DeviousMe

((Actually, I keep describing the office as oddly Spartan. ))

Štátna Zbrojovka

Woldgang mimicked Zeo, though in a bit more active manner, the metal Caldok bobbing on his toes every now and then as he stood off to the side, apparently doing nothing useful. Of course, this was a blatant lie. Just as a good number of fully passive instruments within the office, he observed. He observed for a good little while.

And then he smiled.

"Okay." the cyborg uncrossed his arms with a nod, stepping towards the desk, or rather the chair. He spun it around, revealing it to be empty, then took a seat, facing the towering hero, "I'm ready to consider believing you two. So, what did you want to say to me...?"

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Somewhere in China

The red dragon's demeanor remained attentive, calm, and emotionless during the drill instructor's account. Her face was a mask of stone, the dragon taking great care that none of her feelings made it outside. Inside, however, she boiled.

Vlastislav Teivos...

"I'd like to talk to the person in charge." she told the man after he'd finished his recount...

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They should do away with Dev's Choice. It really isnt player generated content of their stuff always comes up first. "Players Choice" should be the first ones listed.

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So you want them to change the display order so that Hall of Fame (i.e. Player Choice) appears before Dev Choice? Um...okay, I guess that's a reasonable request. But how would it help the current situation?

The helo crews held their breath as a section of street below became a giant ball of flame. The gunners ceased fire.

"Tiger Two to Command; we got a problem." the second's pilot spoke into her helmet's headset again, "This guy's out of our league. He just took a missile with barely a scratch. Cannons are having no effect. We're gonna need an elite division, and fast."

But while the aircraft may have been safely out of range of the inferno, the Tsaiv soldier wasn't so lucky. True, he was across the street, and the flame-retardant nature of his uniform prevented him from catching fire, but the sheer amount of heat and pressure simply rammed him away and against the pavement, severe burns all over his head and hands.

He wasn't dead, still conscious and weakly moving, but in far too much pain to stand back up. The TRV-150 had ended up somewhere else entirely, and thus as Marius walked toward him, he vainly tried to retrieve his sidearm from its holster. No dice. Material fused by the heat, that thing wasn't letting anything go.

But that didn't mean Marius wouldn't be taking fire. Closing in to a few steps from the Esertosian, a splash of water suddenly struck his side, most likely to no effect other than becoming steam. Still, one way or another, it was very noticeable.

As was the source: a little human girl (she couldn't have been more than 3 to 5 years), aiming a colorful toy squirt gun at him, a glare in her eyes that could've thrown daggers.

"Get away from Uncle Vlad, you big mean poopyhead!" she griped at the towering Marius, not showing a twinge of fear - unlike her mother, who came running with wide, deathly afraid eyes to her child's side.

"Melanie...no..." 'Uncle Vlad' meanwhile groaned, rolling onto his stomach and forearms to try and wedge himself back up off the asphalt...

((Yeah, dunno what's going on either. There are usually a bunch of people around these boards who'll pounce at new RP threads right away. Go figure. I mean (and please don't take this the wrong way), your grammar needs a little work, but it's nowhere near something that I'd imagine it to be keeping people away. ))

"Don't push it." the hooded woman told Adam dispassionately, returning the weapon to her back beneath the cloaks, briefly revealing the armored nature of her arms as well - and rather high-tech armor at that, "It was a side effect."

"I have little tolerance for greedy humans is all." she added, looking to her spilled meal, "Specifically when they make a waste. Is something not necessary."

At this point, she didn't seem to have much desire to tell Adam her name - or anything else, for that matter - which in itself might have been worth investigating...

Cool, thanks. Any chance you recall which group the tech one was under - small, medium, large?

The lead Comanche tried to evade, but the fireball nevertheless struck home, its detonation setting the aircraft ablaze. In the cockpit, alarms blared, and biting smoke filled the air. The helo veered off, the pilot desperately trying to safely put his aircraft on the ground before it struck a building.

