DeviousMe

Decided to put up a consolidated feedback thread for all my arcs (yeah, like I even get any on these boards; so total necessity ). Currently up are:


Arc Name: This is War, Part I - the Revenge of Hro'Dtohz
Arc ID: 1356
Morality: Neutral
Faction: Rikti, Rikti Special Ops.
Creator: @Acid Zero
Difficulty Level: Medium solo, gets harder with team
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.
Estimated Time to Play: 1 - 2 hours

Arc Name: Hunting the Dark Dragon
Arc ID: 2922
Morality: Heroic
Faction: Circle of Thorns, Malta Operatives, Space Pirates, Spearhead Division
Creator: @Acid Zero
Difficulty Level: Hard (1 AV(EB) with no allies, end boss very tough)
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.
Estimated Time to Play: 1/2 - 1 1/2 hours


And even though I can no longer edit this arc, so feedback will be most helpful for those above this line, if you'd like to check it out:


Arc Name: Welcome to Architect Entertainment
Arc ID: 1004
Morality: Neutral
Faction: 5th Column
Creator: @Acid Zero
Difficulty Level: Medium solo, gets harder with team
Synopsis: Dr. Aeon invites you to a special demonstration of what his Architect Entertainment system can do. What could possibly go wrong? Note: this is a dev choice arc, so you will not receive tickets, but normal rewards instead.
Estimated Time to Play: 1/2 - 1 hour

Okay then, so if everything worked out okay, the AE system should be live soon, and with that a good number of dev-choice arcs.

If that's the case, then I'm going to need the help of my fellow players now.

Basically, it boils down to "play my arc that I hope is still there in the dev choice bracket" - I have 2 others in the waiting, but need to unlock a bunch of stuff on live first (costumes and maps), and need tickets to do so ASAP. So on live today, please see if you can find Welcome to Architect Entertainment and give it a play and a rate - preferably with a team.

Okay then, so if everything worked out okay, the AE system should be live soon, and with that a good number of dev-choice arcs.

If that's the case, then I'm going to need the help of my fellow Infinity players now.

Basically, it boils down to "play my arc that I hope is still there in the dev choice bracket" - I have 2 others in the waiting, but need to unlock a bunch of stuff on live first (costumes and maps), and need tickets to do so ASAP. So on live today, please see if you can find Welcome to Architect Entertainment and give it a play and a rate - preferably with a team.

Staetlov Research Institute

They did not. The touchpad was little more than a paperless notepad, which the cyborg had been using to catalogue her rounds. It was neither connected to anything, nor did it hold any more data than what Sydonia had checked through so far. Well, maybe a few quickly jotted doodles beside when she'd gotten bored a few times.

On the surface, the cyborg herself stormed after the medical team and into the belly of the 'oversized Chinook' that was the Molvia. VB officers did flank, but with Legion's capabilities, it wasn't a far stretch to sneak aboard. It didn't take long at all for the rear ramp to come up, followed by the entire aircraft, and once at altitude, the Molvia teleported.

It arrived at Štátna Zbrojovka just as part of a window row of the city-sized facility's upper tower blew out in a gout of smoke and fire; namely, that of the 33rd floor...

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

Štátna Zbrojovka
Tower, Top Floor

"Oh hey there!" Griffin waved at the Horsemen with an excited smile, spotting them as he and those with him stepped from the elevator doors, "Man, am I glad you guys made it. I was already worried when I didn't see you downstairs. That giganto-spark got me pretty good."

"Not just you." Teivos stepped from the door to his office before the mercenaries could reply, a wry smirk directed at the two, Wolfgang at his side, "And in more than one way. But let's talk about that over lunch. I don't know about you, but I'm starving. Come, we-"

A sudden shudder of the floor cut off his words - or rather, the simultaneous two-toned blare of an alarm did. Admittedly though, even if it hadn't, Vlasta's facepalm certainly would've.

"I should've killed them." he grumble-mumbled, speaking purely from his imagination, which in this case just happened to be correct, "I should've just kill them. Wolfgang, why do I never just kill them?"

"Because you don't learn." retorted the cyborg with a shrug of shoulders, "Oh, and because we still want information from them, remember?"

"Wait, what?" Griffin looked from one to the other, visibly confused, not to mention startled at the prospect of killing people, "What's going on?"

"Come, we'll show you." Teivos motioned to follow him, headed back in the general direction of the elevator. He didn't call the one that people had just some from though, instead heading a bit further to an open door that seemed to lead to nothing but a long, circular vertical shaft. It was one of a pair, arranged side by side.

An antigrav lift.

The one he now used had been set on 'down', the field inside maintaining a very comfortable falling speed...

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

Štátna Zbrojovka
Tower, Floor 33

There was a reason Teivos had chosen to bring Zeo and Isabel here with him. It wasn't pride, or overconfidence, or the desire to mock his opponents, or even the want to have them close. No, it was much simpler than that, being merely that the 33rd floor's detention block was the safest place on the planet to stick people like them. Even Zigursky Penitentiary couldn't hold a candle in that category.

But then, the Zig didn't have a Major Dos Santos.

The magical flame exploded into the corridor, triggering the block's defenses. Well, some anyway. The Odcarovat was vaporized before the computer could much get it up to speed, and blast doors weren't exactly known for quick closure. Force fields were good, especially within walls and carrying higher-ordered components, but Zeo had already weaseled his magic through them once, and they didn't hold up long - less than a few microseconds to be precise.

