DrSpoon

Mrs. Spoon here (as that this is a shared account) Thank you Venture for the review/critique on my arc, Shades of Betrayal, Acts of Salvation. With all the character classes and combination of powers it is always interesting to see from differing POV's what others experience.

It is with some relief that you did not slap me with a "hitting the player over the head with theme". The betrayal and power at all costs are underlying themes - it is what is LOST from betrayal that is the "it" of the primary deeper reaching theme IMHO ....that "word/theme" comes up several times including with what the contact says to you.

There are 3 types of idiot ball

1) [u]The Puppet Idiot Ball[u] - You are tricked by your contact to do a good/bad deed only to find out that it was just to further their ambitions. You are then forced by the game mechanics to continue to work with back-stabbing contact or drop the Arc.

2) [u]The Scapegoat Idiot Ball[u] - You are tricked into doing something catastrophic that upon return to your contact you are chewed out and made the subject of ridicule and/or persecution. You catch heat from enemy and friend alike.

3) [u]The Joined At Hip Idiot Ball[u] - You AND your contact were tricked into doing something terrible believing that it was done with the best intentions. Your Contact continues to work with you even though his/her organization or a faction in the organization is calling for your head AND the contact's.

In my story - I am guilty of # 3, the Joined At Hip Idiot Ball is used to advance the theme(s) being played out. That will remain so even though some do not like any Idiot Ball at all.

With the Finale having two 'high' powered allies that make it too easy - Understood. Different classes will experience things differently. My high lvl Archery/Electric Blaster suffered two defeats while my lvl 24 Rad/Sonic Defender had no trouble at all.

"the allies are too many " Have to begrudgingly agree on that score upon close examination....have hit upon a unique solution for the 4th mission. Should it work, the player will then only have allies for 2 out of the 5 missions.

I'm perplexed about the weak dialogue critique, but will seek clarification in a PM. Thanks again.

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Mission Architect
<ul type="square">[*]Removed powers from Destructible Object mission objectives that harmed or affected players in some way. These objects should simply explode upon reaching 0 health and have no secondary effects like buffing or debuffing players or causing damage to either enemies or players.[/list]

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Hmmm. Why was this done? I have in an arc one of those objects that does damage and about mag 1000 knockback when destroyed. Won't kill the mission if it doesn't do the damage or the KB, but I'm still curious as to the Why of the change.

You make some good points. I'm planning on changes when I15 comes out since you mentioned "more efficient storage" as one of the features. I'm just under the file size limit right now and can't add more dialogue, descriptions or custom critters. Yet. Some specific responses:

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Dr. Stanislau Steele (shouldn't that be Stanislaw?)


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I swear I've seen both spellings, but I'll double-check.

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and informed that he was studying a peculiar energy signature that was coming from a nearby pub. He doesn't say how he found it or why it may have been coming from there to begin with.


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Hmmm. I was trying to avoid the "wall of text" problem in briefings, but I can add more.

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They all drop clues that appear to be utterly meaningless


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Guess I was too subtle here. The clues connect (mostly) with their rescue dialog and with the themes of the heros they become. I'll see if I can make it more obvious.

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Also the map was poorly chosen and has trick portals


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Trick...you know, in all my play testing, not once did one of those portals send me anywhere but to their "other side". Foo. Gotta find a better map. Shame, as I like the "cathedral" as an ending room.

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find out right away that I have 5 citizens to free again, with no explanation as to why or how I know to do so before even opening the door.


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This is my ignorance of some of the nuances of the objective-triggering stuff in MA. What do you propose? Perhaps a glowie near the beginning that triggers the objectives? I can't put it in the briefing since Dr. Steele doesn't know they're there.

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It's full of Crey and I've annoyingly been dropped to level 45 for some reason.


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Sorry about that. I find Paragon Protectors annoying, so I put in a Power Tank, and they max at 45. I may make the whole arc 35-45 once I15 comes out.

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No clues at all this time, not even at the end.

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Guilty as charged. I'll see what I can come up with. One per person is too much, but one summary for all five is appropriate I think.

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He says that our best lead is among the Freakshow, though he doesn't tell me why. It'd be nice to know WHY I'm being sent to beat up some random villains.

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Again I'll see what I can add.

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The objective doesn't tell me anything but to "find out if they know anything useful."

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Another candidate for at least one glowie, methinks.

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I found the Freak Boss and beat him up. Interestingly for someone who claims to have been given Nictus fragments he was a Sonic Tank instead of a Shadow Tank.

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A conceit on my part. His name and attack dialog are a reference to a song, so I thought Sonic appropriate. I'll change it.

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I have a theory that involves a certain Warshade power called "Unchain Essence."

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I'll have to research that on ParagonWiki or somewhere. I've never played a Kheldian (though I've teamed with them). Might give me some info to flesh it out more.

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I enter the mission and see no objectives for the Seekers

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Again, I could use some advice on how to do this here. I initially had them as required objectives, but it cluttered up the nav window. And technically they're not required. What I wanted was a single "Meet up with the Seekers" objective, but couldn't find how to do it.

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every damn mob is a Void Hunter!

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Yeah, not really what I wanted either. My original conception for this whole arc was that Soldiers of Rularuu were behind it, not Nictus, but I couldn't find anything above bosses in the list for the Big Bad Guy, and couldn't justify a humanoid as that. This will be changing in I15 if I have the space to make a custom group. Or should I make it Shadow Freaks (are they separate), do you think?

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I defeated Fluxtube easily enough with their help

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How was that fight? I've had trouble balancing it, where my intent is that it should give a "yike" moment, but not otherwise be that difficult.

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I wonder why he had to create them from scratch though when there are so many in the world already.

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Okay, I'll see if I can flesh that out more as well. The thought was that if this experiment works, they could grab as many normals as they need, take them back to homeworld, grow their power and inhabit them from there, without each having to come to Earth to find a host.

So, major wrench-work in the future. Thanks for the review.

Mrs. Spoon here.

Note: Changes made May 15 in some areas of agreement with Lazarus's Review. Discussion and questions also follow.

