twist to keep me interested. Furthermore, the story developed very logically from one mission to the next – each mission felt ‘necessary’ to tell the next part of the story. The text was written well – it flowed well and was easy to read. Bottom line, except at the very end, I really did enjoy playing the arc. It’s got a lot of positives.

Cons: While there are places where the arc shines, there are other parts that I do honestly think really need some work. All throughout the writeup, I’ve got plenty of minor notes for the author to consider, and those, by and large, really aren’t major criticisms. I’ll summarize them here, but for this section I’d prefer to focus on the things that IMO are more ‘major.’

First and foremost is the balance in the final encounter. One of the reasons I actually like using Pro Payne for arc reviews is that, although a scrapper, he’s about as squishy as a scrapper can get. So if it’s hard for him, it tends to be murderous for someone squishier. The final encounter involves an elite boss capable of summoning in six demons. He’s augmented by a series of ambushes, at least one of which is rigged to only spawn in bosses. And the spawning system *doesn’t* balance for that: if it thinks a ‘balanced’ spawn should be 3 minions and 1 lieutenant, and it only has bosses to choose from, it’s not going to turn that into one boss. You get ambushed by 4 bosses (I actually had a total of five at one point). Half the bosses have what is at least an elude-like tier 9. The other half each summon in a spectral terror and a phantasm. And the phantasm then summons in a decoy. Add another ambush with (thankfully) a ‘normal’ group – so for me, about 3 minions and 2 lieutenants, and you got an army of about 22 separate things trying to kill you. And here’s the irony, even if I lowered the difficulty, it’s not like the end boss summons fewer demons (or those Illusion bosses), so it actually wouldn’t reduce this number by that much. What you’ve got is a battle that, solo, you hope heavy inspiration use keeps you alive long enough to take out at least one boss so that at least each trip to the hospital represents progress. And really the first two or so trips you can’t even clear out a boss, because you first have to trigger them to use elude. It’s unlikely you’ll survive for the three minutes it takes for that power to wear off (but fortunately, you’re running back from the hospital as it times out, and they can’t use it again for about 15 more minutes.) Bottom line, I think that encounter needs to be toned back. And by that I don’t mean just a little – I mean a lot. Err on the side of too much, and you’ll probably get it just right. But one thing that I definitely think is critical: lose the all boss ambush. A wave of bosses rushing you is bad enough. A wave of bosses with eff-you powers is worse. A wave of bosses with eff-you powers that only give 25% experience is words I won’t use in polite company.

The second is in-mission pacing. In general, because objectives in indoor missions can be ordered, you’ve got a lot at your disposal to avoid situations where the player is running back and forth, trying to find an objective. In an outdoor map it’s luck of the draw. You might get your seven rescues in mission one all near each other in a place that I stumble across pretty quickly (good). All evenly around the map (often not as ‘fair’ as it sounds, given that it can get really tedious to slog through a big outdoor map – and skimming the whole map looking for things while avoiding encounters isn’t that much better). Or all clustered in an area I don’t reach until pretty much the rest of the map is uncovered (bad, obviously). In the first mission, you’ve got seven rescues in a map where visibility can be an issue (with all of the debris) – and unlike the collections they don’t all cluster around city hall. And neither they nor their captors are using flashy animation. And you’ve got mobs with willpower-granted mondo perceptions boosts that can see me from a mile off. The net result: by the time I get close enough to even tell if there’s a civilian in the group to rescue, the group is charging me down. And it’s a bad sign if I’m bored enough of cutting down groups looking for civvies that I just start letting the aggros chase me around lobbing potshots while I continue my search.

The most direct answer would be to reduce the number of civilian rescues from six to three (they seem to be three details each set to spawn twice anyway). But what would also help is if they gave flavor clues – a little reward for the story-oriented among us for rescuing them. No, not every detail needs a clue. That gets excessive too. But clues are often a nice reward for a more-tedious than average task. Of course, giving them a flashy animation to make them easier to spot wouldn’t hurt. And dropping powers that grant perception boosts would be good too.

A similar mission design issue comes up in the third mission. It’s generally pretty boring to have to escort someone through three floors of empty map. It’s doubly so if the escort isn’t in the final room (raising dramatically the odds that you’ve still got mission objectives left to do), because then you face the possibility of the player then having to go *back* through three floors of empty map just to continue the mission. Why not just let the escort tag along until you’re done with the other objectives? Frankly, because you never know for sure whether something won’t kill the escort (or, gasp, if the escort can actually attack or draw agro) and cause you to fail the mission. I’m *not* an expert on this, but my general rules of thumb: Only put ‘escort to the door’ details in a Front position (minimize the double-back distance), anything in a ‘middle’ detail gets to be a simple rescue (assume the way behind you is clear and send them on their way), OR if you do want a ‘deep’ escort, put them in the back, make sure the map is likely linear enough that all other objectives will be complete when you free the escort, and then program in a few obstacles to spawn in behind you (bosses and patrols can be fun) just to make the trip back to the entrance ‘rewarding.’

Third, and final. Never, ever forget that factions take huge XP hits if they are missing ranks (or said ranks can’t spawn in naturally). No bosses? Everything is only half the normal reward. Only bosses? (Or only minions, for example) Everything is only worth 25%. Basically, unless it is an actual boss in a boss detail, the faction should have all three ranks. In other words, never assume “playing for the story” is synonymous with “it’s okay if the rewards are badly sub-par.” The majority of players won’t agree.

As far as the minor nitpicks, the only ones that I think need elaboration (over what’s already in the writeup) are a few power choices, and these really are minor. First, be very mindful of powers that boost perception. Second, there was one place where the power choice itself didn’t quite seem thematic: kinetic melee on the corrupted women. It’s nothing more than this: it just doesn’t look right to see them play kinetic melee animations. Third, several of the corrupted use martial arts (which is good). You’ve retained shurikens as ranged weapons – which is good because it avoids that 40% XP cap for them. But zombies hurling thowing stars at you just seem … wrong. I’d consider replacing their secondary (which is likely some defense set anyway, and minions don’t get that much from defense sets) with either something that has throwing knives (and only select throwing knives from the set; they’re not my favorite power, but they make more sense then surikens) OR, possibly (if you can) something with a pistol: either Dual Pistols (you’d probably only need the set’s first power) or even the Thugs set (and just don’t actually give them any Thugs). By the way, Dark Blast might seem tempting, but that can get you into trouble since stacking massive To Hit debuffs on a player can be very aggravating.