The other two, however, immediately opened fire, three-barreled XM301s hailing 20 mm shells after Marius. As the lead helo went down, the second took over, its pilot reporting in to Verejná Bezpechnost.

"Multiple casualties on the ground, exact number unknown." she summarized, "We can't tell whether anyone's alive from here. Get all civilians off the streets ASAP. This guy just took out Ling and Peter. Very dangerous."

Public Security didn't need to be told twice, VB stations throughout the area already dispatching units to protect the civilian population from this suddenly appeared new threat. They didn't themselves go on the offensive, however. They knew full well they didn't stand a chance against the super-powered. The military could have that job.

Just down the street from Marius, exactly that same idea caused a Tsaiv in gray urban combat fatigues to come running from the doorway of a row house, the deep-green alien carrying nothing less than a TRV-150 - an Esertosian guided missile launcher. He shouldered the weapon and took a knee, eyeing through the targeting scope the approaching fire-wielder...

Štátna Zbrojovka

"Okay, here goes." Griffin gave a nervous nod, placing his fingers on Burning's arm. A soft, barely visible blow enveloped the man, a shimmer in the air about him as the griffin closed his eyes, trying his hardest to focus on the task at hand.

It was difficult, to be sure. The human body stood composed of such a myriad of components that some said it was downright impossible to keep track of them all - especially while it was alive. Still, Griffin tried. He tried to find, deconstruct, reconstruct, redirect, rearrange. His own heart raced, his body heated. His forehead became wet with sweat, the monumental amount of concentration he brought forth having a doubtlessly adverse effect. But he didn't stop.

Well, not until he went over like a sack of potatoes.

By the time the staff got to him, he'd already passed out. Hopefully, it had been worth it. Had he succeeded...?

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

"At the moment, it is." Wolfgang answered Isabel neutrally, "Until we know better, you are still potentially hostile elements. I passed your request along, however."

Though he didn't show it, the cyborg was actually quite pleased with the woman's wants. He had his own suspicions about her by now, and if they were true, said a few welcome things about her. For now, however, he couldn't just go by his gut. With powerhouses like these guys, he had to tread more carefully.

Fortunately, Isabel then agreed to come along, and off they were in convoy - a squad of guards in front and back, Wolfgang before them, not to mention soldiers at the ready at each branching corridor they passed, sealing off those ways just in case.

"You've sure have a mouth on you." the cyborg told Zeo during the transit, "Do you consider your point of view the only correct one, or do we just happen to fall under your hellhole definition by coincidence?"

From Wolfgang's tone, it was easy to tell he'd jumped to the conclusion that the first was true. Indeed, he'd already lumped Zeo in with the CPSR; the sort of people whose worldview was the only one that had any right to exist, to whom everything else was vile and unacceptable.

Zeo may well have had something to say in response, but at this point, the cyborg didn't much care, and if the tanker did, did not respond. It didn't take them long to reach the top floor, entering Teivos' office unopposed. A few blinds had been drawn across the large windows beyond the desk, giving the large room a comfortable twilight, not to mention decently accentuating many of the paintings along the walls. No, not paintings - photographs blown up to huge proportions!

Most showed scenes of landscapes or cities, though some were so alien it was difficult to tell if they were one or the other - like that of a titanic cavern in which structures resembling stalactites and stalagmites reached into the air, coated with points of white and blush light that looked like the star-filled night sky itself. Crystals of some sort, perhaps. Beneath the framed poster, a silver label simply read, 'Zar'.

Military hardware was also represented, and apparently in scenes of historical significance, such as the picture that showed a tank that resembled a Russian T-80 making its way through a half-demolished city of formerly tall and luminous spires. Tsaiv soldiers were shown around the vehicle, covering it against threat in conjunction with several twin-rotor aircraft overhead. Below, the silver plaque read, 'Halmss, 2206 - Never Forget'.

Potentially the most impressive one, however, was a picture of a large-scale orbital shipyard, which surprisingly enough was labeled with but four letters: ŠZBV.

