DeviousMe

1500 per missions seems just fine to me. With a 5-mission arc, that can go to 7500 titckets, which I think is enough for 2 TF/Trial pool rolls.

I will miss the chiken tug animation, though. I wonder why they keep removing stuff and never saying why?

Whoops, completely forgot to update this thing. Thanks for the feedback, everyone. Some of the changes suggested have made some very generous improvements when implemented. Sadly, there are other things I can't do much about until we get more tools to play with.

Like Arek...ideally, he'd have taunt and keep drawing the player off the purposefully weaker main boss, whose concept is less of a direct fighter and more behind-the-scenes operator. Sadly, at this point the closest I can come to this is have him be a big threat who'll keep interfering with you unless you take him out.

As for Serpent Drummer, his rescue (and that it can fail, illustrating the idea that war is hell) is the whole point of that mission. If he were just an ally, it wouldn't come across nearly the same. Also, failing that mission gives no penalty whatsoever (well, except not getting the tickets for beating Dra'Gon ). All it does is give you different return dialogue.

Finally, a clarification: the Lineage of War is basically the Rikti military. It's the same idea if a rogue General were to take over the US Army. Most any officer opposing this General would do so with the mindset that the rogue was no longer serving the Army, but that he or she is by working to stop the takeover.

"Another dimension?" the Nadpráporèík queried with a puzzled expression, the blue glow dimming from her eye until it had disappeared, both oculae now meshing with one another. She threw the remains of the hood back, the garb now useless at concealment anyway. Well, at least they weren't in the town anymore, which meant aside from these people, no one was around to do any freaking out - which they didn't seem to be doing, to the Tsaiv's great relief.

She gave her head a slight shake, "Negative. I am 4-dimensional being in nature. Esertosian. And you, don't even think about it. Having a mating with a human? That is disgusting...!"

[ QUOTE ]
Projectionist should do Canadian Shield so I can be lazy!

[/ QUOTE ]
Hey, you already said you were doing that. No weaseling out.

And no, I don't have a patriotic-themed character (at least not for any nation on this planet), so c'mon somebody, there needs to be a good ol' true blue dropped into here.

Sure, I'll play along. Made some modifications to my arcs recently, and I'd like to know how they panned out. I've got "the Revenge of Hro'Dtohz" (1356, lvl 45-50, suggested minimum: 40) and "Hunting the Dark Dragon" (2922, lvl 40-50, suggested minimum: 35), details for which can be found in the feedback thread here.

For soloability, I recommend the first, though a team will get the more rarely-seen spawns more often (and thus bigger rewards). The second is technically soloable too, since it can end two ways, but if you want the second ending, you'll probably need a team to defeat the 'final boss'.

So...is this a box expansion like CoV was, or another Issue (as in normal expansion) that comes along in the game updates?

Oh...my...my...you know, if I head a heart, it'd be having an attack right now. I hereby declare this move by our devs as a Crowning Moment of Awesome.

Sure thing. For your consideration, I offer:



Arc offered to which character?: Silent Spy, Ana Cruz, Extrasensory, Phantoma Storm, Edwin Schmidt, Dr. Amy Byrd, Angela Starr.
Arc Name: This is War, Part I - the Revenge of Hro'Dtohz
Arc ID: 1356
Faction: Rikti
Creator Global/Forum Name: @Acid Zero/DeviousMe
Level Range: 45-50 (though 40+ seems to work fine)
Soloable?: Yes (though team is recommended to spawn more rarely-seen enemies)
Length: 5 missions
Difficulty Level: Medium
Synopsis: Do I really need to say it? Okay. Hro'Dtohz is back, and with a vengeance. This arc takes place after the events of the LGTF (so intended for lvl 45+ characters), and presents no less than an all-out attack on Paragon City by the Lineage of War. I believe this would especially suit Silent Spy or Dr. Amy Byrd for the governmental (UN) and Rikti connections.
Estimated Time to Play: 1-2 hours.