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Arc ID: 59147
Arc Title: Shades of Betrayal, Acts of Salvation
Author: @Dr. Spoon
Description: Discovery of the Well of Evermore leads the Circle of Thorns to tap into another source of magic, but at the price of destroying the Unseele world &amp; our own.
Rating: ***


As I said at the start of this thread, lack of level ranges is a big pet peeve of mine and a reason to avoid even playing arcs. As this one jumps everywhere from level 5 to 54 with three of the five missions in the mid-30s, I'm going to have to use my level 36 character to avoid most of these insane level jumps.

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That you did and I walked into the lion's den thinking I had my bases covered. Low level and High Level player characters yes. But the hole the size of an ocean liner was I forgot the middle ground - the ones that will fall into the center of the scale. Thus the explanation below would just not work. I did revisit this problem and found an amicable solution without adding too much to my file size. Mission # 3 and Mission #4 now have a lvl cap. The arc is now geared to Lvl 20-37 play.


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Mission 1:
Surely I have felt them as they cause power fluctations in those with superpowers......
Umm, no. My mutant powers have been working very nice and steady for the last several months. Apparently I'm supposed to just roll with this though.

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It was my intention that this would be one motivating factor for the character to work with Aaron. But it just doesn't cover all the bases and all possible combinations. Done. That portion of the dialogue has been deleted.

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I show up in the Grim Vale with the objective to defeat Sicarius, who happens to be just in sight of the portal I arrived through. He's currently surrounded by some Fir Bolg. I wonder if I just got lucky with the spawn placement because afer I dispatched him with some help from his confused pumpkinhead buddies the mission ended. He said something about casting a curse for Eochai to activate. I ran around the map a bit but found no other clues about.

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Yes, you did get lucky on the spawn location. From what the dev's say the instance/outdoor missions are just one big room with no 'front, back, middle' locations. I wish there was greater level of control in where we as authors can place our bosses/ encounters. I.E. Mark a specific spot on the map where you want them to appear.

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Anyhow, Aaron tells me how powerful Sicarius is and how I was lucky to come away unscathed (considering that I curbstomped him) and that this is all bad news that the CoT and Fir Bolg are working together on something. Something about Sicarius cursing Hawks.

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Done. Dialogue changed so it no longer speaks about "lucky to come away unscathed". Dialogue now speaks more about Sicarius being 'a weed' that has yet again reared his head and that he surely cannot be the mastermind in this plot.

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Mission 2:
So Aaron tells me that he has has the coin analyzed (Wait, did I miss something? What coin? There is no clue about a coin being found.) and that is has the symbol of the Well of Evermore on it. Then he tells me some stuff about the Unseelie that doesn't tell me anything except that their world lies parallel to our own. The Well is the source of all of the Unseelie's magic.

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Indeed there is a clue about the coin and it appears right after you defeat Sicarius. In fact, there are two clues posted. One is the boss defeat clue and the other the mission complete clue. The only thing I can think of is that you read the first one, but did not scroll down to read the second.

The coin information is akin to a building block. In mission 1 Sicarius's boss unaware dialogue &amp; battle dialogue mention something about a magic source and the Hawks removing the barriers. The 'history lesson' Aaron gives about the coin tells you:

1) It is one piece of information that now helps both Aaron and the player identify the magic source Sicarius was talking about.

2) sets up the stage for the Un'se'lie appearing later so that people would not complain about them appearing from nowhere.

3) The description of the snake &amp; sun symbol on the coin is an additional identifying feature that the player can use to tell that Derek is an Un'se'lie (the chest emblem on his costume). Admitingly, some will miss that, but that is also explained in the right click box info on Derek. So in all, there are two ways presented that the player has as their fingertips to identify who/what Derek is.

4) provides as one source for further flavoring of the story - one small way is the mini 'history lesson' on the coin where it sets the stage for the meaning differences of Un'Se'lie and Unseele. At the end of Mission 3 there is an explanation to that dialect meaning and change that directly relates to what Derek and his mutineers have now become. Therefore tying into the COH cannon of a possible explanation to the Unseele Court that players see around Eochai during the Halloween event.

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I wonder who noticed these pillars show up in some cave under Founder's Falls to begin with. I also wonder why the entry pop-up tells me that my powers flucuate even more down here when a glace and my trays show me that I have the exact same powers as in the previous mission.

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A Midnighter Patrol has some dialogue that leads you to believe that they were/had been in contact with 'the base'. It might have been that you missed the Patrol or might have missed that dialogue while in battle. Mayhap I should put back the second Patrol that basically illustrates the same thing, but I thought it was overkill especially since Aaron's dialogue for setting up the third mission basically states that 'the onsite Midnighter's were blocked from reporting back to the Base"

As to the issue of pop-up window showing powers fluctuating.... With capping level of arc to 20-37 this 'motivation' has been removed.

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I find the first pillar (the same kind from the Hive mission Vernon von Grun gives) and see it's being guarded by hostile Midnighters. Huh?

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A right click on the Pillar will tell you that there is Un'se'lie writing etched in this giant DECAYING stone column. I was not about to have yet another CoT column or Cimeroran stone tablets appear here considering they are used heavily in the following missions. Variety is called for. Given that I cannot choose a large pillar like what one can have in Base building this is the closest analog I could get. An added bonus is that when you begin to and finally destroy the pillars they make a very satisfying 'explosion'.

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Apparently this Garik mentioned in the objectives that I have to defeat is his brother. I couldn't see far into this tunnel so I don't know if he was there before I broke the pillar or not, although there is a clue about something escaping from the pillar when it broke so I guess he just spawned now.

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Garik shows as an objective right after you enter mission door.


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Derek doesn't bother to introduce himself but does inform me that the Midnighters are really CoT in disguise. Thanks for clearing that up, of course he could simply be lying. Not like I haven't fought hostile Midnighters for the third time week with little justification. I'm going to bet that he's lying.

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Derek does have dialogue in the beginning "I have been expecting you" That speech is supposed to happen when you get in sight of him, but it occurs right when you enter the mission door. This is a bug. But I read what you said about you feeling he was lying from the start - so that opening dialogue was changed to hopefully give you more reason to trust him.

