Coulomb2

First, I’ll post what was to be Monday’s arc. Unfortunately, while working on this, I got laid low by a very nasty virus and was bedridden for two days – I wasn’t able to finish it until today.

And today, Pro Payne’s adventure will be the last in the list of (thus far very good) heroic arcs:

A Mosaic of Shattered Dreams #497506 by @Avonlea

During a patrol in Kings Row I stumble across a building fire. Katie Evans, daughter of a former contact of mine, runs up to me, begging me to rescue her mother, Trisha, who is inside. Within, I find Council – but the Council goons appear to be hired out by a pair of villains who belong to an organization called the “mosaic.” Arachnos is in on the action too – but it is unclear if their presence is in opposition to the mosaic villain, or if they are also there to help “the plan” (whatever that is).

Sadly, Trisha has already been slain by the time I get to her – murdered quite brutally by the mosaic villains. As I comfort little Katie, I silently swear to bring Trisha’s murderers to justice.

A few moments later, I hear word on the police scanner that there is an attack on a Portal Corporation lab – one where Katie’s father works. I race to the scene to find the lab overrun by robots. They appear to actually be the lab’s “worker robots” – but have been reprogrammed to attack.

Of course, the mosaic is also here.

Note: I’d be wary of linking an ambush to a “Front” boss detail, knowing that the front boss will most likely spawn into one of those lab “rooms of death.” (This particular lab map has a room of death as its front room). Which means you end up fighting the boss spawn, the other two spawns in the room of death, and then the ambush spawn all at once. And the mobs are Praetorian clockwork – which aren’t exactly pushovers. Thankfully, I had several greens, and enough purples to softcap myself, so I did (barely) pull through without defeat.

I quickly defeat two mosaic villains and rescue several scientists, but Katie’s father (Nathan) is nowhere to be found. At least he may still be alive.

It’s now clear that Katie’s whole family is being targeted by the mosaic. With growing dread, I realize Katie must be next. I race back only to find she’s already gone…

Desperate for a lead, I contact Longbow. Nearly all of their attempts to determine a relationship between the ‘mosaic’ villains comes up empty – but they do find references to a ‘Project Mosaic’ at an Arachnos base in the Isles.

I investigate, and learn Mosaic is actually the code-name for a person – a shapeshifter with telepathic abilities engineered by Arachnos. He escaped some time ago. Unfortunately, the way he was ‘conditioned’ by Arachnos might also lead to a kind of split personality disorder: he might actually come to believe he actually *is* the person he is impersonating.

Great. That means Nathan *is* Mosaic. Some time ago he must have escaped the Rogue Isles and taken the persona of Nathan – which, unfortunately means that the real Nathan has been dead since before I got involved in this. Nathan’s journals indicate he’s started ‘blacking out’ too. When Mosaic first took Nathan’s form, he must have been ‘temporarily’ reprogrammed with Nathan’s personality and memories. But now that’s coming undone – the monster is “waking up” as it were.

The villains I’ve been fighting are just various forms Mosaic is taking. The bad news: he’s got Katie, and I have no idea if she’s even still alive. The good news: Arachnos put a tracking device on him, so at least I should be able to find him…

The device leads me to an abandoned hospital Mosaic has been using as a base of operations. There I find the bodies of all of Mosaic’s many victims – including the villains I’d faced previously. Mosaic was now taking my form, with the interesting side effect that he now thought he was ‘me’ – even spouting lines about how ‘he’d never let me hard Katie.’

Arachnos got in on the fun too – unsure as to who to attack, they picked both of us. Eventually, though, I defeated Mosaic, kept Arachnos from getting him back, and … found Katie.

She’d been dead for months. Nathan wasn’t Mosaic at all (although the writing makes it seem as though Mosaic had spent time as Nathan.) – it had been Katie all along.


I see dead people…

Then it got weirder … apparently Nathan had been there (in Mosaic’s Lair). The authorities had found him after the fact, and surmised he had been alive until just recently, and was probably killed in the crossfire. Mosaic had been keeping him there; for what purpose I couldn’t know. Worse, Mosaic had yet again given everybody the slip. Fortunately, he still had the tracking device on.

Note: Hmm … the way Nathan figures into this actually seems (IMO) somewhat arbitrary and tacked on. At first glace, it almost makes the final mission seem unnecessary (at first, I was under the impression it was just some excuse to extend the arc to five missions and force me to fight mosaic yet again, for no good reason than just to keep the story going). That would have been bad … but I was wrong. The *real* problem (for me) was how the ending of the story was presented.

See, right now the first four missions build a coherent and tight story where (with growing horror) you learn that all of these different villains you’ve been fighting have actually been the same villain, and the man you’ve been trying to rescue, Nathan, has been the bad guy all along. You then find and defeat Mosaic.