Arc offered to which character?: Extrasensory, Phantoma Storm.
Arc Name: Hunting the Dark Dragon
Arc ID: 2922
Faction: Circle of Thorns, Malta, Space Pirates, [Unknown]
Creator Global/Forum Name: @Acid Zero/DeviousMe
Level Range: 40-50 (though 32+ seems to work fine)
Soloable?: Yes, but team is recommended for final boss
Length: 5 missions
Difficulty Level: Runs the gamut from easy to hard
Synopsis: I created this in response to the many dragon invasion themed arcs I found on test, and decided to give it my own (slightly chaotic) spin by employing dragon concepts from people I know. I like to think this arc takes several things in new directions, and not just with the dragons - it's also up to the player to choose which way this arc ends. I believe this would especially suit Extrasensory since Phantoma seems more focused on Croatoa-related things.
Estimated Time to Play: 1/2 - 1 1/2 hours

[ QUOTE ]
"Ok, Nadda, hey wait where are you going? You don't just leave in the middle of a conversation! It isn't very lady like to say the least!"

[/ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
"Nadda! Nadda! wait! Don't go that way!"

[/ QUOTE ]
"I am soldier first, lady second, and have duty to do." Zuzana Sarovenkova retorted neutrally, steadily walking on toward the forest, "Not to mention I need to pick up-"

[ QUOTE ]
"Hey, I told you we'd handle you later did I? I think it's high time you pay up. Oh, and I've got a slight bone to pick with your new woman as well. men, keep your wits about you, we arn't running away this time."

[/ QUOTE ]
The Nadpráporèík couldn't help but smile beneath her hood, once more brandishing the OCSW, "Good. Will make shooting you much easier."

[ QUOTE ]
"Ok, Raven, you want a fight? Fine, I'll fight you, but leave the lady here out of it. She had a right to go after you. You ruined her lunch. Surely that workers around your line of thinking you wanna be elf thief!"

[/ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
"Really? Little Adam Rayon is going to fight me like a man? Alright fine, men get the woman, I'm going to take care of this one myself."

[/ QUOTE ]
Zuzana but raised the weapon, aiming at the first-best target, a metal finger beginning to give the trigger a squeeze...

...when the attackers fell asleep.

[ QUOTE ]
"There are other ways besides fighting."

[/ QUOTE ]
"But I prefer fighting." the Nadpráporèík complained with a turn toward the elfin bard, giving a shrug with both arms akimbo and angled away from her, apparently not even noticing her gun, "Now what should I do? Target practice? Is boring."

The phrase 'be careful what you wish for' came to mind as an arrow suddenly zipped from the forest and into the side of her neck - or rather, the garb there, Zuzana having shifted her body itself away from the projectile. Still, it didn't prevent the razor-sharp shaft from tearing up the fabric and ripping her hood back in less-than-dramatic manner.

This left the face of the Tsaiv woman still semi-covered, but in such a sloppy fashion that the most prominent details were easy to see.

Such as her blue-glowing right eye - an internal targeting scope that already locked in the thermal signature of the archer, her gun rising to meet the target. Or rather, it would've, had said archer not fallen from the branch of his tree, having also succumbed to the elf's song. It had just taken a little longer...

No worries, you're fine. You helped me work out problems with my arc (and make a lot of changes to it ), it's only fair I try the same in return. Might be a while before I get to yours, though. I've presently got 2 multi-part arcs in my queue (as you can probably see), but after I get done with Arashi's and Squid's, I'll move on to yours.

[ QUOTE ]
Arc Name: Saints and Sinners Part One: The Order of Steel
Arc ID: 118104
Morality: Heroic
Faction: Custom, Freakshow
Missions: 5
Level Range: 20+ ideally.
Difficulty: Medium-hard. Should be soloable, recommend either mez protection (at least KB) or controls.
Synopsis: A police raid spirals out of control as a new threat emerges from the shadows of Paragon. ((One defeat all on a small map, Two EBs, allies provided for last mission only but not required for mission completion if you with to skip.))

