MrCaptainMan
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Posts
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Joined
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Ultimo Girl sounds perfect for The Audition (arc ID in my Sig). If she played it, she'd get to Save the World at least twice, possibly even three times depending on how you view mission 3. Its 6 missions long, split over 2 slots.
Eco -
I'm always pleased when someone plays The Audition, but i dont know what your max play number for this is. The IDs in my sig. Its 6 missions long.
Eco -
Thanks for being so gracious about my criticism.
You're right, it's very difficult to please everyone. I'm probably on the 'easy' side of the easy/challenging fence lol. I dont mind a hard fight, I'd say, as long as it's doable (which is also really difficult for a MAuthor to ensure for all ATs), but Mezzes in general get on my wick.
The antics of tge Allies were quite funny, i guess, with some calming distance now between me and the arc. Running up to Fern Fatale, Brawl, aha, my arch enemy, The blue conning Rubble! - lol
Eco -
Qr - that needless apostrophe in your title is Pedant Baiting, you know.
eco -
Sure, I've just had a quick look at the CoW thread and i'd be happy to review it. I think I'd like to take the Accelerated Man in, he's a lvl 37 kin/rad defender. What do you think?
If you notice my post above, all levels are open for review now, but youll have to play The Audition and put a brief comment here. If you have any detailed feedback on it, feel free to add it to my Commentary thread on The Audition.
I'll play both your CoW arcs, btw.
Eco -
[ QUOTE ]
And everybody playing the Venture Drinking Game take a shot for 'Doing X is bad, except when I do it, when it's legitimate.'
Feel free to run the arc in question (#253990) and explain why what I did was inappropriate. I don't mind complaints, as long as you show your work.
Just review it in your own thread or the arc's thread, not here, please.
[/ QUOTE ]
i wasnt suggesting your use of X was not legitimate.
Eco -
And everybody playing the Venture Drinking Game take a shot for 'Doing X is bad, except when I do it, when it's legitimate.'
Eco -
Tailor Made, Arc ID 258291, by @anarchodragonMedium length (1 small, 1 unique map). Its a villainous comedy arc, lvl 20-29, so just right for Tarquin Wilde, my lvl 22 En/En Stalker. 35 plays, 4 stars as I start.
I rarely have occasion to visit the Facemaker, you know. Well, you wouldnt send the Mona Lisa for a touch-up, would you? Perfections such a dirty word, these days
But the ravages of Time catch up with us all, my dear, and so it was with heavy heart that I found myself in the presence of the facemaker this afternoon what? No, NOT for myself, goodness, how could you? I was merely there to pick up some ointment for an invalid friend whose varied debaucheries have finally manifested themselves in an unfortunately physical way. Poor Oscar, the Hellfire Club just wont be the same without her!
Anyway, this Facemaker person theres something horribly attractive about her. The scars, the severe haircut, ooh, that starched beehive do its ever so Wilma Flintstone, and well, you just know that Wilma was a tiger between the sheets, dont you? Its the same with this Facemaker yabba dabba doo!
So when she asked me if Id help her with a little problem she was having, I was only too pleased to offer her my services. Besides, she turned on the flatter. Tarquin Wilde understands the importance of style, and besides he has a cute butt and knows how to strut his stuff. too bloody right, my dear.
Her problem was that those dreadful oiks The Family were intimidating her customers. She was most gracious when I accepted, I confess her words left me feeling quite light-headed
[I wont spoil it any more, but her dialogue is brilliant. Milk=LMAO]
Mission 1: Teach The Family a Lesson
The Family in question is ensconsed in a filthy cargo ship in the docks. I know the area well. Very well ahem
Once inside the ship, I stick to the shadows. Ive no penchatnt to fraternize with the peasants of the Family., all rayon shirts and StayPres trousers. Oh, no, not at all.
I make my furtive way through the ship in the manner of a twice-convicted panty-stealer slipping through the moonlight-dappled garden of an all-girls orphanage towards the washing line. On my way, I spy a very fetching young lady giving the Family a lecture on sartorial depravity. Shes bald. Shes angry. My lips part involuntarily and I pant quietly Mmm
But I must go on theres the leader of this awful rabble to deal with.
