Gromar

Great idea. Making them unlockable may make the idea more appealing to the devs.

What I want to see is something like this:

Choose your enemy:

1) Villain Group or Custom Group
2) Select a costume template for your custom group:

Circle Of Thorns
Hellions
Snakes
Hydra
Bat'zul

---- and so on.
3) Choose your custom group powersets.

Since the powers/hp aren't the same as regular mobs the devs wouldn't have to worry (as much) about farming.

This would allow us to create surprises like a Hellion-like boss guarded by Arachnoid-like demons.

I was on that team of 8. Both the defeat and the mission complete ticket numbers were low. We dropped one large mission because the number of goals were too high and the ticket rewards were so bad.

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Arc Name: The Council Cargo
Arc ID: 36951
Faction: Heroic
Creator Global/Forum Name: @Gromar
Difficulty Level: Low/medium, Range 26 - 31.
Synopsis: A 3 mission story arc dealing with the Council's latest biological subjects. Multiple vilain groups (1 custom)
Estimated Time to Play: 2 Hours
Quick Notes: Level 1/Heroic is fairly easy for ranged/flyers. Level 2/Tenacious can be rough for melee types. I haven't tried other levels or run it with a team yet. One of my sg mates ran it twice and said it was a solid arc but could use some editing. I edited out the few grammar errors. It's been rated twice - both with four stars.
Link to More Details or Feedback: The Council Cargo Notes/Feedback

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Yeah, they shouldn't have badges for just running around and clicking things.

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There are many such "fluff" badges. Check out Badges in Issue 14: Architect "Destructive" or "Virtual Victor" come to mind.

The exploration badge is generic and exists in all sites (Which is bizarre and kind of goes against the spirit of exploration badges).

The 'completion' badge would be (like Inventor) an easy to get and unique souvenir badge.

I've been testing a story arc of mine and have gotten tons of "you've done x of y badges". The "shinies" are nice but pale when compared to one or two key completion/milestone badges - like Inventor - because you have to be obsessive to get them and they all seem to merge together after a while.

I just completed the MA tutorial. It was fun but I was disappointed when the tutorial didn't award a badge on completion like the university tutorial does.

Can we have a MA tutorial completion badge please? It will make it worthwhile doing the tutorial again with our alts -- otherwise people will ignore it.

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We would like to know if you stay out of sync for more than 10 seconds. The server should automatically try to /sync if you're out of sync for that long.

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I don't recall the rubberbanding etc lasting more than 10 seconds. If mapserve is related then the issue is fixed in 10 seconds but comes back repeatedly in a mission or zone.

I have been having some issues in various zones on various characters on Champion. They have been happening a lot in the early mornings (pacific time) 1 - 3 am. /sync seems to help.

I have had a few instances inside missions too. Solo isn't too bad for sync but lately its been an issue.

I also have more mapserver issues.

This next bit may be a different issue but: I have gotten sync issues and then disconnected when opening spam email. The first time was in a mission and the second was while hunting warwolves outdoors in Striga. With the latter I noticed severe rubberbanding just as my email notice turned red. Since I was outside I decided to clean out the spam. As soon as I did I was disconnected from the game.

The Magic Man story arc should award the "trusted with a secret" (Ouroboros Portal) badge.

I have been having fun logging out in all of the weird places and moving my alts when they sit too long. My problem with Day Jobs is that the system is buggy and/or inconsistent.

When you log out in some areas you get the bonus but no badge (Tailor for me) and in others you get a badge but the bonus doesn't show up or is hard to find after you get the badge. I got the Police Chief accolade but no bonus or even an explanation of how to get it.

The Patrol badge is messed up on all of my characters. I am told I have the badge but then it doesn't show up until I log in again (if then).

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I HATE the Patrol XP. I'm sure others enjoy getting it and that's fine for them, but I don't want it at all and I have no way to opt out. There is a new 'No XP' choice, but I was happy with the way the old system worked and I don't like having to change the way I play cause others want to level quicker. There needs to be some way to opt out of Patrol XP. My suggestion would be to change the 'No XP' Option to stop granting Patrol XP as well.