But even with these dozen or so large-scale representations, the Sovereign's desk held yet a good few more. Smaller, personal, standing or lying about in their small frames, they were pictures of people, of things. One was of Wolfgang, Teivos, and some loinclothed, dark-green lizardman sitting around a campfire. Another was of a large congregation of people in some manner of high-arched hall, showing a blue-skinned humanoid with a mushroom-head shaking hands with a Caldok.

Yet another showed nothing short of complete and utter chaos. By all accounts, it was of a birthday party, Wolfgang, Teivos, and a good number of Tsaivs and Caldoks present. At the time of the picture, the cake was in mid-air, everybody's mouth hung wide-open, and it was a fair guess that said cake would be ending up in the face of the large red dragon that had stuck its head in through the window - which in fact it had.

The dragon also had its own photo on that desk, which showed it in great detail: with fire-red scales and silver-black plates running down its throat and belly. It looked to be the western sort, each foot holding but three claws, also of that intriguing silverish, lustery black hue. Velvet-brown flight skins connected to its sides from upper shoulders to tail's base, and a line of crimson spikes ran down from its head over neck, back, and tail, connected by a majestic silver membrane. Its head was also home to a pair of long horns that started over the eyebrows and jutted rearward, also carrying that silver-black hue.

"One moment please," Vlasta's voice greeted them form the large leather office chair beyond the desk, its back presently turned, "I'll be with you right away..."

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Kings Row District - Sector 12

The beat of helicopter blades rose in the air as a trio of Comanches entered the area in pursuit of Marius. Apparently, the troop he'd attacked had managed to get out a distress call before being ended - and air support had responded.

Easily spotting the tall man's heat signature with their FLIR systems, the aircraft maneuvered into position. A spotlight from the first clacked on, focusing in on the man on the street.

"Unidentified hostile." a Chinese-accented voice addressed him via megaphone, clearly coming from the lead helo, "Surrender immediately, or we will open fire."

Turreted 20 mm rotary cannons swiveled in on Marius' position to underscore the ultimatum. The only way they wouldn't fire was if he did indeed surrender, or if he managed to get something valuable between the aircraft and him. For that latter situation, however, the helos had a different weapon at their disposal...

((Okay, I'll bite. ))

A sound of thunder cracked through the tavern with infernal volume. The wooden floor between the attackers and Adam splintered with the suddenness of a lightning strike, a pressure wave flinging shivers in every direction. Thankfully, they didn't have enough momentum to cause any harm.

What had created them, however, certainly did.

"You - people with no manners." the tall figure garbed in a brown-red hooded cloak addressed the attackers with the stern tone of a woman scorned, the Slavic accent of her voice only furthering its cold, commanding nature. Of course, that likely took secondary stance to what rested in her hands (four-fingered armored hands at that): an XM307, sans tripod and aimed directly at the attackers.

"I do not appreciate interruption of my meal." the woman told them commandingly, giving her weapon's barrel a curt sweep toward the remains of her table - the very same which had been crashed into, "So either you clear out now, or you take extremely severe case of a lead poisoning..."

Anyone know of some? I mean go 'down' as in instead of the elevators that connect different floors having up arrows, they have down ones, essentially starting the player off on the top floor instead of the bottom.

The only map I've found so far that has this is the Portal Corp 02 (or was it 01? You know, the one where you enter through a portal), but I know I've seen at least 1 office map in the normal arcs that has this, and I think I've run across a tech lab one too. Does anyone have any knowledge of which maps have this?

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Gone now does not mean gone for good. Critters have been taken out of the MA before and returned (though some of them walked a little funny afterward).

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Which critters? I've asked a few folks I know who were in closed beta and they didn't know of any that had been removed AND returned.

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Same. All I've seen so far have been removals; no returns.

Yeah, this seems to have happened to many 'fight a boss' character descriptions - the default text no longer takes no space.

Also, arc space seems to have jumped again. Had one sitting at 99.98%, opened the edit window, now it's at 100.67%. No errors reported, nothign different from yesterday that I can see.