[/ QUOTE ]

Rating: ****
Likes: Mystery plot, custom critters
Gripes: Time sink mission(s), map discrepancies, 'pseudo-missing' bio, intro plot

Synopsis:

To be honest, I'm not really sure how I feel about this thing. I realize it's part 1 of 2, but as things stand, this seems to be nothing more than a 'Hello, I am the Saint, the new villain in town'. Fairly underwhelming. Also, missions 2 and 3 feel a lot like something added in for no other reason than to make this part 5 missions long. Mission 3 is an especially severe case of this, as the contact could've covered it in about 3 lines of text.

Mission 2 does a bit better, but aside from the clue about the Saint still doesn't add much more than a trap that's rather obvious from the get-go, and wouldn't be missed if some glitch axed it from the arc. The map in mission 4 doesn't mesh well (it's also quite empty), and there's a small issue with the number 5 one as well: the high-tech computer can spawn in the ratty old warehouse section, creating a very jarring picture.

The custom group played well though (aside from the web grenade spam), and while there are issues with the text (such as //), it's not something grievously detracting. Mechanically, this is decently solid, but the plot is left wanting. Guess I'll see if this changes in part 2, but at this point, it really doesn't feel that 1 should've ended where it did. Personally, I feel it would've worked much better to work in a midpoint resolution - something that's preventing the Saint from immediately executing his plan, but at the same time doesn't stop him, requiring the player to go after part 2...or else.

Details:

Your contact seems to be named 'Contact Hologram'. Not sure if that's a bug or oversight. Also, since I found this too much to detail every occurrence, I'm just going to note it here: you've got a lot of run-on sentences and comma errors. While not egregious, it makes for some awkward-sounding text.

[u]Mission 1:[u]

Mission: Okay, this is starting off well. Clearly defined objectives (though I'm not sure they need to be in orange 'warning' text - could get players to get used to it and then not see real warnings like AVs/EBs), and a nice entry rationale as well. Let's see what's what. Ah, already we have the customs. Seem fairly well-done. Not sure I like the implications that they can take on nearly anything, though. Makes them seem a little like just another of the 'my villain group is so much better than the ones already in the game' sort. Also, Lancers just love spamming web grenade, which is fairly annoying. The Templar was nicely challenging, though.

Clue: High-capacity and -performance, should not be separated by spaces, but by hyphens.

Return dialogue: /most/ really reads weird, should be italicized. Also, who are the 'officers of those officers'? I think you meant it just to read families.

What could this mission use? Less web grenades.

[u]Mission 2:[u]

Intro dialogue: 'shouldn't be too hard', too needs another o.

Mission: Okay, this seems fairly straightforward. Not sure I like the ramp-up mission setting, but that's more of a pet peeve of mine than anything actually wrong. In the system text, "video clip" should not be capitalized. I'm also a little edgy about the boss fight, since I had to go find the minion that had spawned in an awkward place to end the mission - after having already defeated the boss and ambush.

What could this mission use? More detail for the boss fight. Either add 'and guards' to the nav text, or change the encounter to just the boss being needed for completion.

[u]Mission 3:[u]

Mission: This was kind of predictable, but okay, I'll bite. Sadly, I find myself rather disappointed. It's a defeat all, which in itself is actually quite well-placed here, but the empty-ness of the map (lack of dialogue, clues, bosses, heck anything apart from random spawns standing around punching their fists) makes it really boring to play. Combined with the resolution at the end, this makes it feel like a filler mission that might just as well have no point whatsoever.

What could this mission use? Frankly? Deletion. It's a time sink, adds nothing to the story, and is just as easily covered by the contact just telling the player there was an attack on the station, that the Templar escaped, and that the network has been compromised.

Alternatively, it could be salvaged using more objectives (required or not is pretty open). Maybe some clues the order left behind, maybe a boss who's there to squash you after the first trap failed. Just about anything will give this mission more life - however, keep in mind that if you intend to have it add something to the story, it needs to be some major point. For instance, you could use what's in the contact's return dialogue and turn it into a few glowies, or have the guy who performed the network hack still there.