Overall Summary: This is a good example of an arc that, at the moment, has some really good points balanced by what (IMO) are some real doozies. And that ends up making it score a bit above average (the bad balances the good). But, fortunately, a lot of the bad is actually not that hard to fix: it’s mechanics or mission design stuff, not huge problems with the story. And that could easily turn it from 3 stars into 5.

Score: 3.212

Once again, it is time for Pro Payne to “take a break” from his mundane life in the real world, and use Architect Entertainment to pretend he’s a hero. Today’s adventure was…

IMPORTANT: Pro Payne's adventures are, by their very nature, typically filled with spoilers. Frankly I think anyone who plays this arc will get the most out of it by playing through it before reading anything with spoilers in it - so go play the arc, then come back and read about it here...

When The Words Stop (ID#494099, 4 stars, 5 stars given in game)

Presumably, Pro Payne has just completed some (unnamed and undescribed) mission to thwart the latest Circle of Thorns plot. The mission is over, and this sector of Orenbega is cleared of the evil mages. It is here that he find something odd looking in one of the many bookshelves that litter the place. It looks to be a diary: the diary of a young woman, in fact.

The woman has magical power, and knows it. She appears to have prophetic dreams, and a desire to write a magical tome: the Tome of No Return (which must be read from start to finish, and once you have finished, you can never read it again).

The woman’s name is (or was?) Emily Yikes, and her dreams told her that one of the first steps to writing the Tome of No Return, was to get the eBook of Ghost Writing, which could actually only be pulled from something called the Wizard Machine – a collective of some sort formed by what she referred to as the Haunted Robots.

The Robots had taken over part of Cap au Diable, near the WSPDR tower, and were planning on using it to transmit a sentient signal across the airwaves. Emily arrived on the scene and began systematically dismantling the Haunted Robots and the major components of the Wizard Machine (all named after parts of the brain) until she found what she needed for the eBook.

The entire mission is written as though I am “dreaming” or “seeing” what Emily did – walking in her footsteps. Much of the dialog is actually Emily’s narration of what she was seeing and hearing when she was here. I believe the author’s intent is to give the mission an almost surreal feel, and it’s pulled off well. It’s unclear yet whether the intent is that I’m just sitting there reading the diary and the “missions” are me imagining in my mind’s eye what she’s describing, *or* if there is magic on this diary, and I’m actually magically experiencing what Emily did.

Note: It did seem odd that the descriptions of the haunted robots didn’t quite seem to match their name (e.g. the Jaegers were called “Myelin Sheath” but their description referred to them as “Brain Stems”). Also, I don’t know if it’s an option with the psychic clockwork, but, if possible, you might want to consider using a boss that isn’t a psychic “assembler prince” – since they like to ‘build’ actual clockwork (that have the normal clockwork description); if there’s no psychic equivalent of a cannon or tesla prince (there might not be), just disregard.

My early impression is that there is a bit more going on than me just imagining Emily’s story based on her diary. In fact, at the moment I’m strongly suspecting I’m actually *reading* the Tome of No Return. But it’s early enough in the story that I could easily be very off base.

In any case, the debriefing gives the strong impression that Emily has a very “nonstandard” perception of reality, colored by her dreams, and I’m seeing recognizable things “filtered” through her perceptions: the Haunted Robots are actually the Clockwork – and I suspect the references to “sentient transmissions” are actually the Clockwork King’s psychic signal. In short, Emily faced the Clockwork with the intent of getting something important from them. What exactly the ‘brain machines’ were (or if they were really there when Emily was battling the Clockwork) – or what they represent – wasn’t something I really got, but I am enjoying this rather unique approach to an arc.

Next was getting the Clay Tablets of Bismuth (Bismuth was the “god” of the tablets’ guardians, the Earth Devouring Earth). I strongly suspected who I’d be facing in the mission…

Emily recalled ‘digging deep’ in her search for the Tablets – she emerged into a tunnel system filled with ‘Devouring’ creatures. Early on she found a “Wyrm” that was interested in finding its partner – she could sense where the partner was, and headed in that direction. Right next to the Wyrm was a bodybag. Curious, she looked inside, fearing she’d recognize who was within – and her mind drifted to Valerie Gaul. She had a fleeting fear Valerie would be in the bag, but then remembered “she was at the bottom of that deep pond.” (That didn’t sound encouraging…)

Note: In the description of one of the repurposed DE mobs (I forget which) was a reference to Valerie Marshall (I think that was the last name). Was that supposed to be Valerie Gaul?


The untended weeds attempt to drive a point into the heart of the matter. Yeah. That was terrible.

Emily battled her way through the remaining Devouring “things”, and found both the second Wyrm and the Tablets in the same general location. First she dealt with the Devouring that were threatening the Wyrm – the Wyrms were eager to get on with their game, and thanked Emily and left. Emily then retrieved the Tablets of Bismuth – which actually looked like pink tablets. She ate them and her stomach felt better…

Note: Nice – Pepto Bismol. Definitely a reference I wouldn’t have seen coming, but makes sense once you get the clue.

Hmm … this part of the story seemed distinctly different from the first – far more like Emily was just playing make-believe one day in her father’s organic pumpkin farm, got an upset stomach, and went to get some Pepto. I wondered if she’d ever actually fought the Devouring Earth…

It was seeming like my first thoughts were wrong. Both ‘episodes’ might very well have been a young girl’s fantasy world – but, in the context of Paragon City (and the Isles), one populated by fanciful versions of the very real ‘threats’ she’d heard stories of (perhaps from her parents, or on TV).

The hint that Emily was not feeling well, while innocent enough, was a bit foreboding. As I continued to read the diary, was I going to learn that I was reading words of a young girl that had later died of a serious illness?

As I continued to read the diary, Emily noted that “her words rebelled” – it was as though something else was controlling her, forcing her to write things she didn’t really think. There was also an odd reference to her keeping her eyes closed for a week (again, possibly a reference to an illness – I really wasn’t sure). In any case, it seemed Emily had finished the Book of No Return, and it was time to ‘return’ it to the Library.

As I arrived at the Library (actually a large graveyard), Emily’s writings let me know I was already reading the Book of No Return, so, by all rights, it didn’t make sense that I would be here looking for it.

So now it was *me* doing this, not Emily. Actually, Emily’s dreams appeared to be prophetic – so as I ‘explored’ the Library, I found myself wondering if I was actually seeing Emily’s dream of me arriving at the Circle nest, and finding the Book – here, of course, my actions would be interpreted through Emily’s rather unique view of the world. (In other words, I assumed I was still reading the diary, but now I was reading about my own actions leading to finding the diary, as observed by Emily in her dreams – presumably before she died; and I did get the feeling she had died some time ago).

