Mychyl

OK, re-uploaded in redacted form. (Refresh, of course, may be necessary to see this as a fact.)

Eep. Sorry, not used to posting screenies. I'll have to redact and re-upload. Thanks for the heads-up, WHF. ^^;

Spatch, I normally do too... and now, I'll have to be more diligent to doing so, no matter what. XD

Picture it: lazy Saturday afternoon, sitting around PI and chatting on globals.

I get a blind invite. We all get them these days, and I figured, hey, I need XP. As long as it isn't a DFB run, why not join? I'm a controller, and I'm lazy about soloing controllers.

Then this happens...



...Then, when I quit and mention in Help the rudeness of his actions, he proceeds to rail against me and /ignore me.

What's happening to us, Champion? This isn't the server-family I know. o.o

I would like to nominate the following arc for this honor:

Madness + Murder = Bedlam! (arc# 259194) by @Swelter.

And Ava, it figures you forget to take a screenie the one time I make it to something like this! ;o

I still think this is a valuable and worthwhile idea.

Hel, if part of the problem is the cost of voice actors, I'm sure -- given the prospect of adding voice customization into the game -- there's probably enough forumites that would volunteer that you could probably do the project for free. (Well, the paid-actor portion of it. The coding hours I'd volunteer for, but my coding still isn't quite there. Almost... not quite. ;P)

I hereby throw my hat into this ring.

The color code isn't that complex (although, as mentioned, there's a few issues with alignment), but what bothers me is the fact that hey, we can now search for team leaders and pester them... so long as they're in a city zone. WHHHAAAA?

Yup. If a team's leader is inside a mission, or inside their SG/VG base, the violet (team leader of a team with fewer than 8) is overridden by yellow (can't invite because they're in a mission). If this was fixed? A lot of my issues would go away. SO, TOO, with this idea of having a "search for team" option... plug in your level range, and voila! Prefer a more specific result? Filter by team type (looking to do TFs, looking to do events, add a looking for tips type). The level range can be based on the leader (since, in fact, the team's level /is/ based on the leader), and the default team alignment can be coded accordingly. (Showing an icon works, or if it's easier or simply preferred, just replace that with a three-letter code: HRO, VLN, ROG, VIG are all pretty self-explanatory, ne? You could even toss LOY and RES on the stack, for sake of Praetorian simplicity!)

Unfortunately, the color coding scheme has a fatal flaw: teams inside of missions tend to have their normal colors overridden by the "in a mission", even the leaders. Makes asking a team's leader if they have room a bit complex, unless you search while they're outside of a mission.

To quote my old (old as in last semester) economics book: "Supply and demand is, at its most basic level, the concept that prices will vary depending on the quantity available and the quantity desired."

If there are 10k computer viruses available, with any real percentage of those at "reasonable" (ie. original market, 100-250) values, it is not feasible to sell those at 10k or higher per unit. However, if there are 10 computer viruses available, it is safe to assume (based on historical data) that most, if not all, of those are priced much higher, and people -- if desperate enough -- will pay that higher price.

Thus, supply and demand. If the supply is good, in order to remain competitive, new sellers will offer their items at lower prices (usually), thus enabling them to earn money. If the supply is poor, the prices are higher as a general rule, and while some will intend to "balance out" the market with their honest transactions, it's a drop in the bucket of the economy. (However, with enough drops, the item in question's price restabilizes, and life goes on. Unless it's luck charms... then you're in trouble, no matter what, for some reason.)

Supply and demand, remember, is chiefly based on the concept of necessities... so the model does have to be shifted slightly, since buying salvage (and recipes, and so on) from the markets is a luxury transaction... after all, for salvage, there's always:

*Getting it off enemies (Gathering)
*SG/VG storage racks (Hoarding)
*Trading salvage between players (Bartering)
*Redeeming tickets (Sorry, don't have a cute label for this one)

In fact, subtract the storage racks (and possibly add an alternate storage medium) and this works for anything of value in this game. For all that, one could probably abuse the email system and store droves of any imaginable item in self-directed global emails, thus allowing them to retrieve it on any character, at any time. (Only restriction against this is that emails expire in 60 days, but if you have something close to expiring, just pull it out and toss it back in, right?)

