GlaziusF

The inaugural arc: The Four Treasures of the Tuatha de Danaan (164100). Verdict: ***. Commentary on MA forums thread.

And also a master list:

Death to Disco! (84420). Verdict: ***.
Childhood Horrors (5349). Verdict: ***.
Impossible Kung-Fu Mission (111367). Verdict: ****.
Technology Terror (54535). Verdict: ****.

The Day I Tried to Live (131780). Verdict: ***.
The Night Has a Thousand Eyes (121455). Verdict - *****.

Amazon Avatars (5909). Verdict - ****.
Heroes No More? (36861). Verdict - *****.
Rise of the Drakule (51357). Verdict - ****.

A Voyage Fantastic (81829). Verdict: ***.
A Grave Undertaking (120646). Verdict: **.

Matchstick Women (3369). Verdict: ****.
Becky's Revenge (60197). Verdict: *****
Red Scare (77395). Verdict: ***.

Fighting Freedom (177930). Verdict: ****.
Parts Unknown (78964). Verdict: ***.
Time Loop (137561). Verdict: ****.

Premium Quality Mission (148476). Verdict - ****.
A Glimpse Into Eternity (38604). Verdict - ***.

The Echo (1688). Verdict: ****.
Saving the Haven Children (4102). Verdict: ***.
Idol Hands (141376). Verdict: *****.

Small Fears (12285). Verdict: ***.

Standing Within the Mists (209473). Verdict - ***.
Tale of the Creatures from Another Forbidden Planet! (97983). Verdict - ***.

Trademark Infringement (2220). Verdict - ****.
Looks Can Be Deceiving (137657). Verdict - ****.

Escalation (6143). Verdict - ****.
The Amulet of J'Gara (1709). Verdict - *****.

The Horseman Chronicles I (195149) Verdict - *.

Too Many Bunnygirls! (101165) Verdict - ****.
Through Rose-Tinted Glasses (101681) Verdict - ****.

Return of the Revenge of the Son of Drakule Part 2: First Blood (84543). Verdict - ****.
Dirk's Ravens (43104). Verdict - ****.

Is it live, or is it Memory-X? (70210). Verdict - ***.

Axis and Allies (1379). Verdict - ***.

Trollbane (106553). Verdict: ****.

Have a Blap, Blap, Blappy Day, Kids! (2019). Verdict: ***.
Enter the Father Hat Gang (21391). Verdict: ***.

The History Of Statesman (219484). Verdict - *****.

Tales of Croatoa: A Rose by Any Other Name (178774). Verdict - **.

The Hero Who Loved Me (232417). Verdict - *.

Celebrity Kidnapping (1388). Verdict - ****.
Blood For Roses (161399). Verdict - ***.

The Trifecta Task Force (164681). Verdict - ****.

A Monumental Occasion (249003). Verdict - **.

The Consequences of War, Pt. I (227331). Verdict - ****.

Power Play (187269). Verdict - ****.

The Shadowy Way of Light (221466). Verdict - **.

Simple Times (70801). Verdict - ***.

Freaks, Geeks and Men In Black (161629). Verdict - *****.

The Flower Knight Task Force (260284). Verdict - *****.

Illpracticed Malpractice (246459). Verdict - ***.

The Consequences of War pt 2 (241496). Verdict - ***.

Of Futures Past (254599). Verdict - ****.

Future's End (255895). Verdict - ***.

Teen Phalanx Forever (67335). Verdict - *****.

All Consuming (261148). Verdict - ****.
In Pursuit of Liberty (221702). Verdict - **.

The Sleeping Star (53951). Verdict - ****.

Time's Arrow (2567). Verdict - **.

To Catch a Firebird (105889). Verdict - ***.

All in the Family (128109). Verdict - ****.

Equal Representation (143912). Verdict - *****.

Crossing Over (111352). Verdict - ****.

A Show of Hands (296884). Verdict - ****.

Rider's Ribs Restaurant Rescue (163967). Verdict - ****.

Vienna Rising (286563). Verdict - *.

The Rikti Accession (278757). Verdict - ***.

A rereview of Ctrl-Alt-Reset (137561). Verdict - Still ****.

Redoubt Operations #1: Fires Over Kalago (1297). Verdict - ****.

A re-review of Vienna Rising (286563). Verdict - **.

The Coldest Of Wars (299972). Verdict - ****.

A Twist of Destiny (300379). Verdict - ***.

Why We Fight (253990). Verdict - ***.

A re-review of Matchstick Women (3369). Verdict - still ****.

Redoubt Operations II: Wrath of the Imperium (269283) . Verdict: ****.

The Quantum League (286562). Verdict - **.

The Doom That Came To Paragon City (28540). Verdict - ***

Papers and Paychecks (298290). Verdict - *****.

Splintered Shields (253991). Verdict - ****.

My Will (136438). Verdict - **.

The March of the Maniac Mimes (3007). Verdict - *.

Psychophage (283197). Verdict - ****.

Second Generation Hero (114256). Verdict - *.

Of Mentors and Legacy (1589). Verdict - ****.

The Dreams Of Youth (286607). Verdict - ***.

A re-review of The Coldest of Wars (299972). Verdict - *****.

Bad Day in Building F (324124). Verdict - **.

Tainted Waters (69315). Verdict - *.
The Alliance (32661). Verdict - **.
Leaving Crey (301947). Verdict - ****.

Might Makes Right: The One With Tin Hats (5213). Verdict - ***.

The Most Important Thing (266877). Verdict - *.

The Fight Of Angels (329420). Verdict - *.

Glory of Moment (328789). Verdict - **.

Shadow of the Dragoness, Part 1 (319165). Verdict - ***.

The Long Road Back (338602). Verdict - **.

Darken the Light: the Westin Phipps Strike Force (319423). Verdict - **.

Very Bad Girls (286566). Verdict - **.

Shadow of the Dragoness, Part II (319167). Verdict - **.

Heroine Hit List: Shadow Spider's Strike Force (337900). Verdict - **.

Captain Skylark Shadowfancy and the Tomorrownauts of Today! (337333) Verdict - ****.

A Spanner In The Works, Part I (336662). Verdict - **.
Talos Vice (338380). Verdict - *****.

Whack-A-Mole, Halloween Edition (2711). Verdict - ****.

Signal:Noise (341194). Verdict - ****.

A Spanner in the Works, Part II (336665). Verdict - **.

The Tragic Tale of the Clockwork Queen (25451). Verdict - **.

A re-review of Illpracticed Malpractice (246459). Verdict - ****.

Apples of Contention (3184). Verdict - *.

How to Survive a Robot Uprising (12669). Verdict - ***.

Catching Lightning in a Bottle (60639). Verdict - ***.

Through a Portal, Darkly (287046). Note new arc ID. Verdict - ***.

To Hell And Back (43610). Verdict - *.
The Fall Of Rapture (299507). Verdict - **.

Superhero Downtime (135096). Verdict - ****.

Carmina Rouge (43697). Verdict - ***.

Mistaken Identity (349473). Verdict - ****.

In the Darkness Creeping (347709). Verdict - **.

An Arachnos Slumber Party (335317). Verdict - ****.

The Tangled Weave (338575). Verdict - ***.

Time's Shadow (371445). Verdict - ***.

To Dream of Nothing (374644). Verdict - ***.

A Taste For Evil (349034). Verdict - ****.

The Golden Scepter (9852). Verdict - ***.

The Skein of Fate (22740). Verdict - **.

Spanks for the Memories (21144). Verdict - **.

Three (382760). Verdict - **.

The Hammer and Sickle of Paragon City (351727). Verdict - ****.

War Against the Undying One (91044). Verdict - ***.

Fear and Loathing on Striga Isle (350522). Verdict - *****.

Time and Time Again (365851). Verdict - ***.

Threefold Rule (197183). Verdict - ***.

The Christmas We Get (356477). Verdict - ***.

MirrorsrorriM (251306). Verdict - **.

No Good Deed Goes Unrewarded (155312). Verdict - *****.

Drakule Armageddon 5: This Time, It's Personal (257242). Verdict - ***.

A re-review of The Skein of Fate (22740). Verdict - ***.

A re-review of Challenge of the Dwarves (91044). Verdict - ****.

