DeviousMe

Missions? Yes. Arcs? Probably not. I know mine is soloable by a lvl 10 emp/elec up to the final boss in the last mission (I tested this myself, yes), but as a support AT, you'll need a team for that last hurdle - so if you're looking for entire arcs, you're probably out of luck.

How many do? No idea, but I know I do.

Sarah couldn't help but gulp. She knew the Kheldian didn't mean them with any harm, but those words scared her. Though she chose not to say so, she wished that was one worry that wouldn't come true.

...aside from the humans?" she replied thoughtfully, honestly attempting to recall another reason for the law, "No. At least...I don't think there is. We've got a big volcano, but that's about-"

Sean's sudden outcry cut her sentence short, prompting the dragon to swiftly return to the group - and with a quick glance to Pax, a wordless 'come on', she did just that...

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"Hey, hey, no need for cry." the Tsaiv woman wrapped her armored arms around the boy, who even in his present state may have noticed that Zuzana's left arm made contact discernibly different than her right; as if one arm had less tactile sensation than the other.

As the Tornado returned, she distanced herself a little again, arms outstretched with hands on the boy's shoulders, "You have people now. They will help. You will find again your family."

With that, she turned to Sarah, "Ready to go?"

When the dragon didn't answer right away, instead looking to the boy with concern, the Nadpráporèík stood again and gave her a fairly stern look, asking again, "Miss Jovi, are you ready to go?"

This time, the Tornado snapped out of it, confirming with a nod and reaching down for the large blue bag. Instead of picking it back up, however, she unzipped the main compartment and brought to light something that could've only been described as some kind of large-bore sci-fi bazooka.

Rimmed in white composite plating that sometimes exposed black wires and circuitry in gaps here and there, the business end not only sported a trio of what looked to be scythe blades, curved in toward the line of sight. Just before that sat a grated rotator, though at present its slits moved not. Still, the thing had bulk, and looked decidedly heavy, yet Sarah didn't even seem to notice.

"Your ship first, right?" she queried curtly of the Esertosian, adjusting a few settings on her side of the monstrosity with one hand while supporting the thing itself with her other's lower arm. She received a confirming nod in return, then looked about for a clear spot, "Okay, ready..."

Different tastes, different verdics. Personally, I feel that there's no reason the bad guy shouldn't be able to win here. It works with the premise of the story and provides a defined ending to the plot. Whether it's a conclusive one or not will always be up for interpretation by the player playing the arc.

Unfortunately for Gunmetal, eavesdropping on this pair's conversation proved somewhat fruitless. Apart from that it concerned a big job in which a not insubstantial of money was involved, the discussion didn't have a lot of meat on it. Well, that and that Agent Akeem would be looking for more crew. Thus just asking about it would likely produce better results. Of course, it was far from the only option.

"A moment." the Osh'kan rasped to his counterpart across the table, then stood and headed for the far end of the bar with unhurried, deliberate step - the step of a villain who knew exactly what he wanted and exactly how to get it.

And so the infamous Scorpion Mercenary approached Cryokinetic.

"How small a fee?" his ventilator gave a click, the alien getting right to the point, not bothering to remark on anything, least of all his inhuman aura, "And can you turn it up? If so, how many tons of water would you say you could freeze...?"

Hmmm...the mutated (and ill-tempered) sea bass in Austin Powers II didn't really have a high-flying, adrenaline-pumping, death-defying fight over them...and Pirates of the Caribbean III didn't have mutant sea bass...

Dang, that's a tough one. I'm going to guess Pirates, though.

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I wasn't. I was expressing a very similar opinion and demonstrating how it could be bad, from the perspective of a writer. As a writer, don't ever make it the audience's fault that something you did didn't work.

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Oh, I see. My mistake. In that case, as a writer, don't ever assume that context has no effect on your presentation.

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Imagination doesn't have to make sense, for example.

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Exactly.

Approaching the locale of the bar, Gunmetal may have well spotted a pair of patrons in one of the booths of the shady, Oriental-styled place. Odd how career criminals seemed more attracted to eateries with Asian settings. Perhaps it was the lack of bright light, replaced by dull tones of red and soft yellow. Perhaps it was the rumor that those who earned the Chef's disapproval might be redeemed via 'contribution' to a special recipe. Whatever the cause, it seemed to work well enough for the place to remain respected, intact, useful, and profitable.

"I dunno..." said one of the patrons in the semi-circular booth, giving the two plenty of space at opposite sides of the table - and judging from the uncertain visage of the rather average-looking man (he could've been best described as a standard 'mercenary medic' sans helmet), he duly appreciated said space.

