Greyhawke

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I haven't had the oomph to test much lately. Are we still getting errors that don't show up in the real-time checker but prevent you from playing the arcs anyway? I'd mark that inconsistancy in the interface as a glitch in itself, apt to confuse and frustrate people.

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Last time I was on test, yes it still does that. Kind of annoying to not know what's causing it to be broken.

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I usually click "Save and Test" before leaving the MA editor, as this will show you errors that do not appear in the 'Show Errors' box. If the 'Accept' and 'Cancel' buttons show up after you hit "Save and Test" you can go ahead and hit 'Cancel', then "Save and Exit", as your mission is valid and will publish. If the 'Accept' and 'Cancel' buttons do not show up, then there is usually a popup that provides some information as to what may be keeping the arc from being valid.

So, does the HoF actually free up a slot then? Or not that either?

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In the current system, no one can demote someone who is at their same level, and there is no self demotion.


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Positron, was there no way to add self-demotion without putting one person over the others who were happy sharing rank 5?

Was there no way to add the ability to demote another rank 5 by having a majority of the other rank 5s vote to do so?

I understand the issues that the Superleader position was meant to address, but it also causes quite a number of issues as well. Could not solutions have been found that did not cause other problems?

I agree that the backstory is lacking and limiting, and for the most part I am choosing to ignore it as well. Although several arcs have successfully integrated the AE as a part of their story, and I admire them for that.

As for the topic at hand, its a good avenue to explore, and actually goes to the heart of the problem with CoV in general, at least for me. I actually prefer the ATs available red side, but have a very difficult time weaving the backstory of the missions there into the motivations for most of my villains. Yes, just like the AE I can ignore the premise behind many of the redside arcs, I just wish I had to do less ignoring. The MA gives us a good opportunity for that. I think there are some good ideas above, and I hope to see more for implementing arcs for villains that don't stomp all over the backstory of any given character.

However, there may also be merit in making villain arcs for many different motivations, and making the motivation clear in the description so that players may choose arcs that fit their character and skip those that do not.

Ah, the memories!

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You'll be able to see by the placement of the glowies and their labels what that map thinks is front, middle, and back. It's rather simple to change to a different map and Test the same mission to determine the placement parameters for that map.

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Note, this does not work for all maps. There are a few indoor maps that seem to define front, middle, and back differently for objects than they do for critter spawns.

I think

$hisher and $sirmam

are also in now for gender pronouns

I would think the first call of the npc would be quicker, because its pulling it from the piggs, but once it is called, doesn't the pc model stay in the cache? In the demo text example used above, if the pc gets called again it is called by its variable name, not by the entire set of model parameters.

If so, I am thinking that the initial load of the custom npc would be slow, but after that it would not be.

Also, loading a second copy of minion_01 would not be resource intensive either, once you have defined the model in the cache. So you could have 200 of the same custom npc on the map without too much trouble, its only when you tried to pull up 200 different custom models that you would see problems. So, they might consider limiting it to four or five custom npc /types/ per mission, but as many of each type as they would normally allow.

Admittedly, regardless of the tech involved, its not likely that minion customization will be put in for quite a while.

Good question, Michelle. I suspect that they will not cross-publish between European and US servers for normal player published arcs, but I do hope those that become '"hall-of-fame" arcs are cross-published.

Hopefully we can get more official info soon, with closed beta soon to start.

Nice video Michelle, epecially given the limited information we have to work with.

I will say that the paragon journal info was not thrilling in my opinion. Once again they want to take a gameplay mechanic and wrap it in a narrow focused storyline that probably doesn't fit the concept that 95% of the playerbase had in mind. I expect the architect missions I create to be actual missions occuring in our shared universe, not just the superhero version of the Wii. I guess this is just another part of the background I will choose to ignore, just as I did with the powerset proliferation "explaination".

Villain

Arc name: Steal the Outbreak Virus
Contact: Radio
Merits Awarded: 1 (+/- 0)

I think its a great reward! Especially as it makes those characters that I wish to have more than one travel power much more viable. Or, I could grab acrobatics without taking any other leaping.

