Night_Fyre

My biggest problem with Rage is that it feels necessary, and I don't like when a set feels like it's built around 1 power. It limits your choices, both in power selections and concept. Ex: I'm working a WP/SS Tanker right now, and Rage just doesn't fit her concept very well, especially "perma" rage. Her damage output without it feels pretty low, though. I'll probably take it but not perma it... only using it when the crap really hits the fan. I'd much rather have the attacks perform better without Rage. Maybe I'll just concentrate on an IO build that increases damage and skip it all together...

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Congratulations you have come to realize people actually play the game aside from complaining about it...you gain one level on intelligence.

Frankly this is getting dastardly sick with all these AE threads, just stick to one for god sakes.

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But if he had come to that realization in a boss-farm, he would have gained 10 intelligence levels

The Dev's are in a tough spot.

1 - Everyone loves to level. Related to that is the idea that L1-L20, especially the teens, can be quite boring/frustrating especially if you've done it before.
2 - They don't want to lose a whole crop of new paying customers.
3 - They don't want to lose many existing customers.
4 - They want the AE to be popular.
5 - They don't want the AE to dominate the game experience.

I don't know what they could do that would satisfy everyone. The speed of farm-leveling is way beyond anything any of us have ever thought possible, and that defines it as "not working as intended", therefore taking advantage of that to go from L1-50 in a day is by definition, an exploit. Of course, it's tough to tell someone what "fun" is supposed to be in a game.

The Dev's are in quite a pickle...

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Masterminds dispose of their minions without a second thought. They are seen as completely expendable and this is properly reflected in the Villain Masterminds. A Hero Mastermind presents a bit of a difficulty because they work just the opposite way: they don't treat their men like expendables, they treat them with care and dignity. They care about their troops' fate.

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Remember that in CoX we don't actually die, we get "defeated" and go to the hospital. Conceptually, that idea could be extended to MM minions.

On another point, Hero MMs in comics (some already mentioned):

- Nick Fury. A master tactician who often send others into battle. He knows that there's a chance that they won't come back, but does what needs to be done.
- Splinter (TMNT). Very rarely engages directly, instead send out the turtles to battle evil.
- Charles Xavier. When he was in charge of the X-Men, he more-often-than-not stayed in the mansion or blackbird as the team went out to fight.
- Cyclops. This one is close... but I'd say he could be thought of as a MM since he develops plans & gives tactical orders during battles as he stands in the back blasting. Sometimes he jumps right in, too.
- Oracle. She coordinates various team members simultaneously from a distance with no risk to herself.
- Charles Gunn. Starting in the Angel TV series and now in the comic (as a vampire), he organized a group of street punks to launch coordinated attacks on evil, especially vampires.
- Anita Blake. Reanimates the dead to help solve cases. Non-combat to my knowledge, though...
- Will Magnus. Creator and leader of the Metal Men.

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Dunno about you but I've read plenty of Superman comics, seen plenty of Superman TV shows where he has used his super-hearing and/or x-ray vision to crack into a safe. It's been used to show he's not just all muscle and no brain. Maybe try reading more comics?


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Ummm... didn't I say that Superman is considered to have a high intelligence? I just said that he never developed lock-breaking skills. Also, remember plenty of characters don't have super-hearing or x-ray vision. Now I'm starting to think you're just arguing for arguing's sake.

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Brand new, no-one-has-seen-before superbots that are working with Malta?


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Who said they were working with the Malta? They showed up to help you bring Vanessa in. Nowhere does it say they are "working for the Malta". L2read.


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They show up at the same exact time, to fight the same exact baddie, and are unexplained. this gives the impression that they're working together.

Also, I love how you quote me then miss-quote me. L2read right back atcha.

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Again, L2read. The MA is very limited in regard to creating environments for custom character groups. Using the same old bland tech map you've seen ad nauseum throughout the game is just as bland. Go and make an arc with a custom group and put them into a bland office or warehouse or cave or tech map and I'll be happy to run it, then offer my critique saying your map choice doesn't work because I just saw it being used by different groups on the 500 other non-MA story arcs already in game. Quite frankly, it's idiotic to criticize map usage when the MA offers so few choices.


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1 - I never said use any plain old map. I said that using a map filled with Arachnos banners was a bad choice.
2 - I love how you say that you'd criticize someone for using a standard map, then call that type of criticism idiotic.

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In fact I love when people use them. The problem is that when you don't have time to develop them because you're mixing too many things together, the characters feel shallow and you can get the impression that the arc is a fluff piece about the author's characters. Especially when one of them is referred to in the description as a "...legendary hero of Paragon City". That requires more background so I can know about the characters and care about them.


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And where do you tell this? There is not infinite file space or text space to put this kind of thing for every story.


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*sigh*

Remember in my original critique where I said that the arc is trying to do too much? Where I felt that if the Turbo/Jade-Star story were done in it's own arc that it would be better since you could give the characters' histories the attention they deserved?

I'm sorry if my connecting-2-separate-thoughts together was confusing.

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I've already provided the author my thoughts via PM and in-game. Quite frankly, you're grasping at straws to pick apart things that are limitations of the editing tool that is available just to make yourself feel important.