"All you have to do is fly." rasped/hissed back the other man - if that creature could even have been called a man. Sure, the tone sounded male, but the similarities to a human ended with the presence of two arms, two legs, and one head.

He was either a drastic mutation or just altogether alien, his frame of just over 1.8 meters encased in some manner of dull-red, chitinous-looking exo-armor that wrapped fully about his body, including plantigrade feet as a pair of boots and five-fingered hands in the form of dexterous, tough-looking gloves. Still, his head was the most esoteric part, a long, bronze cranium that could've had as much to do with a reptilian as an insectoid.

Sporting a ventilator that added black to the hue of its owner's armor, the visage peeked out halfway from under the dirt-brown hood of a wide, cape-like cloak, ruby-red compound eyes duly visible to any observer keen enough. This was a villain that few would are tangle with, a mercenary from another star whose sole goal in life was the acquisition of money. This was the Scorpion Mercenary Ilar-Ilan Akeem.

At this point, however, this reputation seemed to have a significant downside, for the man whose services Agent Akeem presently desired wasn't so sure he wanted to work for someone like that. Sure, he was a 'villain', a member of the Scarlet Society even, but he didn't really do the heavy stuff. He just flew a helicopter. Granted, it was a rather evil machine, designed to facilitate transportation for criminals in and out of hot zones in a world of superheroes...but still. This guy gave him the creeps.

For a moment, he wished he'd never seen the posting for that job up for grabs. Still, it did promise to be highly lucrative, even though it warned that there might well be a significant amount of danger involved...

Ohnoez! Ron for your livez, zey are French!

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Frankly, I'm of the opinion that if you can imagine it, there's a way to do it, and that's served me pretty well so far. Sadly, a great many people these days have awfully stifled imaginations.

[/ QUOTE ]Bad attitude to have as a writer. "Oh, my readers are too stupid."

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I never said that. Please don't put words in my mouth.

I didn't even say 'my readers' have stifled imaginations. I said that most people do - which they do. I've lost count of just how many times I've been told at work that something is impossible only for my teammates and I to find a really simple way of doing it a few days later. Impossible my tail. If you can imagine it, there's a way to do it.

Hmm...looks like I really do need to put some more clues in the first mission. Apparently, Rollister just isn't enough of a blabbermouth. If you recall his dialogue as saying "something about…a world being destroyed…or they need the Dragon to help with something" instead of that the Circle will be destroyed unless they can stop the Dark Dragon, I guess I have to admit that it's too subtle a hint.

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It would appear he used the Malta to take out the Circle of Thorns and he used me to take out…Malta?

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Interesting that you figured this out by mission 3. Most people don't until 4. I think I might have to bury that a little deeper.

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who say they have been tricked (Why were they in the base?)

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Wait, Malta saying they've been tricked? That's...odd. I put that in mission 5, not 4. I'll have a look at this, thanks. As for why they're there: they're the ones attacking the base. Regarding Arachnos, your contact explained their involvement in mission 4's debriefing: Scirocco and his Mu Mystics are evil mages comparable to the CoT, and the Dark Dragon's objective was to remove and/or disincentivize the main groups of evil mages who could summon him again.

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How does the Dark Dragon even know about Scirocco?

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Um...he reads the paper? I dunno. Scirocco is an infamous archvillain known to most people in the game, so I didn't feel that warranted explanation. You think it's necessary?

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Arachnos was planning a sneak attack…on what?

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Okay, here I have to say "Paragon City - duh". Seriously, it's the only place they ever attack, so where else would it be? I even wrote 'on Paragon' into the clues twice.

Still, thanks for your feedback.

Gah!

*bolts up girder into thin air for protection*

Oh, so that's the way you want to play, is it?

*calls in MB Bomb*

MB Bomb: ?????????????????????????????????????????????????? ????????????????????????????

*calls in Mail Strike*

*one of the letters does not explode, instead saying:*

So, where are your posts for Castle and Messerscharf? Or have you just completely lost interest in both of those?

*pokes head in*

An 'I kill you, you kill me' thread? Wow, it's sure been a long time since I've seen one of these.

*starts roasting sausage over deadly radiation(TM)*

*sausage mutates from deadly radiation(TM) and eats stick*

Oh my.

Vyachslav: Must...kill...Lincoln...

Oh my!

Frankly, I'm of the opinion that if you can imagine it, there's a way to do it, and that's served me pretty well so far. Sadly, a great many people these days have awfully stifled imaginations.