But yes, if the /only/ means of getting salvage was via the markets, and the /only/ way to play was to use IOs, then it could reasonably be assumed that a few masterminds (the term, not the AT) could control the entire market and charge whatever they wanted. However, in such a closed-loop system, there'd be no new inventory, and this delusional concept falls on its face as a result. Instead, salvage comes from every enemy worth XP (either directly or, in AE, as tickets redeemable for salvage), it can be gathered and stored, and regular players can toss their unneeded salvage into the markets at normalized rates, meaning no hostile takeover of the markets lasts forever.

<QR>

Let's summarize, since I can't be bothered to read through so much that reeks of personal attacks and grudge fights:

1) PvP IOs and Purples are rare. They're supposed to be. I think someone above said 1:1500 on Purples? Sounds about right to me... but again, randomization. 1:1500 means you might get 1 from every 1500 kills... you could get 10 from 15k kills... you probably will get 100 from 150k kills... you likely will get 1k from 1.5m kills... and so on. The closer you approach infinity, the closer the odds come to truth. (Basic statistical probability, ladies and gents, same as any MMO.)

2) It is physically possible to go all the way to 50, do endgame, and so forth without ever crafting a single enhancement. We did it all the time before IOs were ever introduced; we did it without purples and PvP IOs before they were introduced. (To date, I still haven't seen a PvP IO, crafted or otherwise, personally. Probably because I hate PvP, and that's no one's fault but mine.)

2b) By the same token, people who are that obsessive can virtually become IO-dependent at level 7 and never look back. (This works in some, but by no means all, cases.)

2c) For all that, it's possible (if a bit uncomfortable, unless you like eating inspirations like they were candy) to play without any enhancements of /any/ tier. Ouroboros proved that, since I'm sure a lot of people have gotten their "no enhancements" badges. (Not recommended for someone who wants to do challenging fights/TFs, unless they like the added challenge of running back from the hospital a lot.)

3) I admit, I'm not a casual player. I have a life, yes, but I still manage at least an hour of two of the game each day. (That's on top of work, school, and a long-term relationship. Hel, he even plays the game with me sometimes.) I do some occasional farming, and have a good build on my main, as well as around 1b inf on my account. This isn't farming nonstop like some would say; this is casual farming and a lot of altitis. Do I have fun? Loads of it. Would I like to see purples be more common? Perhaps, but it's not a huge concern, because I make enough inf to pay for what I want. Am I a middle-of-the-line player? Perhaps, but that depends on more information than I have access to.

4) As stated above, there's a large difference between being a dev yes-man and accepting the status quo for what it is: the way things were, are, and will be. Will the drop rate eventually change? It's possible, but somehow I feel it unlikely.

4a) The above being said, new things occur each day that make things more accessible for the casual player. However, if you want the loot, you still have to do something for it; the devs aren't likely to create a day job that allows you to get a random purple for mission completion if you log less than 5 hours a week of gametime. Why? Because then the hardcore players will revolt. It's a balancing act between the casual and the hardcore.

4b) For those who think MMOs with hardcore-exclusive content die easily, let us look at that most evil of MMOs (which shall not be named here). Every expac of /that/ game kicks the most hardcore of the players in the teeth and tells them that they're worthless... and yet, they keep coming back for more. They create obstacles that require tons of in-game time to get to... being a casual player over there is impossible, once you hit a certain "Hardcore only" threshold. At least City casuals don't have to worry about such evils as gearchecks and being built a specific way. (Unless you're a MM without pets. I've seen one of those... in mid-levels, no less. Painful to watch.)

5) Complaining about the inf cap being too high does nothing beneficial for the game. As pointed out before: If the inf cap was lowered, it wouldn't force deflation on the markets; it would force items out of the markets and into the off-market trade. This hurts us all, and doesn't benefit anyone. Conversely, does that mean that the cap should be raised? It might force some of the off-market trade back into WW/BM, but it might also create further inflation, which makes some of the casual-access stuff to jump in price. (Especially since some people like to manipulate the markets for their own gain, which causes spikes of inflation to ripple across the market. But then, that's a pretty good analogy for the real world, isn't it?)