[Exquisite Eliza has great dialogue, and funny clue and bio. Im going to leave her there for now.]
I soon bump into another of the Facemakers agents, this one a sumptuous apparition in PVC. Id like to oil every zip on his costume!
[Likewise for Adorable Alex]
At the end of the ship, I find the miscreant responsible for the Facemakers woes. He has a briefcase full of paperwork and his manservant is carrying a crate of bootleg shoes the horror!
[lol bootleg shoes great little mission.]
The Facemaker is aghast at these cheap knock-offs, and rightfully so. The thought of my Burgundy and Black John Lobb oxfords being violated by cheap copies flooding the Rogue Islands market leaves me cold, and if I saw some horrid scrapyarder wearing an obvious fake of, say a pair of George Cleverley brown calf whole cuts, well, that makes me positively irate! Something must be done! The evil little chavs are setting up an outlet mall in an old Carnival property. Im going to have to teach them a lesson!
Mission 2: Wreak vengeance on the Outlet Mall
The area where the mall is being set up is full of the idle and tawdry, dawdling amidst the squalor of their appalling cheap capitalism. Its like a paupers bazaar. Honestly, the poor are so tasteless.
I keep my elbows in and stay aware of my wallet as I sneak through the crowds, looking for the Person in Charge.
[Find the person in Charge is the Objective, there are also 22 optional sales to stop, and the objects are all different, as are the mobs accompanying them. The iobjects for sale are in line with the mobs, for example there are CoT selling cheap old spellbook and Freaks selling Cybernetic slicer-dicers. Its a shame, however, because Tarquin is of course concerned with knock-offs of clothes, not second hand books or tasteless statues. I saw 22 sales to Stop (optional), and I was rubbing my hands in glee at the thought of 22 funny references to fake clothes and fashion accessories. Alas, its not so
I have a look at 6 of the optional sales, and theyre funny, but I think youve lost the focus here. Tarquins not interested in cybernetic slicer-dicers, even if the dialogue is genuinely amusing.]
Before I can be corrupted by the tacky filth all around me, I spy the leader. Hes an awful prole, really, all grease and nylon. After I make short work of him, I destroy the remaining counterfeit footwear, ruing the sad news that millions of dollars of bootleg shoes has already been sold. I shall wear black for the rest of the week. What a dark day for couture .
[The Boss is an easy fight, and the crate with the fake boots in it spawns very nearby, luckily. Even if it hadnt, the, mobs were holding placards, so would have been easy to spot. I exit, and the Facemaker is suitably impressed]
As was I with this great little two-parter. It kept me chortling all the way through. I rated it 4-stars, and Id have rated it 5 if those optional sales to stop had been clothing-based rather than general tat. The various custom groups all have their own clothing that you could mine for humour, surely? The sales that I did look at did have funny dialogue and bios, Im not faulting that at all, but the arc is about fashion, is my point.
Good stuff.
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My queue is now:
The Horsemen Chronicles (Part 1) 195149 or
The Wolfpack Chronicles (Part 1) 242869
Tailor Made 258291
Poi, Demonology, and Everything I Learned From Hellions 164235
After I've done these, I'll be well up for some more.
However, I'm going to ask new submissions to Play my arc The Audition first. All 6 missions of it
I'm asking for the QPQ now in order to cut down on the queue, as well as to get some more plays and feedback on the arc.
Post any comments you have on it in here, either with or after your review request, and I might be copying them over to the Audition's page.
Since The Audition is 6 missions long, playing it will get you 6 missions wirth of review. So if you've got 3 2-mission arcs, I'll review them all! That's a QPQ Ratio of 3:1! Bargain!
The Audition's split over two slots, but it's one arc, so playing just half of it will get you just half an arcs worth of review
I'll do any levels, now, too, but i'm especially interested in 20-45. I'll probably be concentrating on using AM, Tarquin, Atomicide and Scoop for them, seeing what the auto-SK feature's like.
So feel free to submit. 10 arcs should do to start with.
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[ QUOTE ]
This concept is fascinating. I may have to do one of these when I get home from work tonight. My first arc in particular could use it. The story stands just fine on its own (no complaints anyway), but there's a few plot points I just never really had time/space to explain adequately. Hopefully I can keep my commentary as interesting as yours.