[u]Mission 4:[u]

Intro dialogue: Needs a comma after 'there', also an 'is' after 'precinct'. 'Dispatchers' needs an h, there should be a comma before 'right' (I think - not 100% sure), and a colon would work better than a comma for the next sentence, which is a run-on.

Mission: Hm, the map choice for this feels a little off. If the contact called the local precinct, why has Longbow taken over the roadblock? Furthermore, what's with all the military trucks and just general destruction? I realize that these are hard-coded into the map, but if you're going to use this one, you really should explain these things using the contact. It also feels fairly bland and boring in terms of mechanics (big outdoor map - 1 boss to fight), and could really use more stuff - for instance, the road block mentioned represented by battles or patrols. The Berserker wasn't as tough as the Templar, despite being supposedly much stronger.

Bio: Berserker: 'Armor' should be singular, there should be a comma before 'but'. Also, 'drawback' and 'near-mindless' should be connected as shown. Also, the last sentence is really long. Not sure if it's technically a run-on, but I think it could stand getting split.

Return dialogue: Ouch. This thing's got some issues. My recommendation for grammar revision:

"Good job getting him back. Sadly, with his cybernetics fried like the rest of the Order we have, we can't get much out of him - or rather, we couldn't normally. The telepath came in while you were out, and she's already working on piecing his mind back together. Hopefully, she'll be able to get something out of him."

I'm reasonably sure the above is grammatically correct.

What could this mission use? Stuff. More of it, plain and simple. Doesn't have to come in the form of required objectives, but for a map this big, a single boss is not enough. Maybe you could rescue some Longbow or PPD, or add some battles and patrols. One way or another though, it needs more meat on its bones - and of course, integrate those bones (the map) into the story with more explanation for the things on it.

[u]Mission 5:[u]

Intro dialogue: Not sure what to make of the first sentence. Is there a 'Do you know' supposed to be there? I can't tell. Either way, there should be a period behind progress, and 'off-site' should be joined as shown. Also, I'd replace 'place' with 'location'. There needs to be a comma after 'another', and Warden should be capitalized. The contact's voice here also reads strangely. I suggest going over it again by reading it out loud to yourself.

Mission: Not sure about the map choice, but it's definitely smoother than the last. Caused a high-tech computer to spawn on top of a rack of dusty old crates though, so...yeah, could probably use some polish. Oh, I see now: Longbow Warehouse set. In that case, just make sure the computer spawns in the back, not upstairs, where it looks really out of place. Nice job on the Paladin.

Bio: Mrs. Weston: Should have a comma before 'even though', 'need' needs no 'ed', 'wasn't' should be 'isn't', and cooperating needs no hyphen. Also, not sure what 'force their intentions' is doing there; it reads like there was supposed to be more, but it got cut off.

Clue: From the Saint: Should have a period after victories.

Return dialogue: I imagine 'Knights' should be 'Order', and is probably something left over from the alpha process. Also, there should be in 'it' before 'seems', and commas after 'technology' and 'fight'.

What could this mission use? Computer in the back. Rourke could use a bio too, poor generic man.

There's supposedly something on the way along these lines. Nothing concrete announced yet, though.

It's still fun to use for fights with friends, but for general pvp, a Widow is pretty much an exercise in frustration now. I'd go with that brute of yours, sounds a lot more viable.

I imagine the first person to post it will win.

"Negative." the woman answered Adam, "Nadpráporèík is rank. If you want it to shorten, use Nadda. Like contraction to Sarge from Sergeant."

Hearing the eflin fellow's remark, she couldn't help but chuckle at it, turning to the man, "Seems you do and do not get around, mh? Listen closely to her voice. It is..."

Out of nowhere, something interrupted her. For a moment, the woman seemed to just stare blankly into space.

"I must be going." she informed the others upon returning to 'normal', "I wish you safe journey."