6) In the end, it's a game, right? If you're not having fun chasing your dream of having your 50 decked out in purples and PvP IOs galore... make an alt, run TFs, do something which /is/ fun for you and your character. In time, the purples (or, at least, the inf to buy them) will come.

[Disclaimer: Some of the opinions -- especially those about running around without enhancements -- are not necessarily recommended. Just because you can doesn't mean you should... unless you /really/ like that extra level of challenge. If so, put your enhancements in and visit an Analyst instead. ;P]

I'm late to this, as well.

That being said, /SIGNED. This is something that would revitalize bases... which are a wonderful asset, even to small/single-player SGs. Unfortunately, it feels like Cryptic (and not NCNC/PS) were the ones who cared about base development... I don't think I've seen a new thing, aside from base cost balancing, since full control of the project was handed down.

Which is sad... since it was one of the two things that truly made this game unique.

I, for one, like the idea of possible peace. It's nice to see people playing together happily, without some of the drama that likes to interfere with our server's general merriment. I think I'll do a little purging of my ignore list too... well, except for the inf-sales bots. But then, that's another discussion altogether.

To be entirely fair, in my opinion, this never needed to become such an issue. I'm not saying that any specific individual is blameless... in fact, I agree that there were things said, and hurt feelings had, which accelerated (not created... there's something in the water, as it were) the situation and led to this fallout. And while I don't expect everyone to sit around the campfire singing Kumbaya... well, it's a nice dream. And a little peace never hurt anyone.

(And no, I'm not taking sides. You all know me better than that, I should hope.)

So, shall we give peace another chance and get back to playing? If you want to bash heads in, there's a lot of NPCs out there who volunteered. ^^b

<QR>

Dunno if this is known or not, but... the markets are perma-"busy". I'm assuming there's an issue with the server the markets use -- but I haven't seen this mentioned elsewhere as of yet.

Reviewing:: Ctrl + Alt + Reset! (137561, @Bubbawheat)

Playing as L30 Claws/SR scrapper

~*~

Foreshadow's got a lead on some temporal disturbance, and wants me to go in and deal with it. Well, when it comes to time, I think he's as close to an expert as you can find, outside of a Mender, so we'll see what he's worried about, shall we?

~*~

I go in and wipe out the Wyvern protecting the artifact, who started out convinced that the artifact was totally safe -- and then, as I beat up the boss, he mentions that maybe it is better that I have it.

Got what I came for... back to Foreshadow.

~*~

Um... Foreshadow? Bit of amnesia? I just DID that, and... oh.

Well, I guess I didn't. Let's go do it again.

~*~

This time there's a second computer, a password, and another, even bigger artifact. Or is it supposed to be the same one, just larger now?

~*~

OK, Foreshadow, this dance is getting old. You want me to go back in again? You need to discover some originality, sir.

~*~

This time there's about a million glowies to click.

I just got rickroll'd. >.>

Aha, road of good intentions. It looks like these artifacts were made to help doctors, but... well, the results clearly vary.

I do admit to being a little curious as to why the shifter keeps growing in size and... evolving.

Let's see if I can get any of this to Foreshadow before time loops again.

~*~

He still doesn't know what's going on. Good thing I still remember all this.

Now, apparently, I have to look for someone else, who has the second artifact.

~*~

Got the artifact, time to end this.

Something... something's weird. The Wyvern are turning into some sort of monsters, and the shifter is now my enemy, and more than just a plotline concept.

And again.

And again?

OK, I... I think that did it? I guess? Let's ask Foreshadow if he remembers anything now.

~*~

Heh, he remembers something... so it obviously worked.

(Minor note: typo in the clue text.)

~*~

Storyline:: * * * *

A strong story, if a bit cliche (thinking Groundhog Day, especially when I ripped out the computer, knowing it would be there the next time). At first, I thought it was going to be endless, slightly varying iterations of the first mission, but I'm glad you varied it up. Probably one of the best stories I've seen on a Dev's Choice arc... normally, I find that I and the devs responsible for selecting arcs are at odds on what's good.