At this point, no. Outdoor maps still have broken front-middle-back differentiation code. The only way I could imagine preventing the objective's destruction would be to put stuff in the mission that will completely overwhelm the base defenses. Unfortunately, that will make it very difficult for the players of your mission, so it's not a very viable option.

((Gadzooks, I thought I'd posted here 2 days ago! My apologies, I forgot to parse. ))

"With whom?" Wolfgang inquired skeptically, the designation taking a few moments to process, as well as very visibly not doing anything to improve his mood toward Zeo. By all signs, it had quite the opposite effect, for he replied, "Oh. Nothing much, really. Attack on a head of state, attempted murder, kidnapping, battery, supporting a terrorist organization, resisting arrest, the very gratuitous destruction of private and public property you mentioned, and general violent behavior and non-compliance with law enforcement. Most of those have multiple counts."

"You are quite correct." the cyborg one more turned to Isabel, his tone toward her much more amicable and thoughtful. He still paid due attention to the tanker, however, "Unfortunately, memories can be fabricated...or at least in this world, they can. Not sure of yours. Still, we have accounts from two natives of your world that der Reichsmann has taken over. While they have not exhibited model behavior either, and I wouldn't trust them with any amount of money, no matter how little, at least one has proven he can be trusted to do the right thing when it comes to people he believes in danger."

"You can see where this leaves me." the metal Caldok added with a curt, nasal sigh, "It is your word against theirs, which not only appears more trustworthy, but based on the state of this world is statistically more likely. Therefore, my only option at this point is to detain you until we are able to open another portal to your world and gain first-hand confirmation from our own forces. Until this..."

He stopped, looking to the Tsaiv officer in the manner of someone who'd just been whispered something in his ear.

"I agree." the cyborg gave him a nod after a few seconds of consideration, turning back to Zeo with what might have been a suspicious smile. He motioned toward his own person with a hand, "You wanted to meet the Sovereign? Please, come."

He stepped from the cell, the armored guards backing off, but not lowering their weapons just yet. In the process, Wolfgang told Isabel, "You're welcome to come with if you like..."

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Sydonia and the present personnel backed off at this sudden change, duly surprised. Biotechs stepped behind armed and armored soldiers, a situation like this not entirely without precedent here.

The reanimation vats were designed with a fair amount of resilience. After all, as Kruger's presence showed, even enemy super soldiers were at times subjects in this facility, and thus it was quite logical it be prepared for their escape attempts. Still, the transparent metalplastic was by no means unbreakable. Like the Stasis Chambers heroes and villains were often familiar with back on Primal Earth, it could take a beating, but under enough pressure would succumb...

Story. I'm not above combining story with great rewards (and have in fact done so in two of my arcs; 1356 and 2922), but story will always come first.

Negative. I can't even correct the typos in it right now, so feedback for my other arcs is at present exponentially more useful to me.

At this point, I'm actually scared of the changes coming with I15 - the revised difficulty settings (if they carry through to locked arcs, which I hope they don't), will give many of my Virus enemies back abilities I specifically removed because they were too annoying.

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Arc Name: Mystery of the MAGI vaults
Arc ID: 2409
Author: @Madcat 88
Number of Missions: 5
Description: Tired of taking the blame for the thefts from the MAGI vaults, Azuria has come up with a plan and contacted you to help her.

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Rating: ****
Likes: Creative story, custom group presentation
Gripes: Level gap, missing dialogue, semi-surprise EBs, storyline disconnects, content roller coaster

Synopsis:

Good arc, but needs some work. It's got some continuity issues (something says one thing, another says something different), some of the mission objectives read awkwardly, and I really would've appreciated a few words that I may need a team for the EBs. The warnings given were not sufficient. The biggest issue, however, is that this arc feels like a content roller coaster.

'What do I mean with that?' you probably ask. I mean that sliding from one mission to another, the player experiences a sudden transition from a very lively, atmospheric, detail-filled mission to a very bland and unexciting one (or vice versa), and this several times in a row. This arc is a perfect example of this.