Suddenly, you learn Mosaic was actually Katie, and Nathan’s been alive all along. Except he’s not *really* alive cause now he’s suddenly dead. Oh, and Mosaic got away too, so you better go get him. My response: Huh?! That’s kind of jarring. And it’s jarring because it just comes out of nowhere.

My suggestion is that Nathan (and his death) actually needs to factor into mission four more directly (the fact he’d be dead wouldn’t be a surprise at all, given Mosaic’s M.O.), and use it in a way to foreshadow the plot twist – which can be done without really giving the twist away. For example, you could put into the mission an Arachnos spawn where the boss and minions are using that “carry the body bag” emote. (A “defend object” emote might be an alternate way to set it up too) When you defeat the boss, you get a clue mentioning that one of the bodies was that of Nathan, which isn’t surprising at all. Strangely, though, the body only looks recently deceased and appears to have died of a gunshot wound. And leave it at that. Then, in the mission four debrief, you can mention that Nathan appeared to have actually been alive, but was killed when the Arachnos troops mistook him for Mosaic and fired on him. Couple that with a clue you get when you defeat the version of Mosaic who looks like you that makes it clear Mosaic actually got away (apologies – that might have been in the ‘you defeated him’ objective text, but something that critical to the plot often deserves a clue): you look away for a moment, and when you look back, he’s vanished, and there’s only a few spots of blood where his body lay (or something like that).

The story continues…
This time, he didn’t seem interested in running. Instead, he wanted to confront me directly, and turn himself in. I’m guessing when I defeated him in his lair, it allowed Katie’s personality to ‘take over.’ “Katie” was hoping to find a “cure” – I surmised a way to make “Katie’s” personality permanent, or at least retain the “good” personalities he (Mosaic) had absorbed while purging the evil ones. Mosaic would have me believe that he was a villain not because he’d been created that way, but because his escape into the Rogue Isles meant that the first personalities he’d absorbed had been heartless villains.

I was skeptical – and wary of the risk of releasing a potentially deadly shapeshifter back into the city now that I effectively had him cornered. But the truth is Mosaic didn’t have to seek me out and ask for help (he could have just up and disappeared). I’m not a murderer; If Mosaic wasn’t going to fight, then I was going to take him into custody.
And thus ended Mosaic’s story …

Overall, a really well done story arc that really only seemed to develop a rough spot (discussed above) right at the end.

The use of ‘dead bodies’ in the lab (must be nonresponsive allies or something set to the ‘dead’ emote – or something similar) was VERY neat – I haven’t seen anything like that before pulled of in MA.

Score: 5.07 (5 stars)

Today is a very special episode of the Adventures of Pro Payne, as I play (while staying true to the spirit of the arc, I hope)…

A Very Special Episode #457506 by @Wrong Number

During one of my many patrols of the mean streets of Paragon City I duck into an alley hoping to find a crime to twart. Instead I find an abandoned TV. That’s on. And showing me a news cast where it is reported that beloved TV hero Blappy has vanished. The TV tells me I might want to start at Blappy’s studio, and interrogate her rather shady agent. And if I saw it on TV, it must be true, right? So off I go.

Merle (the agent) doesn’t really seem to know what exactly is going on either – Blappy vanished right after doing today’s episode. But the studio’s got bigger problems: it’s overrun by Nemesis “negotiators” wanting to secure a “partnership” between Blappy and His Lordship Percy, son of Nemesis. I put a stop to that, but am no closer to locating Blappy – beyond Percy telling me she left with some of Nemesis’ troops.

Note: Always been just a bit troubled by Percy just being a Fake Nemesis robot (it’d be nice if you could color them, but you can’t). This time around an odd idea popped into my head. What about using the steampuck and other robotic costume parts to actually make what looks like a small “clockwork” child? It does seem oddly fitting that Nemesis would just “make” a son, rather than have one (Of course, for all I know, Percy is just a particularly sophisticated AI in a Fake Nemesis body). To be fair though, the notion of me ‘not being sure its him’ as he’s led out in cuffs because he’s got something thrown over is head is some nice low-key humor.

…of course, beating up on what looks like a small child, even one that looks clearly robotic, might not be the best idea.

Perhaps watching TV will give me another idea. And it does! It shows me Blappy’s sidekick going into a warehouse in the Rogue Isles. I’d better make sure she’s okay…

Oh no! The whole warehouse is crawling with villain minions waiting to be hired on for their next gig. Bright Angel must be in trouble! What’s even more disturbing is the fact that there are Nemesis soldiers here negotiating with members of the Injustice Legion – both side are arguing over who gets to make Blappy an offer!