Thus it fell to the redirector - essentially nothing more than a metaphysically present lighting rod - to do just as its name implied and redirect the energies that powered Zeo's disintegration spell; specifically to a place where such energies were in high demand: the capacitors of the oscillocrystal manufactory.

Truth be told, the Esertosians by no means treated magic as but a slightly esoteric branch of science. They treated it as something highly esoteric that they knew fully well they didn't really understand. They did know those that did could use it in very dangerous ways indeed, and thus just as with things that were highly alike to it (such as the energies of hyperspace) had developed means to deal with the fundamental components of the matter.

But not enough.

Down in the manufactory, the elephant-sized Capacitor 3 blew with thunderous applause. it didn't take long for five more to follow, spraying fire, slag, metal, and what any mage would doubtlessly have described as magic crystal all over the place. Antigrav conveyor belts simply disappeared, their cargo spilling everywhere, smoke and flames filling the air, followed of course by a rain of water.

Back on the 33rd floor, the blast of celestial dragonfire now behaved much more like one of more mundane nature, though of course things weren't all they seemed. Not that there was much time to notice, the gout of flame choosing the path of least resistance and spilling out into the open air though the windows its pressure front already shattered into a million pieces.

The detention block was left in shambles, alarms blared, and from darkened corridors, the trample of boots could be just faintly heard.

Of course, the more immediate question was what had happened to those right here, in the block itself. The doors were heavily armored and shielded, so chances were that though Isabel's was now a useless piece of twisted metal, it had very much protected her. But what about Major Dos Santos? What about the guards?

If they'd not been incapacitated, they'd be at least quite stunned for a few moments just from the sudden shock of it all. Their modified plasma rifles, the very same models as that Wolfgang had used to rob Zeo of his shields in the alley, would not speak right away - and if the Major ordered so, not at all for now...

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

Somewhere in China

((See last post. ))

[ QUOTE ]

AE System
--------
Welcome to Architect Entertainment -- Neutral
*

Character/Supergroup Origins
--------
Birth of a Fossil -- Heroic
*

Classic Super-Hero/Super-Villain
--------
*

Comedy
--------
The Extadine Lab -- Heroic
The Great Chicken Caper of '09 -- Heroic
ParaCon -- Heroic
The new and improved Lord Recluse Strike Force -- Villainous (though I wouldn't recommend against a hero )


*

Comedy/Drama
--------
A Super Team is Born -- Heroic
Attack of the Space Clowns (18749) -- Neutral
Cause of How Some Silly Stealed My Wings -- Neutral
Lawyers of Ghastly Horror -- Heroic
How to Survive a Robot Uprising -- Heroic
*

Crime/Gangs
--------
The Bravuran Jobs -- Villainous (16809)
*

Drama
--------
*

Global Domination
--------
Axis and Allies -- Villainous (10597)
*

Heist
--------
Celebrity Kidnapping -- Villainous (20161)
*

Historical (Realistic)
--------
*

Historical (CoH Lore)
--------
*

Holiday
--------
*

Horror
--------
Small Fears -- Heroic
Dark Dreams -- Heroic (18914)
*

Large-Scale Crisis
--------
A Hero's Halo -- Heroic
This Is War, Part I - the Revenge of Hro'Dtohz -- Neutral
*

Magic
--------
The Amulet of J'gara -- Heroic
Chains of Blood (5492) -- Heroic
*

Military
--------
Redoubt Operations #1: Fires over Kalago -- Heroic
*

Misc. Adventure
--------
The Portal Bandits -- Heroic
*

Mystery
--------
Blowback (18575) -- Heroic
Dream Paper -- Heroic (13030)
Dream Paper 2: Restless Sleep -- Heroic (16797)
Dream Paper 3: Broken Dreams -- Heroic (13064)
*

Mythology
--------
Anactoria's Descent Into the Underworld -- Villainous
The War of Fate: Betrayal (19698) -- Neutral
*

Nemesis Plots
--------
Brass Reaver: Part 1 -- Neutral
*

Player-Chosen Outcome
--------
Hunting the Dark Dragon
*

Sci-Fi
--------
Adventures of the Space Marines -- Neutral
Adventures of the Space Marines 2 -- Neutral
Netrunner -- Heroic (14434)
Above Mars: Part 1 - The Wellington -- Neutral
*

Un-themed Survival/AV/Time Challenges
--------
The Meatgrinder -- Neutral
*


[/ QUOTE ]

Yeeg, what is it with people around here getting my ideas? Did I blow a brain gasket sometime back and now have some sort of mind leak?

Oh, that is cool. Glad you managed to recover that.

((To the Egregore Device: as your Egregore has not known me as long as your author, I shall just this once overlook its blatant accusation that I view these boards through the goodie-two-shoes-skinned interface. But don't let it happen again. Me having anything heroic to do with this...why, I never. And yes, this also means that blue really doesn't go well here. I suggest something with better contrast, like sky blue or such.))

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

Needless to say, Sydonia was greatly relieved at her findings, especially as the medical team arrived.

"Quick, take this to Daniela's Molvia." she turned the remains over to them, "I will be right with you."