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I would suggest a "No Bonus XP" below the "No XP" option. I want regular xp but the bonus Day Job xp bonuses make the lower levels of the game too hectic.

Objective: I tried to get some BNY badges I missed from last year on one of my tanks. It wouldn't give me the two missing defeat rewards but it gave me Toothbreaker. Also I only got one chance for 5 candy canes others said they got more. So two missions felt "wasted".

Subjective: I only go for Toy Collector on one or two characters at a time because it's a grind. The reason people snap a present and leave the snowmen is that they become useless once you have the defeat badge - giving candy canes as random salvage would get people fighting them instead of leaving them. Using the Rikti/Zombie code - as someone suggested - may be a good idea if it's possible.

This was the second Winter Event for me. Soloing and teaming BNY with new characters was fun but the reward bugs meant 'veteran' characters were less so.

The biggest problem with BNY is that it quickly becomes very repetitious as friends want the badges. Even one new mission from Father Time or the DJ would be a nice change.

One of the mission doors could lead to a skating rink of some sort. As others have said gliding on the lakes is fun!

Subjective:

So far Merits seem okay. I do like the randomness of getting a good recipe after a mission or tf but dislike the SO screen after story arcs. I don't do tf's much so the new system (theoretically) gives me a better chance to get rare recipes without spending millions.

I understand the point about Tf times but liked the fact that Katie was one of the few tfs that most of my friends could participate in and we had a chance a good recipe.

The only thing i hate about the Merit system is that the story arcs now work like tfs. In tfs everything is a bit confusing with only the leader knowing what's going on. When the tf is done the reward screen pops up and then the leader wanders off to see the contact. Everyone else quits and then reads their "souvenir" section to figure out gaps in their perception of the plot.

Things were different in story arcs and if a person hadn't done the arc, or had forgotten it, there was a bit of a mystery at the end. You wouldn't know what happened next until you got back to the contact. You might think you finished but couldn't be sure.
With the new system a bit of the mystery is lost.

Subjective Feedback:

Cimerora Story Arcs:
I completed the hero missions with my level 44 WP/Fire Tank solo on Tenacious. The Ghost Widow arc was tough and I barely made it through. The story isn't enough of a draw for me to try it with other ATs that I know will have a tougher time with her. The arc felt like those impossible mini villain arcs that say "I hate hero x go commit suicide trying to defeat him/her". The ambushes were a surprise and fun twist.

The Malta arc was more fun but not spectacular. I think it is more balanced for various ATs.

I played the villain Cimerora arc solo with a Rad/Dark Corruptor on villainous. It went well but the purple EB at the end was a bit much. Again the story seemed weak.

Midnight Squad arcs:

I haven't played the villain one. I just finished the hero one using a Plant/Storm Controller. I played solo on heroic. I liked the stories and the challenges were fun. Some of the fights were tough but nothing was impossible. The second arc was especially good.

I liked the third arc too but have a minor complaint about the ending. I expected another ambush but for some reason I defeated Hector and nothing happened for about a minute. I was searching for a straggler thinking I had missed someone when warriors popped in around me and just after I won the mission a second group dropped in beside me and killed my character so I hit exit. The finale needs tweaking.

People have commented on the settings used. I have no complaints. It was nice to have ship missions and the "Atta" caverns were a nice change of pace.

I will certainly play the Midnight Squad arcs again.

Server: Champion
Character Name: Mickey Fist
SG/VG Name: The Farstriders
When do you crash: crashed when zoning from Ouroborous to PI. I zoned in from Steel and immediately accessed the transit menu, selected PI and crashed to desktop. Only other time it happened is when the same character tried to open an email while in a mission. Same result a crash to desktop.
Does it affect all characters: no so far
Does it affect only characters in one or more SG's or VG's: just one character so far.