Getting to Know Oneself (41625). Verdict - ***.

Lab Group 1 (65610). Verdict - **.

The Greater Good (350877). Verdict - **.

Holding Down the Fort (379065). Verdict - *****.

Drawing on the South (98754). Verdict - ***.

Chapter and Verse (26065). Verdict - **.

A rereview of The Consequences of War (227331). Verdict - ***.

A rerereview of Matchstick Women (3369). Verdict - ****.

It Starts In Atlas (381565). Verdict - **.

The Labors of Rustam I: The Cold and The Dark (54293). Verdict - ***.

Made to Wave the Flag (384776). Verdict - *****.

Suppression (374481). Verdict - ***.

Salvage Rights (366579). Verdict - ****.

Drakule vs. The Werewolf Bikers from Hell! (340316). Verdict - ***.

A rereview of The Casualties of War (241496). Verdict - ****.

Dhahabu Kingdom and the Indelible Curse of Hate (367872). Verdict - ****.

The Labors of Rustam II: Rustam and Sohrab (59243). Verdict - **.

Tis Nobler in the Mind (257226). Verdict - ***.

The Labors of Rustam III: The Longest Day (78130). Verdict - **.

Twisted Knives (397769). Verdict - **.

A Scandal in Paragon City (392334). Verdict - ***.

Galactic Protectorate - 01 (47143). Verdict - **.

Unveiled Shadows (422173). Verdict - **.

The Galactic Protectorate - 02 (117281). Verdict - ***.

Tales of Cimerora: Of Feathers and Fur (12647). Verdict - ***.

Until the End of the World (431270). Verdict - ****.

Galactic Protectorate - 03 (174352), Verdict - **.

Evolve Or Die (411446)., Verdict - *****.

The Soul Hunter (294431). Verdict - ****.

The Greater Good (vigilante version) (395861). Verdict - ****.

Tales of Cimerora: From Tartarus with Love (292389). Verdict - ***.

Galactic Protectorate - 04 (269714). Verdict - ***.

The Tannhauser Gate (96322). Verdict - ****.

Galactic Protectorate - 05 (304290). Verdict - **.

A Clone Of Your Own? (453091). Verdict - ***.

When Madness Reigns Over Reason (452196). Verdict - ***.

Who Dares Wins (454805). Verdict - *****.

Papers and Paychecks (298290). Verdict - *****.

A rereview of Blood for Roses (161399). Verdict - ***.

Blood, Sweat, Toil, and Tears (15447). Verdict - ****.

The Sinister Song (454892). Verdict - **.

30 Minute Hero (386310). Verdict - ***.

The Icari (458576). Verdict - ***.

To Reign In Hell (448234). Verdict - ****.

Dhahabu Kingdom and the Unfathomable Nightmare of Sand (453511). Verdict - ****.

A Falling Angel (133390). Verdict - ***.

Cadence (466154). Verdict - **.

Kali's Scythe (445456). Verdict - ****.

TotTSM: EE (360243). Verdict - *.

The Wretch's Gift (1008). Verdict - ****.

Dyne of the Times (6600). Verdict - ***.

Warrior's Three (64855). Verdict - ***.

Unbearable Funk (3573). Verdict - ***.

Assault on Aru Prime (174586). Verdict - ***.

Pest Control (397624 + 397625). Verdict - **.

Quoth the Raven (74617). Verdict - ***.

Project Parallel (316325). Verdict - ***(*).

The Spoiler's Building Code Caper (249899). Verdict - *.

Red Typhoon (4912). Verdict - **.

Die Macula Die! (10619). Verdict - *.

Marketing Opportunity (83747). Verdict - ***.

My BFF Frostfire (122711). Verdict - **.

Black As Midnight (482914). Verdict - **.

Cole in Your Stocking (474611). Verdict - ****.

Name Recognition (1976). Verdict - ***.

Johnny Sonata and the Hitmen (1001). Verdict - **.

A Tex-Mex Mess (127677). Verdict - ***.

Verminator's Fancy Plans (379787). Verdict - **.

Return of the Threefold King (163274). Verdict - ***.

Valkyrian Task Force: Talon’s Grasp (315541). Verdict - **.

Blitzkrieg (3416). Verdict - *****.

The Golden Age Secret of the Paragon Society (344596). Verdict - *****.

Forged by the Heart (1355). Verdict - ***.

Origin of the Mad Mummy (439265). Verdict - **.

The Blue Devils (468738). Verdict - *****.

Attack of the Angry Tarot (81701). Verdict - **.

The Cracked Mirror (159922). Verdict - ***.

Fine Literature (136522). Verdict - ****.

Legacy of the White Rose (181358). Verdict - **.

Out of the Gutters (68054). Verdict - ****.

What Is An Imeco? (part 1) (27140). Verdict - *.

To Aid the Future (59436). Verdict - ***.

Invasion On Earth BX1132! (98943). Verdict - ****.

Sidekicks Can Be A Pain In The Cape (28430). Verdict - ***.

Faerie Gold (95553). Verdict - ***.

Fusionette Incarnate (497003). Verdict - ***.

The Fractured Dreamer (498588). Verdict - ***.

A rereview of Black As Midnight (482914). Verdict - **.

An Uncivil War: Preclude (415877). Verdict - *****.

An Epic Tale: Clown Capers (501562). Verdict - ***.

Krusaders Adventures (475115). Verdict - ***.

In Search of Lost Time (44588). Verdict - ***.

Praetoria: The Coming Storm (169598). Verdict - ***.

Love's Labors Lost (242292). Verdict - **.

To End All Wars (65963). Verdict - ****.

For the People (530574). Verdict - ****.

Nuclear in 90 - The Fusionette Task Force (58363). Verdict - ****.

Entrusted with the Other Secret (120462). Verdict - ***.

A Hero In Need Is A Friend Indeed (375018).Verdict - *****.

Effrego Quartus Parietis (45525). Verdict - ***.

A rereview of Small Fears (12285). Verdict - ***.

Astoria in D Minor (41565). Verdict - *****.

So You Want To Be A Skull (319654). Verdict - ****.

Being Devoured (112023). Verdict - ****.

Save the Diver, Save the World (112023). Verdict - ***.

Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend (114284). Verdict - ****.

The Serpent Beyond The Horizon (515140). Verdict - ***.

A rereview of The Fractured Dreamer (498588) Verdict - ****.

Arena (456200) Verdict - ***.

Rularularian (529832) Verdict - ****.

The Murders in the RWZ Morgue (452144) Verdict - ****.

Condemning Croatoa. (245534) Verdict - ****.

@GlaziusF.

Playing on a low-40s DB/fire brute, on diff 2, since Mission Engineer ain't gonna earn itself.

---

Hey, Monty! How are things with your BFF Imperious?

The Midnight Club is under attack. Again. Maybe this is why you kept your secret society secret, amirite?

I do not much like the Midnight Club map. There is about enough space to stretch out.

Nice inclusion of two lesser-seen hero mystic allies, but Mr Mystery there rages up and one-shots them with Footstomp. There's really nowhere to run to here, but blessedly all it takes is a little scratch before he's out the door in a thoroughly credible escape.

Hmm. Okay, the parchment's a little ambiguous. Maybe give it some minor detail identifying it as being from the Midnight Squad. "Embossed with the swords-and-moon seal of the Midnight Squad", perhaps? Also it doesn't necessarily follow he was after what the parchment describes - there are a whole ton of random books around the Midnight Squad HQ and maybe he got away with some of them instead. Maybe say he's marked it up a little?

---

Loot Item 1 - a cauldron of super-healing. I guess the Circle have been using it to marinate the green crystals.

Arachnos in Oranbega. Why are there Arachnos in Oranbega?

No, seriously. A patrol or something would help answer this.

Ah, a battle. ...you should know that battles can start without heroes present, so any battle dialogue that assumes the player's presence is just kinda off.

Hmm. Yes, that isn't what I was expecting from the cauldron. I head back to the entrance to take out the agent.

Ah, a custom villain. Probably a mastermind from the descriptions. Couple little things: he's got a "sudden" when he should have a "suddenly", and there should probably be a colon or an emdash (--) in front of that giant "whether" list of origins, since it's a dependent clause for the previous sentence.