Well, once I entered the Library, it was obvious there was no way this could be interpreted as Emily’s view of me rooting out and defeating a Circle nest. The place was full of formless energy, acting in the role of ‘Library Staff.’ Hmmm … was this an account of what it would be like to be in the Library of Souls?

The Library had shelves of books for me to search, but the common theme was all the various ways to die. That made me even more sure Emily was dead – and that my ‘real’ quest here was to find her account of what had happened to her. Fatal disease? Apparently not, according to the Library. Murdered? Again, no. Although the reference to her having experience with murder but not its victim was rather creepy (perhaps someone she knew)? I also found that she was “only 24 when she ‘had her dream about the Book of No Return.’” And lots of other interesting clues…


You know, if the shelvers and the sorters would actually do their jobs, rather than lob pink lightning bolts at me, this Library might be a bit better organized…

Note: You’re definitely keeping my interest, although I’m really not very sure exactly what’s going on. I’m hoping it’ll become clearer either in the next mission, or as this one progresses – or, at least, the souvenir will shed some light on it if the poor player just can’t piece the clues together…

Either just through dumb luck, or expert design, I got all eight “other” causes of death, before I found Emily’s. Accident, huh? I kept reading, intent on seeing where this would go…

Note: All of the ‘subjects’ show up in ‘sorting order’ but this one … for me, even though it was ‘code’ 300 to 399, it showed up between 500 and 599 and 600 and 699.

Once again, this experience is a change from the previous – I get the impression I’ve seen myself do something … experience something … that never actually happened. I’m reading about it in this diary, and it seems to be *happening* to me – although, still, somehow, I’m aware I’m only reading it. As though I’m in a waking dream.

It’s clear that to get out of this fantasy, I’ll need to see the story to its conclusion. Which is exactly what Emily wanted to happen…

It’s also seems pretty clear to me that the Library is something other than the Circle’s Library of Souls (as witnessed by someone trapped within); at the very least, the catalog covering different types of death seems to preclude that (souls in the Circle’s Library would basically all be victims of murder).

Put another way, I’m definitely having to admit that I’m not following exactly what’s going on (beyond just the basics of the plot). We’ll see if the end of the diary sheds any light…

After finding the Book of No Return in the library, it would seem that it has no ending (at least the version of it in my mind’s eye doesn’t – the real version that I at least *think* I’m reading does, and I *think* I’m now reading it … and it is showing my role in this ending).

I also get some insight into what the Book of No Return is really about. It would seem Emily’s magical abilities (which included her imagination becoming reality) always pulled on her sanity, and she sought it to end. Or, rather, the part of her mind she felt she couldn’t control needed to be ‘locked away.’ In a sense, that’s what her Book might be – a way to magically ‘lock away’ the parts of her psyche (and her ability) that she feels she can’t control. We’ll see. So far my track record of understanding what’s going on is less than stellar.

What Emily does explain to me (through her diary) is that she spend her days (after her parents died) on her grandfather’s pumpkin farm, where she would play in the surrounding forests, talking to the trees and animals. Then, one fateful day, a fire started in the barn, and somebody died. She was blamed for starting the fire, and has been running ever since. I think I might now get to see what happened to her…

…shortly after arriving in this final chapter of her Book, it would seem this is where Emily has hidden her nightmares, and some of her most tragic memories. Nearly everything here appears to represent some childhood trauma – or even an otherwise pleasant memory distorted into something awful by the nightmare.

As I wander through Emily’s “nightmare” of the pumpkin farm, I stumble across the King of all Monsters. At the start of the story, Emily had once mentioned that she’d tried to write a Book of Perfection – but had failed. Evidently this thing was the reason she’d failed – it was always following her, always ruining her plans. The monster’s description hinted that Emily had possibly become self-destructive as a result (although, according to what I found in the library, she hadn’t taken her own life).


The King of All Monsters might look a bit goofy, but he’s got some downright disturbing dialog.

Based on the King’s dialog, it would seem he is a personification of someone who abused Emily growing up. And that same person is who died in the barn fire – in fact, it’s now obvious that Emily locked him in there… she killed him to end the abuse. Now the reference in the Library to having experienced murder but not having been its victim made sense… What’s more, the Book of Perfection appeared to be a metaphor for the perfect life Emily thought she would have had if this abusive individual hadn’t come into her life. Perhaps that meant that the Book of No Return symbolized the moment Emily had decided to take action, which, of course, would change her life forever – she was starting down a path she’d never return from.

One other detail that I’ve left out is that Emily was also the name of Emily’s doll – I’m guessing that as the rage at her treatment built up within her, she one day shredded the doll completely. She’s missed her ever since. Guarding the doll was Valerie Gaul; it would seem that Emily actually killed her one day in retaliation for the relentless teasing she received for an ugly scar on her hand. I *think* the police led Emily away after she burned the barn down, so that would suggest Valerie was murdered before that.

With growing trepidation I realize the end of the story involves Emily doing horrible things in response to the horrible things done to her…

Somehow, Emily escaped into her Book of No Return. While I don’t quite get the reference to the Book of Scars (beyond her rather self-conscious loathing of the scar she got on her hand from the fish hook – and possibly a serious injury involving an ice cream truck), Emily did seem to want to escape from the Book.

Doll-Emily led me to a cocoon, presumably with Emily trapped inside.

Even if it was her own doing, nobody deserved to be trapped in this self-imposed hell. I would at least try to free her, lthough I intended to bring Emily to justice once she was freed (plus, she seemed to promise that she would wreak terrible vengeance once freed). But it was all for naught. There was nothing in the cacoon; Emily was still trapped. It truly was the Book of No Return.

Pros: If you like arcs loaded with detail, where the author has inserted ‘story’ in to virtually everything that can hold a text string, then this is an arc worth checking out. As suggested, I certainly took it slow, read virtually everything I thought to read, and likely still missed little details. In a sense, this arc has reply value simply by virtue of the fact you’d likely notice things the second time you missed the first. The story (and the method of telling it) is very unconventional, but it is well done: I certainly can’t think of ways the story could be improved and the arc still have the same overall ‘feel.’ But, to be honest, this way of presenting a story is not my forte, so my comments (or ability to suggest improvements) should be taken with a grain of salt anyway.