Oh, Bright Angel. What kind of trouble have you run off and gotten yourself into now? Where’s Blappy? Maybe she can help you…

What’s worse, after I rescue her, Bright Angel angrily informs me that Blappy’s evil and she’s no sidekick! I find the Injustice Legion’s representative, Junkyard Dog, further in; he’s excited at the prospect of making a deal with Blappy. This is looking bad for Blappy.

I follow Bright Angel to another warehouse, hot on Blappy’s trail. She goes in first, but is eager to show me proof of Blappy’s evil ways. Blappy, evil? Nah, that can’t be right. Bright Angel must be mistaken. She just a sidekick, after all.

Note: The use of dialog to make Bright Angel complain about her lot in life as she is injured works really well, and the custom group is very well done.

I find a computer with a bunch of e-mails, and “convince” another Injustice Legion member (Sis Boom Ba) to give up the passwords. There I find out that Blappy’s just sealed a deal to join the Injustice Legion (say it isn’t so Blappy!). It also looks like that dastardly Wrong Number is involved – and even made an offer to somebody else when Blappy seemed hesitant. Fortunately, the e-mail told me where the deals would be made, so off I went.

Soon after I enter I run across Berle (Blappy’s agent) intent on getting his ‘talent’ back. I also find Wrong Number (who appears to have an updated description – I remembered something about her trying to relax in the bath and somebody kept calling her by mistake – or to try to sell her something – until she flipped out and became a villain. But all that seems to be gone), who is keen on waiting for backup to arrive before breaking the news to her secondary offer that Blappy came through, so her services were unnecessary.

Deeper in I find the newly renamed Blight Angel, and quickly defeat her. So THAT’S what’s going on! CLEARLY Bright Angel has been working for evil all along, and has managed to brainwash Blappy into joining the Injustice Legion. No problem! I’m sure I can break the spell over Blappy through the always therapeutic power of savage (fiery) beating.

And sure enough, once Blappy wakes up from her short-lived coma, she’s back to her old, spunky self! I think just to celebrate, I’m going to have the entire children’s ward come by to beg for her autograph!

And, of course, that vile, evil Blight Angel gets hauled off to jail. Probably for life. Isn’t it wonderful when justice prevails?

Note: As always, very solid arc overall. Easy five stars. Although not really reflected in the review, the mission briefings are very entertaining – the TV (albeit heroside) has been represented very well. And, most important, the arc is very entertaining to play through.

Score: 5.33 (5 stars)

Today’s adventure will be the head trip that is…

When The Words Stop #494099 by @Clave_Dark_5

…and I mean that with affection, not malice. Since I’m short on time today, and I’ve got a *far* more detailed review of the arc earlier in this very thread (with screenshots), I’m going to keep to pretty short and omit a screenshot. I will say that if there is any one arc I suspect might score very differently from one play to the next, it’s this one – I remember the first time around having some trouble trying to decide exactly how to score it. So here we go:

It starts with an odd book I find in a Circle of Thorns lair, a book penned by one Emily Yikes. It is an account of her attempt to write a magical tome called “The Book of No Return.” First, she journeys to Cap to dismantle the ‘Haunted Robots’ looking for the eBook of Ghost Writing. I relive the experience through her eyes (although, this time around I find it right next to were I arrived – I actually stayed in the mission to destroy other parts of the haunted machine just for effect). Note: Hmm … the writing itself seems a lot clearer this time around; it actually feels easier to follow the story. I don’t know if its because it’s the second play through, or if the author made some modifications to make things easier to grasp.

Next up was taking the Clay Tablets of Bismuth from the Earth Devouring Earth. Although distorted by having to ‘relive’ this part of the story through Emily’s eyes, I got the distinct impression that I was graverobbing (perhaps for inspiration – or insight into death), saw something upsetting (or revolting) and took some Pepto to settle my stomach. Either way, I (or rather Emily) got whatever she needed from the experience, and was now ready to actually write the Book of No Return.

Emily started writing the book, but as she progressed it was as though the book was writing itself. It was now time for me to go to the library and retrieve the book. (Note: I remember last time that it was here that for me what exactly was going on got murky to the point that it interfered with the story – but let’s see what the library holds).

The Library itself evokes the mental image of the Thorns’ library of souls, but something tells me that’s not really it. It feels more like a “Library of Death” – some sort of otherworldly place where “everybody’s story” is catalogued based on how they died. The task is simple: find the “stack of books” sorted under the way Emily died – her Book of No Return will be there, since the Book *is* her story (she describes it as a book where you have to read the pages in order and once you’ve read a page, you can’t go back – this time around its very clear that’s just a metaphor for life itself).