"Search the place." she then told the present personnel, as well as security's CANINE units, sweeping an arm out over the armory shelves. Meanwhile, the one-way barrier across the open door deactivated to let the medical team back out, "He said he'd already gotten what he came for. If so much as a bullet is missing, I want to know about it."

With that, she set out to follow the medical team, the others present already beginning their sweep. If they found the backpack, and it did nothing to alert them to the fact that it was anything but a regular backpack, it would soon be on its way to the Molvia as well, qualified as 'potentially relevant to patient revival'.

Outside, Legion would find his best bet of entering the research institute to be the building's exhaust vents. True, air came out of there, but due to their positive pressure differential, they weren't secured with things such as biofilters and other nasty traps for small intruders. If Legion could go against the flow, he'd have no trouble entering the building.

Of course, that assumed he still wanted to after the medical team emerged from the entrance and stormed to the waiting heavy-lift helicopter...

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

"What, now you're calling me a mutant?" Griffin smirked warmly, the man only stepping further into it making him feel a little better about his own nervousness around strangers, "Relax, don't worry about it. I've already noticed I seem to be the only griffin here. That's my name too, by the way. Don't laugh, okay?"

"Sir, we really need to get going." the orderly fell in giving his wristwatch a tap, "Teivos is expecting you."

"Oh, uhm...right." Griffin glanced back and forth, giving his shoulder a nervous scratch. He knew he was supposed to go...but the man in the bed there, he looked so...he couldn't just leave, could he? He had to be able to do...

Idea!

"Hey, you guys know this guy really well, right?" he quickly wanted to know of Torcher and Pyra, "I mean, as in a lot about him and just what happened to him, right? Good. C'mon, follow me. I've got an idea..."

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

"Gladly." the Caldok soldier retorted gruffly, not releasing her arm. He glanced at the console. Outdated piece of junk. Why hadn't the engineers already gotten rid of that thing? It was nothing but a gaping hole in security. Fortunately, he could at least use his SLI to lock it out temporarily.

"Assuming of course that would happen." he added once he'd done so, "You seem to forget we have slightly different rules - and I am hereby refusing an unreasonable order."

"I note witness." a second guard gave a nod to the Major, and though no one could say if she truly did, chances were she recalled exactly what that meant.

Several species served in the Pozemna Armada, and some operated under different rules than others. Caldok culture, for instance, was that of the warrior, and carried an extremely strict honor code. By logical extension, their divisions' rule set mirrored this code in many an example.

One such example was the right to refuse an order the soldier considered unreasonable, such as executing non-combatants. The situation of an angry officer ordering the crying child be shot, and the soldier 'just following orders' did not exist to a Caldok. He or she had every right to say 'no', as well as follow through with preventative means.

"So, would you care to explain to us why you should like to set upon everyone the volcano in cell five?" the soldier now released her arm, "Or to be more specific, why you are not taking proper precautions, such as bringing with you a containment team, or draining from that clearly super-powered person his or her power before shutting off the containment fields...?"

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

The red dragon's long neck rose, and she blinked with confusion. Last she recalled, Hotaka trained ninjas, not mages. Moreover, none of them had ever saluted her. What was going on here? This was clearly some sort of army. Did they believe her an officer?

Her pupils moved to the top of her sockets. Nope, no cap there - and as far as she could tell nothing on the rest of her either. So what was the deal?

Opting that her best bet for answers was the man who had saluted, she attempted to make her way over to him without stepping on anyone, then get his attention again (maybe by poking him in the back of his shoulder), and asking, "Hey, you - what's going on here? Where am I...?"

[ QUOTE ]

AE System
--------
Welcome to Architect Entertainment --- neutral
*

Magic
--------
The Amulet of J'gara - Heroic
Chains of Blood (5492) - Heroic
*

Mystery
--------
Blowback (18575) - Heroic
Dream Paper -- Heroic (13030)
Dream Paper 2: Restless Sleep -- Heroic (16797)
Dream Paper 3: Broken Dreams -- Heroic (13064)
*

Military
--------
*

Comedy
--------
The Great Chicken Caper of '09 - Heroic
*

Comedy/Drama
--------
Cause of How Some Silly Stealed My Wings - Neutral
Lawyers of Ghastly Horror - Heroic
How to Survive a Robot Uprising - Heroic
Attack of the Space Clowns (18749)-Neutral
A Super Team is Born -- Heroic

*

Crime/Gangs
------------
The Bravuran Jobs -- Villainous (16809)
*

Classic Super-Hero/Super-Villain
--------------
*

Mythology
----------------
Anactoria's Descent Into the Underworld - Villainous
The War of Fate: Betrayal (19698) - Neutral
*

Character/Supergroup Origins
----------------
Birth of a Fossil - Heroic
*


Horror
---------
Small Fears - Heroic
*

Holiday
---------
*

Sci-Fi
--------

Adventures of the Space Marines --- Neutral
Adventures of the Space Marines 2 ---Neutral
Netrunner - Heroic (14434)
Above Mars: Part 1 - The Wellington -- Neutral
*
Un-themed Survival/AV/Time Challenges
-----------------------
The Meatgrinder - Neutral
*

Historical (Realistic)
--------------------
*

Historical (CoH Lore)
-------------------
*


Drama
-------------
*


Misc. Adventure
----------------
The Portal Bandits - Heroic
*

Global Domination
----------------
Axis and Allies - Villainous (10597)
*

Large-Scale Crisis
----------------
This Is War, Part I - the Revenge of Hro'Dtohz --- neutral
*

Heist
----------------
Celebrity Kidnapping - Villainous (20161)
*


[/ QUOTE ]

((Ack...blue text...my eyes! My poor eyes! ))

Staetlov Research Institute
Level P-3, Armory

Sydonia gasped in horror as her supposed opponent literally went to pieces, recoiling with the shock at what for a moment she believed she had done. Almost in reflex, a signal went to the Institute, composed of little more than infinitesimal impulse. Had there been wording, however, it would've come close to someone screaming 'medic!'