...yeah. Lieutenants and above can perma-apply deceive, and this guy can stack it through a single break free. This fight just became about whether I have enough BFs to double-stack and put out the damage needed to take him down.

And the answer going into the mission was "hell no". Time to stock up....oh, he's illusion/mind control so he has the super-accurate in addition to the long-lasting confuse. That's just wonderful.

His buddies are extremely sensible with their powers, but Dr. "Do you like my garden? It's made of POISON!" Rappaccini isn't the big name that Hyde and Long John are, and could stand with a little more description.

...um, Baron Zoria? Zoria was an ignorant nobleman. Maybe the dude in Zoria's body said that, but the Circle wouldn't call him Zoria. "a prophecy from the days of Baron Zoria" might work. Or just faceroll for a Circle name, they seem disposed to Xs.

Still, nice to know they'll be standing down. ...but if Montague knew about this prophecy, why didn't HE say something? To me? In case some Circle tried to ventilate me?

---

Ah, Solais. You tore through the future of Dracula's castle inside an eclipse like a holy gatling blade. I'll remember our time together fondly.

ROBOTS (jaegers) INTERROGATING ROBOTS (zeniths)! (not that you planned this, but.)

Man, you know what's great? An open-world map with Nemesis snipers on every corner. And by "great" I mean "how much chain aggro can one man endure"?

Know what else is great? Trying to escort someone through essentially-randomly-appearing clouds of Nemesis gas shot by snipers that triggers severe avoidance behavior.

Know what ELSE is great? Trying to figure out where to stand in an outdoor map for the escort to count.

Either make this a Crey lab under crazy simultaneous invasion or turn the mission into "find ally" with a triggered, say, boss fight on rescue.

---

Okay, Arachnos agents picked something up. That works, that's the kind of thing they do, and I get to come out in Aeon University Square and go break things.

Oh, a teleport link. That works.

Geez, it's Mr. I Can Confuse You Twice again. Okay, down again - oh, a new literary figure. Hmm. Moriarity really needs to be using the old-school flintlocks to pistol with.

Treasure grabbed, just one Fiend between me and daylight. Pity I wasted most of my insps on Confuse Boy. Ah well, round 2 he goes down.

So... I guess this guy like made a copy of the thing he dropped so he had the Midnight Squad's intel to sell to other people?

---

...um. If the stone of destiny cries out when the next ruler of Ireland touches it, what terrible thing can this guy do to it? I mean, if it declares him as king then he's supposed to be king anyway, and if he's not it won't work.

I mean, one of the most prominent legends about it is Cu Chulainn being pissed it wouldn't recognize his protege and smashing the hell out of it, as you do.

Ah well, this is where the railroad lets off, so.

...why am I expecting to see Mr. Rogers in a bloodstained sweater? Ah well, it'll pass.

Okay, so I'm apparently destined for Ireland. Um. Alright. I guess? I hope this is, like, short-term punch-the-guy-in-the-next-room destiny.

William isn't pleased about it. He seems to have a very loose grasp on the idea of destiny in the first place, though. (and once again he pretty much OHKs the help with a rage footstomp) I decide to forgo my usual strategy (hide and wait) and just eat like four oranges and purples off the get-go, then rushdown.

I have to question Montague's conclusions here. We've learned pretty much jack about the Red Caps since they only featured in about half the arc and not as really major players. I mean, my explanation of the whole thing is: William de Wossname had a Red Cap familiar, and when he walked out of the fairy mists he found the guy was a big boss of the red caps (not THE big boss) and so he had an army of tiny men.

I don't see any of the big plans or contingencies that Montague alludes to here.

---

Storyline - ***. There's just too much I'm apparently missing out on - the presence at all of some nefarious scheme besides "find stone, be king" chief among them. Also, if this guy dropped the Midnight Squad's intel, what did he sell to the other factions? Also also, exactly how was he planning to use the one artifact that was not a tool but apparently had a mind of its own?

Design - ****. The custom enemies (mostly literary figures) look nice and generally have sound thematic powers, the only sore spot being ill/mind guy. I'd want a little more chatter in the Oranbega mission by the Arachnos, other than that one fight going on.

Gameplay - **. Fights with ill/mind guy devolve into "break frees = win, no break frees = wait to die". The main AV (EB for me) takes out my supposed help in one shot and without popping inspirations like they're addictive I don't fare much better. And then there was the part where I escorted somebody through city streets full of Nemesis snipers that shoot +1 Clouds of Extreme Ally Avoidance.

Detail - ****. Aside from that modest request for another line in Rappaccini's description, there's nothing really missing here, and the errors are few and far between, certainly not glaring.

Overall - ***. A competently constructed and debugged mission brought down by a storyline with a lot of open questions, and some rather frustrating missions and fights.

Okay, so this thread is going to serve to aggregate the stuff I play based on finding it on www.cohmissionreview.com (CoHMR). If you've read this post before, please take the time to read it again carefully, as some options have recently changed.

Here's how you get in on this:

1) Decide if you'd like a rating on a finished arc or feedback on an arc still in development.

To get a rating on a finished arc:

2) (optional) Start a thread in the forums about your arc.
3) Post your arc on CoHMR.
4) Once your arc shows up on CoHMR (it may take a little time) post in this thread telling me you want a review. Just the arc ID or "the arc in my sig" is fine.
5) Wait!
6) [optional] If you've been waiting a while -- like, a week a while -- contact the site admin per the site FAQ here. Missions need a human to push a button before they show up, and unlike computers humans do many other things than maintain a website.

To get feedback on an arc still in development:

2) Post the arc ID in this thread, along with whether you'd like your feedback public or private.
3) Wait! And if you're looking for a star rating, prepare to be disappointed - I'll offer feedback in the relevant areas, but I only rate things when they're done. If you'd like you can ask for a rating when you've finished things up.

Here's what I do:

1) (mostly) every night, choose one arc randomly from the extant ones in this thread. Fridays are generally right out.
2) Play the arc and write down stream-of-consciousness commentary. If you want a particular AT playing it I'll be happy to oblige, as long as it's not an epic. I don't have any very high up epic characters yet.
2a) Stream-of-consciousness means I write down anything I consider significant. I may go back and flesh it out, I may leave it lie. Since most of this is intended for the author I will generally not go into detail about the plot of the mission or the specific circumstances. It seems a bit silly to me to tell you about your own arc.
3) Post the commentary on CoHMR, and in your thread if you have one or in this thread if you don't.
4) Pick random arcs from CoHMR and repeat, to fill out the night. Any arc with no noted forum thread gets posted in this one.
5) Create a summary post linking to the CoHMR entries for the missions I played. Any random arc I've already rated will just go in the summary with the rating.

Here's how I rate:

I can't get a team together who'll put up with me taking notes, so I run alone. I'll run your arc with a level-appropriate character, at a difficulty where I find a comfortable challenge in arbitrary paper or tip missions, including the bank run or merit mission. I can't guarantee this will always be a fair judge for arc difficulty or pacing but it should come close.

I read everything. EVERYTHING. Contact text including bug text; HUD mission summary and objectives; clues; descriptions of bosses, custom enemies, and destroyable/defendable objects; interaction text, including interruption, with glowies; souvenirs. I play any arc not explicitly noted as being for teams, since I can't get together a team who'll put up with me wanting to click everything, read everything, and take notes.

The ratings come some time after the stream of consciousness stops. I try to grade "for a B average". Think of 4 stars as "good, but doesn't really grab me". Most of the time this is because of some incidental imperfection, but sometimes it just happens. It's entirely possible that I can rate an arc 4 stars but have no idea how to improve things. I don't believe it's happened yet, but it's possible.

Regardless of star rating, your arc gets voted 5 in-game. The "real" rating will show up both in this thread and on CoHMR, but I'm of the opinion that the problems of one little reviewer don't amount to a hill o' beans in this crazy world, so I may as well be generous.

CoHMR breaks a mission down into four components: Storyline, Design, Gameplay, and Detail. Really there aren't any hard boundaries between the four, but some pairs are more tightly coupled than others. I'll try to keep comments, explanations of the ratings, and similar things restricted to an appropriate section, but no promises. Here's how I break 'em down.