Design:: * * * *

Fairly basic, but good use of clues... especially with the millions of artifacts. It was obvious from the clues that you were trying to take a light-hearted approach with the arc, something that didn't become apparent until that point, but that held through the remainder of the arc.

Gameplay:: * * * *

It was overall a very fun arc, but the chained objectives got a bit annoying in a couple of places. The first was mission 2, where you had to check one computer, go all the way to the back to defeat the boss, then make your way all the way back up to check the second computer (which was sitting there the whole time, of course).

The other was with the Time Shifters in the final mission... they spawned randomly throughout, and while the third iteration spawned on top of the second, the first was further along the map, which meant I ended up cleaning out the back part of the warehouse before realizing I'd have to double back.

Detail:: * * * *

As I mentioned before, the design of the arc was fairly spartan. The clues were nice, especially the artifacts, but overall, it felt fairly plain. What was there worked very well together, however... though I'm not sure about the use of slags and hydra-spawn as the Bio-Devices.

Overall:: * * * *

Overall, it was a fun arc that wasn't worried about taking itself too seriously, and as I said, quite possibly one of the best DC arcs I've played. (Of which there have now been 3.) A few minor things which distracted from the overall enjoyability, but not fatally so.

Reviewing:: The Galactic Protectorate - 03 (174352, @Unknown Hero)

Playing as L40 Dark/Regen scrapper

~*~

When we last left this arc, we'd just saved altPsyche from a fate worse than death. (Said fate being death by plot.) And we managed to defeat the first of 12 generals. Let's see what's next on the hit list for us. (Again, by my prediction at the end of 02, we will next be ordered around by altPsyche.)

Prediction hit. And apparently the invading forces have captured some of our doctors and are forcing them to work for them. So, off I go.

~*~

Interesting... the doctors don't really want to be rescued. Suddenly, I'm reminded -- back in the first installation -- where I said I was getting a Praetorian arc.

As with the previous arcs, I love the look of the new division and the power combinations I've seen so far.

OK, I took out the base. I feel kinda guilty for doing so, but I did it. Time to see what altPsyche has to say.

~*~

She seems shocked that the doctors are willingly supporting the Protectorate.

But she got word where the 11th Division general is, or might be. So... I may have reservations, but let's see where this leads.

~*~

Apparently, me taking out General 12 has set off General 11's ire. Which means, whether it's right or not, now I have no choice but to take out General 11.

His (her?) colonels keep talking about their casualities. I'm of two minds... part of me is wondering what's really going on behind the scenes.

~*~

General 11 was found, and now it's time for me to head in and neutralize (him? her?). Gonna be another epic fight, I have a feeling.

~*~

I rescued altPsyche (and altLiberty, which means she'll be my next contact) and defeated General 11. I'm really starting to wonder, with everything the Protectorate are saying, who's really in the wrong here.

But, peaceful or not, if they're still really invaders, they're the ones in the wrong ultimately, and as such, they need to be stopped.

~*~

Storyline:: * * * *

The story is getting progressively more twisted, but while there's hints in one direction or another, I don't know what's really going on behind the scenes. If the alternate Phalanx and Vindicators are right, the Protectorates really are brutal and vicious and will as soon wipe us off the face of this world -- and possibly destroy the world in the process. If the Protectorate are telling the truth, they've come in peace and I'm just helping make things worse. I really wish I had more of a clue what was really going on.

Design:: * * * * *

As usual, the custom characters are well-designed and fit together cohesively. This group might've been a bit MM-heavy, but it wasn't unreasonable by any means.

Gameplay:: * * * *

This story is starting to get pretty confusing, and it's starting to impact gameplay. I don't know what's going on anymore... I don't know whether to be pleased or displeased with my efforts now, I don't know if I want to keep playing or if I want to abandon the $name Freedom Fighters. I'm starting to spend more time worrying about that than actually enjoying the missions.