While the method of telling the story can certainly be very confusing at times, in general, the further I got into the arc, the clearer the story got for me. Granted, I *still* don’t have a *clear* understanding of just what happened to Emily, but I do think just about anyone playing the arc will at least get the basic elements by the end, and that’s good, given the complex way the story is presented. And, as an aside, I did find that the story had an emotional impact, so I can honestly say it kept my attention.

Another notable thing is the use of repurposed, re-colored mobs. The Devouring Earth really stood out – I almost wish they had that color scheme in the real game.

Cons: Not surprisingly, the way the story is told can be a double-edged sword. If you are one of those people that needs to have a clear view of what’s going on both at every step of the story, and everything wrapped up nicely at the end, this isn’t the arc for you.

One thing I did notice is that the way the story, um, “clarified” by the end seemed to make the first parts actually make less sense. At the moment, I’m most confused about what was really going on in the first two missions (especially the first one). My current interpretation is that I’m watching what Emily did to construct the Book in the first two missions, and I *think* the second mission is actually depicting events from before the first (although, to be honest, it was the second mission where I had the hardest time seeing the point – ostensibly, I’m watching Emily find the second component of her Book, but the mission actually seems more like an introduction to the first part of Emily’s life story). I’m guessing whatever she needed from the “farm” she got a long time ago, but fled to Cap after she burned down the barn (to escape the police), and finished creating the Book there. The third mission actually seems to be me delving into the Book to find out Emily’s true story – and learning that Emily herself is actually hidden in the parts of the Book that were torn out. And the final mission is trying to find Emily herself. But it might also be that she really did get something from the Devouring Earth after getting whatever she needed from the Clockwork, and was just insane by that point, and saw the Devouring Earth as synonymous with creatures she imagined in her early childhood. But, clearly, I’m confused as to what exactly is going on.

And that brings me to the main thing that I *wished* the arc had: a kind of compromise between the player having to piece together the story from clues scattered throughout missions that aren’t necessarily presented in chronological order (which, is *not* a bad thing, by the way), and simply “rewarding” the player with the story if they get through the arc. Specifically, I’m wishing the souvenir had a more explicit version of Emily’s story so that if the player couldn’t necessarily put everything together (as I couldn’t), you’d still get rewarded with “what really happened” at the very end. Almost like a chance to compare notes (I was hoping the souvie would have the real story so I could see how close my interpretation was to it).

So overall, a very good arc – well constructed, lots of attention to detail, and a very atypical way to tell the story (which helps make the arc stand out).

Score: 4.417

A major source of frustration for me has been crashing during the Lambda trial. I know I’m not the only one. Virtually every trial I’m on, I see other players disappear and then reappear a short time later. It’s a minority of them, thankfully, but I do see a few every time. Oddly, it doesn’t seem to be an issue in the BAF trial; I crash at least once in any Lambda trial – I almost never crash in a BAF. And I see people “vanish” and reappear in BAF much, much less frequently.

Occasionally the crash happens at exactly the wrong time: just before the trial is won. I try to log back in as fast as possible, but I pop back in to the game right after the trial completes. No reward table. No merit. I also know I’m not the only one this has happened to. I’ve seen people complain here on the forums about getting gypped out of their reward by a crash happening at the wrong time.

I’ve participated in the trials many, many times (dozens, I’m sure). I enjoy them, quite a bit. They’re a lot of fun. Thankfully, the crashing issue has only cost me the trial completion reward twice. The first time I wrote it off. The second time, I petitioned to see if the GMs would ‘return’ the award to me (I made it clear I’d actually be happy with the Empyrean Merit and 10 threads, exactly as if I’d been judged to be ‘not participating enough’). Their response, while polite and professional, was what I expected: “your character has to be present for the entire event and complete all the objectives to get the final reward.” Since I wasn’t present at the end of the trial, thanks to the crash, they couldn’t give me any missed rewards. Okay, first, I want to point out that that is actually not the real policy:

You technically *don't* have to be present for the entire event, or even complete all the objectives (read: be present when they are completed) to get the Empyrean Merit and reward table at the end. I've crashed out before the sabotage phase of Lambda ended, and returned after the battle with Marauder had begun (thus missing completing the sabotage objective). I've crashed before Lambda sector's security was "breached" (the first objective of the whole trial), and been able to return to the trial after than objective was completed. I've crashed before Nightstar was defeated, and returned in the middle of the prisoner escape in the BAF. I've crashed midway through the prisoner escape, and returned during the fight with Siege. In every case I was (1) not present for the entire event, technically speaking, and (2) was not present for the completion of EVERY trial objective. And in every case when the trial was won, I got the Merit and the reward table.
The real policy is far more heavy handed than suggestest. I can be absent for the *majority* of the event. I can not be present for every single objective *provided I'm there for the completion of the final objective*, and I will get the reward table and the end Merit. I can be present for the *entire* trial, except for the last second, complete every objective up to the last one, and if I happen to get disconnect one *second* before the final objective completes, I won't get the merit, or the reward table. Heck, I could have logged off right as the trial began, go fixed myself a sandwich, watched a 22-minute Simpsons episode, logged back in, helped finish off the last 5% of Maurauder's hit points, and gotten *more* of a reward that I did for being present for most of the trail (I got: 3 Astral Merits = 12 threads + 4 threads from drops = 16 threads, versus getting 1 Emp. Merit = 20 threads + 10 thread 'didn't participate enough to get a component' reward = 30 threads).

The real policy is not "you have to be present for the entire event and complete every objective to get the end reward." It's "you have to be logged in the trial for that brief instant in time the reward table is presented - regardless of how much of the trial you actually participated in - to get the end reward." That sounds a lot more heavy-handed, but at least it's honest.

And frankly, it’s something I think the Devs should seriously consider changing. Here’s why.

One, the Devs have stated they like to avoid designing things in a way that encourage aberrant behavior. It is obviously just my opinion, but to me “normal” behavior would be trying to log back in and return to my league to continue aiding them as quickly as humanly possible, no matter the circumstances. Aberrant behavior is thinking “well, if nothing goes wrong, the trial has a good chance of being over before the server realizes the reason it’s not getting any input from my character and opts to log me off, so I better wait for a bit so that I can make sure my character is still logged in when the trial ends.”

By the way, that does work. I’ve crashed out, thought – you know, the trail’s gonna be over by the time I get back on, but I know my character will stay online for about 30-60 more seconds. And if I try to load the game and sign in right now, it’ll tell me I’m already logged in – which also seems to always prompt the server to instantly log me off. So that might actually log me out right before the trail completes. So I’ll just wait a few minutes before logging in, in the hope the server will still think I’m online when the trial ends. And it worked. When I logged in, I got the reward table. Frankly, I’d prefer to get the bigger reward from the former than the latter. Yet I’m more likely to get the bigger reward from the latter rather than the former.