You do learn a few things about Emily in the process: she was only 24 when she died. Her death was accidental. She’s been exposed to murder, but was not murdered herself. Her soul (or perhaps some part of her consciousness separate from her soul) survived her death – but unlike the “typical” story where the soul goes on to its final reward, Emily’s soul is unable to move on. In fact, I strongly suspect it is tied to her book, and Emily would very much like to return to the world of the living.

I’m still not sure if this part is supposed to be how the Circle of Thorns actually got the book in the first place, or if it is something else.

And now it was time for the final chapter of Emily’s book. Like the memories most people have of their own lives, there is a tendency to forget about (or, more specifically, not want to think about or dwell on) the lowest moments. Emily had done that: the missing pages in the book of her life were the horrific things that had happened to her (or that she’d done herself) – but now they could no longer be hidden.

I found myself in the area where Emily grew up – but the place was crawling with the “deletions” from her book. It was time to face these horrors, and the master of all of them was the “King of All Monsters.”

The King was (I believe) Emily’s grandfather, who’d abused her. When she could take no more, she murdered him – locking him in a barn as she set it on fire. She was arrested and the police took her away.

Emily died shortly after (or did she? Maybe she was in jail for a long time) – but was embittered at how crappy her lot in life had been. In a sense, I suspect her restless soul wanted a “do-over” – a chance to live the life she thought she deserved, versus the one she actually got.

The last question, of course, was how exactly she died. It does make me wonder if the end is the beginning – if she escaped from prison after murdering her grandfather, fled to the Rogue Isles, and was killed there (possibly by Clockwork in Cap). Still, she insisted her death was accidental, so who knows.

In any case, Emily’s story was over.

Note: Still a very memorable and unique arc.

Score: 5.00 (5 stars; I *suspected* the score might end of higher since with a second play through I was having an easier time understanding what was going on, so ‘story’ most likely scored higher.)

Thanks Teeto-K! Kind words are pretty much the only reward you get for doing this kind of thing, so know they are much appreciated.

And now, onward to today’s Pro Payne Adventure, as I continue to play through the candidates for Best Heroic Arc.

The Ouroboros Chronicles: the Tales of Nemesis #522236 by @Neon Rider

Today’s adventure begins when Pro Payne is contacted by Mender Silos. It appears he is in a mood for some “hands on” teaching – in a bid to impress on me the threat Nemesis presents, he wishes to send me back to Brass Monday. I am to help the Freedom Phalanx push back the Nemesis army. It sounds like an interesting assignment, so off I go…

Indeed, I find myself in the midst of the 1930s attack. I battle through a horde of automatons, rescuing members of the (1930s) Freedom Phalanx along the way. Eventually, I come face to face with Nemesis himself – and (evidently) go down in history as the hero who actually brought him to justice. Assuming it really was him.

Note: The descriptions and costumes of the 1930s Phalanx, and the “primitive” automatons in the Nemesis army were really neat, as was the depiction of Nemesis himself. *Not* a fan at all of chained objectives on a large outdoor map. That Nemesis had to “spawn in” after I’d rescued the Phalanx can’t really be avoided, but forcing Statesman to be the last Phalanx member to be rescued (or even just chaining him to Maiden Justice, which might have been what happened) really didn’t add to the story, and just led to more annoying backtracking.

Next, Silos wanted to send me back to the Nemesis Gas Attack after WWII. My task: aid Sister Psyche in recovering the cure. (Note: The mission briefing labeled it as “Part One”, even though this was actually the second mission). I found Sister Psyche fending off Nemesis troops, and then escorted her to the antidote. Nemesis (or rather a double of Nemesis) attempted to stop me on the way out, but I prevailed.


Aww *dang*! Now I have to stare at him and twiddle my fingers while I wait for his ‘You can’t touch this’ bubble to go away.

Note: In Nemesis’ dialog, he refers to Psyche as though she was there. Problem is she wasn’t following me any more. Oddly, he did spawn off in some side room attached to that big main room near the entrance. I suspect that was just bad luck, but you may want to check that he’s set to be a “front” spawn, just in case. Also, I did notice that the “Part Three” briefing subheader wasn’t highlighted (which was different from Parts one and two).

Suspecting that my journeys to the past hasn’t fully convinced me of the threat Nemesis represents, Silos now sent me to my future. He explained that I was to witness a time where Nemesis had unleashed a plot that would cause untold destruction and lead to his victory. Of course, by scouring the ruins for clues, I would learn how Nemesis “won” and would therefore be prepared to stop him when the time came.

I found Atlas Park ruined, and crawling with patrols from Nemesis’ future army. I scoured the map, looking for any survivors. With each I found, I also learned more of what happened to bring about this future: Nemesis had constructed a powerful atomic ‘disintegrator’ that he used to vaporize most of the city’s heroes. Of course, now that I knew what I did, I could stop him when the time came. (Note: Once again, we’ve got chained objectives on a large outdoor map … yech. Even with the XP hit, the “Fake Nemesis ambush” during the fight with Nemesis was pretty amusing.)