With that, she set course for the tavern door, clearly intent on heading outside and going wherever she apparently needed to - not to mention completely oblivious to the fact that Adam's attackers (at least judging by the way they'd been pursuing him until now) would likely be lying in wait somewhere outside for the man.

For the man...or for the woman who'd drawn a line through their operation, waiting to jump her when she didn't have a big gun pointed at them...

"Tiger Two to Command: target is on the move." the Comanches increased altitude to take up pursuit, "Looks like we're dealing with another super-speeder. Further casualties on the ground, require PB and ZB units at once: one man confirmed injured, at least one building complex on fire."

"Copy that, Tiger Two." the response came right away, "Požiarna Bezpechnost has been dispatched, branching off a medevac from Zdravotná unit. Maintain visual contact, reengage if an opportunity presents. We are transferring satellite telemetry on the target."

The now-lead's pilot looked out the cockpit windows at the speeding-away Marius, then at his HUD as the overhead's satellite's imagery uploaded. He bit his lower lip. No go for missiles, at least for now - and the helos' 20 mm cannons hadn't even been so much as acknowledged by this guy thus far. In short, right now he just didn't have any idea as to what to do other than keep contact. Thankfully, between the aircraft's FLIR and the satellite, that was at least easy to do.

On the ground, the situation stood even worse. Verejná Bezpechnost may have already formed a presence and started evacuating people in the path of the surmised fire-throwing madman rampaging through the city streets, but their stopping power was questionable at best. Armed at heaviest with Steyr AUGs, it seemed highly unlikely that Public Security had anything to truly impede Marius, aside perhaps from their SWAT-style black vans' flashing blue lights...

An unseen, yet nevertheless strangely observable eyebrow rose upon the end of the bard's song. She wasn't quite sure what to make of that one.

"Nadpráporèík Sarovenkova." she answered Adam matter-of-factly, her tone making it easy to discern that this wasn't her first name, but a rank; in this case, the equivalent of a Senior Master Sergeant, "And merely annoyed. Cease of thinking with the brain in your skull in favor of that between your legs again, and you can surely get angry. I am close at line."

She was indeed (she'd still been eating when the thrown attacker had spilled her meal all over the floor after all), and from her words it was rather self-evident how she'd taken Adam's rascally tone and mischievous grin afterward - not in a kind light at all.

"Acunim is your present location, date six point twenty-two, year 2236, SSR standard." she nevertheless informed the newly arrived woman, "I am not sure of local equivalence..."

Oh, it's fine. I may be jealous right now, but I know the result of the equation 'Wassy + Flame + You', and seeing it will make it all better.

Foo's not pouting - he's just outraged. I'm the pouty one.

Open up the 'text' tab in the objective screen. There will be several bars of text for you to fill in, including singular and plural navigation (compass) text.

I think you have to use an escort objective and set it to 'required' for that.

Not sure. I'll usually take the concept of the custom foe into greatest consideration, and tend to reserve EB status for tough ones (that are supposed to be tankers/brutes), and AV for end-of-arc foes. When I've got something like a defender boss, I'll force-spawn his/her/its guards at higher ranks (lts/bosses) so that the 'boss' becomes that entire group, which the main boss will buff while all fight the player(s) in tandem.

I've also done the reverse - force-spawned buffing guards to a boss to make him significantly tougher than a regular boss - and I'm fairly sure using debuffing guards would work just as well. Plenty of methods to do this, IMO.

[ QUOTE ]
Arc Name: Seldom Told Tales - Statesman and the Atomic Soldier
Arc ID: 8993
Author: @Fyst
Number of Missions: 4
Description
Experience first-hand one of Statesman's greatest battles you've never heard of.