The armory doors came open once more, CANINE units marching in through the one-way force field before the security system even had a chance to fully deactivate the door's protocols. Several more personnel came in their wake.

Through confused looks and chatter, a call went out for a medical team and stasis unit even as Sydonia still gingerly scooped up the singing skull, her sensors trying frantically to figure out if there was anything that still remotely fit the definition of 'alive' in there.

Instinct and hope for one told her so - but would they be confirmed...?

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

Štátna Zbrojovka
Tower Hospital

"Huh?" Griffin traded sheepishness for confusion at Torcher's words, looking himself up and down. Okay, so his outfit had taken a few rips in that chaos earlier, but...

"Hey!" he exclaimed as he got what the man meant. Why, he never! With hands at his hips and wings pushed just a little wider, "I'll have you know this is the way I've always been, thank you very much..."

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

Štátna Zbrojovka
Tower, Top Floor

"Excruciatingly." Teivos returned with a short glance up from the paperwork in his hand, tossing the stack back down onto the table, "And pay attention when you speak to me."

The Tsaigon blinked again. Why had he just said that?

"Strike that." he waved the oddity off. She was probably right: he was getting into things too forcefully again, "As I said, I am aware. And how many times do I have to tell you: the detention block is not the basement. That would be the submarine pen...which incidentally I've been putting off on checking up on..."

He gave a huffed sigh, looking to the window gallery, "I swear, everything's gone crazy. Go right ahead. It's the prisoner in cell D-3. Some kind of fire giant. As for Archlich, he is presently feeling, how do you say...under the weather, so I'm sure he would appreciate it..."

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

CPSR Base

If the red dragon took note of the wards, she didn't much seem to care, a long, thorough stretch her only initial reaction to finding herself here. She felt stiff and groggy, making the elimination thereof her first priority. Everything else could wait.

She ended with a stretch and flap of her wide wings, then folded them against her back again. After a glance about, she picked the first-best-looking exit large enough for her. If her senses told her anything about this place, she was bound to run into someone no matter which direction she chose...

((*kicks Grey* ))

((Well, okay. Just remember that without knowing what you're attempting, I can't say what the result is. ))

At the moment of the expected firing, The Tsaiv cyborg was suddenly no longer in the line of fire, a snapped sidestep much in the manner of Synapse having translated her position.

Though surprised by the clear lack of plasma beam where she'd expected one to be right about now, Sydonia certainly wasn't distracted enough to not lunge for Egregore with much the same quickness...

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

"Uh...m...one moment." Griffin excused himself form the orderly after a ginger tap on the man's back, receiving a nod in response. The man stopped and waited with crossed arms as the griffin headed toward Torcher.

"Hye, uhm...hi." he greeted him sheepishly, hands behind his back, which depending on the VB officer's stature may well have appeared quite comical an action by the decidedly tall and muscular griffin in the sleeveless military outfit, "...you okay...?"

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

((Huh, I just realized I forgot to add this last post. ))

Somewhere in China

A dragon stirred. The sort that was red, large, and tired. A black, plated eyebrow sifted uneasily, then came open to allow light into the large, yellow eye beneath. Oddly enough, its pupil was round, though this made its gaze none the warmer, looking unhappily about the cavern as the dragon's long neck rose in tandem with the opening of her second eye.

Okay...where the heck was she...?

Eh, why not? Ace of spades, my personal favorite.

So if you're up for it, here's the reference - though it might be kind of a challenge since no previous artwork exists for my friend's character:

Sabre Vern

Mechanical engineer specializing in total-energy physics and cosmostructural stability. In short, builds anything from scout 'bots to solar systems. Vern is a Krayten (in their culture as in Japan last name comes first), a quadrupedal people who bear a passing resemblance to 'classical' western dragons, though they have no scales, spikes, fins, spades, or the like, and don't get much bigger than a large dog (Great Dane, for instance). They also move and behave much more like large cats than anything reptilian. Being four-legged, they of course have no hands, so they evolved telekinesis instead. Works just as well.

As for specifics about his looks, other details (aside from the aforementioned deviated baseline, of course) include three clawed toes on each foot, a relatively short neck, and that his jaw has more of a saurian look to it, rather than the draconic sort. Kind of like this guy. His skin is deep-green, and he'll usually wear a segmented silver collar with a large blue gem at its center that resembles a star sapphire. It's basically just a different kind of pocket, in which Vern keeps anything from telescopes to guns to lunch (he makes really good sandwiches) to a little spherical robot he uses to keep holographic notes because he tends to forget things very quickly.

He's also a pretty good pilot, but only with smaller ships, like the fighter kind - mostly because those he can stuff into said pocket. A planet cracker? Not so much. Thankfully, he has friends who can fly the bigger stuff for him, which tends to be convenient because they've been labeled pan-galactic terrorists and are generally hunted wherever they go.