And Silos meant for that time to be now. He would now send me into that same future (just not as *far* into that future), at the moment Nemesis perfected his weapon. I was to destroy the elements of the weapon, and take Nemesis down. (Note: Silos’ explanation of what was going on was actually pretty neat.)

While I had already found a note from the letter-writer in a previous mission, the writer saw fit to leave several notes for me in Nemesis “future lab” – he spelled out what I already knew: that Mender Silos was Lord Nemesis. Or at least a future version of him. (Although, to be fair, Pro Payne probably didn’t know that.) I proceeded to destroy Nemesis’ weapon, and then take down the (new and improved) Prussian Prince of Automatons. Upon my return, Silos confirmed he was Nemesis – and the reason he had (in the future) turned away from his evil ways: after discovering time travel, he’d been able to see first hand the kind of destruction his endless plots would invariably lead to.

Note: The arc felt a little rough around the edges, but was very good overall. I would have liked to see more (and more varied) customs fleshing out Nemesis’ future armies, but that’s just a personal preference (and a nitpick). And, as mentioned before, I really think there’s got to be a better way to advance the story than using chained objectives on large outdoor maps. But a solid effort overall.

Score: 3.943 (4 stars)

I’ll post my reviews here as I play through the hero arcs. First up is one I’ve played before, but, hey, it gives me a chance to see if (without looking back before I ‘re-score’ it) I’ll give it a similar score (which at least shows my if my BS scores are at least consistent).

Sadly, I completely forgot to take screen shots this time, so … well, sorry about that.

And now on to…

Best Arc - Heroic or Vigilante

Today’s Pro Payne adventure…

Oh yeah ... SPOILERS AHEAD. Should be a 'well-duh' if you read the previous batch, but just wanted to make that clear.

Legacy of a Rogue #459586 by @Night-Girl
(Technically a replay) It starts with Pro Payne agreeing to mentor the son of a late hero (Rogue Falcon) at the request of the former heroine Condor Girl. His first opportunity to show his new “sidekick” the ropes soon arrives: he needs to wrest some dangerous artifacts from the Circle of Thorns. The sidekick – Harrier – proves a bit impulsive and runs on ahead. I rescue him from some Circle goons, retrieve the artifacts, and come across a looter named the Crimson Cricket whom I’m forced to arrest. Oddly, although hostile to me, she has a genial demeanor and seems rather fond of Harrier. I also learn she’s one of Harriers’ father’s old enemies.

The Circle then stage a raid to try to get the artifacts back. Harrier and I rush to the warehouse MAGI had the artifacts stashed to eject the Circle and save Azuria. The mission is a success, but Azuria warns me that she senses something is amiss: Condor Girl (Gertrude is her actual name) has been conflicted recently, and one of the artifacts I’d been sent to recover (The Indecipherable Tome) wasn’t what I thought it was – it was actually just a listing of other artifacts, *including* the real Indecipherable Tome.

Gertrude suspects Harrier found the Tome and is using it to greatly increase his powers. She thinks Hawkmind, the computer in Rogue Falcon’s old lair, could help confirm weather or not Harrier is under the influence of the Tome, but thinks the Crimson Cricket is the only one with the expertise to get past Falcon’s defenses. The police are unwilling to give her “work release” so I’ll need to break her out of the Zig.

As uneasy as breaking a villain out of the Zig makes me, there are bigger things at stake. The mission is a success, and, affiable as ever, Cricket agrees to turn herself in when this is all over – she seems genuinely worried that Harrier is in trouble and is eager to help. So the next step is to get into Falcon’s lair, and access Hawkmind.

After taking out what had to have been a few million dollars worth of advanced robots, I managed to access Hawkmind (Cricket made a valiant attempt to help, but ambushes on top of abandoned lab ‘rooms of death’ were too much for her … even with a self-rez). Note: The custom group really needs to be toned down. I love the design, but they debuff resistance, defense, have multiple ways of debuffing recharge, and can heal each other. Geez. My general rule of thumb for difficulty is (1) If Rise of the Pheonix isn’t back yet by the time I die again or (2) I can’t clear one death’s worth of debt before the next, then I’m dying to quickly, and the difficulty should probably be toned down.