If you are disconnected right before a trail finishes, and return right after it completes, before all of the league members are even out of the mission map (as happened both times I didn’t get the reward), there’s got to be a way to flag you as deserving the reward table if it was a successful trial. Or at least whatever Merit is appropriate (Empyrean or Astral, depending on how long ago you got an Empyrean for that trial), and the 10 thread ‘consolation’ prize. Getting whatever reward (component or threads) your personal participation score warrants is best, but, frankly either’s better than nothing.

Or at least change the policy so that the GMs are allowed to give you the reward if the logs clearly indicate that’s what happened to you. (And they do – that’s what the GM told me in the response to my petition; it was clear I’d been disconnected right before the trial ended, and logged back in as fast as possible afterward.) Even if they can’t spawn the reward table for you, at least the 10 threads + Merit is better than no reward at all!

Again, thanks for asking for a review! Hopefully I'll get more whenever this current bug gets fixed!

And now, for the latest chapter in Pro Payne's exciting adventures:

Dhahabu Kingdom and the Unfathomable Nightmare of Sand (Arc ID#453511, 5 stars)

Very minor nitpick – after Queen Auri tells you of Dhahabu’s new troubles, your ‘accept the mission’ choice is I’ll be glad to help. It doesn’t have a period, and probably should.

Upon entering the cave that was supposed to harbor the underground stream, it was immediately obvious Dhahabu was in much worse trouble than the Queen thought – not only was the stream utterly dried up, but the Circle of Thorns was present as well. So the fiendish mages were behind this. I wondered how they’d even gotten here, but there’d be time to worry about that later.

I secured all of the Maji Bilauri, and set out looking for the scouting party. Tragically, the Circle had already possessed them. I subdued the poor souls, hoping that somehow the powerful magic of the Dhahabu kingdom could return their spirits to their bodies.


Hey guys, I’ve come to get you safely out of… ow OW OWWW!

Queen Auri was understandably concerned about the Circle’s presence here, and it was clear they had a sinister plan in the works. Auri’s husband, King Aurus had just returned from a trip abroad, looking for clues as to the cause of the drought. He’d located an island populated by mystic oracles, but they would not allow men to set foot on their lands. Auri would therefore have to travel to the island, and requested my help protecting her on the way. I, of course, agreed.

The journey to the island was uneventful, but when Auri failed to return after several hours, I decided to go in after her, even if it meant breaking the Oracles’ ‘no men on the island’ rule. It was an exception I was sure they’d be glad to make, given that the moment I made it inside it was obvious the place was under attack by the Circle.

I quickly rescued Queen Auri, and destroyed several “Sand Obelisks” the Circle had set up. I wasn’t completely sure yet of their purpose, but perhaps the Oracles would know more. (It was here that I abruptly mapserved when my internet went out. When I was able to log back in the mission had reset; unfortunately, I estimated I didn’t have enough time left to play all the way through it, so I’d have to return to it later.)

I found the oracles outside, each taken hostage by the Circle mages eager to feed on their psychic power. Understandably, they were not terribly interested in divining my future – they were more focused on ensuring the others of their kind were safe. I did my best to help.


Actually, given all the demons and evil mages roaming about, maybe you should let me find the others…

Note: The “delivery” point for Auri was just hovering in mid air, off the side of the structure on the top of the hill. I could tell by the context clues that the lead oracle was supposed to be there (probably lying down and injured), but there wasn’t anything there… on the plus side, the mission *did* complete when I brought Auri there.

The lead oracle had a dire warning – the Circle were seeking the power of an evil sorceress. Once a tyrant of a distant desert kingdom, she was killed when her people rose against her. When her loyal followers resurrected her, she enacted a terrible vengeance, gripping the land in a near-lethal drought. While she was defeated again, the oracle warned that the Circle intended to again summon her to the world of the living, and attempt to bargain with her for power. They foolishly though that their rituals (and offers of appeasement) could be used to bind her to their will – something the oracle implied was nothing but folly.

So it looked like I needed to put a stop to this, hopefully before the Circle revived her. Something deep down told me I was far enough behind the game that I would instead be dealing with the mess created when the Circle plan’s went ary...

Auri suspected the best way to get into Queen Ubuge’s desert kingdom was through a network of tunnels. She warned it would be a long, arduous journey, and the tunnels were quite hot and sandy – but it was a better option than trying to cross the brutal deserts above. So off I went into the tunnels of … Oh God. NOT THE RULARUU CAVES! Sigh.

Okay, in all fairness, the ‘Legend of Ruladak’ cave map is actually a very good fit – it really does look like you are traveling through a long, hot tunnel system filled with stinging sand and crawling with Ubuge’s twisted servants. And, on the plus side, a character with decent defenses (and the veteran ‘clear map’ ability) can probably quickly make their way through, skipping most of the battles. I will actually go through normally, though – I will use my Investigate power to reveal the map, and I’ll fight what I see along the way, but I won’t go out of my way to find things to defeat.

Only a short way into the tunnels I locate several Circle guarding a reliquary holding a “wet” scroll. The scroll seems to depict several mages performing a ritual to draw Ubuge’s water into a large crystal – presumably a clue on how to defeat her. Based on the reactions of the Circle mages in here, something has gone horribly wrong. I don’t know if they attempted the ritual themselves as part of their plan to use Ubuge’s power – and their attempts turned ary – or if this was a simple case of the evil Queen deciding they were now of no use to her… I headed further in, looking for whomever was leading the Circle of Thorns.


You know, our bodies are something like 80% water. So really you’re just a big walking canteen for that water-vampire of a Queen. You know, the one who draws her power from collecting water? See, so that’s why I’m doing you a favor by taking you down…

Note: I love the look of Ubuge’s servants – really great design. Hmm, seems odd the Sand Ravens can fly (and it’s more than a little annoying, given they can vanish into the ‘fog’ quite quickly when they inevitably flee after getting hurt). I do have to say the dehydrated servants having Drain Psyche was pretty nasty. On the upside, it doesn’t take *too* long for it to wear off, but the inevitable standing around and waiting (for both it to wear off, and for your endurance to regenerate up for the next fight) does add to the time it takes to get through an already pretty large map. One thing I’ve been wondering about is using multiple copies of the same minion to replicate some of the ‘developer mob’ rules about only one mob in a spawn using a particularly annoying power at a time – e.g. if one copy of the dehydrated servant has Drain Psyche and the other doesn’t, the power shows up in a spawn less often, in theory; no idea how well it works in practice. Of course, I have the luxury of being able to alt-tab out and write down my thoughts for a review while I’m waiting for my endurance to come back…

Oh! It would appear that one of your “Ubuge faction” bosses got hit by the current bug and turned into a Hydra. Obviously not going to ding you for that, but at least you’re aware of it now…

At the end of the epic trek through the sandy tunnels, I found the remains of the Circle of Thorns leader. The body was drained of all water; he’d gotten his just desserts, but it looked like I had an even bigger mess to clean up now. I battled my way through the soldiers the evil Queen had sent to guard the exit (a Sand Raven boss that, happily, wasn’t melted into Hydra form).