Storyline/Detail - How interested does the contact dialogue and other text get me in seeing things through to the end? How well do I buy the story the mission's trying to sell?

Storyline - The overall shape of the story and the ideas therein. Can I see an overall shape? Do the parts work well together or do they conflict with one another? With game canon as a whole, assuming they set themselves up in the game world? I can be interested in simple things and complex ones, and I'll try to give a fair shake to twisty plots and unconventional methods of storytelling. But if your story's trying to be hard to hold on to, it had better try hard to make me want to hold on.

Detail - When I look at something, do I see what I expect? And if I don't see what I expect, does that mean something? Do briefings and debriefings address what I did in the mission? Are custom enemies and other targetable objects described appropriately? Do clues make sense? If the story is trying to establish a tone, do the briefings and dialogues agree with it or not? And I'll say it again: if I don't see what I expect, does that mean something?

Storyline/Detail Interaction - Generally, storyline and detail track with each other. Good ideas presented poorly are harder to understand. Bad ideas presented well can have some of their faults forgiven. Storyline and detail will generally share a rating. When storyline is higher than detail, the ideas presented in the storyline were for the most part engaging but something about the presentation prevented me from getting fully involved. When detail is higher than storyline, the ideas were presented well but they just didn't work together.

Design/Gameplay - How much does my experience inside the Mission Architect keep me interested in playing? How well does what I actually did match up with what I was supposed to be doing?

Design - How well does what I see and do match up with what the storyline is telling me I'm seeing and doing? Do I have to destroy something the story tells me to protect? Can I buy that the environment is what the story says it is? Do I believe the enemies I'm fighting are what the story says they are? I'm willing to forgive the limitations of the Architect, but it's still on the shoulders of every author to do what they can despite the limitations. If there are large factions of custom enemies, how well can I tell them apart from one another? Do they all look and act (powers-wise) like what they're described to be? Using the tools of the Mission Architect to put more features in a mission than just the required goals can go a long way toward making a mission feel like what you want it to feel like, rather than an empty box full of objectives.

Gameplay - This is a combination of frustration and disappointment, or rather, avoiding both of them. Do I spend a lot of time running back from the hospital because the custom enemies wrecked me, or staring at a wall waiting for Elude or a similar power to wear off? Do I have to hunt around a map for many empty minutes trying to find the things I need to do to complete the mission? Contrarily, do I get all fired up to go carve a swath of destruction through an enemy base or overland area in search of something, only to find it right in the first room/in plain sight of the entrance?

Design/Gameplay Interaction - These two features also tend to track well with each other, but more often gameplay will end up higher than design, just because CoH is fun to play all on its own. In the rare cases where it doesn't, it's likely because the mission's objectives made sense considering the storyline but actually accomplishing them was like headbutting a brick wall.

Overall - Usually this ends up around the average of all four components. But in some cases, especially when the rating for one component or pair is unusually low, they don't all contribute equally to my overall impression of the mission.

[ QUOTE ]
So more of an iridescent bronze-y look. Gotcha. Thanks!

On a related note, I can't find any evidence on whether or not gold will decay or discolor. I don't suppose anyone else knows...?

[/ QUOTE ]

Gold doesn't react with oxygen and is non-reactive in general, so anything made of gold will still be just as shiny as the century it was forgotten about.

[ QUOTE ]
I've added some discoloring to the Centurions; hopefully that's what tarnished silver looks like.

[/ QUOTE ]

Before After tarnish removal.

It's brownish-black.

[ QUOTE ]
Unfortunately the "random" button on test only gives you one random arc, not a page of them. So you have to keep clicking it until you get something that sounds vaguely interesting, rather than having a whole page to look at.

[/ QUOTE ]

Really, I think 5 random arcs would be fine. 5 is a good number for people to scan quickly.

[ QUOTE ]
I would honestly like for the DEFAULT search to be randomized somewhat. Have maybe three randomly chosen Dev's Choice arcs at the top of the first few pages, two or three Hall of Fame arcs when we get some, thereby still showcasing those arcs but not to the exclusion of all others, and the rest be completely random until you click on a "sort by" button.

[/ QUOTE ]

Just one page. Nothing like we have now where it potentially spits back everything when you open the architect. But that distribution sounds good.

Maybe have an option in account settings or something where you can switch up what shows on your "architect front page". Random arcs updated today, random unrated arcs, stuff like that.

And since they'll be folding comment display into the arcs, maybe have an option for the arc author to pick 3-5 short player comments?

[ QUOTE ]
Ok this isnt a complaint at anyone or any group of players or anything like that, so dont take it anyway personally but...

I have been playing CoX in the EU for many a year now, moved over to the USA servers due to low populations in the EU and was really getting into the game again - a lot of fun to be had..

Then MA comes along and the farming that many knew would happen.

[/ QUOTE ]

So in all the time playing EU, you never learned how to use the search tool to find people?

Have a look for it in the guides forum.

But if you do know how to use the search tool, here are some quick tips.

1) Sound excited. Ideally, BE excited, but sound excited.
2) Have a plan.
3) Communicate with your team.

People will usually be happy to play with someone enthusiastic who has a clear direction and keeps them in the loop, barring gross differences in playstyle.

Also, check your server board for global channels.

I realize that's more effort than broadcasting LFT in Atlas and hoping, but it's not much effort overall.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
YouGiveCCIGiveInf Man, level 1 and fresh off his 6,342nd account being banned for spamming, wouldn't be able to create such a blaster.



[/ QUOTE ]

Walks to peregrine island.

Starts spamming LFF.

If he knows anyone in the game.

/t @random_pwr_lvlr, hook me up bro

[/ QUOTE ]

So there's a cartel providing the giant financial outlay needed to get a blaster to softcap ranged defenses with IO set bonuses?

And he doesn't "know anybody" in the game. That's the point. He's being played by somebody who can't speak or understand English and is just following a paper script.

[ QUOTE ]
"You know it when you see it"

Thats what I keep seeing on the boards, its pretty much their position with the moral compass and reckless driving analogies.

I must be stupid because I really can't tell.

We had ranged weapons added to every group in MA because hoverblasting mobs that couldn't hit back was aberrant play.
I'd call that sensible play. The same way taking a melee character into mobs that have lots of mezzing attacks is a sensible play. The mezzes really cant affect the melee character and they are wasted attacks.

So the Hovering Blaster hitting at mobs with no ranged attacks was a bug that was fixed.

So taking this blaster into that same map would now be what smart play or abusive play?

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/

[u]Click this DataLink to open the build![u]

It has a softcapped range defense and for all intents an purposes the mobs mulling below at the aggro cap wouldn't be able to do anything to it. Whatever damage did get through could be easily countered with a couple of oranges and picking mobs that had cold based ranged attacks.

There is essentially zero risk for this with virtually unlimited reward. In my terms, I still have no idea what the devs ideas are . It can also achieve its rewards quickly and efficiently. So in terms of rewards per unit time its also very good.

Is it just smart play or not as the developers intended ? I have no damn Idea.

Can you tell?

[/ QUOTE ]

Sure I can.

YouGiveCCIGiveInf Man, level 1 and fresh off his 6,342nd account being banned for spamming, wouldn't be able to create such a blaster.

Whereas he'd be able to make a generic hover-blaster in no time.

What people call "farming" is more properly called "reward-focused play". Actual "farming" is done either by automated tools or people following precise scripts who may as well be automated tools.

And there's your mark. Can your strategy be mimicked by an otherwise clueless fresh account?

@GlaziusF

Live feedback from a low 40s DB/Fire brute on diff 2. Mission Engineer ain't gonna earn itself!

---

Liking the contact. He's appropriately English as a Second Language, and very evocative.

The first mission is alright, if a bit silent... couple interface weirdnesses. First, I get a boss out of freaking nowhere after I finish freeing the ally, which wouldn't be so bad except there's also a patrol there.

Second, the ally flies. Which means she can occasionally get stuck in the ground when she decides to stop flying. Kind of a pain in an escort scenario.

---

Hmm. It'd be nice to get a hint about the CoT in the spiel from the previous mission. It seems kind of odd for them to be operating halfway across the globe.

