Dalghryn

Mychyl, thank you very much for the kind review. I immediately changed Prince Nigel's clue text from "ball" to "burden." Otherwise, some of your wording brings up a problem I've had since day one. What should I have the NPCs do? Originally, they followed aggressively, and I got slammed because they did, in fact, kill steal. So I backed most of them completely down so that didn't follow at all, but had other things to do, at which time the cries of "it's too hard without help" came flying. So, my compromise was in making them follow on devensive, so they wouldn't be quite the kill stealers while still being around to help.

Unfortunately, the AI is still pretty lousy, leaving the NPCs actions dependant upon whether or not the Rikti choose to attack the NPCs or not. It sounds as if they pretty much left Billy alone, so he just stood around until he threw the shuriken. As for Cap... well, he's programmed to follow on defensive. Why he hung back, I have no clue.

I have PoliceWoman to thank for suggesting the burned out tech map, and I'm with you, I wish we could customize them better. Unfortunately, I don't see a better solution than what I used.

Anyway, it sounds as if it played out well for you, which was the plan. I look forward to reading what you think about "Casualties..." Thanks again!

Glazius, I recently upgraded the entries in CoH Mission Review to account for changes in my arcs. They've both changed quite a bit since you ran them and, since yours were one of the original reviews that helped inspire some of the changes, I'd be pleased if you could find time for re-reviews. If not, I understand, but I figured they could pass the time, anyway.

Info's in the sig. Thanks.

Heck, you're turning out more reviews than everyone else put together. Can't speak for everyone else, but *I* forgive you.

Okay, after finishing up a few houskeeping changes... re-highlighting the titles and subtitles in yellow, cleaning up the text a bit here and there and so forth, I'm putting my arcs in holding patterns pending a couple things.

1) I have pending reviews on both arcs from LaserJesus and Mychyl, and on "Casualties..." from PoliceWoman. LJ is the one that got me started with some great suggestions, so I'm anxiously waiting to see what new advice he may have. Mychyl's new to the reviewing game, but he provides a fresh set of eyes with thorough, well-spoken reviews. PW always has a wonderful perspective that leaves you feeling good regardless of the rating. Sometimes it's just good to stop and let someone else have a look, you know.

2) I'm not holding out hope for huge changes to the MA in I17, but even doubling the memory (like we know is planned) will allow me to add some things and tweak some text so that it's a little more solid. I'm quite certain I won't be using all the new memory, but it will be nice to make some changes that memory kept me from making before.

If you've reviewed it before and have time to take another look, I'd appreciate all the eyes I can get. Both arcs have undergone significant changes since all the reviews listed. I'd love to know if they made a difference to those people that thought they still needed work, and if they improved the story even more for people who 5-starred them from the start.

Thanks...

OK, PW, I'll bite... do you sleep?

I'd be honored if you checked out my two arcs, "Consequences of War," and "Casualties of War." They've recently been updated at cohmissionreview.com and the numbers are in my signature. Thanks a bunch!

MCM, do you think you can re-review my arcs? Just a quick run-through with maybe a 5000 - 10,000 word narrative... each, suitable for re-publishing (so make sure to go over it several time before you post it, please). About ten screenies per arc (2 per mission) should suffice. Take your time. Heck, I don't need it until Wednesday. Thanks a bunch.

~Dalghryn~
<Pretending it's already April 1st, since it was just too sweet an opportunity to pass up.>

For anyone that hasn't played my two arcs, suffice it to say that they're both wall-to-wall Rikti for nine of the ten missions. It gets even crazier if the player ups the difficulty. That said, I had one person comment,

"needs more Rikti"

Huh?

Congratulations!

I think I mentioned it in another of your threads... Talos Vice, if I recall correctly, but I'd like to subject you to a re-review of Consequences of War - Part 2, now titled "Casualties of War." With "Two Tickets to Waverly" under my belt, I've now played each of your arcs at least once (Flower Knight and Teen Phalanx twice), so I don't feel guilty.

Besides, I think the Consequences I re-review was the last one you did before you instituted your public points system, so this way I'll at least have one of them done that way.

Do you do re-re-reviews? <ducks and darts away>

MCM, I'd like to submit...

Wait... I was joking! Don't hit me!!

Seriously, welcome back to the reviewing business and the boards, bud. If I had a new arc, I'd throw it at you just to see if you could track me down, but you're safe for now.

I feel kinda like I have egg on my face after a PM I sent to PW... Played this through last night. Five starred it (which it deserved), and commented about how it was "cookie-cutter CoH material." In its favor, it did make me want to help the kids out, which is what pushed it out of 4 star into 5 star range for me.

If I'd have been paying attention to the boards, I'd have congratulated her then.

D'oh...

Okay, then someone else can change theirs. I barely have time to play right now, so I haven't played any other short arcs that are nomination-worthy. I was lucky to play MCM's, and fortunate that I found it good enough to nominate... um... not because MCM hasn't made other nomination-worthy arcs, just that...

