Escher

I think one thing that is being overlooked is the following possibility:

Yes, you may switch sides, but ONLY WITH CHARACTERS CREATED WITH THE NEW RELEASE. Sorry about the caps, but it just seems like opening too many cans of worms if they were to allow fully tricked out fifties to switch sides at launch.

I expect that this will be very similar to the CoV initial launch - there may be a small handful of zones that allow interaction between Praetoria and Paragon, but other than that, existing characters and Praetorian characters will be in two separate worlds.

-Esch

Late to the thread, but I already gave ya a Birthday Bug Huggle via Ventrillo...

HBD again!
-Esch

Ah, what the heck...

/e throws his arc on the heap...

36984 - V'kta A'cha Vox'm.

Disclaimer: Yes, the NPC contact is my main character and is an active participant in the arc (though by no means essential to its completion) Yes, there is a custom group - but there is also a reason for them to be there.

Hope you enjoy it.

-Escher

I also enjoyed running the "Precious Cargo" arc. Very well done. Yes, the EB at the end was... a pain, but I'm a stone tanker so I'm used to taking half an hour to beat things.

[ QUOTE ]
Arc 36984: "V'Kta A'Cha Vox'm"
Rating: 4/5

Notes: Why can't Onus rescue his own friend? "Safe zone in Orenbenga" seems like a contradiction in terms to me but oh well. Targeting drone on the ally means his aggro range is approximately 8 maps wide. You can forget any idea you might have had about engaging a single spawn at a time. Glue arrow lasts for an eternity when an Lt fires it. Is it really necessary to set the AV on extreme so it gets Unstoppable? Is this elite boss ally set on extreme? He has build up and most of his sheilds. Why am I even fighting? My Ally is one-shotting everything.

Overall: This arc was cruising for a 5 until mission 4. Setting an AV/EB up to extreme is not something to be done lightly. Then on mission 5 your allies could easily solo the entire mission. Some of the regular mobs were using powers that should be more carefully considered like Glue Arrow, but that wasn't a dealbreaker for the solo scrapper. The storyline was good.

[/ QUOTE ]


First, thanks for the honest feedback. Onus can't rescue his own friend because he's been warned that Crey is collecting Vox'm DNA and he doesn't want to risk giving them more samples. I need to make this clearer from the start - as it is, the player isn't given this reason till later in the arc so it doesn't make sense. I will be toning down the allies and taking Unstoppable off of the EB. I wasn't aware of just how sucky it is to fight Onus till I tried it with ... well Onus. I'll tone down the allies as well. Agent five is the right level for mission four as you are fighting two EBs at least (though I really wish there was a way to scale the ally ability). Having Onus be on extreme in the last mission is probably overkill. Having the Princess be extreme was a mistake on my part.

Part of the reason I had set the allies up so high was to be able to check the behavior of them and the rest of the AI while not having to worry about being killed by my own creations - in other words they were set up so "I" could solo the map. Will revise as soon as I can get home to do it. This is exactly the kind of feedback I needed, thanks again.

-Esch

Arc Name: V'kta A'cha Vox'm
Arc ID: 36984
Creator Global: @escher
Estimated Time to Play: 45-70 minutes (5 missions) It will take longer on a larger team / difficulty setting.
Morality: neutral
Level Range: 44-50

Might as well throw myself out here - I'm in need of some well thought out criticism of this before I attempt to do another one. I don't want to give any spoilers away with my description, but I will at least let you know in advance that there are no defeat alls, two escorts, and the main enemy groups are Rikti, Crey, and... well, you'll just have to play it now.

With the help of seven VERY patient folks, I stress tested "V'kta A'cha Vox'm" at level 5 with a full team of eight.

And promptly watched my custom group team wipe us over and over.

Based on that, I've toned down the bugs a bit as it was simply too much to give them access to some of the more... well, super kill you powers they had.

And with that, I've made all the tweaks I'm planning, so I offer up arc 36984 for your perusal / criticism / enjoyment in whichever order you choose.

I also wanted to take this opportunity to say that "What the VuDu?" is an example of a well written / well balanced arc that is also fun to play. I have pointed it out to a few who have run my arc and asked me for recommendations for "not too long, but not too easy" arcs.

-Escher

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
MA did eliminate one of my biggest complaints. Travel is now basically zero.

[/ QUOTE ]

True, but I won't be happy until they have a trainer, enhancement store, and WW/BM in every AE building... preferably all within clicking distance.

[/ QUOTE ]

Screw that! I want a drop down menu where the current Menu is with the following choices:

ICON
Vangaurd Base
Midnighter's club
WW
Crafting table

Just... all of it right there, I want to zone into Atlas Pa... NO! Not even that, I want to zone into the AE Building FIRST! That's right, ALL new toons just right into AE... you never leave the building - EVAR!

Yeah... that sounds... boring.

As I had originally designed it, Arc #36984 had one defeat all mission that made perfect sense in the context of the arc. After testing it out, I decided that the map I wanted to use was WAY too big for a defeat all, so I put in two boss encounters instead at the back of the map. Changed the description to "Defeat as many as you can" or something like that but made it clear that you didn't have to defeat ALL of them. I agree, defeat alls are one of the most annoying and time wasting mission types there is - it's almost as if the Author (be it player or Dev) is saying "Here, waste your time with this filler mission while I think about weather or not I'm gonna give you something FUN to do next mission."