I'll write more later.

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Go ahead. I'm done in this thread. You're a cheerleader who for some reason feels the need to attack every criticism of this arc, to the point where you don't actually read what someone else said for it's meaning, but just for something to disagree with. I have no intention of reading any more non-objective fanboy/girl responses from you.

Please feel free to attack me all you want. Maybe some people will get a chuckle...

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Wanted to comment on a few things;

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One of the objectives is to start the base's defenses back up at a terminal. In doing so you get a clue about discovering that a virus shut down the defenses right before the attack. I have a problem with this simply because it makes the assumption that my character has the time/skill/inclination to find the virus.


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Well, first of all, it's a clue. Second, you're not the only person running their character through it, so don't expect to find material tailored to your character in specific. That's an arrogant assumption and if that is what you're expecting in missions, then you should write your own stories specifically suited to you and your "vision" of who and what your character is. A player who fancies their character a computer expert would find a clue given to them as you suggested stupid.

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I never said that I wanted content tailored to my character. Here's a classic case of "grasping for straws to desperately defend an arc". What I was getting at was the fact that having you find the virus on the console is too specific. Not to me, but to everyone who's character is not a computer person. Viruses don't generally show up on the desktop waving a flag at you so you know they're there. Then you contradict yourself when you mention that a character that's a computer expert would find my suggested method dumb? Ummm... wouldn't that be tailoring toward a specific character or type of character?

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- While in the warehouse, you find and crack a safe that yields several shipping manifests for Crey heavy weaponry. On it is also mentioned "JS". I have the same problem here as I did with the virus in Mission 1... you're assuming my hero knows how to crack a safe. I can tell you, Capt Tremendous does not.


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Again, if you're looking for content specifically written and tailored for you and your vision of your character, then you should write your own content and run that. Don't expect every arc out there to make complete sense to fit your "character". Dumbing down a story to make all clues found in an unsecured desk drawer with "we are the bad guys and this is our evil plan" written plainly on it and with nice big picture maps with large print doesn't work. Not everyone has a character they portray as a dimwit.

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Again, not asking for specific content tailored toward my character. But making the assumption that my character can crack a safe is too big a jump. Maybe all of your characters are safe-cracking-computer-experts, so it's fine by you. To make it more accessible to more characters, it needs to be more "anybody could have found the clue this way" unless you're simply going to dismiss it and just worry about the clue. Me? I notice the little things, and it was my critique, after all.

Also, I'm glad you think anyone who can't crack a safe is a dimwit. I'm pretty sure Superman couldn't do it without simply destroying it because he never developed safe-cracking skills. His intelligence is rated pretty high.

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You run into Lord Nemesis, spouting on as he does. From what he says you get the idea that a much vaster plot is underway. My biggest problem here is that the writer didn't use a Fake Nemesis... or a representative of Nemesis... he used the real Lord Nemesis.


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IMO, this is another example of someone not understanding what a "prelude" is. How do you know this was the "real" Nemesis? Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't.

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1 - Nowhere in the mission description does it say that this arc is a prelude to another, bigger story. Anyone just randomly playing the arc will have no idea of that...
2 - Turbo later says something like "I'd love to interrogate Nemesis and Countess Crey, but..." All the writing implies that it's the real Nemesis. I'm sure we could argue about this one all day...

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The robots didn't seem to round up the Malta in that one either. I wonder why? Also, I see the contact not making more of a big deal out of them as him being more real. He is a hero and they are (supposedly) heroes and in the CoH universe, heroes trust each other. He has no reason to doubt them yet.

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You start by saying "The robots didn't seem to round up the Malta in that one either. I wonder why?" and then follow it with "He is a hero and they are (supposedly) heroes and in the CoH universe, heroes trust each other. He has no reason to doubt them yet." Really? Brand new, no-one-has-seen-before superbots that are working with Malta? No... no reason to be suspicious there.... And from the players point of view, it just comes down to basically being told "Don't worry about that now... you'll find out more later." Even though, as I said earlier, the arc gives no indication that it's a prelude. Yes, you and I know it because the author told us so here on the boards. That's not enough.

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None of my characters would be afraid of anyone named Bonedog. I know the author didn't create the character, but that doesn't mean you have to use him...


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Yeah, the name is a bit silly. But you did run this with a character named "Capt Tremendous", which, no offense, is a pretty darn stupid and unimaginative name too. So pot, meet kettle on that one.

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How does the name of my character have any impact on the arc at all? Answer: It doesn't. My char name could be "Awesome McCool", "Dark guy of the Dark", "Miss_Freeze", "Shard Warrior", or whatever. The player's character is not supposed to be an important high level Elite baddie that you're supposed to worry about, let alone be standing 10 feet from someone like Nosferatu. You're reaching again.

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- Upon entering, I immediately feel that the map choice is bad.
It's an Arachnos map, full of "The Red Hand" guys. It's not the map itself, it's all of the Arachnos banners hanging all over the place. If Torque Starr is as bad as I'm supposed to feel that he is, he should have his own digs... not be squatting.