Using Hawkmind, Gertrude helps me pin down where Harrier has gone – it’s actually a cavern below the tunnels where we found the original artifacts. I fight through waves of Circle of Thorns to get to Cricket, and together we face off against what Harrier has become – the Tome was actually a way for a demon to possess his soul and bring unspeakable evils into the world. By the time I find Harrier, all I can do is save his soul – destroying the demon requires me to kill Harrier’s body in the process. It is with his death that I learn what I’d already started to suspect – Cricket was Harrier’s mother: in spite of their ‘professional’ differences, Cricket and Falcon had been lovers. In fact, she’d tried to go straight and had only returned to her criminal ways when faced the practical (financial) realities of raising Harrier alone.
Note: As with the first time around, great story, and a very well done arc. Some may complain about a hero breaking a villain out of the Zig, but I thought that was as well done as it could be, and didn’t have a problem with it. My only real issue was that mission into Falcon’s lair – those customs really just need to be toned down. They look great, but given the realities of how things spawn in lab maps they just plain need a rebalancing pass.

Score: 5.125 (5 stars) – Lower than my first review (although only by a small margin, but I think I’ve got more stingy with how I grade.) Still, 5 stars is 5 stars.

Alright, here we go:

My votes for Best Arc - Villainous or Rogue

1st place: Interdimensional Headache #459592 by @Nebulhym
2nd place: Arena #456200 by @FredrikSvanberg

It’s pretty clear that my idea for “the Continuing Adventures of Pro Payne” is a flop, but just for old times, why not one final round of Pro Payne while I play through the contenders for this year’s players choice? (And heck, since I’m hoping Players Choice will continue for years to come, perhaps I’ll dust off this thread once per annum whenever Player’s Choice rolls around)

These’ll be mini-reviews – although somewhat longer than what I normally term a ‘mini-review’ (and, again, for old times sake, a few screenies thrown in).

I plan on playing them in the order presented in the voting thread (both category and arc), so it looks like Pro Payne is going to start by pretending to be a villain. So without further ado, it’s time for EVIL Pro Payne…

Best Arc - Villainous or Rogue

Grunty McFisterson's Two Step Guide to Winning Respect #519044 by @Twoflower

So here I am just starting out my villainous career, and ol’ Grunty McFisterson comes up to me and offers to help me make a name for myself. Grunty’s plan: beat the tar out of the leaders of the local gangs of faceless thugs (the Skulls and Hellions, of course). First up is the Hellion leader, St. Elmo’s Fire. I fight through a couple of Hellions, a “bonus” battle with Longbow’s Officer Dusty (who promises I haven’t seen the last of her), and finally to Elmo himself.

Next is Mydnyte Moonchyld – local leader of the Skulls. After all, taking out one gang leader might have been luck. I take out both the Hellion and Skull leaders, and I’m going places (at least according to Grunty).


Your teenage angst makes me just want to beat you down even more.

One badly beaten down goth chick later, and Grunty claims to be done with me. I figure I need just one more big fight to become truly infamous here in Mercy and Port Oakes, so I demand the old man give me one more target to beat down. Grunty fesses up that he wasn’t so much interested in helping my career as to making sure his ingrate kids (Elmo and Moonchyld it turns out) got some sense beat into them. Kind of a way to dissuade them from a life of crime. Me getting famous off the whole thing was a side effect. But since I’m itching for a fight anyway, Grunty’s got one more thing for me to do. Dusty wants to haul me in, and managed to capture Grunty’s kids as bait. I free them and off Dusty and I can add ‘Longbow Hero’ to my list of early-career defeats (again).

So I hightail it to the Longbow base and (as the mission put it) “paint the floors with Longbow blood.” Dusty’s dead, Grunty’s kids have sworn off a life of crime (less competition for me, EVIL Pro Payne), and my name is now spoken in terrified whispers throughout the Isles. Or at least in Mercy. And maybe Port Oaks.

Score: 4.035 (4 stars official, 5 stars in game)

Now we’ll pretend that much time has gone by, and I am now a level 50 supervillain.

Interdimensional Headache #459592 by @Nebulhym

Alright, so some crazy Arachnos doc, who moonlights his own schemes on the side, wants me to investigate some dimension he labels with a bunch of Greek letters (and a few numbers to boot). Alright, fine. Here we go – but only because he promised me “incredible rewards.”

So anyway, crazy Arachnos doc (“Manfred”) has me gate into some weird alien planet where some seriously bad stuff is going down. The populace is being taken over by … something … that is turning them into dangerous savages. I slaughter a few aliens, take a few readings, and hope Manfred is up to the task of telling me what’s going on so I can focus my INCREDIBLE POWER on something more worthwile.

(Note: This is starting out really well … it’s got a really nice creepy feel to it. I’m definitely wanting to see where it goes.)

Manfred tracks down several places where he thinks the assault on the original dimension (the one I just explored) came from. (I just assume they’re other dimensions – so whatever we are dealing with has outposts across multiple dimensions). I gate in to find the place very poorly defended – most of the inhabitants just go about their business and don’t lift a finger to stop my incursion. I defeat some pitiful security, and proceed to download their files on some sort of virus that induces psychotic behavior. Apparently, the first dimension I explored was just a testing ground. Manfred was right. Something this bad *could* be useful to me.