That said, I wouldn't automatically rate an arc down if it contained a reasonable defeat all (small map, good story reason), but I'd be considering it.

-Escher

Bug Hugs to ya Chrys...

[ QUOTE ]
Arc ID 36974: V'kta A'cha Vox'm
Rating: 5/5
Notes: My biggest complaint was supposedly fixed. Note to all - if you want your NPC allies to follow you around, don't give them Earth Armor: Rooted where they may spawn in a ditch.
Overall: Really enjoyable story that fits well in the CoH universe.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thank you Jack! Also, to note, I have as Jack mentioned addressed the issue about Onus Vox as an ally slapping rooted on as soon as you rescue him - he is now an Invul/Stone tank... which makes it VERY hard for me to beat him with the "original" Onus Vox.

Would love to hear how others feel about this arc - I have received very helpful criticism from Jack and others and am trying to polish it up the best I can.

Thanks,
Robert "Escher"

What I think might be happening with that is that if someone is on your arc WHILE you are actively editing it, the changes you make to the arc won't go "live" until that person finishes the arc... I think?

Certainly, they won't change "on the fly"... but MAN that would be AWESOME.

"Heh, think the arc is too easy? Here, have a couple hundred Knives of Artemis to play with!"

-Esch

Ex, it was a pleasure to meet you at Seattle PAX last year... take care down the whirley road and in the words of Dr. Kleiner "Best Wishes in your future endeavors".

-Robert "Escher"

Well, I suppose you're right Arcana, we'd need to have at least five results in each category to do a proper Chi-square analysis of equal distribution of ratings per rating category...

Arc Name: V'kta A'cha Vox'm
Arc ID: 36974 I think... look for it under my global for now.
Faction: Neutral, may change it to hero
Creator Global/Forum Name: @Escher
Difficulty Level: Intended to be on the hard side.
Synopsis: The Vox'm clan of A'dn was nearly destroyed by the Rikti, only a few remain. Now Duke Onus Vox and his allies have a plan to restore thier family - if the Rikti don't finish their extermination.
Estimated Time to Play: Designed to be about one hour.
Link to More Details or Feedback: Enjoy!

-Escher

[ QUOTE ]
I just (successfully) published my first arc:

Arc Name: Saul Rubenstien's Discount Task Force
Arc ID: 17935
Creator: @Ascendant
Alignment: Heroic
Difficulty Level: Easy to moderate.

Synopsis: Friends, do you want action, adventure, danger, and maybe a little romance, but don't want to pay for "Name Brand" Task Forces run by pricey heroes like Positron or Statesman? Then, come visit me, Saul Rubenstien, and I'll put you and any of your friends in a brand new Task Force for only $19.99!

Number of Missions: 4

Length: You can probably do it in under an hour, especially if you have a team.


[/ QUOTE ]

And this TF was the most fun I've had in game for a long while. I won't spoil it for anyone, but I definitely "LOL'd" when reading through it. OH, again, no spoilers, but Make sure you read all the text - Big A definitely put some work into this. Can't wait for the sequel...

[ QUOTE ]
The dwarfs were cutting right through me, not sure why. The Alpha was managable, the slows were finally catching up after a bit and could not get my heal off in time. Don't remember them being that bad, and I got 40% slow resist now so I am not sure what was going on.

The romans are easy to manage, I just was off my game until later on. At least the AVs went smooth, I dont think any of them dented me.

I take full blame for that run.

[/ QUOTE ]

I hope Calash hasn't suffered any long term dammage from Andr'ka pushing the fallout button on his dead tush over and over?

Also, is it a bad thing that I got all six heal badges during that TF on my RAD defedner?

On the off chance that there is something to this... and because all of the Vox'm would take any opportunity to smack down the Rikti:

Star Strider Forces Registry
Name: Onus Vox
Global Contact: @escher
Level of Classification: 50
Origin: Science
SG: Intrepid Warriors, no idea

Ya know what? Rather than everyone posting their Star Strider registration, would someone care to explain the details of this event?

Different issue: Was running the Eden trial last night when during the kill 200 DE, a Zombie invasion occurred in Eden. BAM! NO other mobs were on the map. Nothing. No nemesis, no crey and most worriesome for us who had to kill 131 more of them... NO Devouring Earth. Is that a bug or WAI?

-Escher

It was nice to see such a large group of CoH players. Clearly, the game is still loved by many.

That said, it was a bit overwhelming in terms of number of folks there so I kind of ducked out early. Did get to say hi to BaBs and Ex. I couldn't find the others... heh...

And yeah, PNW get togethers have been done in the past, Londerwost, Serrate, Anachro and myself seem to be the main culprits. Blue Steel has shown up as well, and I know there are many from other servers that do their own get togethers as well.

-Esch

Signed up today. Will see you all at GB.

IGNORING THE SILLY DRAMA OF THE THREAD...

I will be at whatever Meet and Greet there is unless something happens and Seattle like... blows up or something.

-Da Big Bug

As far as I know I auditioned with only one of you, but I've received PMs from both of you regarding the audition I did. Not quite sure how that works unless you recorded it... hehe... I'm just looking forward to getting started! This is gonna be a blast!

-Robert Escher

All good now. the big bug looks absolutely redonkulous in his white tux and tails...