Detail:: * * * * *

The storyline's details continue to be a very real driving force, and even when I'm sitting here, confused and trying to organize my overall thoughts, the detail still impresses me. The maps, missions, and overall storyline still work well together, though as I said, I'm still not entirely sure where the story will lead. I'm assuming it will be one of two directions: either it will end up a pseudo-Praetorian existence, in which case I'll end up switching sides and helping the Protectorate, or the Protectorate will be shown as the frauds they (might be?) and I'll end up taking them all down, one by one.

Overall:: * * * *

This storyline has been going up and down for me, but it's always strong, and it's always enjoyable to at least some degree. I'm still looking forward to seeing the continuation of the arc, if only to find out what's really going on.

Reviewing:: Arena (390921, @FredrikSvanberg)

Playing as L33 Bane SoA

~Level sync to 40 per arc

~*~

Since these are supposed to be VEAT arcs, figured I'd bring my highest level VEAT to the party. Let's go check in.

Apparently, I'm running security detail for some gladiator event.

Interesting use of the contact, using Amanda Vines as a commentator instead of my actual go-to person.

OK, let's head in and see what's what.

~*~

Interesting, the Freakshow and... Family? The Freaks are raiding at Pohsyb's request (apparently), but is Castle using the Family as guards? That's... odd.

Take them out and everything simmers down, especially after I get the Arbiter to unbunch his panties.

~*~

Now, I'm supposed to... I'm not sure. I guess, since I mention a security code, I'm going inside the match? Could be exciting.

~*~

Castle's using Rikti drones for his pawns. That seems weird to me... somehow, I would've thought him to use Longbow or Legacy "automatons", but I go with it. (Besides, what VEAT wouldn't be tired of fighting Longbow and Legacy by L40? XD)

The easy part is getting the Sands lookalike to show up. The hard part is fighting him... I guess I'm spoiled by soloing EBs/AVs as a scrapper, but I ended up eating half my inspirations to take him down. (That drone-summoning Sands gets made the fight even nastier... especially since, at my comparative level, I don't have anything to match that yet.)

Anyways, he's dealt with. He'll play ball now. Let's get back and see what's next.

~*~

Cute little rhyme game that Pohsyb forced into the Arbiter's mind. But the match was annulled, and now I'm supposed to meet up at the meeting and... I guess provide security? I don't get it, but OK.

~*~

All in all, this is getting to be interesting and complex. I've apparently convinced Castle to... defect? Really? That seemed way too easy. Did I slip him some nanites too?

~*~

And now to break into the Zig (erm, help the breakin in progress) to get some political type out... I missed how this helps the overall arc, but eh, it's for the glory of Arachnos -- I think -- so enough questions, let's do this.

~*~

I apparently rescued Ms. Vines's mother (I think it said Vimes in one of the first mentions of her, so possible typo) from Paragon City's gentle company, and delivered her into Arachnos custody, as well as knocking Castle down so it looks like we actually kidnapped him. Part of the deal, which I somehow missed. Ah well.

Found the typo, btw, it's in the clue briefing for mission 3, calls her Natascha Vimes, and then again Mrs. Vimes. Somehow I doubt that was deliberate, even with the repetition.

OK, it shows up in the clue briefing for mission 5 as well. Perhaps it's deliberate, perhaps not. I'll let you decide. If it is deliberate, I don't understand why.

Enough of that for now. Now, I'm supposed to go meet with Castle, while he thanks me for handing him the championship on a silver platter.

~*~

Apparently everyone's angry with me for rigging the fight. So I gotta take 'em all out. Figures, whenever I do something for the good of Arachnos, I end up cleaning up the mess from people who didn't like my invasion.

I skipped the Arbiter -- don't want Recluse *too* angry at me for beating on Arbiters, after all -- but I cleaned house and headed back.

~*~

Storyline:: * * * *

This arc had a very interesting point of view, and the story flowed very well. It had a number of blind corners, which kept me on my toes -- but not too painfully so. The fact that Recluse's whole point here was to get the info from Natascha Vines (Vimes?), it fit well into the canon.

One thing that confused me was, at multiple points, the Rogue Isles were referred to like a separate country; I was pretty sure that the Rogue Isles, while definitely not accepting the laws of the US, were still titularly part of the US; part of RI, much as Paragon City, to be specific. I could be wrong on this... there might be something in the canon I've missed about that.