((I hope not. Bug him in-game or via PM, maybe you can whip up a collaboration. Poke me anytime for info. And Dogma, you did make the backpack thing pretty obvious with Egregore turning like that. Though I do have to wonder...if it's not doing anything to help him, then what is is doing? ))

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

Staetlov Research Institute
Level P-3, Armory

"You will try." the Tsaiv woman replied coldly, the lightly glowing lenses of her artificial eyes narrowing between subdermal metal lids as she tossed the touchpad onto the closest shelf. If that was what Egregore's backpack was after, now was a prime opportunity to nab it, the cyborg's attention focused fully upon its master as she stepped toward him.

'Security' was indeed here, several CANINE units waiting just outside the armory doors. However, 'security' was also very much inside the armory; namely in the form of one Sydonia Teivosovna Korovinova, 4th-generation cyborg and Podplukovník in the Pozemna Armada, the equivalent of a Lieutenant Colonel.

She had no way of knowing Egregore's plasma rifle was a fake (getting no thermals corresponding to such a weapon, the most she could conclude was that either the safety was on, or that it didn't operate with a constant-reaction chamber; and that first one seemed just a little far-fetched), and yet despite this, she very much didn't seem intimidated by the thing one bit.

Not that she didn't have good reason. But what effect did this have on Egregore...?

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

Štátna Zbrojovka
Tower Hospital

"Via helicopter." one of the present nurses told a very confused-looking Griffin, motioning to Torcher and Pyra while she handed him a glass of clear, fizzing liquid, "I believe you three were about the only ones to get away without something major."

Griffin looked to the badly burnt Brawler. He couldn't help but gulp, imagining himself in the same state at the sight, the thought thoroughly horrifying.

"Please, drink." the nurse insisted, and he raised the small glass to his beak. One smell later, it was already at the end of an outstretched arm, as if it had fled from the griffin's sudden cough.

"Eaugh!" he exclaimed with wide eyes and grit teeth, just a bit green in the face from fighting back the sudden urge wave of nausea, "What is this stuff?! It smells awful!"

"And tastes worse." the nurse nodded casually, motioning with the palm of his hand, "Drink up. You want to get rid of your headache, don't you?"

Griffin grimaced, looking at the bubbling liquid. Yeah...he did...but was it worth the loss of his lunch?

A throb of his head answered that question with a defined 'yes'. With a hand over his nostrils, he downed the foul-flavored stuff, gasping for breath afterward. With a wry smirk, the nurse took the glass from him again, even as he still awaited his insides breaking out in the expected revolution of outrage at what he'd just done to them.

"Huh..." he remarked unsurely after a few seconds of the expected revolt not manifesting, "I...I guess I'm okay. Hey, my headache's gone!"

"Of course it is." chuckled the nurse, indicating one of the orderlies, "Please follow Mr. Sanguine. He will take you to the front desk. There you will be provided with appropriate identification. After that, the Sovereign has requested to see you."

"Uhm...sure..." Griffin gave a nod, slipping off the bed, and looked to Torcher and Pyra again as the orderly turned to be his guide. He wanted to ask them things, but...well, they looked so...and he was supposed to be...

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

Štátna Zbrojovka
Tower, Floor 33

"I hate it when he keeps these people alive." one detention block guard sighed to the other at the 'camera malfunction', "What's yours doing?"

"He's on fire." was the colloquially shrugged response, "Lots and lots of fire. Personally, I think you're right. I can't imagine this guy wanting to do anything but burn Teivos to a crisp. But...hey, orders are orders..."

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

Štátna Zbrojovka
Tower, Top Floor

"Okay, that's good to hear." Vlasta smiled at the video of the nurse on his monitor, having just been informed of Griffin's status, "Send him on up."

"Already done, Sir." returned the man, which oddly enough caused Teivos' smile to vanish, several seconds of cold-glaring silence passing before the nurse spoke again, "Um, Sir...?"

"Hmh?" the Tsaigon blinked, the angered expression dissolving into nothing as he wanted to know, "There is something further?"

The nurse shook his head, "Well, no, it's just...I think you spaced out there a moment. You looked very upset."

"Hm." Vlasta gave a nod, a hand passing over his eyes to wipe away something imaginary, "Guess I'm not as back together as I thought yet. No, there's no need to send anyone up for me. I'm fine. Thank you."

He terminated the connection before the nurse could respond. Checking into the hospital again was the last thing he wanted right now. Besides, he was fine. He felt good...strangely good, actually. with all that he'd gotten clocked with, one would've thought...

"Sir?" a uniformed Caldok leaning in the door got his attention, the thoughts scattering away with Vlasta's motion to enter, the man carrying a touchpad into the office while he began he report, "Sir, I know you've already been through a lot this morning, but we need to know if you intend to add anyone else to the list of scheduled e-"

"Suspend it." Teivos fell in harshly, interrupting the now very surprised and wide-eyed officer with the same glare he'd given the nurse. A moment later, a vigorous shake of his head dispelled the visage, the Tsaigon countering with a somewhat confused, "Uhm...no, I mean proceed. I...I don't have anything to add at this time."

The officer didn't seem satisfied with that, looking rather concerned, "Sir, are you feeling well?"

"No." Vlasta answered grumpily, "I think I'm stressed and hungry. I'll feel better after lunch. Thank you. Dismissed."