In mission 1, I feel like I'm in a CoT paper mission with a bit of story stapled on. No dialogue, just fight through, grab glowies. In mission 2, things come alive and I feel like the NPCs have lives other than just standing around now. Mission 3 keeps that pace, and even though the EB somewhat pops out at me (I was expecting just a hard boss from the orange text in the contact dialogue), it was a very well-scripted encounter.

Then I drop into mission 4, which feels like a very generic 'beat boss' paper mission. That's already somewhat boring by itself; coming from 2 missions that had so much life in them only makes it worse. Then I hit mission 5, which is suddenly alive again, and though it's a welcome change, a roller coaster like this just isn't a good type of content pacing to use. It makes the arc feel unfinished - like you didn't care to put the work in to make the whole arc feel alive, but instead just detail-scripted the things you wanted to focus on, and slapped on the rest as an afterthought.

The sudden (and very large) change in level is another big deal. While I can see why you did it, it feels grating and not very thought-through. My suggestion would be to first decide what level range you want this arc to cover, and then work your enemies into that. For example, to keep it 5-15, you could make a custom group consisting of Hordelings in the last mission. Conversely, for 15-20, I think you could use Tsoo in place of CoT and Warriors in place of Hellions. As it is now, it just doesn't feel wholly contiguous from a gameplay standpoint.

That said, it's already got some very good points speaking for it, especially the EB fight in mission 3, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Very flavorful, very immersive. You should probably look into seeing if you can make the EB fight in mission 5 more like that. I kind of felt let down when the final boss had less personality than the midboss.

Finally, while the theme is represented throughout the arc, I think it could use a little addition to the ending in the fashion of that you shouldn't mess with powers you don't understand. I think that would really drive home a point.

Details:

[u]Mission 1:[u]

Alright then, let's see what we got. Circle of Thorns at low levels, eh? That could hurt, especially with those ghosts. Yep, I was right, those Spectral Daemon Lords are nasty as ever. Good thing I've got my Ghost Slaying axe. Rifle through this, look through that...hey, it's a boss. Wait, why is there a boss here? Well, maybe he'll tell me if I pound it out of him. He's of course a Madness Mage. Perma-holds me right away, yuck. Lucky I brought breakfrees. I eat light-purple, he eats floor...with not even a word of spite.

Clue/Clue Interaction Text: I believe you misspelled 'fossilized', but am not 100% sure whether an s in place of the z is not also a correct way of spelling it.

What could this mission use? Dialogue. Has the Circle suddenly gone mute or something? At least have the boss spit out a brief heckle, but a patrol could sure liven things up as well. Moreover, why is that boss there anyway? Could use some explanation. Also another boss type, maybe. Madness Mages are just terrible at this level.

In fact, my personal suggestion is to get rid of the Circle completely (or at least remove their ghost critters). If this is intended to be a 1-15 arc (which from the looks of it, it is), magical artifacts could be obtained from the Hellions with much the same story flow, but give players something less annoying to face.

[u]Mission 2:[u]

Ah, so now I'm up against the Hellions. If you take my above suggestion, I also recommend having Azuria say something to the nature of 'now we just need to make everyone think this here is much more powerful than the Hellions you took it from thought'.

10 crates, huh? Well, contact dialogue suggests they're optional, so I'll hope for the best. That second objective's kind of long, though. Feels awkward. I think just 'defeat leader and guards' would've done the trick. I did enjoy the fight with the boss, however. Good atmosphere with those patrols too.

What could this mission use? An (optional) tag by the crates. Also a 'you've been interrupted' insert when prying open the crates. Finally, I'd specify whether you just need to interrogate the boss, or get both him and his guards, at least in the nav. text. Would be nice if Azuria mentioned something that the guy in charge is the most likely to know something, though.

[u]Mission 3:[u]

Oh, a quick-time mission with a bunch of warnings. Doesn't state how much time I'll actually have, though. Well, on in to find Doctor F. Seems simple enough, good atmosphere with the dialogue. I free him, get the...surprise EB. Well, I guess the contact did warn me, but it could've been more explicit - especially could've used a 'you may need a team for this' type addition. Nice use of custom critters in the ambushes, though.