Design:: * * * * *

Every piece of the story meshed well together, and as mentioned above, the uniqueness (or novelty, but I've never seen that convention) of Amanda Vines acting as spectator/commentator, rather than using the contact to tell you where to go and what to do, was quite interesting. The only mark I have against design is Mrs. Vimes/Ms. Vines. If this was unintentional, it shows up a LOT of places (the souvenir also included this) -- if it was intentional, perhaps a very brief explanation of why she's referred to so often as Vimes.

Gameplay:: * * * * *

I'm actually fairly glad I did this on my VEAT, because with a regular scrapper (or brute if I'd had one high enough -- which I don't yet), the EBs would've been too easy. As it were, soloing them as a Bane SoA made them tough. Doable, but certainly tough.

Detail:: * * * *

Again, everything meshed well. The final map seemed a bit large, but it was nice in that it gave me a chance to skip someone I didn't really want to play with (ie. the Arbiter again). My only complaint, again, is the Vines/Vimes. I'd advise in favor of clearing it up, whichever direction you were aiming for.

Overall:: * * * * *

Far better than the canon VEAT arcs that I've played -- although, as we can tell by this being my highest VEAT, there's probably more I haven't touched yet. Well written, well told, and while there were moments of silliness, they didn't interfere overmuch with the arc, so I didn't have the heart to score against them. (They were more or less harmless anyways, song/poetry quotes.)

Reviewing:: Suppression (374481, @Gypsy Rose)

Playing as L15 Fire/Fire Scrapper

~*~

Am I in Oz? No, Dorothy just brought her house to Paragon City for the next edition of her alternate-reality tour.

Hope she dropped it on a Carnie Mistress. Not that I'll get those shoes.

Anyways, her three allies this time are superheroes, and they're now in trouble. So time to save the first one.

~*~

This arc, so far, is made of 90% Wizard of Oz references by weight. The hero's clue is a direct rip from the Scarecrow's song (which is ironic, since she was the brainiac hero before her powers were sealed off or stolen or whatever happened), the Munchk... erm, sorry, Minikins... make a couple different references to the movie...

Anywhom, I save the hero and find a Minigirl who says that the "Wicked One" (three guesses, and all three say Elphaba) is somehow destroying superpowers.

~*~

And now to save heart. I'm off to rescue the Tin M... erm, Valentina... from whatever she's wandered into. (Author's Note: Originally I was going to write some pun about Mati from Captain Planet, but I clearly had a change of heart. And yes, that pun WAS, in fact, intended. :P)

~*~

I fought through the snowmen (I guess they were chosen because she's coldhearted now?), rescued Valentina, and found a clue about reversing the effect by finding Elph... erm, the suppressor.

~*~

Next, courage?

Yup. Right on schedule. Time to rescue the Cowardly Captain.

~*~

A pamphlet about Master Marvel... I'm assuming he is the Wizard in this case. Which means he might well be the problem.

And I save the Lion... now, back to Dorothy.

~*~

Off to see the Wizard. Of course. How could I not have guessed? Just follow the Yellow Brick Road. *facepalm*

~*~

A bookshelf full of books by L. Frank Baum. Oh, I get it. This guy has a serious Oz fetish. No wonder this plays like a 99% ripoff-by-volume.

I beat his doll's face in, and he agreed to talk to Dorothy.

Which means, next mission, I'm off to face down the Witch, I guarantee it.

~*~

It's almost ironic that the busy text is "No good deed goes unpunished", my favorite song from the musical that shows the Wizard is evil and Elphaba was the injured party all along.

But yes. Off to beat up Elphaba.

~*~

Pretty straightforward, all in all. The witch's brew was the first unique element in the entire arc, sad to say.

~*~

In the end, I'll have to grade this as an homage, because there's nothing unique to grade on. So, let's see what we've got.

Storyline:: * * * *

Even as an homage, I still would've liked to see something original, something that was purely you. That being said, the story was fairly true to the original (down to the order in which the heroes were saved).