[/ QUOTE ]

Rating: **
Likes: Time travel sans time travel, custom critters, historical tie-ins, well thought-out plot
Gripes: Surprise timed mission, dealbreaker map, lack of clues, missing text, missing bios, small-to-medium plot holes, broken German, awkward language

Synopsis:

I really enjoyed this arc, but from a technical viewpoint, it’s far from finished. The map in mission 2 just ruins the immersion, and the general lack of clues inserts temporary plot holes in a number of spots. Some custom critters are missing their bios, and the German dialogue is terrible. Please don't take this the wrong way, but if you're going to use another language in your arc, you need to make sure you use it right - or at least right enough to sound that way.

The main faults with this arc, however, are the awkward placement (or absence) of text in a number of spots, be it objective completion, clue, etc. It still got the point across, but in such a roundabout way that it truly detracted from the flow of game and story. Fortunetely, the story itself was excellent enough to not be overrun by these things, but they do give it an unfinished and 'not very cared for' feel, which judging from the great care that the author put into other aspects of the arc (custom critters, for instance) isn't the way this thing's supposed to feel at all.

Still a fun story, good gameplay, and I do recommend it, but still requires much work to be done, especially in the text department.

Details:

[u]Mission 1:[u]

Okay then, off to take on some virtual time travel. I have to say, that appeals to me a whole lot more than the myriad of 'actual time travel' arcs around. Mission looks fairly straightforward, though I seem to remember being told I was going to get shouted at in German. Oh well. Rescue some hostages, make myself a private little army...hm, it seems the Kommandant (should be spelled with a K, yes) doesn't have any dialogue. In fact, now that I look back, neither did the captors of the leader of the 37th. Unfortunately, one ran off and git himself killed, so I failed the mission. Whoops.

What could this mission use? Dialogue for the Kommandant and the captors I mentioned. Maybe some different dialogue for the different spawns of squad leader captors. Oh, and it couldn't hurt to make the escorts into allies or just optional altogether - doesn't really make much sense that a whole unit is captured because a single squad leader bought it.

[u]Mission 2:[u]

Intro dialogue: Should read 'annihilation'. Also, I believe there should be a comma after 'Now', but not 100% sure. Finally, 'One other piece of information the agent did give me:' and 'as I was soon to find out' read a little awkward. You might want to go for 'The agent did give me one other piece of information:' and 'as I would soon discover'.

Mission: Aeon City...in WW2. Ouch. Imagination and suspension of disbelief in all honor, but this map really breaks immersion. It just doesn't feel right at all. Voltkriger was fun to fight...but his German was horrible. Even in the best of times, most of what he yelled made no sense at all:

"Offene Augen! Intel berichtet, dass ein Angriff nahe bevorstehend sein könnte" should be "Augen offen! Feldberichte sagen aus ein Angriff könnte bevorstehen."
"Ubergabe," should be "Gib auf," or "Aufgegeben,"
"Sie sind Untergeordneter!" should be "Du bist ein Minderwertiger!" or "Du bist minderwertig!" 'Sie' is the formal form of 'you' - someone cursing at you likely would never do so formally.
"5. Säule" should be "5. Kolonne".
"Sie werden eine ziemlich ärgerliche kleine Mücke." should be "Du bist aber eine ärgerliche Mücke."
"Verteidigen Sie Herr Voltkrieger" should be "Verteitigt Voltkrieger!" - formality likely would not apply in a combat situation.
"Ich brauche Verstärkungen! Eilen Sie!" should be "Ich brauche Verstärkung! Beeilung!"

Clues: 'Atomiks' is not a word.

Return dialogue: List should not be capitalized. I think atomic bomb shouldn't be either, but not entirely sure.

What could this mission use? Most of all, a different map. You had a really good WW2 feel in mission 1, but this map just ruined it. Also editing for good German, and maybe some dialogue for the patrol and destructible object guards.

[u]Mission 3:[u]

Intro dialogue: This reads oddly, as it's written in a passive voice that tends to repeat itself. Also, major snafu here springing a surprise timed mission on the player.