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This map could have been smaller for sure, 9 pillars to destroy was a bit excessive. Also Derek, who kept getting lost and was not being very useful, was annoying me so I eventually just left him behind where ever he got stuck that last time.

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Revisiting this issue because of the importance of Ally placement. You are correct in that the player MUST encounter Derek first before any other encounter. That helps to establish trust more readily. I am looking to see if there is a map that accomplishes that but so far, I have not found one - although there are several more that I have to test on a Test Run File.

As to 9 pillars being excessive - given what you learn what these pillars really are, do you think it is a wise decision for a world to put all their eggs in one basket? Still I will concede to your plaint a bit for it can then be turned to a bit for world creation of the Un'se'lie. The number is now 7 . Seven being a number with magical symbology attached to it PLUS it so happens to be the exact number of letters in the word Un'se'lie:-)

As to Derek getting lost - that has rarely happened on numerous test runs including with other people. When he has got caught up, most have been inclined to wait.


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Things got even more annoying when I got to Garik. He starts shouting at Derek, who is not even with me anymore, and talks about how he is a traitor and using me and to get out of his way. Hey buddy, I left your brother some hundred feet back that way, I'm the one here kicking your [censored] right now.

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Point taken, there is the camp that will not need Derek's assistance to take Garik on, the camp that does not like to work with Allies and/or the occasions that an Ally gets 'stuck' causing the player to leave them behind. Dialogue has been changed to cover those situations without compromising the story.

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Anyhow, Garik was not nearly as tough as his description built him up to be. Without Indominatable Will on he was just as vulernable to my mezzing with Domination up as anyone else. Then the clue that I get on his defeat has Garik telling me his thanks for defeating Garik before he sends his body away. More speech from someone not even in the same part of the map as me. The author makes a few too many assumptions during this arc.

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Garik is set so he has all the Mace Melee powers one can have. Indominable Will to minimize the effects of Psi would be great but one can only get that on Extreme Setting. The problem I have with that is then that enables Resurgence - it is NOT in the character conception that he should resurect nor is it an ability of any of the Un'se'lie race...save one. Garik does have most of the other Willpower set including Heightened Senses so he is not a total pushover. I15 seems to say that one may have the ability to just check off the powers you want - if so then Indominatable Will will definately be there.

As to that clue that pops up after you defeat Garik. You pointed out there are situations that will arise in which Derek is not with the player. Done. Information has been modified to cover that base without compromising the story.

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Mission 3:
So of course I've been played with a nice big idiot ball and have triggered the end of the world by fulfilling a prophecy where a mortal (why do you assume that I am mortal?) from Earth and an Unseelie have to work together to destroy the pillars, which actually were there to keep our worlds apart.

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There are various levels of the "Idiot Ball". The one that annoys most players is when the contact is the one who has played them and they are then 'forced' to continue to work with them. This is not the case in this Arc. Aaron is just as fooled as the player was. Aaron however continues to trust you even though you took part in sending Midnighters to the infirmary. Why, should he trust you? Well that is established in the opening dialogue in Mish 1. Also, Aaron is giving you a chance to redeem yourself as well as his reputation of trusting you in the first place by sending you on this mission. This 'betrayal' of trust (Derek playing the Midnighter's and you.....and what you later learn Garik and the Un'se'lie too) is just another layer that relates directly to the story title....and each act after ACT 2 the player is 'saving' the world(s)

As to the 'mortal' needed. Granted it is not going to be a perfect fit for all combinations....oh say like a robot player. Some authors are going to encounter that their story conception is not going to be a perfect fit for all possible combinations without it compromising the story. Still, what would you suggest?

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So Aaron and some Unseelie guy I've never seen or heard of named Javasha are off to get some of the keys from Sicarius (cause he's too tough for me, remember?) while I have to go beat up Derek and rescue Garik.

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I am a firm believer in the camp of "If you are going to shoot someone in Act 4, you had better have a gun on the wall in Act 1." This again is foreshadowing of what or who is yet to come...and introduction of another character in this cast of characters.

As for you not going against Sicarius, you learn one unspoken motive why Aaron sent you after Derek at the end dialogue of Mission 3.


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There is some tiny warning about bringing friend, but it is not highlighted at all. That better not be some sort of EB warning that can be easily missed.

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I went back in and checked the code. The text IS highlighted in orange...don't know why it did not show.

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I charged through Oranbega and found Derek along with a few more Battle Hawks. The poor saps never stood a chance.

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Glad you did not have too much trouble with them...but was a tad surprised that Derek was not much trouble...until I went in to look at the code. I could of sworn Derek had Dull Pain. It was set that way before...must have mistakenly changed it with earlier adjustments. He has it now:-)

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Derek had changed his appearance as well as description, which fills in a few details on his betrayal. However, his combat dialog made little sense. What the heck is he talking about saying "Sicarious would not dare betray me!" and "I will resist you Eochai!" The he gives me the keys upon his defeat and tell me to make Sicarius pay for his treachery. WHAT?
The clue about the keys don't explain anything about all that. Is this a case of poor map choice and objective placement? Was I supposed to know something before fighting him?....
So now Aaron informs me that Derek and his men are suddenly enslaved by Eochai, how did that happen?

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Taking a page from your book, "Show don't tell" I have laid the foundations in each mission before.

1) Quoting what you said in the beginning of your review, " He said something about casting a curse for Eochai to activate. I ran around the map a bit but found no other clues about." So you got that.

2)Mission 1 Sicarius boss unaware dialogue states that CoT has laid a curse, and all Eochai needs to do is speak the final word. This summoning word is not to be spoken until the 'Hawks" remove the barriers.

3)In case players miss that vital information it is provided in the clue write-up after you defeat Sicarius in mission 1

4)When you return to Aaron after Mission 1, his dialogue also stresses "I wonder who Sicarius has cursed and who are these Hawks he speaks of"

5) Derek and Garik both have mention of them belonging to the Battle Hawks, an elite fighting force, in their right click bio. Not only that, the label under their name cons, Battle Hawks.