What could this mission use? A more straightforward warming about the Elite Boss, a contact statement of how much time the player will have. I suggest it be left in a 'I believe you will have only...' format to maintain that Azuria thinks you'll only have 'a short time'.

[u]Mission 4:[u]

Intro dialogue: There's a disconnect with Cinder here. In the return dialoge from last mission, Azuira asks if you're ready to take on Cinder, implying you already told her about the guy, but in this paragraph, it seems like you only just informed her he's involved.

Mission: Okay, this thing feels really bland, especially after the last mission was so alive. No dialogue save the boss, nothing to look at along the way; basically just a newspaper mission. Well, at least Cinder's a fun fight, and has some dialogue. The clue is a disconnect, though: it drops after defeating him, yet specifies that one of the other Hellions gave it to you.

Return Dialogue: Paragon's police are just PPD. City didn't make it in for some reason, but you wrote PCPD.

What could this mission use? Atmosphere. A patrol or two with dialogue, maybe a normal boss or two somewhere in the middle (a la 'someone go warn Cinder!') - since Cinder's custom, this shouldn't take much away from him being the 'main' boss - maybe some random stolen magic items to find; you know, along the lines of 'Azuria's been looking for this one'. Just something to liven things up.

Also, I suggest you change the objective to 'defeat Cinder and guards' to mesh more with the dropped clue.

[u]Mission 5:[u]

Ick, blue caves. And a sudden level jump. This does not bode well. The caves do feel very alive, however. Great set-up on mission atmosphere with that popup and the patrols. Also nice touch with the 'downed' Hellions. Like Annie's look too, very chilling dialo...wait, that's all she says? I kind of expected more there. Also, insert customary gripe about not being warned to bring a team for the EB here.

Dialogue: Annie's last line - 'Help' should be capitalized.

What could this mission use? Some more dialogue for Annie. At least a middle line, something to show her suffering (at least that's the impression I got). You could also scatter some of those artifacts she stole into the mission, just for flavor. The level jump is kind of annoying too. Finally: needs a more explicit warning about the EB.

Okay, I'm back. Thanks everyone for your patience. Finals and a few arguments with some other reviewers got me down on this thing for a while, and I especially want to thank Madcat for pulling me back into it. Right then, you didn't come here to hear me blather on about myself, so let's get right back into it:

((Well, okay. While I'm not entirely certain of the logic behind people combing a room for things as small as missing bullets not noticing a self-propelled backpack, I guess I'm cool with it if you really don't want it found. Gonna take a little longer before they go away, though. Oh, and when did you manage to get your spot back from your characters? or be they slackin'? ))

Štátna Zbrojovka
Floor 31, Biolab 4
This sent the biotechs ascramble, Terran and Esertosian alike. That amount of pain had to be intolerable, and if what was growing in that tank now woke up...they'd rather not think about it.

Sydonia was immediately recalled, the abilities of her 4th-generation nanobase holding a good amount of dominion over pain. Perhaps the cyborg could do something to help, to soothe...

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Floor 33, Detention Block

Wolfgang had been about step closer and laugh right back in Zeo's face, which would've looked rather comical due to the difference in size here - the 'bad guy' being a good bit shorter than the 'good guy', and having to look up at him. Still, he felt the ridiculous nature of this man deserved a damper, especially since what he insinuated was a lie so obvious anyone could've seen through it.

That was...until Isabel had spoken.

He knew they hadn't talked with one another the entire time they'd been imprisoned here. Moreover, unlike the burning man, she had come and kept herself peacefully and nonconfrontational, which of course put a good bit more weight on her words than his.

"Can you provide any proof of this?" he inquired of her, tone calm and forthcoming. Still, he couldn't fully hide the desire of wanting what she'd said to be true, a small inkling seeping through his masked demeanor...

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Tower Hospital

"...so I mean, did Don ever do anything like that?" Griffin questioned of Teivos, hands gesticulating heavily, "If not, you think it could work? I don't really know a lot about it, so..."