And now to go where anybody in Paragon City goes to get arcane books - stealing them from the Circle of Thorns!

Hmm. Glowie hunts in Oranbega are always kinda a pain. Maybe put the librarian there from the start? It is kinda nice for him to show up after I check all the shelves acting all surprised, but I'd been all over the map by then and had to head off in search of him.

Eh, not much I'd change here really? But even small Oranbega can still be annoying Oranbega.

---

Oh boy, the Midnighter Club is under attack.

I'm sorry that I can't get up much enthusiasm for it, but it is such a very little map with such a very little number of enemies.

Oh! Well, so much for sealing them before they wake up.

The look is pretty nice, but I think given that the Immunes actually have to do damage now you can tone the empathy back a bit.

The knife-throw makes a pretty nice replacement for the spear, even if you can't have predicted that when you made these guys.

Also, Heather says she knows what they're after when I rescue her, but I don't get a clue from her.

Hmm. If the copper guys are verdigrised, the silver guys should be pretty tarnished. Not sure if I got a good look there...

---

Ah, but now I get a chance in full daylight! Okay, okay.

Yeah, the silver guys are definitely not as tarnished as the copper guys are verdigrised.

Do some of them have perception boosts or is it just the close grouping of dudes in this mission that's getting all this chain aggro?

Also the ally is a wreckin' machine. Not that I mind, with all the chain aggro?

---

Okay, now to the remote cave.

Dr. Dave looks pretty spiffy in his new gear.

Heather's just a bit dorky-looking, but then she's a sidekick.

I find one vortex in a side chamber and the last 6 in the end room. Kinda off-kilter there.

Hmm. How DO I know how to disable these things? Do I just snap off the tips?

Huh. I get only a second of warning about the upcoming boss fight when I spot a ritual taking place on the narrow side of a blind corner. Not where I was expecting him.

Oh. It's Moment. And he looks like Scirocco because....? I was expecting like a Romulus model or something, since he was faking being a commander.

Still, these guys are perfect for Malta. A silent, unquestioning army capable of stomping on metahumans? Sign them up.

---

I would have liked a little difference in the descriptions for the copper minions, but that's minor. Everything else I think I've noted down under the missions - someone who says they know something but don't give a clue, a glowie hunt in Oranbega...

Ah right. Those silver guys liked to stay at range. Pretty annoying given they sap at range and the one mission where they show up in real force there's a very real danger of chain aggro when you close.

Overall nothing that takes it under a 5, though.

@GlaziusF

Dropping some feedback here, from a low 40s DB/fire brute (on diff 2), because Mission Engineer still ain't gonna earn itself.

---

Hmm. A law firm? Maybe Mynx should say something about it being a front for document storage or something.

That patrol dialogue about guarding vs. killing the lawyers seems a bit bloodthirsty, even for Crey. Maybe just have the response be some confused muttering and then "we need to check in with $AGENT_NAME_HERE", who is in the last room as an optional boss.

The actual thing I'm looking for is down on the third floor in a little side alcove, which is kind of odd. Where were you trying to put it?

It's not exactly stumbling onto something big if I was following orders to go after it, but whatever catnips your mouse, Mynx.

---

Mystery ship! Precious cargo! It has to be... CANDY CORN VAMPIRES!

The patrols are intended to be lightly comedic, but I don't really see why there's this "tension" one of them alludes to. I mean, child slavery is relatively low on the Crey scale of terrible secrets.

(Also, where'd they nab him from? Not Paragon, otherwise they wouldn't need to throw him on a ship to get him here.)

Mynx should probably put "shipment" in quotes.

---

Woo! Time to break stuff FOR JUSTICE!

And I get a tiny wrecking crew. Okay. Looks like Crey are doing enhancement ops here and creating a bunch of teenagers with attitude. Alternate Paragon Protector thing, maybe?

It doesn't exactly feel right to have a couple of kids in lab coats going up against dudes in power armor, but I guess this is how the genre goes.

---

Visiting a psychic subject to experimental enhancements when she's trying to recover from crazy bodily trauma. This won't be weird at all.

Oh. Carnies. Not the weird I was expecting.

It seems the princess is in another castle, and the Carnies want to use her as a giant psychic firehose.

But... where IS she? It doesn't seem like grilling the raid leader is going to get any more information given that they came up empty searching too.

---

Ah, when in doubt, follow the hideous psychic trail of destruction.

Man, Mynx called in the big guns.

But I gotta take issue with Numina here. Vanessa's also everywhere, that's how the masks work.

Still, having a local superior isn't entirely unreasonable, and along with the gang of MIND CRUSHERS she goes down. Reasonable powerset all-told.

And then the boom. Mynx finds out through other sources that this was all part of a suicide bomb mutant project on the part of Crey.

---

Well, the law firm and the cargo ship were a little uneven but things picked up after that -- but that's kinda the problem. Josie Dreamtime's powers going nuts kinda play the job of coda to the whole thing about Crey's experimentation, (3 missions about Crey, 2 about her) but that's not how important her role in this whole thing is.

I'd suggest cutting the first mission entirely, kicking the arc off with the cargo ship, and putting an interstitial between the current missions 4 and 5 about going into a Crey lab and finding out what Josie is and what she might be up to, maybe under the umbrella of finding the frequency for the tracking device implanted in her. Because there's always a tracking device.

@GlaziusF

Live feedback from a low 40s DB/Fire brute on diff 2. Mission Engineer ain't gonna earn itself.

Played this once in beta, eager to see the changes.

---

Heh. Is this what happens when you get trapped in an infinite jail cell loop and log off? Some other hero shows up and bails you out?

Anyway, the custom boss was custom interesting - I guess grav/emp was just too much of a pain to mow down the minions with? Anyway, good fight, kinda startled me a bit because for some reason I'd forgotten to turn on my armors (Circle are apparently just that easy)

Hmm. Is that the Midnighter- no, just one of the alternatives. A Latin-speaking Peacebringer? Or a scholar? Eh, I have the feeling this is a minor character. Nice touch with the Voids though.

Wow. Both the people I went into a Circle den to rescue are still alive? Chalk this one up for the record books.

(But why's Venture got a techno-restraint field? It makes sense for the Peacebringer but the Circle couldn't create something like that.)

---

Ah, the poor doomed Legacy Chain. They get outflanked by mystic adversaries hiring mad scientists with robot armies... at least, that's how it always seems to shake out in the Rogue Isles.

Oh, haha, that patrol dialogue. Best way to take out the Legacy Chain ever - just create a drought of the mystic books they keep in short supply and let greed take its course.

Hmm. The Circle have whacked this guy upside the head one too many times. his description thinks he's Ken Kellerman!

The mental/pain guy is a lot more of a challenge. Maybe because he's got the busted version of psy shockwave?

---

Okay. So now it's a mop-up operation from the previous job - grab the stolen stuff. Can do.

The system message on defeating the Ruin guy says I found some of his notes, but I've got no clue.

The Arch-Tellus is nicely rendered. (Shouldn't he be an Arch-Ember though, with the fire cages?)

I clear out the portal room looking for the glowie and then backtrack to find it tucked away in one of the nonillion tiny little alcoves dotting Oranbega. Maybe you could just roll the papers in with the boss's notes?

---

Hmm. Some ancient mages who fled the Circle rather than buy into demon pacting. Okay. But if they're so much of an afterthought, how and why did this super-elite group of mages find them in the first place?

Ah, that's how. Interesting idea, but...

Hmm.

Okay, if Cinoval is convinced this sympathetic sacrifice won't work, why does Azuria seem to think it will when I tag back to her?

(Also, showing fanatics that their ideas are patently false tends to lead to deluded fanatics, not reform.)

---

And yet he's gone to do it anyway.

Well, I guess this is more to throw 14 millennia of regrets on the fire, but still, what's he going to change?

Yep. Three out of four Redeemers are in violent, violent denial. Time to fight violence with violence! (works a lot better than fire v. fire believe you me.)

Hmm. I wonder if Azuria should be so chummy with Akarist, given that Cirnoval's diaries paint him as the head pitchman for the whole "slaughter the Mu" pact.

---

Okay, the customs were pretty nice, good thematic fights without being overpowering (with the possible exception of that psi assault guy), and the detail is high-quality as high-usual.