6) You learn at the end of Mission 2 that the Pillars you helped destroy are magical 'barriers'. Here in mission 3, Eochai has decided to speak the binding word - so now not only is Derek fighting you, he is fighting the curse summoning him to Eochai. Note: If the game mechanics would allow me to put a smoking aura around him when he shouts, "I will resist you Eochai!" I would for it would make it that much more clearer. Unfortunely not available:-(

As to your complaint that Derek says" Sicarius would not dare betray me!" I am guilty of making the assumption that the player character is 'warning/taunting' him of this betrayal. Am I putting words into the players mouth? Yes, but this small occasion it will remain to help flavor the story.


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Mission 4:
So now with the keys I have to rebuild the barriers, which involves me working with an Unseelie to activate a bunch of glowies. For some reason this mission is timed, did the crisis suddenly get worse after I had all the time in the world to fetch the keys? And what about the keys that Aaron was getting from Sicarius?

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Done, I have added a sentence that explains the crisis is approaching a critical junction.

Aaron states in the return mission dialogue at the End of Mission 3 "Well met, my friend. We now have all the Kalthor Keys" and his need to get the keys to the Un'se'lie Council.

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I see that the author has arranged for a CoT ambush at the door. Simple trick and good thing I am quick on the Seeds of Confusion but had I been a Mastermind I'd be pissed right about now.

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Aaron warns the player in the opening dialogue of this mission that the CoT will try to stop the both of you. It ties into the enemy motivations -they are not going to lie down and let the heroes truimph without a fight....at least that ambush is not set on Hard;-) Player ignores warning at their own peril.

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I find Elara, who is Earth Control/Empathy shortly down the tunnel, just sitting on the ground unguarded with hordes of CoT in every direction...I didn't bother going back for her as I always found Earth Controllers to be really annoying anyway with their humongous screen-blocking graphics.

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Players who choose not to utilize Elara can do so. But some classes who solo or teams without healers would most likely welcome her healing powers. Hmmm, that is not in her bio. Done. Will 'notify' others about her healing powers.
Elara is sitting in a mediative state with a glow around her. That is the nearest I could set the visual conception of her being there 'invisible' watching that the CoT do not destroy the pillars before you arrive.

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Anyhow, I activated all of the pillars and left the mission with 37 minutes left on the clock. I didn't bother to wait and chat with the CoT ambush that showed up after the clicking the last one.

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Hmmm, might have to bump the time down to 30 minutes. However it may the mission less team friendly - depending on the make-up of the team and size of spawns it may be quite a challenge to finish in 30 minutes. Will think upon this more before I make that decision.

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I get back to Aaron and he tells me that not all of the teams were succesful in activating their barriers and that the CoT are still tapping into the Well of Evermore (Not quite sure exactly when that happened?

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Again it goes back to the information with the two clues you learn about at the end of mission 1. As to why the rebuilding the barriers did not close off the link....Aaron tells you in the end dialogue of Mission 4 mission debriefing the barriers stop the collision of worlds happening but did not sever the CoT link.

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Mission 5:
The meeting happened off-screen, so it's back to Oranbega to break the CoT's link to the Well. I'm to fight some CoT mystic named Kilcarsadur who is reputed to be as bad as Baron Zoria and I've been given some magic diadem to protect me from illusions. There was however no highlighted text in the EB warning.

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Missed that one. Thanks. Done. Highlighted.

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As I enter I hear someone named Javasha shouting in the distance. I guess I will have an ally after all for this mission, one with a fight I'll likely need one in unlike the previous missions. According to her description she quit her post during that meeting that I didn't see and is really an accomplished swordswoman.

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In mission 5 opening dialogue, Aaron mentions you will be working with Javasha. So it should have been no surprise that you have an Ally in this mission. Aaron's mission debriefing states that you will have to dispel shields and channelers . This map was specifically chosen because those channelors can be set to always appear in that room with the giant crystal hanging above the alter- which is a better analog for the open portal/connection than anything one can select as a wall/floor item. Sicarius is not mentioned but given what he said to you upon his first defeat it should be no real surprise you meet him again

Also because I agree with your opinion about Sicarius being a pushover for some I have changed some Mish 1 dialogue regarding Sicarius that further cements the idea you will meet him again... i.e. the weed that keeps coming back)

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I don't see any mention of this Kilcarsadur,

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Like all top villains, Kilcarsadur relies on his "underlings" to take care of things....especially when he has other things to attend to. It is not until you prove to be a worthy threat that he spawns.
So I am guilty of stereotyping him here:-)

Question: I have toyed with the thought of having Kilcarsadur spawn in the very room you dispel the channelors. Too much of a nasty surprise or to be expected since you just destroyed all his plans?

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Not that it didn't prevent me losing Javasha several times along the way. Meanwhile my Domination bar is dropping...

Eventually found Kilcarsadur (who is using the Baron Zoria model) in some random corridor and both Javasha and Garik charged right up to him... and then did nothing. Yep, for the entire fight they did nothing but act as targets for his Twilight Grasp heal. Audrey the Giant Flytrap and I did all of the work of defeating that EB. I don't know what caused my allies to go idle like that two feet away from him after charging past me and getting right up in his face.

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What?!?Pardon me while I go into another room to vent ((aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggg hhhhhhhh!!!!!!)) I am truly flustered with the AI. Through numerous play testing Javasha and Garik act the way they are supposed too 80% of the time. Javasha is set on Defensive and Garik is set on Aggressive. In that 20% of the time Javasha acts like she is set on Aggressive and runs off or she will 'lock up' and fail to attack. I have not seen Garik 'lock' up like that. Murphy's Law it would figure you would get the crappy 20% of the time for both of them. NOTE: this behavior ONLY seems to happen with the Melee class as that I have seen this lock-up occur in several other MA story arcs that even Statesman is not immune. I have not seen this behavior in Range character allies.
Sigh, in the rare times that lock happens the only way to get them out of lock is to move out of sight of the battle (fall back) so that the allies move. Most times they then start fighting. Highly annoying one should have to do this, yes, but if you really, really need them then this works in a pinch.

Question: I know you were highly annoyed but if you can recall: Was Javasha and/or Garik 'looking around' when they 'locked' up? If so that would be the Heighted Senses power going off and I have noticed that she has locked when this happens.