[/ QUOTE ]
I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Please do write one for your arc - I'd be interested in playing it and seeing how it was made.
Eco. -
In Pursuit of Liberty, Arc ID 221702, by @Gypsy Rose
Very Long (2 medium, 3 unique maps, Heroic. Lvl 45-54. EBs, Extreme allsorts, No AVs thankfully. Says its story focused. 27 plays, 4 stars. Im taking MCM in, and Im hoping itll be a nice easy arc just brimming with narrativey-goodness!
In I go!
[Title of the Arc in red in the first briefing has a typo : In Pusuit of Liberty oops. 27 plays and no-one noticed that yet? Lol Its even in a big bold font!]
Ive always had a soft spot for Ms Liberty. She gave me a little pep talk, showed me how to get started, way back when I first arrived. Anyway, if Ms Liberty asks me to do something, Im there. And this case, hell, Id probably be there anyway. A child needs rescuing. Rescuing kids? Thats like a given, isnt it, for a hero?
[The mission acceptance is OK I will save her I think you need a comma after OK.]
The missing child is Liberty Rose Jones, and she was kidnapped by the Family seven years ago. Which means Ill be time-travelling. Wont be the first time
[Ms Liberty tells me that the array behind her will be used to transport me back 7 years, suggesting that this arc is real-world as opposed to simulation.
Mission 1: [sorry, I forgot to note it down
]
[Nothing on the first floor of this abandoned office map apart from Family goons ]
I dont like people who kidnap children. I take my time with the mob as I move through the building
[I clear all as I go; The Family are a doodle. Nothing except more Family on the second floor too.]
On the third floor, I deal with a Consigliere, and then spy some costumed people whose look is unknown to me. They wear red and black. The males are bald, and the females, well, those boots aint made for walking, lets put it that way
[typo in one of the customs bios, before becoming a Feline Followers.]
Theyre menacing some old lady. I better take these carefully. I attack at distance; they react with violence
[gah. Slows. THRRRPPP.]
Keeping at range isnt working; I laboriously make my way to the elevator and catch my breath back down a floor. When I return, I charge up my suit and pile into melee range. The females hit the floor like pussycats, but the males are hard
[Ill tell you now, I think your Fearsome Follower Lieutenants are too hard.]
Up close, the old lady turns out to be not so old; mutton dressed as lamb, my mother would have called her, though. Her legs must be cold.
[lol fishnets, stilettos and a ludicrously short skirt, Agent Liberty has.]
The woman joins me. She tells me we have to find the girl. Like I dont know.
[Agent Libertys dialogue says OK we need to go get Little Liberty now! does little need to be capitalized? Its not her name, is it?]
We find little Liberty in the next room, along with a Family Boss who tells us that someone called MAL wont be so easy to beat. We free Liberty, and the little girl immediately runs off.
[Hmm, I thought little Liberty would be a bit more shocked and frightened than her reaction suggested. When rescued, she got a boombox out, and then zoomed off at high speed.]
I decide to check out a safe I spot nearby in case it has any clues. While I do that, Agent Liberty runs around attacking Family like a lunatic.
[Agent Liberty is a bit of a Lady Jane Im afraid, she annoyed me a little. Also, the Consigliere Orange-conning bosses in this mission took about the same amount of time to defeat as your Fearsome Followers, as a balance comparison]
In the safe I find a torn piece of paper explaining [something which I wont spoil]. MAL, it turns out, is Als cousin. Al was the Family boss we beat down. Agent Liberty tells me that the strange villains we met were members of the Anti Liberty League, who are dedicated to foiling the Liberty League. Agent Libertys a member of that. The Liberty League are dedicated to, uh, liberty hmmm exactly what that means, I have no idea
[We exit}
Ms Libertys overjoyed to know that Libertys safe. Soon, however, little Libertys in trouble again, vanished into a cave in search of treasure. I have to go back in time again, to rescue her
[The In Pursuit of Liberty Title is now typo free. The sendoff dialogue needs a comma after Hurry]
Mission 2: Find the Treasure
Once inside, I activate my stealth suit and move cautiously through the caverns. Ms Liberty told me there may be some ALL guys in here, and Id rather not deal with them if I can avoid it
[which plan fails in the first corridor as I see an orange conning Fearsome follower lieut blocking my way.]