Apparently, defeating the Queen’s servants broke the drought curse (wait, it did?), but Queen Ubuge had escaped back to my world, and was causing havoc. I needed to defeat her once and for all. Queen Auri told me King Aurus would be there to help me, but warned that brute force wouldn’t be enough to stop Ubuge. I showed her the scroll, asking if it gave her any ideas.

Note: Unfortunately it would appear the bug strikes again … Auri’s “sendoff” text was a message that she’d suffered an internal error issuing the task. But it looked like the mission was set, so I entered it anyway… (and on closer inspection, hitting the “info” next to the mission header did reveal what her sendoff dialog was supposed to be – she’d wished me well, and promised to coordinate the mages on her world with those on mine in an attempt to cast the ritual to weaken Ubuge.)

Of course, the Queen’s forces were attacking a Portal Corp lab (interesting map choice – the abandoned “damaged” lab maps are a great fit; they actually do look like they’ve been covered in sand by the assault of the Queen’s minions).

Several things about defending the lab were a notable improvement over the hellish tunnels – for one, I could now see the Dehydrated from far enough way to preemptively hold them before they could get Drain Psyche off. And when there were two of them in a spawn, I could also aggro the other other from something other than point blank range – which tends to prompt them to fire off the power before they’re even close to me.

Of course, the highlight of the mission was watching King Aurus repeatedly open up a can of whoop a** on Queen Ubuge’s lackeys.

Deep in the lab we locate and secure the crystal – allowing the ritual to drain Ubuge’s power to begin. The final task was to track her down and defeat her in her weakened state.

Actually, it was King Aurus that found her. I raced in to back him up. What followed was an epic (and amazingly evenly matched) battle between King Aurus and Queen Ubuge as I alternately stood immobilized on the sidelines, or defeating the hordes of the Queen’s servants that would appear to reinforce her at regular intervals.

Note: Okay, seriously – the queen calling for water and actually getting reinforced with a bunch of ‘unique’ “water carriers” was a great touch! Just loved it, along with the queen’s design. In spite of the fact I actually had almost no role in the actual battle with the queen, it was really a fun and epic-feeling fight.

Ultimately Queen Ubuge proved the stronger, if only slightly, and managed to dispatch Aurus. The irony is that the Queen focused strongly on command of fire, and therefore proved virtually no threat to me. Already badly injured in her fight with Aurus, she turned to engage me, only to very rapidly fall to just a few attacks (and barely doing injury to me). And thus ended the reign of Queen Ubuge. Again.


Pro Payne heroically hides behind this column, bravely allowing King Aurus to do virtually all the work taking Queen Ubuge down. His daring plan: once the evil Queen has been thoroughly weakened, he can move in to finish her off!

Queen Auri wasn’t pleased I’d inadvertently allowed Queen Ubuge to use her husband as a punching bag, but understood that it couldn’t be helped (and appreciated that my efforts in keeping the ambushes off of him at least let him hold his own until the end of the battle). But she was obviously very thankful for the Queen’s defeat, and was appropriately gracious in spite of my rather poor showing in that final fight.

Note: Either the queen has no farewell dialog, or it bugged on me.

Pros: One of the best things about Mission Architect is that it gives a chance to play “side stories” that, while having a minor tie-in to the main developer content, really serve as a diversion from the game’s main storyline. Of course, it only works when those side stories are good enough to be worth your time, and once again the author has done just that. There are a lot of things to like about this story arc: it is clear a lot of thought (and polish) went into its design. The maps are well chosen and very appropriate (in spite of my automatic dislike of the Rularuu caves), the custom group is visually stunning, the story is well done, the missions are well varied, and the battle at the end really had a rather epic feel. But even more, in the MA system there are many examples of “new worlds” that other authors have created alongside the official world. That alone is a major appeal of the system to me, and it’s always refreshing to return to one of those new worlds that was already featured in another (well done) arc – it does help combat the weakness created by that same strength: the feel that there is little continuity in a MA only character’s personal story. Bottom line, great arc.

Cons: I’m happy to say that I think for the most part, the “cons” I’ve got are really a matter of personal preference – I would have done things differently, but not in the sense I think they’re done wrong. Simply in the sense that I’ve got a different ‘preferred’ way of doing things. So, as always, if a suggestion rings true, take it into consideration – if not, don’t worry about it.

Obviously, I don’t like the Rularuu map, but I do think it is a very appropriate one, and so, IMO, knowing that map will be used does suggest a few design modifications (at least to me). First, I’d nix the Sand Ravens’ ability to fly – the fact they could at all was a bit jarring (except for the bosses, which had wings, which made it seem no surprise they could fly), but it also made them a pain on a map where visibility is virtually nil. Of course I had a similar experience with the Drain Psyche ability on the Dehydrated – in the final mission it’s not an issue since you can spot them from a long distance off and deal with them before they hit you with it. But the fact remains that in the largest and longest map of the whole arc, you’ve got a situation where they can sneak up on you far more readily, and use a power that, while not really the difference between victory and defeat in a fight, did result in a lot boring standing around – in what is already a long map (which gives it the potential to be a boring map too).

Of course, the Circle mages in that map were appropriate, but all have the same dialog. IMO, if you’re going to use that particular map, every single step to distract from its length and monotony is a plus – it’s a minor change, but having each one have different (and entertaining) dialog would be a very nice change. While not map-specific, as I mentioned in the walkthrough, it did seem odd that the spell was broken at the end of the third mission. Presumably the Queen is the source of the spell, and she’s still alive (and actually trying now to invade my world), so why would defeating one of her generals break the spell?

All of my cons are minor concerns though. Again, very well done arc and certainly one I can recommend as worth the time to play!

Score: 4.815

I'm having very similar problems. I have practically no problem elsewhere in the game, but the trials cause frequent crashes, *especially* Lambda. The crashes happen most often:

(1) Right when I first load in.