It’s time to teleport into the main production lab and take the virus for myself. There’s a problem, though. Amanda vines and an “assistant” (who turns out to be Manticore in disguise) has already headed in and is threatening the whole plan. Note: The arc overall is great, but this part does seem really contrived…

Since the aliens got a brain scan from Amanda, after defeating their lead scientist (and the elite defense unit he called in)…


Amanda just doesn’t seem very impressed with my display of villainous power.


…I plant a bunch of explosives to blow the lab sky high. Amanda promises to tell the world of my heroic actions (Note: What? The fact that the arc is treating me as a hero is really jarring).

Overall, the arc is really enjoyable, really well done, and does a good job of piquing my interest in a (hinted at) sequel. I did take issue with the “heroic” elements in the last mission (and [b]strongly[b] object to the fact the arc forces you to be ‘redeemed’ as a hero at the end) but it was still a great arc.

Story: 4.91 (5 stars)

Ah good! For the next EVIL adventure, I get to stay level 50.

Arena #456200 by @FredrikSvanberg

Today, it appears that EVIL Pro Payne has been conscripted into the security detail for some gladiatorial games in the Isles. (Note: The setup makes the arc seem “off level” – to be honest, if I’m a level 50 supervillain, I have serious doubts I’d just let myself be forced into this. But with that out in the open, for the rest of the arc I’m quite happy to play along with the premise.) Before the games even start, some idiot kidnaps a bunch of VIPs. Since I’m security, I guess I’d better go rescue them. At least I’ll get to beat people up.

A few dozen savage beatings later, all of the VIPs are rescued, and I’m left feeling like I’ve been exposed to a half dozen inside jokes that I flat out don’t get. But the basic setup is clear: the main combatants are Castle (for the US) and Poshyb (for the Isles).

Next, whomever it was that conscripted me into Arena guard duty seems to want to rig the event so that Castle will win. But he also wants Castle to compromise his principles (i.e. willingly cheat) to do so – perhaps this is all part of a plan to turn Castle into a villain. In any case, while Castle and Poshyb battle it out, I sneak into the Arena to offer Castle some ‘illegal’ help – which he refuses. I need to buy more time, so I defeat both Castle and Poshyb (and make it look like an Arena malfunction) to ensure the match is declared void and a rematch is scheduled.

As Castle and Poshyb head for a meeting to reschedule their match, I am directed to meet with Castle secretly to try to convince him once again to accept “outside aid” to ensure he wins. This time around I learn why: in return for said aid, my ‘handler’ is hoping Castle will help move a very high profile prisoner to a less secure area of the Zig, setting the stage for a potential Arachnos rescue.

This time Castle was more receptive to the offer, and the stage was set to assure his victory in the next match. Before the match began, Arachnos staged an attack on the Zig to give the now-cooperating Castle the pretense to move the prisoner to a less secure part of the Zig (but one that wasn’t under attack). I was directed to go rescue the prisoner. I’d have to fight Castle for show, but then I was to bring him back to the Isles for the match.


Make it look good…

The plan went off without a hitch. Castle was the Rogue Isles’ newest villain, and had been ‘allowed’ to win the arena match and claim the title. He wanted to meet me; he had something to tell me in person. I suspected a trap, but agreed anyway.

Sure enough, Castle was having second thoughts about his decision – his victory in the arena seemed hollow given that he had to cheat to get it. So, in a desperate bid to regain the life he’d given up he needed my (unintentional) help to make it look like his attempt to flee the Isles was being resisted. I thrashed him quite soundly, hoping to just flat-out kill him, but he got away anyway. Only time would tell if his former allies would buy his story about being mind-controlled into defecting.

Note: It started out feeling awfully rough around the edges, but really turned into a pretty good arc – although the end seemed very odd, and the dialog between Castle and Amanda vines seemed to strain belief in places. I almost got the feeling characters were just breaking out into song for no apparent reason – or maybe the dialog was supposed to evoke some sort of epic poem or something. AH! Okay, the souvenir did explain some of the weirdness: the whole arc is kind of an homage to the musical ‘Chess’ (which I’ve never seen and know nothing about).

Score: 4.58 (5 stars)

I think I'm reading too much into the advice here, but I wanted to make sure.

It *sounds* like people are saying that you can:

1. Reach level 5 and turn off XP (to make sure you stay level 5).
2. Go to KR.
3. Do 3 missions + safeguard
4. After the safeguard, get to pick a new contact.
5. Because you are still level 5, you'll have the option to pick the *original* Atlas Park contacts, and do their missions.

Is that right, or am I just misreading?