But it does seem like Azuria isn't reading the same clues I am when I tap back for my debriefing, which is a little disorienting.

[ QUOTE ]

<ul type="square">[*]Mission 3: The first ambush caught me off-guard, sneaking up unnanounced from behind. I was prepared for subsequent ambushes, but the first one surprised nonetheless.[*]Mission 5: The final boss is a heavy hitter. For a Boss, at least. My poor Blaster couldn’t withstand what I assume was Total Focus. I don’t imagine there’s anything that can be done about it, though.[/list]
[/ QUOTE ]

Unfortunately I can't do anything about either of these... yet. Energy Manip bosses get total focus on standard, and the ambushes from defendable objects never make a sound, such as it is.

[ QUOTE ]

Character used: Raikou Shingai, Level 24 Electric Melee/Dark Armor Stalker
Difficulty: Tenacious (Diff 2)
Level for Arc Playthrough: 24


[/ QUOTE ]

In my experience, Stalkers are much stronger against single powerful targets than multiple weak ones. I think you might have had an easier time of things on diff 3.

[ QUOTE ]
After the mission was over I figured out that this was all a setup, that Wyvernn had been paid to detain her so that I could beat them up.

[/ QUOTE ]

It's kind of interesting how every reviewer comes up with their own conspiracy based on what's going on in the first mission. I didn't intend any of it, but the Rogue Isles are steeped in intrigue.

[ QUOTE ]
Of the required objectives there are three test subjects to rescue, and the first one that I came across was a Rikti. A short time after freeing him I got a surprise ambush. No speech at all, they just arrived out of nowhere. Very annoying for a Stalker when you're already in the middle of a battle.

However, upon freeing the 2nd Test Subject I realized what had happened. When this one ran off, he went past a group and got attacked despite fleeing and not fighting back. Somehow this sent aggro back in my direction. Apparently these are not Captive Details but Allies set to run.

[/ QUOTE ]

No, they're captives. I just checked.

Not that I'm saying they wouldn't get attacked, but they're all set up as captives.

[ QUOTE ]
However, apparently the Defendables that I saved to have silent ambushes. I ran into such a team on my way back out of one room. After that I left the rest of the optional defendables alone.

[/ QUOTE ]

Unfortunately I can't do anything about that. Defendable objects always spawn an ambush when you attack the guards and currently there's no way to give the ambushes any text.

[ QUOTE ]
The glowies in this mission are a bit odd. Treasure chests instead of safes, and the one that triggered the arrival of the Ring Mistress (Duchess Benezzia) at the front door was a mystic portal for reasons that I don't understand.

Apparently the Duchess was trying to raid the hotel and embarass the Comte Bravura somehow. I still don't get why this was going on and didn't find out any of this until after defeating the Duchess.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, the last glowie's a safe now.

As for why the Carnies are in a foreign country throwing a "party" and brainwashing people... well, they're Carnies. That's how they get their jollies.

Also, they really are Italian nobles.

[ QUOTE ]
While it is a good arc for the most part and rather creative I only give it four stars for a few reasons. First there is the level range issue, it may seem spiteful but it really annoys me when level jumps occur for no good story reason. If the arc is designed to be played between the levels of 20-30, make sure that every mission is like that. There is also a lack of a upper cap in some missions, so if I had been playing a 50 I'd be bouncing all over the range.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, no. If you were a 50 you'd be 30 for the first 2 missions and 50 for the last 3. I really think that the level 30-40 carnies they put into CoV are good marks for a 20-30 villain who's been SKed up.

[ QUOTE ]
Ambushes need to have dialog to announce that they are coming.

[/ QUOTE ]

Every ambush that can have dialogue does have dialogue. I hope they introduce the ability to put dialogue on the ambushes for defendable objects sometime.

[ QUOTE ]
Hmm. The Streghe really need pumps, not sneakers. Chucks don't go too well with their businesslike attire.

They've learned it's best to wear sensible shoes on the job.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ah, found what I was looking for in the character editor. "Slip On 1", the shoe that goes with the kung fu outfit. Goes well with business casual and kicking dudes in the face.

[ QUOTE ]
But that souvie tanked my opinion of the arc, because what it boiled down to when I read it was "You couldn't do anything. Aren't you glad the NPC did it for you?"

And no. No, I'm not.

I knew that was a possible reaction. So far you're the only one to express it.

The player does do quite a bit in the story. You rescue innocents from harm's way in Act I, contain a mob war in Act II, rescue Nicki and Darrin in Act III, busted a Family Don in Act IV and put an archvillain in the Zig in Act V (however briefly, of course). If you hadn't rescued the lovebirds in Act III, the story would have ended there, most likely with them and Leo dead after he finally faced the music with his father.

I could have written Act V to trigger Nicki and Darrin as captive rescues after Diablo faceplants, and then had the mission end Clue narrate the player and the kids accepting Diablo's offer to fake their deaths. That would have meant powerposing the player in an ethical decision, which to me is a far worse sin than having an NPC provide the happy ending. I can see a lot of character types who would have problems going along with that.

End of the day, it's an artistic decision that's going to work for some people and not work for others. If you're in the latter camp, I respect your preference, but we disagree.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, the thing is, as far as I could understand, the seed of this whole affair was the Nicki/Darrin/Leo thing. While that was still up in the air the violence was going to escalate until somebody went nuclear and perhaps even after.

So even if I was saving people, metaphorically speaking I ran around evacuating the city while somebody else fought Galactus.

And I have a hard time figuring out what kind of hero would look askance on getting a couple of innocent people out of harm's way and stopping a blood feud running riot in the streets at the same time.

Maybe slip Nicki's dad the key to a safe deposit box to open in two years or something.

[ QUOTE ]
If I'm going to use a Rikti character I'll use a Rikti model for it, not throw a human into a rubber suit and hope the player doesn't see the zipper.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, the whole reason I said that is because I've seen some pretty convincing "player Rikti"... though unfortunately I never took screenshots.

Live feedback from a low 40s DB/Fire brute, getting exed down for this but the point is Mission Engineer, not ding gratz.

(oddly this isn't up on CoHMR unlike "Blowback")

---

Hmm. That's an odd order of priorities for Bishop. He's jumping around in scope a bit, now -&gt; history -&gt; speculation -&gt; now again.

"You heard of the Bianchis and Polettis? Two mob families who've been at each other's throats for a while now. When they go at it in private we set up a cordon and mop up the stragglers, but they've really ramped up the violence lately. Right now there's a shootout happening in civilian office space, and I need you to go in and get the innocents out of the line of fire before we drop the hammer on 'em."

Something like that. Set up the history, talk about usual practice, mention the new violence, introduce the current example.

Hmm. The Streghe really need pumps, not sneakers. Chucks don't go too well with their businesslike attire.

Fights start up long before heroes show, so any fight dialogue that talks about heroic intervention is kinda out of place. Weirdly enough one of them starts near Rollo and afterwards he and his escort stand around the surviving Bianchis like it ain't no thing.

Not sure how to work the fight so that the right side ends up aligned with Rollo, though.

Oh dear. Two hostage spawns with a Bianchi boss hiding off in the corner of the same room. This won't go well.

So this looks like the part of superadine that gives you tremendous strength vs. the part of superadine that lets you see other dimensions. Power-wise, at least.

---

The street battles are pretty hectic. Had to laugh at some Red Ink Men just slipping into a group of Family and carving them up. Yeah, that's who really owns the streets in Paragon.

But because of the hecticity, pretty much every boss fight triggered early. You might want to reword your mobster dialogue so it's not talking about heroes when the actual heroes are on the opposite side of a skyscraper.

The little backstories behind the nicknames are amusing.

And... interesting. Well, this is what happens when old-school meets new sensibilities.

---

Same little nits with the third mission. Battles start and bosses are triggered early because of all the in-fighting. I've got no problem taking the lovebirds in but I wonder what the brass are going to say about this whole thing.

Yeah, pretty much what I figured.

I"m not exactly convinced they wouldn't accept protective custody, though, on the face of it? Maybe have Bishop say something like "they'd be open to protective custody, but given how hot tempers are right now that'd be more of a life sentence". Because I can't see a way out from here where they'd stop being targets before the end of their respective natural lives.