I have begun to notice that on the rare occasions a Melee Ally will act wonky and run away when their Stamina bar gets at or below 1/4.

I know you were in the heat of battle, but any chance do you remember if the Ally's stamina bar was below 1/4?

My husband tells me that AI is very hard to get right so if I can pinpoint where the problems are occurring I give the Dev's more information to work with into correcting the problem. It would not only save me a lot of aggravation, but others as well.


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So the CoT's link to the Well of Evermore is broken and unfortunately both Javasha and Garik are stuck in our world. Sucks to be them.

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Yup, heroes curse to always do good at the sacrifice of self ...a curse villains gleefully escape. I mention that they are in the infirmary because I had assumed that either the helped FIGHT in the battle or got seriously injured.......aaaaaarrrrrrggggggghhhhhh, that AI is REALLY starting to bug me.

Thank you very much for the review Lazarus:-) You greatly helped. A good number of peeves/holes in the story have been addressed. The story is now that much more polished for others play/enjoy if they so choose

Not that I know that this is what's happening, but my wife discovered that for objects (not sure about people), if the map in the editor is in a different orientation from that in the mission itself, then Front/Middle/Back are whacked. She has a mission in her arc where in-game the map is rotated 180 degrees from in the editor. In that mish, we reversed Middle/Back settings for the glowies, and THEN they appeared where she wanted them.

Here's my (Dr. Spoon, not Mrs. Spoon) review of the MacGuffin Delivery Service.

tl;dr - **** - A good, solid arc. Enjoyable, with good descriptions and injections of humor. Recommended. Lacking just a little "oomph" to move it into the 5-star range.

If I could have given it 4.5, I would have. Can't say exactly what would get it up to five. Maybe a sense that the MacGuffin really was worth fighting over. Still, I'll be recommending it to my friends as a "quick read" that's fun.

This arc I definitely enjoyed. I used my level 47 Stalker, Iron Pincer, on Vicious. He's pretty well decked out with set IOs and accolades, and this is, as advertised, a solo-friendly arc with no EBs/AVs. Thus difficulty wasn't really a factor for this character. Since I had to be mal-ed to do it, I wasn't getting xps, and so some encounters I completely bypassed, but I made it a point to take out LTs or better.

The "past tense" of the briefings threw me a little, as did the contact. Very different, that's for sure, but it made me think in circles. As in "if I already did this, why am I doing this again?" But I got over it. Now for some mission-specific bits.

Missions 1 and 2: Good use of the changing objectives mechanic. Rarely in the game does one have to fight your way in, then fight your way back out again. If you had used it a third time, it would have been overkill, but smartly you didn't. The setting in mish 1 had me looking for the "search beams" that are always there in the Mayhems.

Mission 3: Thankfully a not-too-convoluted Oranbega map. I did get a red crystal in a bad spot, but worked around it. The results from clicking the glowies were amusing.

Mission 4: Wow that's a lot of battles! Still, considering the briefing, entirely appropriate. One of them was buggy, though, as a Freakshow took out another Freakshow. Again, as a Stalker I could avoid anything I wanted. Had the bad luck to catch a Mask of Vitiation (hate those), but it didn't save her .

And the final debriefing with it's little twist was a good way to end it.

Dr. Spoon, not Mrs. Spoon, here. Yeah, good luck on the finals. Glad I don't have to do those anymore . Requesting you add my arc to your queue when you get a chance.

Arc: The Power From Out Of Space
Arc ID: 64800
Author: @Dr. Spoon
Number of Missions: 4
Description: Strange energy is coming from somewhere and is transforming people. Is it dangerous, or can it be harnassed?

Contrary to appearances, it's not an origin for any characters of mine, Mrs. Spoon's, or anyone I know. Everyone was created solely for this arc. Like your MacGuffin arc, it's intended to be solo friendly and lighthearted. I'm still tweaking the final mission, trying to balance it better.

Mrs. Spoon posting here:

[ QUOTE ]

To me and everyone else I've asked it sounds rather irrelevant. If it had been the same Mage showing up every single time then there would definitely be a point to doing it, but not for three different ones. There is only so much room in the arc files so you have to chose what details are important and which can be discarded. This one goes into the discard bin.

[/ QUOTE ]

This morning my husband and I had a 'debate'. Interestingly, he said pretty much what you said. If it is a generic named boss that shows up more than once AND drives the story - bio. If it is just multiple generic named bosses that does not drive the story - not needed. My husband, who has not played your story, pointed out that he has several of those generic named bosses in his story arc.

I can see the point now, guys, so yeah go ahead and put in the circular bin:-)

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It was clear in the first place, but does a quick mission in a small map need dozens of glowies around doing nothing (which is what the extra statues would be) that are not used for furthering the plot? Consider it Conservation of Details again.

[/ QUOTE ]

Nope, in my original post I should have worded it quite differently. The second post was to rectify that. Not telling you to put more statues in. The suggestion is to play up what one sees in that particular map to further ground one in the story setting - in dialogue. A one line dialogue thing something of the nature 'last one - not destroyed - study magic futher ' Another level of detail - yes. Is it a totally instrumental , oh my god the world is going to explode, needed detail - no:-)

[ QUOTE ]

Here is the exact dialog from the arc file.

Buck suddenly stops talking and his face twists into a ghoulish smile before he lets out a terrible laugh. He begins to speak again, with Mindskewer's voice!

I don't see how you get the impression that he is possessed. It's pretty clear that it is Mindskewer giving you some false hope and having a laugh at you.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have explained as best I can to show that it can be read as a possession in the physical realm. Now that I know what you intended, I just chalk it up to a different interpretation.

Putting those debates to bed, I would like to end it on this note:

Is your arc a overall well-written arc: yes

Is it story-driven: yes

Would I recommend your story arc to others: yes

Is it playable solo: yes

Lazarus, at the beginning of the write-up I did mention I really enjoyed it REGARDLESS of some observations and POSSIBLE areas of improvement. I did give you five stars after all....and I am picky with handing 5 stars out. I had to cut and paste from my original write up which was a creative report from my characters point of view. I didn't thing anyone wanted to read a 2,800 word write-up of what the character said about his/her experience - things were lost in translation and for that I apologize. Lesson learned cut and paste trim doesn't work - Next time it shall be just a straight rewrite.