Oh, and while we're at ridiculous enemy groups - doesn't it dawn on people that most of the established villain groups in Paragon City have a good element of 'WTH' to them? IMO, the top of the list there are still Carnies. And yeah, just look at Olantern's list.

Realistically speaking, most of this game's enemies just give me the notion of 'that's just weird' when they just show up out of nowhere in new missions as the player progresses through the game - something I even made fun of in a MA arc of mine by hanging a lampshade on some space pirates.

Does the often-silly nature of the game's enemies mean I don't have fun fighting them? Absolutely not. They're silly, they're fun, and for a game set in a comic book universe, I wouldn't have them any other way.

Guys, Venture's got his opinions, you've got yours. Just leave 'em to him. It's his $15 a month, remember?

The first (defeat Recluse to free Statesman) is currently not possible, but you can come close to it by grabbing a map with a really small room that has 2 spawn points (1 for a boss, 1 for a hostage) and placing Recluse on one, States on the other.

Or (if it's possible to trigger hostage objectives off defeated bosses; never tried, so not sure you can) do the same, but set the Statesman hostage to spawn upon the defeat of Recluse and minions and set the spawn to 'single'. Then you just have to find an explanation as to why States was invisible until you beat Recluse.

As to having one boss and multiple lts. and minions, here you need to put the boss in one group, the lts. and minions in another, then use the 'fight a boss' objective to spawn the boss once and only once.

On live, you can't. You have to put a standard critter with the desired level range somewhere in the mission - even if it's just an ambush triggered from a glowie that no one will ever find.

On test, which means this will be live once I15 hits, just set the level range under 'mission parameters'.

Dee-lays, dee-lays.

The Esertosian couldn't help but smirk at this, countering with a playfully sarcastic, "I look funny? How you think you look to me? How are you even hearing what I say with these tiny ears?"

She stepped beside him and crouched down, picking up the wrapper, "Things like this should now be thrown away in forest. Remember: treat where you live with respect and you will be returned respect. My name is Zuzana..."

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"...the first and highest law we have is that no one leaves the island." Sarah began to explain, visibly uncomfortable with the subject, but feeling that Pax deserved a reason for her elusive behavior, "And it really means no one. So if somehow, somewhere, anytime word got back to the island that I left...well..."

It took her a while to force the words out, "I'd get executed. That's all there is to it. Even Babe and Drake couldn't help then. And you know, I kind of like being alive, so I really can't take any chance of someone I've run into ever finding the island. Can you understand that...?"

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I can't recall the details, but I once logged in and had two feedbacks for the same mish, one praising part X of it, the other telling me part X really needed to get redone or dropped.

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This seems to be a fairly common thing. I've had the same comments on all 3 of my arcs, but especially "Hunting the Dark Dragon". Some people love a thing, others hate it. Like I've said previously, there's just no way to please everyone.

"I hope so." Teivos remarked casually at first, though his tone became a good bit more serious thereafter, "I would hate to have this come back and bite us. Last time I held off on an attack on humans, about a billion people were killed."

He gave a nod to Wolfgang while he added, "I regret not being able to make any 'if that happens' threat here since if I'm wrong, it will happen regardless, but I'm going to listen to Griffn. Now quit standing around and come..."

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Wolf3r: She is with them. Move in.
E. Korovinova: Affirmative.

The characteristic stereo clack of heavy feet making contact with the roof sounded from behind Valerie. The source was a certain Tsaiv woman, clad of metal, glowing-blue eyes apparently fixed upon her target as Sydonia advanced. She wasn't armed with anything more than what she carried on her belt, the only article of actual clothing on her silver-gray body.

"Hello." she told Valerie neutrally, "Please to come with me..."

I have to say, sketches of in-game stuff do sound cool. I think NPCs would fit in there nicely too, especially the more iconic ones: a Malta Gunslinger, a Rikti, and definitely a Freakshow Tank. Heck, maybe even merge the latter two into t3h R1k70-Fr34k.

Sarah almost twitched at the sound of Slagg's voice. She hadn't thought he'd followed them, and much regretted it being so. That man scared her.

Babe...

The word truly made her wish he was here right now. Babe would've folded that guy up like an accordion if he tried anything. Well, Zuzana might've been able to as well...but still, having Babe around would've made her feel a lot safer right now.

"Well, actually..." she answered Pax, not entirely sure how to put this, especially with the boy now following them, "Um...I have to go. Home, I mean. Back to the island. Even if it's just to check. I'm probably not making any sense, am I?"