I like it.

Love the beaver!

Has anyone cobbled together anything that resembles a barstool?

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Compound patrol missions? Or, "a guided tour of that one mission door in Brickstown/those mission doors in Skyway".

(Nevermind, patrols only go to phone boxes.)

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I'm afraid all Architect missions are instanced and not in open zones.

Incidentally that torpedoed one of my ideas as well. A tutorial tour of the unlockable contacts.

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Ack. So we can't have a 'Defeat 25 Sky Raiders in Terra Volta' mission?

Not that those missions are all that fun, but they are very useful for setting the stage of a story. I have to admit that its disheartening not to be able to do things on our end that dev mission designers have been doing for years. I am wondering how entertaining our missions are really going to be able to be, beyond the story elements. Will they appeal at all to those who skim or even skip the story?

Personally, I don't like the thought of the badges being by the character. I would hope they could be account wide, done in a way similar to vet rewards badges that apply to the overall account.

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Ok I'm reading your question as "Who will players see as the writer of that awesome mish? My global name or my toon's name?"

They will see your toon's name as the writer. Now just to keep it clear, the 3 published arc limit is still per account.


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Hmm. So, if I publish from Greyhawke on the Virtue server, with a couple of great missions that everyone loves, and someone else comes along with a mission that's... not so good, with the character name Greyhawke on the Protector server, how does the consumer know which Greyhawke created the mission they see? If they run into a couple of bad or boring missions from this other Greyhawke, they may never even give mine a try thinking it will just be more of the same.

Along the same line, if I publish enough missions with Greyhawke and earn whatever badges are available so I decide to start publishing with my redside badger to get him the badges also, how do my adoring fans know those new missions are from me?

I definitely think it would be much less confusing if the published mission shows the global name rather than the character name, even if the badges themselves are based on the character that published them.

Yep, like the spinny emote, and so want to be a shoe salesman!

Great job on the videos, and the dialogue. The voice acting is great too!

Are these airing on TV? If not, where are they hitting media wise?

And are the credits listed somewhere?

Couple of other questions

(1) I assume that these scale down when exemped as other sets do, but do set bonuses from these remain even when exemping down?

(2) Is any of this information available 'officially' and I just am not looking in the right place?

Ah, this makes much more sense now. Thanks for the info!

Apparently my search fu is weak today. I've been trying to find information on just what the criteria for purple drops is exactly. I recall reading that it only drops for those level 50, although I have heard they will drop for anyone on a team with level 50s, even if they are not 50. Do they only drop from mobs? Any idea just how rare they are?

Anyway, if you can point me to a post with answers, or provide answers here, it would be much appreciated.

Love the forklift!
What are those forks made from?

Awesome!

I know the eyes and mouth animations were added in, but is that talking hand emote available? Dying for that!!!

This may be mentioned above, if so I missed it.

Unlocking maps and such. Will this be a global unlock? If I open a map with one character, will I be able to use that map no matter who I am on? For example, if there is a map only unlockable in a Kheldian arc, I want to be able to use it from the character I plan on getting all of the MA badges on, even though he is not Kheldian.

Are missions published from a character name, or a global name? I hope the latter, as it could get confusing if you have different people publishing from different servers but with the same character name.

MA badges are an issue all their own. I have one main badge heroside, and one redside. Sounds like it will be difficult, if not impossible, to get the MA badges on both.

Now we just have to make sure that when they 'fix' this, they also add in a blank symbol

Which SG symbols do not show on base items? I know there are a few. I am trying to get a clear banner and a clear holo display.

While I don't expect totally customizable LTs and minions, I do wish we could somewhat customize existing mobs.

For example, if we could change the name of the 'Mk I Zenith Warcry' to 'Robby' without otherwise changing its powers or its looks.

Though for looks, it would be nice if we could tint the colors.

Also, there are some missions where normal looking citizens turn out to have powers and you have to fight through them. I hope we have those as possible enemies to place.

And zombies, of course. Zombies are a must have