---

You know, you'd figure as progressive as Bianchi is, he'd ask his little girl what she had going on before agreeing to this marraige thing.

He seems to be pretty chill about how things have shaken out so far, though.

Ah, okay. Nicia had her secrets, I can buy that. But it looks like someone's decided to go nuclear.

---

And the bomb hits. Well, we know what happens when somebody starts arson around in Paragon City, don't we?

I'm a little afraid of what I'll find in this building, honestly.

Heh. Thanks for the description on the Bianchi boss. Yeah, I can understand the dude. Still gotta sword him, though. ...and he should probably say something more than "he's ours". Like, "where were you when this was all happening, huh?"

Ah, Freakshow. If you need a stand-in, just promise them a good time.

...bah. I'm too late. Again.

But ouch. Looks like modernity gave old man Poletti an axehandle to the junk there.

---

Usually I don't say anything about the souvenir. Not a lot of people do a lot with it.

But that souvie tanked my opinion of the arc, because what it boiled down to when I read it was "You couldn't do anything. Aren't you glad the NPC did it for you?"

And no. No, I'm not.

Maybe this is just me playing as a villain, but I really want to play this arc from the point of view of the "nuclear option" guy. His life sounds way more interesting than always showing up too late to matter.

[ QUOTE ]

I think it's "nip it in the bud", not "snip", though.

Believe it or not, "nip" is filtered. You can say "frigging", which is a sexual reference, but not "nip". Evidently the profanity filter was calibrated by the Taliban...on crack.


[/ QUOTE ]

Oh. Then can I suggest "cut 'em off at the ankles"?

[ QUOTE ]
It'd be kinda funny if he quoted the "official Longbow position" on matters Vanguard and then proceeded to nutpunch it, but that's just gravy.

I'm pretty sure that he did.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, no, he says he's not supposed to like them. There's got to be something a little more overblown than that going around.

Then again there could very well be flyers hanging up in Longbow breakrooms captioned "Vanguard: You're Not Supposed To Like Them".

[ QUOTE ]
You know, you'd think someone would object on the grounds of: working with the Rikti brings another multinational paramilitary organization (to wit, Vanguard) in direct conflict with Malta.

Had Crimson not picked up the scent, the Rikti would have been in and out and Vanguard would have been left scratching their heads wondering how it happened with no idea Malta had ever been involved. I would imagine that with Crimson's intel, they'd come up with a modification to the War Walls to keep anyone from using this trick again.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah. And thinking on it, I think Borea actually gives you the occasional mission to sweep Malta off the overworld in RWZ. So no love lost there.

[ QUOTE ]
...or Ja'Dar could have put on his big boy pants. That works too. What is that, the Herodotus model?

Yep. I would rather have used an Elite Boss version of a Chief Soldier -- one AV would have been enough -- but there isn't one. I didn't want to have him climb into a Heavy Assault Suit or make him a Magus.

[/ QUOTE ]

I guess broadsword/energy blast (or just an armor type) with some creative design wouldn't work either?

It's live feedback from a level 40 DB/fire brute. because even with the changes we wants our Mission Engineer now, precious.

---

Haha, yeah, that's our Crimson. "Malta. Take 'em."

I think it's "nip it in the bud", not "snip", though.

Clickables are all in the back. Is that to facilitate ghosting?

Conversations are pretty amusing, though I wonder if the Malta dress down to go places or if you've just got five guys in skintight bodysuits and tech harness lounging at a sports bar.

I guess it's a little more acceptable in the Rogue Isles but they're persona non grata there, too.

Hmm. Yeah, Crimson is technically a Longbow operative, isn't he? That doesn't exactly come up too often.

It'd be kinda funny if he quoted the "official Longbow position" on matters Vanguard and then proceeded to nutpunch it, but that's just gravy.

---

Jesus. War Wall disruptors?

...I guess Director 13 was just being a petulant child when he sent the Kronos Titan over to tantrum on the walls if they could just have turned them off.

I wonder if they're helping the Rikti or just using them as cover for an op, but either way that's still cold.

...whoa. Yeah, they are actually working with Rikti.

Either that or they're just twisting the knife into another conscript.

I mean, I don't want to go IT IS ALL A DIRECTORATE PLOT here but there are very few things a global conspiratorial organization cannot plausibly be doing.

With Guardian buffs on her she was rather tough to hit and the boosted damage and attack speed wrecked me the first go.

I do rather dislike this map, there's actually a sizable enough section over the edge of the fence that a boss can spawn there. It's not immediately obvious that you should go town there, but that's not something I'd expect you to address.

A Vanguard patrol actually sprung one of the civvies, which makes me wonder why Crimson told me to get them out of there. Maybe "yeah, Vanguard can fight the Rikti. They'd also rather do PR than avoid collateral damage."

Malta are using the Rikti as an interdimensional hit squad. For the lovva monkey.

---

Hmm. Okay. One more thing occurs to me in re the invasion of the caves - she's snapped and gone rogue. Malta's a big believe in psycho pressure so I don't see too many hardlocked cranial-bomb-type safeguards.

Crimson, credibly, wants to spring her from Malta control. He's done that before, no?

...there was a control implant here. But it's gone now. This isn't going to end well.

Or... maybe... not? Apparently this is all on the level, as level as it gets.

---

Okay. Somebody has objections to using the ALIEN INVADERS SWORN TO DESTROY HUMANITY as dumbfire weapons, and they're having a good old capitalist argument by throwing armies at each other.

Okay, that's a masterstroke iceburn completion clue. Sweet Christmas.

You know, you'd think someone would object on the grounds of: working with the Rikti brings another multinational paramilitary organization (to wit, Vanguard) in direct conflict with Malta.

But 6-3 feels like My First Steps At Freedom. Seriously, guy, "no better than the supers"? Really, he seems too naive to be a Malta commander.

Interesting use of the biotitan components, not much gets done with that.

---

And now, the denouement. (That's French for "when the villain gets it".) 6-3 has gone to ground, and he should know better than that. Don't Stop Moving, right?

This is gonna be ugly.

It's good to see a tip off to the warehouse.

I find 2-0 outside. For all his posturing he seems to be just a normal gunslinger. Crimson was really warning... I guess 6-3 is just going to be fighting with a strength born from desperation or something.

...or Ja'Dar could have put on his big boy pants. That works too. What is that, the Herodotus model?

Heh. 6-3 is in fact fighting with the strength of desperation. He jumps me from a catwalk as two patrols with sappers converge on my destination. This is what rise of the phoenix is made for. (I really hate malta patrols, there's ALWAYS a sapper in, just like the normal mission spawns used to be.)

I do wonder if fly is counter-productive on him, though. Can he summon his robots while he's flying? It doesn't seem so. After I phoenixed I was able to pull off and mow down his bot squad and he never resummoned while I was jumpslashing him.

---

In the end though there's nothing that really bugs me enough to downstar. I wonder if it was even the Rikti that did it, if there are just people in Malta who retreat into a little paranoid shell and start randomly sabotaging things until they get silenced.

These are, after all, guys who get outflanked by Nemesis, which suggests a certain lack of self-assessment.

[ QUOTE ]
It only really bothers me, when Im testing a arc. Because I want a friend to proofread everything, and he cant since its not published.
So I have to actually publish it, let him proofread it, then go back and edit.

[/ QUOTE ]

Start test arc.

Invite your friend.

Leave the team.

(optional) Get your friend to invite you back.

Now he can proofread.

[ QUOTE ]
I'm just... sick of all the drama surrounding MA.

[/ QUOTE ]

You feel bad, therefore the thing that makes you feel bad should go away.

Perhaps into some sort of cornfield?

[ QUOTE ]

Er... actually there's no mention of a robot. The Family have asked and paid the Council to create something else, which you already know by now.


[/ QUOTE ]

Well, yeah. But how many things do you hard-code to make sure they don't attack you?

Must have been all the pistons in my ear.