I power up and charge at him he falls in two punches
[wow, that was easy. He had a yellow Feline Follower with him too, I was expecting a hard go of it. Maybe youve tweaked the balance since yesterday, which was when I did Mission 1 ]
I continue at a less cautious pace and find Liberty fighting some ALL goons. I power up, saunter over, tap on the shoulder, and Nova. They all go to their happy place. Liberty joins me and we set off to find the treasure. Its in a large cave with a collection of ALL dotted around. While Liberty distracts them I try to get to the chest, but they spot me and attack. I fight them off
[Im feeling decidedly meh about the ALL, and I think I know why. Its the Fearsome Followers. Ive never much liked the look of Dark anything, and they are annoying me with the slow and especially the Fly. Not being able to even jump really pisses me off lol.]
Inside the chest is [something mysterious] we leave
[The entry popup is rather alarming, since Im a 6ft tall strapping bloke lol]
Back in the present, Ms Liberty thanks me, and then tells me that Little Liberty has gone missing yet again
[and she is still referring to her as Little Liberty, so I guess thats her superhero identity as well? I confess, I didnt realize she was superpowered until that last mission when she was fighting. The time travel thing is quite odd and confusing to me too, Im afraid.]
This time, Little Liberty, now 21, has disappeared somewhere in an enchanted garden, looking for a book Here we go
[The acceptance dialogue OK, I guess Ill do it, but I wish it was a treasure! is nothing at all like MCMc Voice. The array is now a gate to the garden, according to Ms Liberty, which is a bit weak]
Mission 3: Find the Book
[Outdoor forest map, populated by The Evil Garden Dwellers mob group, consisting of Wisps and Dev Earth Granites and Rubbles]
I stealth up and fly around, looking for what I seek. I find the book in an ornate case; its a journal, telling of [something] and mentioning 2 mystical swords nearby, I also see a glowing altar or artifact of some kind. I touch it carefully, but nothing happens
[mystical time portal optional objective ?]
I find Liberty, and do my Nova trick on her captors again. She briefly thanks me then immediately runs off towards a group of ALL. She punches a fairy-type woman in the face once, then turns her back on her and starts beating up a Rubble a little way away. The Fairy woman blames me for the attack, obviously
[Liberty Rose is a dick. Maybe it was just unlucky spawn points in my run, but she spawned close enough to Fern Fatale to aggro her immediately upon release, and then after one hit she ignored her and her spawn and focused on poxy little irritants like blue-conning rubbles whilst I dealt with the enraged hordes of the ALL. Luckily, Fern was a total wuss. As I type, Liberty is still off in the distance, aggroing all and sundry. Shes an EB, so she could probably clear the map on her own if I let her lol.]
Mission completed, I leave
[Ms Liberty has more information about the [spoiler], and thanks me again]
This time, Ms Liberty doesnt need me to rescue Little Liberty again, but to travel forwards in time [?] to find a pair of magic swords that will enable [something bug and exciting to happen] OK, lets do it
[I also get a clue from the mission accept, which appears to be a parody of the Mission Impossible your mission, should you choose to accept it thing. It doesnt fit. And who is the Secretary? Anyway, it tells me to expect a Dark Alliance formed of various enemy groups]
Mission 4: Find the Swords
This future is a wreck of a place. I fly high, stealthed, to avoid any trouble. I see Fifth, Rularuu, Arachnos, apparently working together [er ] I spot Statesman encased in some kind of energy field, and deal with the ALL guarding him. He gives me a note to give to Little Liberty, and tells me to find the magic swords. I find them near the ruins of Coty Hall in a coffin, and return to the present
[Ruined Atlas park map, it happened exactly as MCM said.]
Ms Liberty is pleased. Theres only one task left for me to do .rescue Little Liberty again.