Vlasta gave another nod; one of acknowledgement, not agreement. He wanted to indicate he understood, which he did. Griffin's plan was, in essence, very simple: use his abilities to fix up Burning Brawler. The griffin he'd been cloned from could theoretically do so, meaning on layout, he should've been able to do the same.

And like the original, would be taking a great risk due to the strain it would put on the biological-technological interface of the chip in his head.

"I can't say I'm comfortable." the Tsaigon answered, taking a seat on an examination table, "But from what I've seen and heard, I think it should be possible. You've a mix of magic, technology, and psionic ability at your command. If you can control it, I believe it'll work."

Griffin swallowed a lump in his throat, looking over to the burnt man again. Not quite the answer he'd wanted to hear...but at least there was a chance, right? Besides...what was the worst thing that could happen here, in a hospital like this? He could pass out again and wake up with another headache. Then he'd have to drink that garbage-juice again...but it was worth it. Yes, it was worth it.

"I...I don't really know what's going to happen." he nervously admitted to Torcher and Pyra, "..but I'd like to try and help. Do I have your permission?"

Teivos meanwhile had little doubt he would, giving instructions to the medical staff via his SLI. Not that he didn't believe in the griffin's ability - it was that he did that made him uneasy. The one he'd been derived from was quite a close friend of his, and had hurt himself severely on more than one occasion with experimentation like this.

Thus as he lay down to let his own diagnostic begin (which he really hoped would find what the heck was wrong with him), he couldn't help but worry...

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((Gonna wait a little with China, seeing how this explanation would likely take a fair bit of time. ))

Late 30s and large team, huh? In that case, I recommend my "Hunting the Dark Dragon" (2922). It's fairly average solo and on low difficutly, but ramp up team size and challenge rating, and the arc will oblige - though it's mostly the last mission. Still, some people have told me the 3rd and 4th pack a punch too.

To a lesser extent, this also applies to my "Revenge of Hro'Dtohz" (1356) - easy to solo, but when played with a large team, the Rikti start bringing out the heavy artillery. Not quite as hard since standard enemies are used, but I like to think that the combination of buffs and tough bosses does make it a challenge, especially on the higher difficulties.

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(by the way, if an enemy uses a self-rez, do you get the XP for killing him a second time?)

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Sure do.

Personally, I think any arc that tells a thought-out story, does so without suffering from grievous continuity, mechanics, or grammar issues, and clearly shows that the author's made sure the finer things are in-tune (like level range) is eligible for 5 stars. I don't much get this whole 'I don't like these kinds of stories' stigma that some people seem to hold.

Heh, sweet idea. In that case, I submit for your consideration Jade Blackwind - for a duo piece with the Gray Huntress of course, seeing as how they live in the same apartement building.

Apart from the 2 or 3 thumbnails on that page, I don't really have any references for him, since thus far headshots are all I've gotten. Well, at least I do have a full one of his dad at the bottom of that page. He's got pretty much the same build - just with the robotic body now instead of a fleshy one.

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Here's one way to do it:

The contact sends the hero to capture the evil Doctor Zed before he can put his dastardly plan into operation.

Put a "Collect an Object" mission completion objective in the mission. Make it the only objective necessary for mission complete. Write custom text for that collectible object that will appear on the nav bar. Instead of having it say something like "Collect the last clue" , have it say "Defeat Doctor Zed"

Player runs the mission. His contact sent him to get Dr. Zed. The Nav bar says he has to defeat Dr. Zed. But when he gets to the last room and finds the glowie.... Dr. Zed has already put the next phase of his plan into operation. The hero has failed!

True, the hero didn't necessarily get the snot kicked out of him by the villain, but there are lots of ways to be beaten by the bad guy.

Just one way to do it. Ymmv.

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I did exactly this in my arc "Hunting the Dark Dragon". In one mission, you go after the big bad, but once you get to the mission end, you find a message instead. It's a fairly common staple in comic books, so I don't see anything bad about using it.

Yep. [ZQ] The Once and Future King.