[ QUOTE ]
Yes, he is on Defensive. All that changes is the aggro-radius of the ally so he still will attack on his own if he gets close. Don't worry, he gets teleported out if he is defeated once freed from the hold spell, as Buck tells you in the briefing

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I was not worried about him being defeated - it actually added flavor to the game:-) I had wondered what the setting was because I have been having problems with the Defensive setting acting like Aggressive with the Ally running off to do battle - I mearly wondered what you had set it on. Again looking how it was worded it I could have said that better.

[ QUOTE ]
-----The lack of personalized right click info on each of your CoT Mages Sitrix, Polentes, and now Nomaris makes them all seem generic.------

They ARE generic! They are just three Agony mages with no background whatsoever, with their names pulled from the list at the bottom of this Paragonwiki entry. They are generic names used by the game for CoT bosses who appear in Paper and Scanner missions, where they don't have backgrounds either. I even asked around in the MA Arc Finder channel if anyone thought this was a big deal and no one did.

[/ QUOTE ]

Agreed - They are generically provided. HOWEVER, you CAN go into the description and change it IF you so wish. The game mechanics allow that. Can you leave it that way. Yes, absolutely!

BUT would it not FURTHER spice up your story if they did have slightly different descriptions????

What I am saying here is that choosing to do so can add EVEN MORE flavor to the game.
Again, my cut and pasting down from the long glowing review of how your arc played changed the overall tone.

[ QUOTE ]
------Since they are Mages who supposedly are intelligent they all would not delve in the same EXACT powers so I find it odd in the story sense why one would have three that are the same.--------

Because that is the only CoT boss that fits entirely inside the level range of the arc.

[/ QUOTE ]

Agreed. One does not have THAT many options when it comes to choosing within the level limit range. That can be good ....and bad. What I failed to say in that observation is that placing VARIETY would certainly keep a character or team on their toes. Yes? No?

[ QUOTE ]
It is only possible to fit 4 details in that map, period. What happened to the rest of the statues? Heck if I know. Why are they trying to capture this one? Maybe they want to study it. Not everything needs a tidy explanation..

[/ QUOTE ]

I really did not explain well on that one either ...So let us backtrack. The other corridors have no other statues left....having some dialogue there relating to that fact in that encounter further places the character, villains IN THAT particular story map. Use what is IN the map to add a little flare to the story. Just as an example - you go in to rescue a slimy lawyer who is named Chris Jenkins. In office building map you find a flyer advertising his services (which by the way in Steel Canyon right above the Midnighters Club there IS a big billboard advertising his services)

All I am trying to point out is that one CAN use the map environment to further enhance the experience. Am I making any sense with this or am I failing to explain again?

[ QUOTE ]

Because it is all part of the huge illusion, consider yourself trapped in some epic Hold/Sleep spell this entire time. Mindskewer probably thought it was a fun way to mess with you and start a monologue.

[/ QUOTE ]

I understand it is all an illusion....HOWEVER when I read the description of Salinger starting to talk normally, then he stops, and shutters and a voice takes over my first interpretation is that he is being Possessed. Looking back at that portion of dialogue one CAN interpret it that way, yes? If we go with that interpretation, that he is being possessed then some of this illusion is happening in the physical realm. And if so, then it conflicts with this being all in one's head.

The rest of what I said is just suggestions to get around that interpretation - you can take it as a suggestion or file it in the circular file:-) and come up with your own IF you see my observation as a problem. If you do not see my interpretation of a possession happening in the physical realm then, well, moot point. Agree to disagree.


[ QUOTE ]
------The physical look of Strength is pretty evident but not sure why Balance and Initiative look the way they do....-----

Well how should they look to you? I'm trying to make things as faceless as possible without resorting to some silly looking Illusion Decoys.

[/ QUOTE ]

Use costumes to your advantage - like you did straight forward with Strength. The costume is pretty evident in what he represents. As to Balance....is there not some chest symbol that might do - Scales?....Initiative well, I have to admit that is a tough one...

[ QUOTE ]
----The allies MIGHT even be a bit overpowered----

Any weaker and they become useless. Anything less than Boss-rank dies in seconds. They're also optional, that is why the text is a different color for them. Even pohsyb used the blue nav text to denote optional objectives in his MA arc.

[/ QUOTE ]

The emphasis was on the word might. Because of all the variables like player setting (Heroic, Rugged, etc.) and what type the character chooses to play, it affects one's experience with the game. I reported my Tanker on Rugged was able to have the satisfaction of hitting villains. But he once he did free the allies it was a race to get a hit in. And for that, a player MAY feel that he/she is not contributing enough.

Yes, for this mission any lower than boss class and they die. Understood - I am just voicing to you how it played for the Mace/Willpower Tanker. How is plays for a Defender, Controller or even Brute will be quite a different experience. Balancing the game to fit all variables is a tough job and in some cases impossible to do so across the board. At this point let's just file this under an interesting bit of trivia on how it played for this particular character class.

I think I touched on most of your plaints on my write-up. Hopefully I cleared up any misconceptions that came across in my original post.

This is Mrs. Spoon posting with Mr. Spoon's permission (shared account). Posted my review of one of your Arcs.

Now time for the deconstruction on one of my own. Critique away Lazarus:-) I do hope it is enjoyable, but realize that there still might be areas to improve.

Arc: Shades of Betrayal, Acts of Salvation
Arc ID: 59147
Author: @Dr. Spoon
Number of Missions: 5
Description: Discovery of the Well of Evermore leads the Circle of Thorns to tap into another source of magic, but at the price of destroying the Un'se'lie world and our own. Story driven arc with fighting to complement the story.

**Contains possible Unseele Court origin (those creepy black spirits only seen with Eochai at Halloween)

This is Mrs. Spoon posting the review with Mr. Spoon's permission (this is a shared account).