[lol]
Mission 5: Free Liberty and Defeat MAL
The final showdown is in a graveyard. I fly high, and spot some Liberty Leaguers held captive
[This is the big graveyard map with the circular chasm in middle and a temple thing at one end. The allies are on top, fairly near each other. Thank heavens for the green gas effect! Im going to leave them there, however, for now, because theyll undoubtedly agro the bejesus out of all and sundry and I want to find the Big Bad first.]
They appear to be just held captive, not dying or being tortured or anything, so I continue my recce
[OK, I find MAL, not too far from the allies, but down in the chasm. He could stand out a bit more. I return to the captives. I spot Statesman too. My plan is to free them all in sequence, and then we can all give MAL a kicking.]
I free Agent Liberty Storm first, and then I slowly, painfully, wade through oceans of tar towards Statesman. Storm is acting like a dick too. What is it, with these Liberty Leaguers?
[I loathe your Fearsome Followers. Im really sorry, but my overwhelming mood now is get this over with. Its just not fun]
Liberty Rose is being held on the edge of a cliff; Liberty Storms whilry wind effects knock Libertys captors over the edge, and Storm and Statesman jump over in hot pursuit
[/facepalm. Whats worse, is, when they get to the bottom, they ignore the mobs theyve just chased, and attack a completely different spawn and then the mobs they went after return to their idle places up top, where I am. Cheers, guys. You bunch of [censored]. I finish them off and then try to collect Storm and Statesman. As soon as Im in range, off they go, aggroing their way away. I HATE them, and theyre making me hate your arc now. Gutted.
And Agent Storm doesnt have Fly, does she. How am I supposed to get her back up to the top of the cliff? Awful.
Ive also just noticed that Liberty Rose seems to have the chest slider all the way up to max.]
I leave Storm where she is, and bring Statesman up and along to where Liberty Rose is. We free her, and then Agent Liberty joins us again too. We make our way to MAL
[Ive found the fastest way to do this is, stupidly, to not attack anything. The Allies are so overpowered they can deal with everything on their own. It doesnt really make me part of whats going on, though.]
Eventually, we reach MAL. Hes a cyborg who summons robots. Hes pathetically easy to defeat. Im surprised that none of his Fearsome Followers have challenged him for leadership of the ALL, to be honest. After we take him down, I leave Statesman, and the crazy LLers, and return to the AE building.
[I leave; Ms Liberty thanks me again, and thats that. I notice the In Pusuit of Liberty is back at the debriefing, so Id check all missions for that if I were you.
End]
OK, so as you can see, it didnt grab me by the doodads Im afraid. The secret is ok, but its mostly go rescue sb again, the Fearsome Followers are awful, and that last mission made me angry because of the idiot Allies. Also, the time travel thing doesnt quite work. Pluses were your costumes are good (although Id tone down the massive bazungas on the females), there are only a very very few typos in it, and apart from mission 5, all missions were fairly easy to complete, objective wise. I rated it 3-stars.
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Qr - Celebrity kidnappings a great example of a consistently working chain.
We must learn to ignore Venture's trolls. I find it helps to bear in mind the possibility that there's something amiss with his mindbox. He often seems to confuse his opinion with fact, illustrated for example by his 'fix', above.
I used to feel annoyance and other kinds of Dark Side emotions at his arrogant nasty treatment of other people; i find sympathy for his condition is a much better attitude to take. It's certainly better for my ulcer, and probably better for my karma too.
Eco -
Sirens call. Its rubbish. BB and WB have PvE reasons to go there and they're more interestingly designed, but Sirens is pointless.
And Atlas Park is depressing now, wirh all th AE spam
eco -
[ QUOTE ]
I finished a run through The Audition part 1 (arc id 221240). I played a 50 MA/SR scrapper.
The author and I have some slight disagreement on how multi-arc stories should be handled. The author has stated that he'd prefer both "parts" to be considered a single story arc; however, it's my preference to review each story arc on its own merits.
Consequently, the author has asked me to defer posting a review of part 1 until after I've run through both "parts". I don't see any harm in that, so I'll post my notes on The Audition part 1 somewhat later.
[/ QUOTE ]
Thanks very much for running the first half of my arc, PW, and for not posting the review until you've played the other half. I appreciate you meeting me halfway and look forward to your thoughts on all 6 missions in a while.