...and that's Lord Teivos to you.

Another blink, another shake of his head...

Hm, seems you ran into some game bugs there, then. The incursions spawning all over the place is pretty random - sometimes, they'll do as told and hit 'back', being all there to simulate the 'ambushed by bosses' feeling, sometimes they'll say 'who cares?' and go wherever the heck they want.

Not sure how you ran into only blues in the last mission. I gave the Virus a ton of different spawnable entities, so I guess the RNG just wasn't liking your guts, haha. Sorry.

The Drones I can tell you exactly what happened - the elevator ate them. It happens sometimes; bug in ally AI.

As for the 'final ambush'...that's supposed to show up when the AV (yeah, it's scaled down to EB, but originally AV) hits 25% health, and usually arrives within 5-10 seconds. I guess they just got lost somewhere (like the ambushes in the ITF) and didn't get to you until the thing they were supposed to save from you was already dead.

Heh, I was wondering where that new avatar had come from. Yeah, Seikon art explains that very nicely. She always does a great job, makes me wish I had money for commissions.

[ QUOTE ]

"Adventures of the Space Marines"
Arc ID: 17421
Length: Very Long (5 Missions. Estimated 45 minutes- 1 hours)
Morality: Neutral
Plot: The evil Alkanis Empire lead by the space tyrant, Emperess Dominia, has invaded the planet Phobos and subjugated the peace-loving Simizams. Its up to the Space Marines, valiant protectors of the galaxy, to liberate the Simizams and thwart the Emperess's malevolent ambitions! Are -you- tough enough to hang with the space marines?
Author: @Epoch6 (Test Server), @Flying Carcass (Live Servers)

"Adventures of the Space Marines" (video preview).


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All in all, a very decent arc. Some critical stuff:

- the Alkanis lieutenants have no description of their own.

- a few typos here and there still.

- same as from HighTreason:
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--The c4 goal just says "1 c4" flesh this out more... 1 c4 to do what with?

--When I interact with the c4, there is no text telling me what I'm doing and no messages about it sent to chat either.

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Some cosmetic suggestions:

- C-4 stands for Composition 4 and is designated 'C-4'. c4 is a type of engine. You should probably change this.

- the US Marines' battlecry is 'oorah'. The US Army's is 'huah'. merging the two is...a fickle thing. I suggest you go with one or the other.

- much flavor could be added to these missions in the form of pre- and post-mission popups. For instance, after setting the C-4 in the tunnels, the mission exit popup could say 'As you duck for cover, the Captain primes the detonator.' Popups are very useful for establishing setting and mood, and while they should not be overused, can give the player additional information that would take the contact a lot more text to get across.

-this:
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--Don't assume the character is from Earth. The contact at the beginning says something like "You're from Urth? Never heard of it" There are lots of alien characters in this game and you've just ruined immersion for every one of them.

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I played this arc with a Drokar who's only ben on Terra for a couple of months. I really doubt he'd say he 'was from Earth'. Now, if you're going for a 'classic human sci-fi setting' where the hero is 'the intrepid Earthling swept out into space', then it fits perfectly. Otherwise, however, it's very immersion-breaking.

- the same applies for descriptions relating to the Space Marines. You say the Alkanis Empire is the only force around that can stand up to them. I find this also seriously breaks immersion since by now we have a ton of alien species people have made in the critter creator. I haven't personally, an I don't know if I'm planning to, but I still feel this statement should at least be changed to a 'that they know of' tone.

Other than that, solid arc. Was a lot of fun.

Now then, here's my new arc up for critique:

"This Is War, Part I - the Revenge of Hro'Dthoz"
Arc ID: 16012
Length: 'Very Long' (5 Missions, but most can be completed rather quickly)
Morality: Neutral
Plot: Need I say it?
Author: @Acid Zero

And for anyone who should like, my first arc:

"Welcome to Architect Entertainment"
Arc ID: 13220
Length: Long (4 Missions)
Morality: Neutral
Plot: Dr. Aeon welcomes you and wants to show off his newest creation. Of course, it's Dr. Aeon. With him around, something funky always happens.
Author: @Acid Zero

While I'm really excited about this issue and would love to have MA live ASAP, I have to agree with those saying 'please no' on a near-future release. There are still a great number of bugs to fix, many of them very serious and game-crashing.

Please guys - the concept is great, the execution is done very well, but things just aren't ready for live yet. The crashing needs to be fixed, as do several text code bugs, objectives that won't spawn, defendable objects, the ninjitsu NPC bug, the level range invalid bug, and many, many more, including whatever keeps breaking the search browser. In addition, the interface still needs serious improvement, such as a level range search filter.

((At this point, I think it may not matter much. Crimson and Kyo are on hiatus, Jasn left, and the only plot anyone's picked up on isn't even remotely baked. Looks like this thread's pretty much dead.))

The Tsaiv cyborg did not perceive the noise, too focused on Egregore to have noted his backpack wandering to do something else. At this point, she very much believed him to be the only potential threat in here.

"No." she thus answered, her tone very much indicating she wasn't amused in the slightest, and was beginning to lose her patience - and indeed she was. If Egregore didn't give her some indication that he wasn't a rebel soon, things would probably get very ugly.

This of course left the question: what was his backpack attempting to do about it...?