[ QUOTE ]
Um... eh? What? O.o I think you may be missing something, the chance for a cure. The contact didn't leave her to join you so that he could just beat up the bad guy. He came with you because of the clue, that there might be a chance for a cure that might save her. It's not to go break things or punch some guy (although of course he'd love to beat the guy that did it, he was angry of course). He couldn't just sit there and do nothing, if there's a chance that he might be able to save her. So try and save her he did.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, here's the thing. This is Paragon City. You can stick your head out the hospital window, yell "HEY! Some jackass mutated my mom and he's got the only cure! HAVE SOME MAPS!" and then throw out a sheaf of paper. 1/4th of the citizenry will glance around furtively and head off to someplace the camera can't see, and you'll need to ring up the FAA to handle all the air traffic.

That's the easy part. Anybody can go punch a dude and grab a vial of stuff, the police put out APBs for that all the dang time.

The hard part is sitting up with your mom while she's dying, and you're the only person who can do that.

Now, this isn't to say that I don't understand his reasons. But I hope you understand mine.

[ QUOTE ]
Well, thanks again for the review! I am a little curious though, if you don't mind, I didn't catch the ticket message when you finished my arc. What was you final verdict on my arc, your rating I mean?

[/ QUOTE ]

4, largely because of the aforementioned feeling that I might as well just have stayed at home and ate chips for all the good it did. However you want to explain things, that's the impression that I got.

This is a high 30s DB/fire brute, putting on his hero pants (made from real heroes!) because Mission Engineer ain't gonna earn itself. Live feedback begins... now!

---

Okay, so a hero wants to be in two places at once and instead of risking traveling through the fifth dimension and coming out as an evil mirror clone, he asks me to go ask a Family guy some questions. WITH MY SWORDS.

So let's do that. Though I wonder exactly what this Family guy knows that'll help locate her.

I'll just slap her photo on a sword with some gluestick and say "DOES THIS LOOK FAMILIAR" every time I whack him. He should get the hint.

Exchange Banks are tiny maps, so this guy should be cake to find.

Well, the Family nabbed her. Okay. And Johnny In Fine Dick Tracy Tradition My Last Name Is The Color Of Everything I Wear here was trying to do a little extracurricular dirt-gathering. Let's break into the bank ourselves, FOR JUSTICE, and see what comes out. (he's a nice powerset mix, barely distinguishable from an actual Underboss. Keen gear.)

...aw hell. She's one of those scientists who discovers the cure for all known illnesses then gets silenced by Big Pharma. This can't end well.

---

Another scenario where there's two places and I head for one of them. Alright. I guess since we're working with time pressure here this needs to get done priority alpha.

Hmm. Okay, so it sounds like the Council built a robot for the Family, and the Family, according to this computer and my own wild guesses, gave up a scientist who developed a cure for warwolfin'? Makes sense. Ms. Arkahn isn't going to like that, Yogi.

...and she's a believer in poetic justice and/or irony and/or total prickishness. Well, since there aren't any more glowies left, it was nice knowing you, doc. Hope you wake up in the Zig.

...aw, she doesn't go all WHAT HAVE I BECOME when she offs a hero. That's just poor deathbeast etiquette. Rise of the Phoenix, this one's yours.

Oh, so I did just knock her out then? Fair enough. Though honestly I'm amazed she's alive, given how many Council troops just die of zombie space cancer when they try to fuse.

---

Huh. So she is suffering from zombie space cancer, and the cure is actually property of Mr. Albino Glasses. It wasn't about her cure for warwolfin' after all? Kinda odd. Council wouldn't do that to a scientist just for giggles, they kidnap 'em and make 'em work on like death machines or doom viruses or something.

Man, this contact guy'd make a good villain. "My mom-analogue is in the hospital --&gt; TIME TO BREAK THINGS." Instead of, y'know, sitting up with her or something because I've handled things okay so far.

It smells like malevolence in here. I guess malevolence smells a lot like mold.

Hey, it's that guy who gave me that mission! He's a lieut though, and that plus his boosted perception means he almost gets shredded on the way to the boss. And because of the melee range bug just kinda stands back and watches me have at it. Not that I blame him, a splash from thunderstrike knocks him halfway across the room.

So, wait, this entire thing was just an attempt by this guy to prove what a humongous jerk he was? Dude needs some knife-twisting lessons. Like, there actually is a cure but you drink it or break it right in front of the guy. Or maybe it is water but you don't let on. C'mon now, that's like showing people the marks on your cards.

Pff, and now he's congratulating himself because he didn't let his emotions overwhelm him at the crucial moment. Dudebro, let me spell this out for you: instead of being there for the most important person in your life when she was dying, you went off to punch some guy in the junk. But hey, don't let me stop you from telling yourself you did the right thing.

---

It's a quick arc, quicker than the mission count suggests. There's some good use of patrol dialogue to set the stage and provide a little interstitial plot, because the contact believably has no clue what's really going on here.

Despite the acerbity I don't really expect the contact or his furry mom to act much differently. I'm not expecting her to think straight with a tiny bit of space crustacean inside her screaming for blood, and the contact is a great portrayal of someone who's layering justifications on after the fact, i.e. a normal human being.

This'd make an interesting revamp if they ever allow for branching arcs, if the boss in the second mission tries to run at low health. Or maybe put the final mission on some crazy small timer and give the player a chance to pull off a feat of MegaSmithian story impact.

Because as it is, this is my main problem with the arc: what I'm seeing here is something that I couldn't have changed. I was basically a passenger on the train Mr. White Shades was driving, and not even an important one at that. If I hadn't been around he would have made sure my contact followed the right leads just so he could twist the knife at the end.

'sup thou to thee? High-30s DB/fire brute in search of mission engineer. Running on diff 2 to see the bosses. Enjoy my Live Feedback Surprise! (yes, we do actually put live feedback inside! our customers find it VERY surprising!)

---

Hmm. Maestro needs to throw down a little more setup than he does before I accept the mission. I mean, I have no idea where this is going on or how he knows about it... and the Goldbrickers don't sound like "a new company". There are weathered vintage-lookin' ads for Gold Bricker chocolate all over the lowbie isles.

These are new Brickers. And running on diff 2 means I get like four sonic siphons stacked on me at all times.

Weirdly enough I didn't encounter any SS-type brickers. Are those only bosses? The "sonic punches" feature prominently in the normal bricker line, is why I ask.

So tell me, are these your favorite chocos, or have you just been playing entirely too much Chocolatier?

Also, pumpkins are too fruits. They've got seeds in.

Maestro- "And don't bother me with this botanical nonsense on how they're technically fruits. To the chefs of the world, they are vegetables!

"No! I will hear no more of it. The last person to be so unromantically pedantic was rewarded with 'O Fortuna' in full voice. I believe two of his bones survived. Moving on."

---

And moving on... it's everyone's favorite corporate criminals, Crey! Oh joy. Up to nefarious nuttiness, no doubt.

Ah, there's an SS bricker. But good lord, with his "I am my own -res field focus" power, plus sonic siphon, plus liquefy, the SS just shredded me.

I only get one special lieut mixed in with the Crey in the second mission. Kinda odd finding that one guy when there's this giant squad of custom Brickers.

---

Mind control chocolate. Of course! Crey Corporation: if it can't enslave, we won't deprave.

Or something like that.

Anyway, I finally see another special minion - maybe you should just use your customs and a random Crey spawner or something, it'd work them in more often... at least I think it would. If that's what you're using already, I dunno what to tell you other than "make more customs". You can scale back some on the Bricker side, they only stick around for one mission anyway and it's not like the original brickers have more than three models.

And the endboss is Clayface. EXCEPT DELICIOUS. Which I can get behind.

---

So, finale. About all I'd ding it for is imbalance in the customs - Brickers get a ton when they don't need it, Crey get only a few who as a conserquence almost never show up. Lighthearted little piece, though for some reason it didn't make me crave chocolate. I guess it'll be a while until they let you taste things over the Internet though, so that's hardly the author's fault.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
It takes an investment in time and inf to get all the salvage and recipes you need to unlock the accolade.

[/ QUOTE ]
Exactly, and it isn't global so why should another accolade which is even more useful be?

[/ QUOTE ]

Because it's more useful. And because it's entirely possible to have other characters who you only test missions with. Getting enough plays and rates for the ticket/arcs played badge is the hard part. Putting any new lowbie through 45 minutes of arguably exploitative zoning isn't hard, just tedious.