"Not really, no." Zuzana remarked with casual indifference, "Which is likely good thing."

The Tornado stopped at this, the insinuation the she couldn't trust the Kheldian getting a pout in response. She turned to Pax, telling the Tsaiv, "No, it's not. Keep the others away a moment, okay?"

"Wait, what?" the Esertosian looked self-consciously to the human child and back as Sarah took Pax aside into the forest, "Ohhh no no no no no, I can't-! Miss Jovi! Where do you-?!"

But they were already gone, leaving a baffled Zuzana with the boy. She looked down at him out of the corners of her eyes, unsure of what to do next in a typical stick-the-soldier-to-the-kid situation. In this case, the addition of 'kid' taking all precedence over 'human' now made itself known as well.

"Ssssooouuuuhhh..." the Tsaiv murmured, licking lips that had suddenly become quite dry, "...what is your name?"

She would still make sure people didn't barge in on Pax and Sarah though - well, at least the ones she could stop.

"I'm sorry about keeping you in the dark so much." the Tornado began once she believed the others out of earshot, "I know you don't like the whole mysterious island thing, but I really do have to keep as much of it secret as I can. See, I...well, you remember how Johnny's a thief? I'm a lot worse..."

"Like Vlasta said: very different standards." Wolfgang replied to Isabel, getting back up out of the chair, "If we got upset over such things, we'd have to be going crazy at all the destructive stuff from your world...especially since it's not under your control."

Teivos chuckled at this, "Very. The scout team arrived just in time to witness some blue spy-looking-people disappear with a gate from your Portal Corporation. Such being, no offense, but your world's 'careful dimensional travel technology guarding' that you mentioned? Don't see it. And yes. Your internet is a fantastic tool for gathering intelligence."

"As to existence of conflict," he added with a smirk, "short of mind control, killing them is the only real way to be rid of terrorists. Is it ideal? No. But it works. If you discover a better way, however, feel free to call. Assuming your world's terror movements don't destroy it first. This Recluse man is sure trying. Personally, I feel not granting liberty to do things like him is a good idea."

"Me too." Griffin finally spoke up, though he still appeared uncomfortable in Zeo's presence, looking from side to side nervously, "That guy gives me the creeps."

"Different standards, my friend." Vlasta put a hand on his shoulder, "Different standards - and I sincerely hope your disregard of der Reichsmann will not come back to bite you. Now then, I should say it's time for you two to be going. Come along, we placed the portal in the Myjava."

He turned back toward the doors, motioning for them to follow.

"Oh, wait." he raised a hand, turning to the soldier to his left, "One more thing. Video of tier 5 please, spectral filter."

The armored man gave a nod and handed the Tsaigon a touchpad, which Vlasta in turn casually extended to the heroes in an offer to have a look at it, "This one is sitting on a rooftop with a rifle. Has not done much, so we are not sure: one of yours? Should we pick her up?"

The transmission now linked to the pad of course showed Valerie, which may or may not have been apparent to Zeo and Isabel due to it being a false-color image, which in turn resulted from her cloaking device. The camera could still get past it, but not without applying another part of the electromagnetic spectrum, resulting in the color shift...

The Tsaiv didn't answer. Sentient beings - pah! Humans were dregs, barely qualified to be called sentient. The boy was evidence enough. More than likely, some other humans had done something to him, or his mother, or whatever, but she was sure humans were the cause. They always were. Always bickering, always fighting, always warring...ugh, why was she even still here?!

"There," the dragon meanwhile smiled good-naturedly, the boy wolfing down the chocolate, "that's better, isn't it?"

She slipped off her denim jacket in the process, intending to wrap it around the ragged boy - and probably getting a stare or two form Adam and Laz for her trouble; her sleeveless black crop top didn't leave all that much to the imagination - but then Mirravin arrived on the scene and preempted her offer. As the fox-tailed woman took over the situation, the Tornado wrapped the jacket into a roll with cheerless eyes, feeling usurped by the other woman.

Zuzana used this as an opportunity to step beside the crouching dragon, performing a tap on her shoulder to get her attention, followed by a characteristic see-they-don't-need-you look. Sarah gave abut a sigh and a nod in response, feeling pretty much that. She rose again and picked up her bag.

She did take note of the look from Pax, and indeed returned it, but with one that didn't look at all happy. It was easy to tell something was bothering her, but she didn't say anything about it, and likely wouldn't unless asked or otherwise confronted.

At a motion from Zuzana, the Tornado set herself into step once more, and the two began to head out again...