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

"Hey, quit it with all the noise..." Griffin grumbled groggily from over in the bed the staff had put him, rolling over and covering his head with a pillow, "...I've got a headache the size of a mountain..."

Wait a minute.

The next second, said location of ache was already up and looking about, the griffin resembling some manner of very strange nun, the bedsheet held in place by the pillow on his head while his beak protruded out from under the very same in the other direction, jerkily surveying the area, visibly confused.

"How'd I get here...?"

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

"Would you please quit that already?!" a guard told Isabel via the speaker in her cell, the actual person standing outside in the corridor, finger on the 'talk' button of the intercom, "They're going to make me clean that up, you know!"

The guard for the next cell over couldn't help a chuckle at her comrade's problems, though she did manage to suppress it well. Then of course the thought occurred to her that she probably should be making sure her prisoner, the large flaming man, didn't do something worse.

She stole a glance at the security monitor for Flashpoint Zeo's cell. What was the tanker doing...?

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

"...was arrested today following the attack on the Sovereign's parade through Perez Park." reported the light-brunette anchorwoman in the coral-red outfit, her shirt a light pink, the papers before her stacked neatly upon the news desk that read 'Channel 5', "Authorities have still not released her name, and as far as any of us know, neither she nor any of her accomplices have any manner of identification. Tom?"

"That's right, Diane." confirmed the moustache-touting anchorman in a blue suit, white shirt, and red tie, "And though no one can say for sure, this has raised strong suspicion that whoever these people are..."

The picture transitioned to show a clip recorded from the attack earlier, Zeo tearing through the parade, "...either a new group of radicals, or somehow arrived here following the incident at the Staetlov Research Institute the day before. While these are still rumors, it certainly isn't helping that they've been taken to the State Weapons Factory under heavy guard. We'll have more for you as this story develops. And now here's Ollie Williams with the weather. Ollie...?"

"A predictable answer." the Sky Commander growled with a frightfully calm demeanor, carrying the man over to the edge of one of the skyways this city sector took its name from, "As such, I will give you the obligatory reply."

He held the man out over the edge, feet dangling high off the ground as Arek stared angrily into his eyes with the declaration, "I do not believe you."

"Whoa there, my good Sir." Gentleman Bones threw a hand toward the draconian at that (figuratively speaking, of course), "I don't know what this is all about, but I'm quite sure there's a better way to do this here."

"I do not agree." the denim-hued Drokar retorted coldly, giving the man in his fists a curt, forceful shake, "Now tell me, you scum: where. Is. My brother...?"

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

Undisclosed Location

The metal of security doors slid into the wall as he approached, the automatics clearing him time and again in his stride through the high-tech laboratory, and with such reliability he didn't even have to look up from his clipboard, writing upon it as he walked.

A glance to the watch on his left wrist (after shaking back the snow-white labcoat's sleeve, that was), correlated with what he saw as he entered the chamber: the alizarin-scaled, wingless draconian was once again awake.

Oh sure, they'd strapped him down on that table with enough heavy metal to bury a man quite neatly, restraints around ankles, waist, chest, shoulders, neck, and even two on his left arm - one at the elbow, and one holding the entire hand to the heavily modified medical table. The only thing not secured was the short stump that remained of his tail after the 'removal' of the cybernetic prosthesis, presently secured in an entirely separate room, just like his right arm.

A baleful blue eye cast its stare his way as he approached, more than grateful for the immobilized head, not to mention the thick padded muzzle that held the Dragon's mouth shut, the conical restraint leaving only the very tip of his long skull free.

"So then, Mr. Lambda," he observed, a twin tap on his watch for emphasis, "I see you've already burned through another batch of sedatives. I should say this remarkable, even fortunate, but truth be told, I'd be much more comfortable with you not staring at me like that."

A muffled, multi-toned growl was all the response he got.

"Yes, I do apologize for that." he returned with a casual shrug, "I'm sure that was meant to be quite profound, but I'm afraid I just can't risk you barbecuing any more of us. At this point, I'd settle for you calling off your tail. It's gone and curled itself around Johnson."

This time, the reply was a grumbled chuckle...

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

Unknown Super Group Base

"Oh, I can tell you what happened to it in excruciating detail." the now helmetless Senior Operative returned sarcastically, none other than the Dark Dragon gritting teeth to unsteadily get his feet off that table and back on the ground, "It's got a large hole in it, that's what. You know, for people my Field Commander speaks so highly of, you're not very observant."

Meanwhile, Pax attempted to make contact - unfortunately, that went to his helmet, which had been set elsewhere. At present, the Kheldian received no answer...

Hmmmmm...who to snatch up...? Ah, got it. I never did manage to get a full body shot of Jade Blackwind, so if you'd like to go for that, I'd certainly appreciate it.

He's a 400-year-old Dragon-turned-machine from a world upon which Judgment Day has come and gone, leaving little more than ashes, ruins, and bones scattered across the decrepit wasteland that was once such a life-filled land. Whether you call him a survivor is up to you, the ripped-up remains of his original body having long since decayed, just like the rest of his world, across whose lands now prowl solely the mechanical nightmares whose original purpose was to protect the very people they so relentlessly slaughtered. Few pockets of survivors remain, the machines having hunted nearly all sentient organics to extinction, asserting dominion of cold iron over a burning world.