Arc: The Amulet of J'garra
Author: @Lazarus
Number of Missions: 4 Missions
Rating: *****

Your Story Arc has strong storytelling elements that drive it. Some really good attention to details, but still a few areas that possibly could be improved. Nonetheless, I enjoyed it so much that I initially went creative writing crazy and wrote it up a review from my lvl 40 Mace/Willpower Tanker's point of view. But at 2,800 words it was waaaayyyy too long.

So this is just a condensed version offering insights and pointers :-)

Mission 1
In relatively short time my character came across D'Artier being held captive by the Circle. As I attacked they yelled that they would leave no witnesses behind to report on what they were doing. I pressed my attack, and two decided to run such that I had to chase them down. I don't think if you can change the AI mechanics for them not to run, but it did go against what the CoT said.

My character used his senses to see if he could glean any further information about Sitrix. A good battle commander always should gather information on his enemy strengths and weaknesses before engaging in battle. The battle sense I am talking about is using the right click info box on objects and people. You can enter your own write-up in the ready provided bosses &amp; minions to further flesh out the story by providing individualized info on your villains. Plus, I use this info to come up with strategy and tactics. What I found was the generic description COH has for Agony Mages

Mission 2
Indoor maps seem to suffer from putting the enemy groups too close to one another. From my own experience of creating a story arc the Oranbega maps seem to suffer from this. Solo is fine but on Teams the corridors turn into all out wall bangers for you aggro one group then the other group aggros. The open areas are not that bad but when you have an ally who decides to attack one group then turn and fire on another WHILE still fighting the group he started on, it gets dangerous. This is what Jones did, he ran down the corridor entered the chamber and took on 3 GROUPS before getting himself killed. I wonder if you have him set on Defensive or Agressive? I tried to save him but I could not take out the groups fast enough and he went down.

Polentes was another CoT mage that had a generic description - see observation/critique in mission 1

Mission 3
Salinger tells you to bring help. The character I used pretty much goes it alone (role-playing thing long story). So I was confident he could solo it with his set of skills but bought some defense inspirations just in case. With Mace/Willpower Tanker and Defense inspiration and one heal, I was able to solo. I don't think it will be as easy for other character classes.

Nomaris is the next CoT boss you encounter. The lack of personalized right click info on each of your CoT Mages Sitrix, Polentes, and now Nomaris makes them all seem generic. Also, they all have the same power sets such that the siphon speed power which was absolutely useless against my Tanker who just Teleported right in their face and that was that. Since they are Mages who supposedly are intelligent they all would not delve in the same EXACT powers so I find it odd in the story sense why one would have three that are the same. However, I understand that it is the mechanics of AE that may prevent the variation in that you have various power levels on the premade CoT mages ....and some are EB level thus it would take some of the emphasis away from Mindskewer being the big bad guy to beat. It might be an idea to consider that one mage be a custom build.

One ally you rescue happens to be a Living Statue. I know the mechanics of why you placed the Living Armor in there as an Ally to assist. Still I found it odd that CoT would not destroy it - especially since you wander the corridors and there are NO other Living Statues there. It leads you to believe that they destroyed the rest.

Mission 4
The introduction dialogue to the Finale is where the strength of the story buckles a SMALL bit.

First, if Mindskewer had imprisoned you in the Midnighter's Club battle why would you have been able to defeat her? A)Nomaris states that Mindskewer can keep the Amulet in mission 3 B) The player has been informed that the Amulet is a VERY powerful tool that can be used to control others.

Second, if the player NEVER LEFT and this is all in the player's head as she states in her dialogue, then why would she need to "possess "Salinger? In the beginning mission 4 dialogue it clearly shows he is first speaking of his own free will. Salinger must remain the contact because the game mechanics do not allow you to change the appearance of your contact or change them out to suit the mission.

In the battle encounter with her, she has already hooked into your mind by using the amulet. I think either she 'lets' you believe that you defeated her so she can maintain control over you. The dialogue and exit mission box has you sense that something is not right - something is still wrong. It is that character's 'willpower' sense that things are not right that allows the player to see past SOME of her mental illusions. It is not til the player begins the conversation with Salinger that they final break through the first mental barrier of Mindskewer. All dialogue in the orange or color will be the visual clue that this speech is different But you also MUST explain clearly in the dialogue that THIS Salinger is nothing more than a manifestation so people do not feel that the Idiot Ball is played. It could go something like this:

Laughter echoes. Poor, poor, $name. You truly wanted to believe you defeated me. I got past your feeble defenses and you now lay here at my feet! Do not worry, hero, the real Salinger is fine for the moment. This is just a manafestation in your mind. Still, you are strong in that you continue to struggle. You sensed right that something was amiss. Everything you now see and hear is what I create! You see what I WANT you to see! Oh, trying to fight me still, you have spirit! Very well, try to regain control. Try to break the link but you shall fail! More laughter. ------------and then what follows is the battleground for the players control over their mind.

Loved the bio in the right click info box on your custom monsters. The Soul Eaters and Shadowmen were not exactly cakewalk but solo characters can still take on and defeat them

Loved how you balance, initiative, and strength as Avatars who are allies that help the player. Nice touch on some of the power tie ins - i.e. Avatar of Balance had what I believe are kinetic powers. The physical look of Strength is pretty evident but not sure why Balance and Initiative look the way they do....

Once you have all three Avatar together the player, at least the Tanker class, was unstoppable. The allies MIGHT even be a bit overpowered in that I barely got a hit on some of Soul Eaters and Shadowmen. While Mindskewer was not exactly cakewalk with the 3 avatars, &amp; a defense inspiration for extra defense, we cleaved through her in about a minute. Again the avatars may be a tad too overpowered ....or the Tar Patch which does movement debuff &amp; 30 % damage resist debuff paired with some of the other powers of the Avatars might be the overpowering element. If I recall she was an EB - that might be EB on Solo....on Team Play it might go back up to AV which then would appropriately be a challenge for group play.

Souvenir at the end is appropriate and very creepy. Nightmares- A bad lasting momento like what some war veterans experience.

Oh, these are great! Got the perfect character to use these. But one option (apart from Ice which has already been suggested) that is missing is...skulls! C'mon, villains can juggle too, and not such flamboyantly happy stuff .