(2) When I have to move from one part of a map to another (e.g. from the courtyard into the warehouse in Lambda) - which may be why I have so much more problem with Lambda.

(3) Right at the beginning of the prisoner escape in BAF.

Sometimes it's just "wham" - nearly instant crash to desktop with either no message at all or "CoH has encountered a problem and stopped working."

Sometimes it locks up (others were describing as the 'eternal blue circle') - I've got to start task manager and kill the game to get free. This type frequently displays a message about how it thinks a particular file is corrupt and asks me to run the patcher (which I do, and, obviously, no effects). The corrupt files are all graphics textures (one time it was "Big Boots" - and I crashes right as the cutscene with Maurauder popped up; another time it was something about "Grassy courtyard" right as I first loaded into Lamba - which was odd because I don't think I've ever seen grass in that trial...).

Very occasionally I'll get the "send us an error report" popup - I fill it out when I do. But most of the time it's not appearing.

With the regular game and BAF I can run the game with everything (i.e. Water Quality, Shadows, etc.) set to High or better. I've tried lowering the settings (reduce all the Ultra mode stuff to off, and scale the 3D graphics to about 1000 x 600 or lower). Doesn't seem to reduce the frequency of crashes for BAF (which are fairly rare), but it *does* seem to help with Lambda (the crashes are still frequent, but that's what tends to limit them to 'transitions' in the trial rather than just random crashes in the middle of a map).

It's from one of the stock outdoor encounters in Sharkhead (at least), where Arachnos soldiers are detaining members of other factions. As you aggro them they say something like (the wording is probably not exact):

"I'll deal with you later. Right now Captain Intrusion here just got added to my 'no witnesses' list."

Thank you very much for the review!

Okay, my thoughts on Welcome to M.A.G.I.

Synopsis: Overall, I enjoyed it, but I did find the plot to frequently be confusing. Some of that was inherent to the plot, and not a bad thing - and that was largely addressed by the end of the arc. But there were enough times that it was awkward phrasing confusing things, or statements that seemed to make no sense in the context of what the character had *just* said, to detract from really getting into the story.

Next, my thoughts as I was playing the arc...

The opening briefing is off to a good start – well, written, somewhat humorous. So MAGI’s “real” vault is a small vault hidden inside the larger fake “vault”? Eh, seems kind of awkward (like it’s only story purpose is just to make the vault small enough to steal – but it’s not unreasonable to assume powerful enough magic could teleport away something much bigger than a wardrobe).

Actually, something else that struck me as odd – if this is really supposed to be an intro arc for a magic hero, it does seem weird that the level range is 1-12, when 1-5 (or something similar) seems a lot more realistic for a magic hero’s first caper. To be fair, though, I’ve got an intro arc that goes to 1-10, so I guess that’s being a little too nitpicky.

Mission 1: Hmm … the dialog and clues can be very pronoun heavy in places – makes it pretty hard to follow who’s talking about what. Wexler’s blubbering breakdown at the end was pretty funny, but it didn’t seem to fit – supposedly this guy was powerful and ruthless enough to murder the original boss of the Hellion gang who participated in the robbery, and was randomly nuking Hellions that annoyed him with bolts of magical energy. So how come he’s suddenly such a wuss?!

…Hmm, that was weird – Azuria didn’t seem to have any sort of debriefing after the mission; it just jumped straight to the briefing for the second mission. Was that intentional, or did the game just bug on me?

Ah … I mapserved, and Azuria just told me she had an ‘internal error’ – so, I’m thinking a bug. Moving on to the next mission…

(BTW, the ‘layer cake cave’ reference kind of fell flat to me – it seemed unnecessarily immersion breaking, and doesn’t fit the story’s main premise: if I literally started out in the Hero registration line, and these first two missions are the first two of my magic-hero career, then how do I even know about layer-cake caves yet?)

Mission 2: The Corollax want to *eat* us? Huh, that seems like an odd take on them. Doesn’t bother me, though. Okay, so apparently Wexler’s got some sort of immature “I’m better than everyone else, so why can’t they see it” complex, and is convinced he sees a dangerous threat that nobody else does. Not sure why his response was to try to steal and sell of the vault, but he’s not here, so maybe that’ll be clearer later. Was the summoning stone something Wexler stole from the vault, or did it just happen to be down here in the same cave he hid in?

Ah … Azuria clears that up. It was from the vault. Good enough for me.

The story at this point is getting kind of confusing. So the Circle is controlling Wexler, and Wexler’s response is to write megalomanical things in his diary as a clue? Does he ‘hear’ the thoughts of his controller and is writing them down as a way to document what’s actually a Circle plot of some sort? I am curious as to why the Circle wouldn’t have just ripped Wexler’s soul out and replaced it with an Orenbegan by now (although at this point we wouldn’t know they do that) rather than using this more subtle method of control. Still, there’s plenty of time to explain that.

The bit about Kanis being far beyond my power further highlights that, IMO, I do think the arc should maybe top out at level 5 (with perhaps the last mission capping at 10 instead to reflect your advancing power?). It just seems odd to me that I’m ready to go to Steel Canyon, and yet the very first “minor leader in the Circle” that I’ve faced is well beyond my ability to handle… but that wouldn’t be hard to buy at all if I wasn’t even ready to leave Atlas Park yet…

Mission 3: Hmm … so some Hellion dialog makes it look like Wexler is running an undercover MAGI op against the Circle. And according to the Hellion boss I beat down to learn Kanis’ location, Kanis actually put a hit on Wexler (and is the source of the ‘revelation’ that Wexler was undercover MAGI). So either that’s true, and Azuria’s been using a fresh, green new hero in an undercover plot against the Circle, or Kanis has some other reason to want Wexler dead.

Azuria swears Wexler’s not working undercover, and speculates Wexler escaped Circle control (good, I liked that option better than Azuria going around using lies to trick green heroes into helping her with undercover plots). So I need to go and face Kanis and figure out what’s going on.

Mission 4: Azuria doesn’t think I’m ready for the Circle, so it’s time for a ‘filler’ mission regarding the Hydra spawn. (You know, it seems kind of a shame here to spoil the connection between them, the abandoned sewer, and the Rikti - IMO, the Hydra should still be quite the mystery at this stage in the game; maybe a better approach would be to have the Sewer in Perez Park, and these mysterious ‘Hydra’ that have started to infest Everett Lake have, inexplicably, broken through a nearby sewer grate, possibly attracted to some magical artifact down there.) I need to look for the previous investigator Azuria sent here, but who never reported in. Oh, and according to her wards, a whole bunch of Skulls just invaded that particular sewer…

…Well, based on what a Skull boss just said, it looks like Wexler is here, and he was the one who lured the Skulls here. And he was with some Hellions, and he’s also controlling the Hydra. So he must have another ‘control sea creatures’ artifact (and this one worked better). Wow, that was convenient he just happened to be here in the random mission Azuria just gave me.