Heck with it. My nomination stands at least until I find time to play another short arc.

Add me to the Storming Citadel nomination list.

LJ was my first review for "Consequences of War" way back when. I was lucky and got a "3," as opposed to MCM's unfortunate "1," but regardless, his input was instrumental in my making several very important changes that put my arcs on the road to... wherever it is they are.

While I'll probably revert to the same nervous wreck I was during the frenzy of reviews I went through back then, I'll be very pleased when he gets the chance for a re-review of "Consequences..." and his first review of "Casualties..." Like PoliceWoman and a few others, despite the ocassional harsh note, he's always good for a solid crit.

Not having read most of the replies already, here are my thoughts...

Regarding the questions you ask in the original post:

I found the final fight a little too easy, however, I didn't have my difficulty set above normal. The "Is it too easy or not" question really depends on what the individual player is looking for. It's easy enough to change the character's difficulty rating if you want it to be harder so, personally, I don't sweat that question. With my level 16 claws scrapper set on normal, though, with Croquette's help, I chewed up the bad guys very easily.

I definitely don't see an infringement issue. It's an homage and it's easily within parameters.

The writing style is different, but enjoyably unique. Again, it's probably going to depend on the individual player with this arc, more than others, as to whether or not he/she liked it. I wasn't a fan of "Miami Vice," but this was kind of interesting.

You did push me a little close to my comfort level regarding putting words in my character's mouth and actions in my character's... um... body? Fortunately, all the words and actions worked for that character. If I was a stickler, however, other characters may have been a bigger issue. If a player's willing to roll with such things then I doubt it'll be a huge problem.

Regarding other observations:

The dancers were cute (though I was disappointed that their bikinis were *far* bigger than postage stamps). I think you could probably increase the "strip joint factor" by adding more of them, though--maybe another rescue set with multiples and little or no dialogue. I've never seen a strip joint with just two dancers... um... that is, if I'd ever seen a strip joint.

So, anyway... Have you considered using the old PDP map instead of the warehouse map you're using? More of a club atmosphere.

I thought the end was a little abrupt. While I understand the trend toward trying to make shorter arcs, I think you're selling yourself short on this one. You're skilled enough to add at least one more mission that could actually have the player-character deal with Wexler's shooting, even if it's set up as a failure. It just seems to me that that would be a prime mission, and you could make it really engaging--but that's just my thought.

Otherwise, it was surprisingly enjoyable (since I don't typically enjoy crime genre arcs). I gave it a 5 rating in-game so as not to damage the 5 star rating it has. Here, I'll give it a 4. I just think you have the skill to do a little better. Hope you think that's fair.

Now... If you could consider adding a re-review of "Casualties of War" (Formerly "Consequences of War II"), I could really use your eyes on all the changes I've made. Yeah, feel free to groan. I can hear it now... "Oh. My. Gawd. Will he NEVER leave me alone about those danged arcs?!"

Yeah, I ran into that problem, too. It's frustrating because it keeps you from being able to personalize the escortees. What's more frustrating is that these bugs aren't even consistent. Sometimes the bug bites and sometimes it doesn't. At least if you knew a bug was going to be there you could plan against it. This "hit and miss" bugginess makes it even worse.

I hesitate to get my hopes up for I17, but I guess we'll see.

I'm very familiar with how to write text regarding single and multiple rescues (allies, foes, etc.) You can create multiple separate entities and as long as the plural text is identical, they'll show as "4 Citizens to Rescue," "3 Citizens to Rescue," etc. and then the single text will take over with the last one. That wasn't working properly when I wrote the original post, but, as I said, it seems to have self-corrected.

As far as the problem with map placement, yeah, it's another can of worms. I just experiment with various placements, keeping the map parameters in mind, until I get something close to what I'm striving for. If I can't, and it's a problem, I punt and re-think the plan.

Hopefully I17 will fix that bug, but I'm not holding my breath.

Okay, that's just flippin' weird... I just logged in and did a test run. Not only is the compass text showing up the way it should, but the mission entry clue I posted that explained what the problem was so everyone would still know to look for the rescues is now gone.

I guess the most logical theory is that one of my changes fixed the problem, and the mission entry clue was erased by another update the way it sometimes does. Otherwise, there is a good fairy flittering around fixing glaring arc problems.

I'm at a loss, but I won't complain.

I know this might fit in the other AE forum a little better, but I'm a lot more familiar with the folks that frequent this forum, so...

I'm using the Mother Mayhem map in one of my arcs, but I'm having a problem. I have two mandatory civilian rescues in the mission and neither will show up in the compass text. They're single rescues and I've filled in the single compass text fields, yet they still won't show. Does anyone know if there's a known bug with that map, or is there something I might be missing.

I really need a hospital map, and that's about the only thing that's available. besides, since it's a war setting, that map works very well. Any help or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

I got dobbed the other day for "scavenger." When I checked the actual text, it was the word "avenger" that they highlighted, completely ignoring the "s." The program they've instituted is simply ludicrous.