Dang, that almost ran away again. Anyway, the important part for a sketch is just that his head still looks like it used to before he got sliced up, while the rest of his body is now just cold metal. Don't get me wrong now, he's not a cyborg. Hair, skin, it's all synthetic, it just looks like it's still flesh. I did manage to sneak a head shot a while back, but like I said a full one is what I'd be most thankful for. I'll of course appreciate anything, so no worries if that's not what you'd like. Oh, and before I forget again, he sometimes wears a full helm when he wants to hide what he is, like in the small picture in the first link. Up to you which way you prefer, though.

Okay then, now that the test run has been completed with my Welcome to Architect Entertainment arc, it's time to get serious. I present the first installment in my This is War story:

This is War, Part I - the Revenge of Hro'Dtohz
ID#: 16012
Author: @Acid Zero

Arc Name: This Is War, Part I: the Revenge of Hro'Dtohz
Arc ID: 16012
Faction: Rikti
Creator Global/Forum Name: @Acid Zero/DeviousMe
Difficulty Level: Easy
Synopsis: Part I of a multi-arc 'what if' story regarding the aftermath of the Rikti War Zone content. Hro'Dtohz may have been defeated, but he's far from given up. He's back, and with a vengeance.Estimated Time to Play: 30-45 minutes
Link to More Details or Feedback: Link

OOC:

Sue you, huh? Are you sure you want me to? I do have a demon prince of Hell as my lawyer, you know. And I didn't say the two were necessarily connected - just that the thing that prevents one does the same to the other.

Now then, since Khell and Soviet seem to have caught the anti-posting bug again, I'm going to go ahead and disconnect and shove around the local timelines - not long, just for the duration of this post, and for just enough time to get things moving in New Zealand.

I'm fairly sure the reconnect at the end is smooth, since a decent amount of time could've been spent by Egregore and Valirie and Max's crew in the sewers, and the events happening in Paragon City can reasonably have been a little further ahead in the day than those at Štátna Zbrojovka.

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

BIC:

Staetlov Research Institute
Level P-3, Armory

"Because it's my job." the metal Tsaiv answered colloquially, "Because I suspect you of being either a creation of the rebels, a rebel in disguise, a servant of der Reichsmann in disguise, or some other sort of entity with hostile and slash or destructive intent toward this facility."

"Since Daniela and I have been charged with its reconstruction and on-schedule product delivery," she went on, motioning toward Egregore with an upturned palm of her four-fingered hand, "this would be something directly hindering of me..."

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

Somewhere in Paragon City

A manhole cover moved...

((Take it away, Rebel. ))

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

Štátna Zbrojovka
Tower, Floor 33

Following a good amount of back-and-forth, which mainly involved the question of powers and spells, Zeo and Isabel had been placed in small detention cells with walls of rather thick metal, of course modified to actually be capable of containing such 'threats', as one guard put it.

There seemed to be room for two or three, but the decision had been made to have them one to a cell, just in case they figured something out if together. Unfortunately for the guards who'd made that decision, Toy Dispenser had left each of the two a communicator, as well as sabotaged the cameras in each cell, rendering that whole idea virtually ineffective.

For a good while, nothing else happened. Had they been forgotten about...?

((Okay guys, gonna need yalls' help here on what's keeping your characters in those cells for now. Note the for now - it doesn't have to be perfect, just something that's enough trouble to get around for them to not do so right away. ))

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

Štátna Zbrojovka
Tower, Top Floor

For what was essentially the 'throne room' of the ruler of the world, Teivos' office stood actually quite Spartan. True, it took up nearly the whole floor, and the desk at its center was by all definitions of the word massive, but the mostly fax-wooden, old-world decor was by no means gaudy, and would've fit more into the study of some low-end, Eastern-European aristocrat than anything else.

The Dark Sovereign's 'throne' was no more than a large black office chair, just as any CEO of a medium to large corporation would've used, and if it had come from Primal Earth, there probably would've been a 'made in China' tag on it somewhere. In this world, however, China's economy stood a great deal stronger, and producing locally was in fact cheaper.

Thus there Vlasta sat, letting the light of the pre-noonish sun shine freely through the large windowpanes behind him, illuminating the many documents he'd laid out upon the desk while he mulled over them.

It was puzzling. Simply puzzling. Slowly but surely, Teivos was managing to make himself a picture of who was who and what was what, and in the end, not everything added up. He looked over to the flatscreen monitor again, tapping a key to reply the news footage once more. Sure enough, there it was: the flaming giant of unknown species hadn't killed anyone; even though he surely could've, according to the footage taken the day before in that train tunnel.

The energy-wielding human woman perplexed him even more. She wasn't even wearing any armor, yet had gone into what she clearly knew to be a combat situation, not to mention fought for the rebels who'd tried to assassinate him - well, an actor playing him, but still.

And that was another thing: the giant had protected the man, even when all hell had broken loose around them...and yet he was the one who'd atacked first when he'd been ordered to surrender at gunpoint. Furthermore, he'd been the one to continuously cause trouble with his attempts to break out of Toy's hold. Ergo, he clearly wasn't interested in talking...but neither did he seem to want to outright destroy what Teivos had built here.

"One heck of a puzzle..." Vlasta rubbed his eyes with a sigh. Between Griffin, the mercenaries, rebels, Reichsman-henchmen, dragons, wizards, lighting, poison...

He needed lunch...