Oh geez, it seems like Wexler is using the Hydra to harvest body parts for some kind of dark ritual (that’s what the missing investigator Azuria sent here told me after I rescued her).

I’d make the bodies each a separate detail, with their own unique clue about what’s been removed. The way it’s set up now, you’ve got the first ‘body’ telling me what I find on all the other bodies.

The end of mission clue actually implicates Azuria again, like she already knew exactly what’s going on down here, and I’m supposed to conclude something from that – but the story’s too disjoined at the moment for that to be clear.

This is an undercover operation, and Azuria’s been lying to me. Or it’s not. I hope not, given Wexler’s going around killing people.

Wexler’s using artifacts to control groups of monsters, and getting better with each try.

He’s controlled by the Circle. Or not.

He used the Hellions to steal the Vault, and a Circle mage was his prospective buyer. Only that went bad, and now the Circle wants him dead. But the Hellions are still his allies.

I got the elements, but I don’t know how they fit together.

Debriefing: Azuria knows what I’m thinking (‘cause the bodies are all people who work for the other major ‘intro hero’ groups in Atlas City Hall). Um … no … I’m not at all sure what that means or how that fits. Oh, you’re wondering if Wexler also knew them. Or you think I’m wondering that.

Oh, I get it. Wexler has to have been close to the people he’s using for the dark sacrifice for it to greatly boost him power. Well that suggests he’s probably not being controlled, since I’d figure the sacrifice victims would actually need to be close to the *controlling* entity to still get that extra boost. So who else would be close to them? Azuria? She’s finally snapped, sought out great cosmic power, and is looking to get revenge on everybody who ever made fun of her?

Huh? Azuria is now telling me that for whatever dark ritual Wexler is performing, friends would be more potent then enemies, so if he’s turned evil and no longer considers them friends, he could be a lot more powerful. Wait, *what?* That doesn’t make any sense at all.

Mission 5: First I need to defeat Kanis – he’s pretty early in, and I could have guessed he’s a Madness Mage. *That* does kind of fit.

But it apparently isn’t intended to explain Wexler. Apparently, Wexler really did just want to enact a dark ritual to drastically increase his personal power.

Ugh. Spectrals. Yet another reason to make the upper level limit lower.

Odd, a Circle patrol seems to think the Hellions are going to try to kill Wexler, even though they appear to be working for him. But Kanis doesn’t think they’ll succeed. Huh? I don’t get that at all…

Oh, okay. Wexler was in love with Azuria and wanted to prove his power to her. He was trying to use the theft of the vault to lure out a major Circle of Thorns player and kill him, but he needed to power himself up to have a shot at beating Kanis. So he murders a couple of former friends for a power ritual.

Wow, and he’s definitely got a big dose of crazy going on in his dialog.

And so it appears that Wexler was trying to ‘conjure’ a variety of threats to the city, and then (once powered up) defeat them to impress Azuria.

Okay, I’m fine with that – and the fact he’s gone insane means his own reasoning doesn’t really need to make much sense.

Likes: There’s certainly a difference between confusion that’s just part of the fact that you don’t have the whole story yet, and confusion caused by stuff being thrown in that just doesn’t seem to fit. Where it counts, the overall story *does* make sense, and is tied up just fine in the end. It’s even sympathetic. And the missions themselves play just fine. Furthermore, I was very happy to see that the use of clues felt just about right to me. It’s certainly not a bad arc. It’s just…

Dislikes: …that the details serve to confuse more than anything else. In some cases the clues are written somewhat awkwardly – the best examples of these are earlier in the arc where it gets kind of hard to sort out who each pronoun is referring to. But there are plenty of examples of characters saying things that just don’t make any sense in the overall context of the arc’s story – or even statements that make no logical sense given what a character just said (I’ve noted examples of both that stood out in my playthrough notes above). That, I think, is really where the arc could use some work.

As I mentioned before, this arc is set up as *literally* the very first thing your hero does after registration. So the fact it goes all the way up to level 14 by the end doesn’t fit well with it being ‘introductory.’ I’ll freely admit that I’ve got an arc that is an ‘intro’ arc that goes up to level 10, but it’s set up so that it’s at least reasonable to assume that it isn’t the character’s very first arc. And the arc I’ve got that *does* assume it’s your character’s first arc (complete with Atlas Park City Hall contact) is limited to level 5. In the grand scheme of things it’s not that big of a deal, but the truth is everything about the arc – the setting, the story, etc. – makes it “feel” like I should be limited to the Atlas Park level range (i.e. levels 1-6). And, heck, it does have the added benefit of making it so the Circle doesn’t spawn in those spectrals in the last mission (which actually seemed a bit out of place).

As far as a rating, when I started, the “rating in my head” went from 3 to 4 really quickly, with the thought, depending on how this goes, this could easily be a 5 star arc. Then, the increasing confusion with each mission, I was thinking, the story feels like it should be above average, but all of this stuff that makes no sense is bringing it down to about 3 stars. Then, of course, the final mission tied up enough that I was thinking 4 stars, but there was still enough confusion (and contradiction) that I couldn’t ramp it all the way up to 5 (well, technically, based on the way I decide to rate something, I thought it certainly could deserve up to 4.0 stars exactly, but I just couldn't push past that). So, in this case, I gave it 4 stars.

But my general feeling on this sort of thing is that if I liked it enough to give it even 4.01 stars, I’d give it 5 in game. And it wouldn’t take much tweaking to get it there.

By the way, the exact formula is:

XP % = (damage you did to the mob) / (total damage done to the mob) * 100%

So, if a minion with 420 hit points took 320 damage from you, and 100 from an ally, you'd get 320 / 420 * 100% = 76% of the normal XP value of the mob.

Where this formula really cheats you is when you've got an ally with a very damaging attack who uses it to 'finish off' a mob with just a sliver of life left.

For example, lets say you are fighting that minion from before. You've dealt a total of 410 damage to him. And your AV-class ally pops off a mega-attack for 1,100 damage. Obviously, that'll kill said minion, but the XP reward will only be 27% of normal, because (410)/(1,510) * 100% is 27%. So even though you did most of the work, you get barely any reward.