[ QUOTE ]


That said, I'm still not accepting new arcs. I've got 30-40 to go through. I took a break last night to work on my own stuff (in the sig) but now it's back to the queue.

[/ QUOTE ]

*****If anyone else knows the answer to the question found below, feel free to chime in.*****

This is Mrs. Spoon (posting here with Mr. Spoon's permission since our COH account is a shared account), Venture what arc did you Edit and Republish? I have a character going through your arc 4829 and have only completed 2/3 of it three days ago but have not had time to get back to it.

Here is the interesting question: If you Edit and Republish your story while a team or person running solo has only completed say 3 of the 5 missions, does that Edit &amp; Republish kick the players out? Will the players have to start the arc all over again or will they be able to just pick up where they left off?

I have done a key word search to answer this question but no luck yet.

My arc is currently being play tested by a team of 3 (2 friends and hubby) and I am now seeing flaws with the story build under this team play that I did not see before. I REALLY want to edit it now but I don't want to do that if it will prevent them from completing the story arc without starting over again.

I don't know if this is a bug or not, but my Search Fu didn't find it, so....

Feature Name or Description: No way to see contact description in MA.

Operating System (Vista, XP, OS X version): Vista
User Client (Mac, PC, Linux): PC
Server: Any
Zone: Any
Character name: Any
Time:
Location:
Archetype:
Level:
Power:
Badge:
Mission:
Mission Contact:
Mission ID #:
Bug Description: If you make a custom contact in Mission Architect, you can give it a description, but there's no way to view that description in the mission itself. There's no "Ask about this contact" area that I could find.
Link to Forum Discussions:

Might as well sign my wife and I up for the burning light of harsh reality:
My wife's - Arc #59147 "Shades of Betrayal, Acts of Sacrifice".
Mine - Arc #64800 "The Power from Out of Space".

Venture and/or Hell_O_Ween--or anyone else who wants to write a review--my wife and I (same account) would like a once-over on our arcs. Give us the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. We can take it (the PC is new enough that we'll resist punching in the monitor ):

My wife's - Arc #59147 "Shades of Betrayal, Acts of Sacrifice".

Mine - Arc #64800 "The Power from Out of Space".

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

Ashcraft: I already pointed that out in the first edition the other week =P


[/ QUOTE ]

Wait, what?

How did I miss that?

[/ QUOTE ]
Yeah, they linked to the forum thread I started and to your video in particular. But maybe the bit with Discovery Channel finding it could be a follow-up?

[ QUOTE ]
Slightly better quality version.

[/ QUOTE ]
There we go. Well done. I shoulda thought of the Giza for Egyptian Kings!

Anyone watch the Discovery Channel? Lately they've been running this great commercial for itself. I'm thinking that someone, not me since I couldn't make a demo if I tried, could take the song of this video and make a great CoX demo. Here are the lyrics, with some ideas of mine in parentheses. If anyone makes this, I'm dying to see it!

[ QUOTE ]

"It never gets old, does it?"
"Nope."
"It kinda makes you wanna..."
"...Break into song...?"
"Yep."

I love the mountains (show Eden spire or Mount Diable)
I love the clear blue skies
I love big bridges (Independence Port)
I love when great whites fly (Spirit Shark power)
I love the whole world (Atlas)
And all its sights and sounds (panning down to a costume contest)
boom-de-yadda (Nuke)
boom-de-yadda (Nuke)
boom-de-yadda (Nuke)
boom-de-yadda (Nuke)
I love the oceans
I love real dirty things (Vahz in sewers)
I love to go fast (Super Speed)
I love Egyptian kings
I love the whole world
And all its craziness
boom-de-yadda
boom-de-yadda
boom-de-yadda
boom-de-yadda
I love tornadoes (Water Spout)
I love arachnids (all sorts of Arachnos possibilities)
I love hot magma! (Minions of Igneous)
I love the giant squids (Lusca)
I love the whole world
It's such a brilliant place
boom-de-yadda
boom-de-yadda
boom-de-yadda
boom-de-yadda
boom-de-yadda
boom-de-yadda
boom-de-yadda
boom-de-yadda
boom-de-yadda
boom-de-yadda


[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
It's official (as official as my declarations get, which is NOT AT ALL). We have a new leader.

[/ QUOTE ]
Gotta agree. Does everything my and my brother's entry does, only better. Even has a Gloom shot. Really ought to win something, even if only an honorable mention of some kind.

Your friend has quite the gift for over-the-top dialogue. Reminds me of The Tick .

Hate to say it, though, but didn't he miss the submission deadline by four hours?

"I think my organs are melting!"

[ QUOTE ]
Well, I'm officially pissed.
I own a registered copy of Comic Book Creator but I upgraded to Vista so it refuses to work for me. I cannot print it or pubish it to another PDF and it will not upload to the site. It goes through all the motions and then gives a vague error message. I've gotten no responses to my emails to Planetwide.

I'm going to go ahead and mail in an entry regardless giving a link to the comic otherwise hosted. It won't be accepted but its done so to Heck with 'em.

http://www.victors.ca/comics/scar/issue3/index.php

[/ QUOTE ]
It's a bit of work, but you could construct JPGs of the pages and upload them at the hypercomics site. That's what I did for my wife's comic, and it worked well enough.

My wife finally got hers done. The publish from the app timed out, so I had to make jpegs of each page and then upload from the site. A pain, but it worked. Her comic: Betrayal and the Beast

(Edit: Found some graphical bugs after publishing. Re-upped. The link above is to the fixed version.)

[ QUOTE ]
I checked the rules on City of Heroes, and it doesn't mention anything about publication. Is this a benny that hypercomics is tossing in, or something that had to be dropeed as an award at the last minute?

[/ QUOTE ]
I'd expect what's on the CoX sites to be more accurate, but you never know. Then again, aren't they done with making the comics after #18 or #19? Thought I read something like that.

Baba Kanoosh: The shots of the ceiling in the hospital cracked me up! I'm still chuckling over that.

Sciuridae: I got a friend up in Maine who writes horror stories. He's going to love your entry. Wicked humor.