Design:: * * * *

You did well on the character appearances for the Witch and Dorothy... if they had shoulder dog -- or purse with a dog sticking out of it -- adding one to represent Toto would've been perfect for Dorothy, but with what you had, it was good.

Gameplay:: * * *

Honestly, I wasn't coming into this expecting an homage, and that's what I got. That stole a lot of fun out of it, because I enjoy seeing new stories unfold before me, not stories I've known all my life. That aside, it was fun enough for what it was, although the sheer randomness of the Witch's minions was confusing. I would've thought, perhaps make a custom group with monkey-like creatures, for her winged monkeys? Not sure how complex that would've been, but it would've added to the overall feel and to the fun factor.

Detail:: * * * *

You hit most of the salient points of the original story, and the clues fleshed out the several of the musical numbers that wouldn't have translated well as simple text bubbles. Using the various awards the heroes received from the city in-game, as a parallel to the awards passed out by the Wizard in the story, worked well. Again though, I would've liked to see more uniqueness (and possibly twists) compared to the source...

Overall:: * * * *

Were I rating this as I normally would, this would've likely gotten a lower score. However, since I decided to rate this as a homage rather than a unique story, 4 stars it shall be.

Add to it. Evolve it into a story that's truly yours. I've been quoted, many MANY times, as saying that there's only so many great ideas in the world, and they've all been used. However, if you take great elements, and combine them in new and interesting ways, it's still possible to make a great story that's all your own.

Reviewing:: Whack a Mole (2711, @Bubbawheat)

Playing as L40 Dark/Regen Scrapper

~*~

Apparently, I'm off to the County Fair to play a quick (very quick, from the briefing) round of Whack a Mole. 5 minutes? Ouch.

~*~

That was... remarkably more (and less) complex than I expected. I won't go into too much detail (since I don't know how much of it was supposed to be spelled out in the debriefing and how much I was supposed to infer), but... very interesting trick.

The points "clue" was amusing, too. Nice trick, pairing the points with the chaining.

~*~

Another round? Another 5 minute round? Wow, this arc was made for speed play.

~*~

A boss, who's protecting a LT, who's protecting a neon pink plushie that's already torn? Who's running this carnival and who can I talk to to get a real carnival in town?

~*~

Oh. Well, I guess that sorts that out, doesn't it?

~*~

Storyline:: { }

Better known as "Plot? What plot?"... granted, it's designed to be a PWP arc, and as such, I'm probably not the best reviewer for this one.

Design:: * * * *

It's interesting, but it's nothing more than a quick bit of fluff. The chaining/kills trick is quite interesting... I would've loved a bonus round, in between the existing missions, full of points-worthy kills. (Dunno how that would work in the end, though... probably not as well as the existing setup.)

This also probably would work better if, when you fail either mission, you can kick the player off the arc. Since, y'know, most carnivals won't let you fail in a "qualifying round" and then go for the prize anyways. (Although, on the second playthrough, I saw what you did there. Not too shabby, that.)

Gameplay:: * * * *

For what it was, it was very fun. Not my cup of tea, by any means -- 10 minutes divided between 2 missions, even on tiny maps like that, make me a little antsy -- but fun.

Detail:: * * *

I had to play this a second time, just to see the detail... that probably should be an auto deduction right there. :/

None of the moles have much description or detail to them... they use one of two descriptions, depending on whether or not they're worth any points. (I noticed, in the second play, that the worthless ones also don't attack. This is fairly useful.)

Also, the (in my case) boss had a bit of amusing text, which strongly reminded me of the opening credits to Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Which, I assume, was at least partly the point, being randomly Python-esque. The snowman's descrip was amusing, but now I find myself waiting on the last minute to tick down, so I can see the second fail text. Just to say I've seen everything.

Not much to that, either.

Overall:: * *

Honestly, there's some interesting innovation (especially for this arc's age) to be found therein, and probably cannibalized by other authors. (I foresee this happening, if it hasn't happened yet.) However, whereas I'm more interested in the underlying story, the conflict and tears and eventual triumph... this simply wasn't an arc for me, and I'm afraid my scoring of it shows that.