Mission: the 'wrong' file cabinets seem to be missing the "you didn't find anything useful" standard text. Also, Frau Geistigerfall being able to hear the player character's thoughts could be another major slip-up. A lot of people will likely have issues with that. You also might want to take another look at Togoka's powersets - his Shuriken hit me for more than 1100 damage. I'm fairly sure this is a bug the powerset-difficulty-rewrite patch introduced.

Oh, belay my earlier remark on the file cabinets - either none of them are right, or the entire text and clue are missing. Either way, definitely something that needs fixing, as it's a major disconnect. Kapitän Schallboom was a fun fight, though again his German needs fixing:

"Ich werde nicht vereitelt!" is technically okay, but would be better as "Niemand wird mich vereiteln!"
"Wächter! Einbrecher!" should be...well, actually I don't know. What are you trying to have him say? Right now, it reads as "Guards (the prison kind)! Burglars!"
"entsenden." should be "umbringen."
"nicht ein" should be "kein".

Bios: Kapitän Schallboom is missing an ä in his bio. Also, Himmler has 2 ms in his last name.

What could this mission use? A warning that it's a timed mission before clicking accept - very important. Also a clue somewhere that bridges the gap between the files in the mission and the return dialogue, and again editing for good German.

[u]Mission 4:[u]

Intro dialogue: There should be a comma before 'where'. Also, the files should be referred to as 'they'. Also, you might want to streamline this text a bit. Explosives, infiltration, rescue, it doesn't seem to flow together too well as presently described.

Mission: Okay, I'm certainly liking the captives. Unfortunately, they have no bio. Also, their defeat text really should be dialogue, not appear in the system bar, and it'd be nice to get a clue why they're mind-controlled. Last I checked, introducing superpowers into American soldiers doesn't make them switch sides. Same deal for the end boss. Would've been nice to have had a clue dropped as to what he was talking about. The bombs could use some completed text as well.

What could this mission use? Clues and text, bios and dialogue. This mission felt very unfinished, and really needs another go-over.

Arek may have been surprised, but that didn't stop the Sky Commander from reacting almost immediately, bringing the driver behind him as the peacebringer stabilized him with her energies. In the same motion, the guard of his free left arm deployed an ellipsoid, concave personal energy shield, sending the bulk of Nukus' fire to deflect uselessly off the barrier.

Unfortunately, while the semimajor axes were more than enough to cover the denim-hued draconian's height, the semiminor ones didn't carry enough width to provide full frontal cover - and while Arek moved fast, he still couldn't turn to his side instantaneously. Several rounds shredded into his scales, drawing bloody scores against his hide at a thigh, his tail, and the support structure of his wings, not to mention punching a few holes through the interior skins.

But while the Drokar was forced back, Gentleman Bones' only discomfort was getting his hat blasted from his head, which served only to anger the animated skeleton. Luckily for Nukus, Pax got to him first...

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

"Actually, I didn't want to involve you for just that reason." Ken answered with a brief, neutral sigh, looking to the Arachnos helmet, "I knew that things would get complicated if you found out."

"Besides," he turned back to the group, "as far as I'm concerned, anything he chooses to trust you with is yours anyway. He may work for me, but he's also a good friend. In any case, now that we're here, I suppose I might as well ask for your help. We could certainly use it..."

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

((Not really sure how to say this, so I'll just drop it here: I don't know if I feel like going on with this thread. We seem to have lost a lot of people, which to me has just sapped the general spirit right out of it. I don't want to just outright quit, but...yeah, not quite sure whether I want to keep going either.))

Ooh, Wassy Artz. Well then, if you like, try this one on for size: the Dark Dragon, a character of a friend of mine. His in-game appearance regrettably doesn't capture the character well at all (mostly due to the lack of access to cloaks/robes like that of the Circle of Thorns; he'd slip one of those on in a heartbeat ), so would be nice if you'd see what you can do with that.

My friend's also got an amusing little sketch of him from a while back, though sadly the artist disappeared somewhere. It's much closer to his true appearance than the game screenshot, and though it's still not quite where it should be (what with the missing tail and stuff), I hope it helps get a better overall mental image.