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Lol I just went back a ways.
Spider In The Bath is the first one.
They're all great though.
/end threadjack
Eco. -
Also, in regard to the Front, Middle, Back thing, I've found maps where Front Middle and Back don't mean Front Mifddle and Back, but where they consistently mean, say, Middle, Back, Front. With those maps, it's still possible to get good results, it's just extra fiddly, especially as sometimes, you'll have a situation for example where Front Middle and Back are correct for Collectobles but another way for Destructibles, and even another way for Defeat Bosses. That's maddening, when you've found the otherwise perfect map lol.
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[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Missions 3 and 4 have the player learn about the bad guys' plan through chained objectives, which I've managed to set up so there is no backtracking required.
[/ QUOTE ]
Can i review this for my review thread? A few times ive got 'out of my control, it's impossible to eliminate backtracking' responses from ingame feedback of mine suggesting looking at this again; if yours is a good example of success in this area, i'd like to spotlight it.
Eco
[/ QUOTE ]
You probably don't want to play it, it has two Malta missions, and you've made your hatred of them pretty clear. I'm just putting it up here in case anyone else is curious.
[/ QUOTE ]
Bah! Damn! lol
[ QUOTE ]
Making sure there's no backtracking required is pretty simple: First, I chose maps where front, middle and back actually means front, middle and back. Mission 3 has a front objective triggering a middle objective, triggering two back objectives. Mission 4 has two front objectives triggering a middle and back objective. All of them have triggered ambushes and patrols too. I am a big fan of missions that evolve as you play through them, it gives the immediate impression that the player is affecting events.
[/ QUOTE ]
Yeah, me too, although I don't like it when the Nav instruction just changes. I see the Nav as information for the Player, not the character, so with chains i like there to be info delivered to the character via clues, dialogue, etc, that makes the character know what the player knows through the nav.
I've just realised that i count System messages as a valid form of info-delivery to the character, which seems odd from an IC point of view...
I also have found it, well, I was going to say relatively easy, but maybe that's going too far. i have found it possible, let's say, to make objective chains spawn consistently in linear maps without backtracking too, which is why i'm sometimes perplexed by MAuthor's claims that 'it's impossible' etc. I don't know, maybe we have overly high definitions of 'thorough testing' or something.
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[ QUOTE ]
Missions 3 and 4 have the player learn about the bad guys' plan through chained objectives, which I've managed to set up so there is no backtracking required.
[/ QUOTE ]
Can i review this for my review thread? A few times ive got 'out of my control, it's impossible to eliminate backtracking' responses from ingame feedback of mine suggesting looking at this again; if yours is a good example of success in this area, i'd like to spotlight it.
Eco -
It would indeed be 'dishonest' to portray a different arc as the legitimate earner of the ratings gained by the previous arc. I see a corollary here with farming and PLing etc, in that it could be claimed that 'the game allows me to do it; its therefore not cheating'.
I do think its cheating, btw.
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Lol i just realised- i could use the workaround to edit my already published slots into 3 of the slots i need fir my plan, keeping local copies of them for when i want to re-edit them back.
Lol.
Eco -
Yeah, its possibly a combination of the two. Its like tge TF minimum start 'rules', we can workaround them but its a hassle.
Its a slight shame , though.
I have an idea for an arc that would need 8 slots, all up and published at the same time. Im not going to take down the three slots ive got up lready though, as im still interested in seeing my plays go up.
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I wondered because i started thinking about losing ratings due to unpublishung. If our arcs kept their ratings if we unpublished them, and then had their ratings intact if we chise to publish them again, people wouldnt need to be so concerned with leaving them up all the time (those for who play and rating totals are important). It would give us more options. I wondered what the rationale behind erasure of ratings for an unpublish was.
Eco -
Thpught experiment.
I publish a 5-mission arc and after a while its got 100plays, 4 stars.
I edit it and alter everything thats alterable. Whats the minimum that would have to be left the same? The Arc ID?
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Qr - out of interest, what would you be doing in your 'base'? Not having any teleport pads or crafting stations or salvage racks etc, is it just like an RP kind of thing?
Eco -
Qr - thanks all. This lot should keep me going for a while!
eco