Sorry about the delay, all. Life has a funny way of telling me what I'm going to do, no matter what I intend to do.

That being said...

Reviewing:: The Galactic Protectorate - 02 (117281, @Unknown Hero)

Playing as L40 Dark/Regen Scrapper

~*~

So, when we last left off, Sable saved altSynapse's proverbial bacon by doing some basic recon and rescuing altManticore. Then, the arc came down with terminal shortness and died. So, now let's go back and see what's next on the hit list. (I'm assuming I'm picking up roughly where I left off.)

Nope, never mind. Apparently my breaking altManti out means that he's scheduled to show up as my new contact. That works too. (And explains a little bit more the brevity of the first arc.)

So, there's three bases. Sounds like I'm gonna spend this arc hunting a single general. ...Nope, never mind, altSyn's taking one, altManti's got the second, and I'm stuck in altFaultline. That works too... let's see what these guys think of the phrase "Take me to your leader."

~*~

Minor note: The mainframe (right at the entrance, for some reason) had a typo in its description.

So far, I like Division 12 better than the first arc (Div 0, wasn't it?). No kins, only 1 healer... might get harder as I go, but for now, it's not a big problem.

From the 'history' clues, it sounds like the Galactic Protectorate is supposed to function like space police, since the Peace Accord sounds almost like the charter of the United Federation of Worlds (Star Trek reference, that). So why is Earth under siege, if that's the case? Did the Kheldians break some interstellar law or something?

My princess is in another castle? Lame, but it happens.

The base commander actually hurt a bit. Probably because he popped Build Up and charged me when I was taking out the first group in his room.

Anyways, I got what I came for (I think?), so back to altManti.

~*~

Silly altSyn, running off without backup and getting caught. That's supposed to be altManti's job, y'know. XD

Ah well, off to save him from a fate worse than death.

~*~

Silly GP, posting a sign that this is Rendezvous Point Theta.

Not that this is a huge shock, but why would you put a sign like that up?

~*~

I saved altSyn, and found out that the general wasn't here either. But apparently altPsyche is in trouble elsewhere, so time to go save her too.

~*~

Guinevere was pretty rough, but I persevered (solo... should've gotten an ally first, I guess) and now we're 1 general down. (The pacing prolly needs to pick up if I'm gonna take out all 12 before the end of the sixth arc.)

~*~

Again, the arc ended as soon as I rescue Psyche. I'm assuming, by recent history, that this means arc 3 will begin with my contact being Psyche. At least this time I took out one of the generals before it ended.

~*~

Storyline:: * * * *

The story is progressing nicely, though now there's more pieces of the puzzle that feel like they're missing. The main piece of the puzzle missing for me now is what I mentioned back in mission 1... if GP is supposed to be guardians of the universe, why on Earth (pun not intended) are they seeking to destroy/take over Earth? What is their motivation? I can only assume this will come out later... but...

Design:: * * * * *

Again, a very good job with the customs. I can only assume this is going to continue being the case, and it's very impressive that each of the arcs have had unique, separate enemy group "divisions". It'll be even more impressive as this goes, of course, provided that it keeps going this way.

Gameplay:: * * * * *

The story is truly fun and interesting, and it's keeping me wanting to play more. That's pretty much the definition of good gameplay. This arc was even more fun, because I didn't suffer any kinetic enemies, and because the EB (in my case) General was challenging, but by no means impossible. A bit maddening for all her flying off, but it worked out.

Detail:: * * * * *

Again, very good detail. Everything works out well, and while there's some things that don't quite make sense together, I expect that time (and playing later arcs in the series) will change that.

Overall:: * * * * *

I admit that I graded on a scale for this arc, but that's because this arc -- as a standalone -- makes little sense, and I'm hanging some of the vote on the previous arc, and a lot of the difference on the future arcs.

I'm officially taking tomorrow away from people as much as possible. (Why? Because I hate April Fool's Day, because it's too silly even for me. :P)

When I get home from work on 2 April, reviews shall continue.

Until then, stay safe and don't let yourself get pranked too harshly (and/or violently).