Alternately, you could just mention that if you click on 'Options' on your map, and make sure that its set to show you Signature Story Arc Contacts that they'll all have icons on the map - makes them extremely easy to find.

Of course, now it's kind of a moot point, since you can start any sig arc from the "access sig arcs" contact in your contact list, regardless of where you are.

Gratz! I remember playing this one ages ago when I was doing my 1-50th level thing in AE.

Best Villainous Arc

Grunty McFisterson's Two Step Guide to Winning Respect (#519044) by @Twoflower

Why? Okay, really, I do think 'best lowbie' is a slightly better fit, but it is a villain arc, and there is nothing nominated there right now. For what it's worth, if Bubbawheat would prefer to put it under lowbie (and that *is* what Twoflower originally suggested as the category) I'm fine with that. In any case, it was a fun, cute, well-written villain arc. A 'nice spot of violence, if you will.'

Okay, some nominations:

Best Heroic Arc
When The Words Stop (#494099) by @Clave_Dark_5

Why? Of all the arcs I've played this past year (and it hasn't been very many), this one may not have been my absolute favorite, but it certainly stood out in my head as a very unique arc.

Best Villainous Arc
Nothing yet. Can you believe I haven't actually played a single qualifying villain arc this year? (I've played villain arcs, but all of them were published before the cutoff)

Best Lowbie Arc
Another one where I haven't actually played something (well, other than my own arc) that would qualify. Hopefully I'll have some time to play a few tomorrow to make nominations for this and the previous category.

Best Comedy
Whack a Mole: Lambda Sector (#508837) by @Bubbawheat

Why? I've played three arcs this year where comedic moments made me smile, but this is the only one of the three where I was laughing out loud at times. Plus, I really enjoy the incarnate trials, I've run Lambda more times than I care to count, and this arc is a very good satire of that trial.


Now an "honorable mention":

If Best Customs hadn't been eliminated, I'd have been nominating A Very Special Episode #457506 by @Wrong_Number for it - the custom groups and characters really *are* pretty clever, and I certainly like the arc. So consider it a nomination if @Bubbawheat brings the category back - or if not, perhaps someone else would like to nominate it for Best Heroic, since I only get one nomination. *Wink wink*

Okay, for my second October arc, I picked "Crime is Art and Art is Crime" (ID#517859), by @Twoflower.

For me, the bottom line is that it was a good, well-done, entertaining arc. While it didn't "grab me and wow me," that's certainly not a bad thing and I still thought it was certainly very good work and definitely worth checking out. I wouldn't hesitate to give it 4 stars as an 'official' rating (and, as typical for me, gave it 5 stars in game).

The pacing of the story, and the game play of the missions was all great, and, with the exceptions noted below, the writing is good. Of course, the actual idea for the story/plot was (IMO) really neat, and very well done. So now to the nitpicks:

(And let me be very clear that none of these are deal breakers - they're just stuff that my brain 'keyed' onto as areas I'd improve if it was my own arc and I was doing a test play through of it)

For me, one of the most notable 'nitpicks' was the fact that the writing was slightly awkward in many places. It wasn't really grammatically incorrect, and there weren't spelling or punctuation errors (except for a few places where a comma was used but wasn't needed, or a semicolon was used when a period would have been better). It didn't detract from my enjoyment: it was *just* on the threshold of notice (i.e. I'd read something, think 'I probably would have worded that a little differently' and then move on). It's one of those things where I'd just go through all of my dialog and clues with a critical eye toward 'Is there a better, slightly clearer way to say this'; I'm certainly not saying that hasn't already been done, just IMO it could use one more pass.

Humor's a very subjective thing, and most of the humor in the first two missions didn't really resonate with me. That's not a bad thing: just 'cause I didn't find it funny, doesn't mean somebody with different taste wouldn't either, after all. I did find the "president" dialog in the last mission to be an exception - I was definitely amused there (and as sure as I say that, someone else will likely say they liked the humor in the first part, but didn't really like the "president" dialog humor). Heck, to be honest, I really liked the whole concept behind that last mission: there was something about fighting Dali's 'prototype' statues (of evil presidents) that really clicked with me. Now if only evil Abe was wielding an ax (obscure Futurama reference...)

The custom group's 'stock' mobs all seemed to award 75% XP. Are they all set to Standard/Standard? If so, I would recommend resetting to 'custom,' selecting all the powers that would normally be selected under 'Standard' and see if they don't end up worth more XP (they usually are).

Why the heck did Roosevelt resurrect? (I don't have a problem with mobs that resurrect, mind you, I was just curious if that was supposed to be a satirical reference to something...)

Anyway, as I said before, nitpicking aside, it was certainly an entertaining arc, and worth the time to play. Well done!