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I've never understood these kinds of "critiques".

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Good. I'm glad you don't understand. Of course I'd be just as glad if you did.

It's this simple: Setting is very important to story. the wrong setting can be distracting. Imagine a Lord of the Rings knock-off set in a Crey lab. Wouldn't work. While the use of an Arachnos map in this mission is not nearly that bad, I still found it off. If you didn't that's great.

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To be perfectly blunt, I didn't care about Turbo, Jade, Bonedog, or Torque at all because you couldn't spend enough time getting me to care since you had the subplot to push. As is, the people who already know these characters will like it while the rest of us are "meh".


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Personally, I enjoy it when people include original characters.


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I have no problem with original characters. In fact I love when people use them. The problem is that when you don't have time to develop them because you're mixing too many things together, the characters feel shallow and you can get the impression that the arc is a fluff piece about the author's characters. Especially when one of them is referred to in the description as a "...legendary hero of Paragon City". That requires more background so I can know about the characters and care about them.

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- In mission 1, the "you find a virus" thing is forced.
SUGGESTION - Leave the console in, but move the virus clue to one of the Long Bow being rescued. "I have to get to the medic. Please guard this report until after the attack." and have the wounded guy give you a system diagnostic showing the virus infection.


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So if I understood you, your character does not have the brains to use a computer so finding a virus is "not good" on a comuter. Yet as a hero, it works better to be turned into a lowly secretary or clerk to hold some paperwork for a Longbow? Sorry, not buying it.

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Riiiiiiiiiiiight... I said that my characters is dumb. Not that he may not be a computer person who now has to spend time to try to find a source of the shutdown rather than simply reactivating the system like the mission goal said, all the while Rikti are invading the base and people need rescuing.

WOW you must have purple'd-out you misinterpretation skills...

Also, the idea that a character needs to protect important info is not exactly new or demeaning.

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- Mission 2, there needs to be a better reason to go check out the warehouse. It's way too coincidental.
SUGGESTION - write more


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The virus was of Crey origin. The contact dialogue explains that much very well. What more do you need? A blimp in the sky with "HEY LOOK HERE" written on it? It's a lead. And "write more" what?

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"Write more" simply refers to the fact that "Hey, there's some Crey in a warehouse in Brickstown" is not enough, especially when you get there to find the meeting between Nemesis and Countess Crey. OF COURSE there's Crey in a warehouse in Brickstown... they're all over the friggin place! WAY too coincidental. Needs more effort on the writer's part.

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- Mission 3, Who is Omega Force?
SUGGESTION - Upon returning to Turbo, we need more on Omega Force. If not info, then you need to push the mystery while not making them a focus. "And who were those Omega Force guys? I'm glad they helped-out with DeVore and all, but we should probably find out more about them. We can worry about that later, though.


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IIRC, Captain Amazing's bio says something about you having seen Omega Force "on the news". Granted that is in a place where most won't bother to read, but the devil is in the details.

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So you admit that info is basically in a place where no one will look for it, and then say that people should look there??? Coming from someone who said that it's fine that you go to mission 2 for basically no reason other than "A contact told me that some Crey are there...", this seems extraordinarily contradictory and cheerleader-y to me.


No offense Miss_Freeze, but you've shown in this thread that you're such a cheerleader of this arc that you're critique of my critique has no credibility. No matter what I wrote, if it wasn't "This arc is made of awesome!" you'd try to pick it apart.

You're a fan... I get it. We all get it.

But guess what? Some people are here to give criticisms because we think we can help make an arc better. The author asked for feedback, and I gave it. You're unnecessary defense of his story, grasping for straws as you go, offers no constructive feedback for him. the only reason I replied was to point out the flaws in your arguments. Hopefully the author will gain something from that.

Ran this on my L50 Inv/EM Tanker Capt Tremendous, on Heroic

In the interest of full disclosure, I'll say that I know the architect personally. Because of that I may be too lenient, or possibly too rough since I know he's a smart guy with some good ideas.

I like to roll bullet-style, FYI. Also, I'm going mostly from memory with a few notes so if I get any details wrong, I apologize in advance.

Mission 1
You meet Turbo Starr who tells you that a Longbow base is under attack by Rikti. Some heroes have already gone, but they're still calling for reinforcements. You and Turbo Starr head out to help.

- Right off the bat, lemme say that I generally don't like ally missions. I find that writers often throw them in because they've designed a mission that's too difficult, and that's the solution they come up with. That's not the case here as Turbo Starr is a boss, not an Elite, and can definitely drop (did so several times with me). Believe it or not, that's good. It means that he's not kill-stealing the whole time and making me feel like a tag-along.
- There's a lot to do in this mission. I'm ok with that since it adds to the "Oh crap there's a friggin attack going on!" feel.
- One of the objectives is to start the base's defenses back up at a terminal. In doing so you get a clue about discovering that a virus shut down the defenses right before the attack. I have a problem with this simply because it makes the assumption that my character has the time/skill/inclination to find the virus.
- Good map choice, but big. You'll be in there for a while.

After the mission, Turbo Starr tells you about a hero that went missing during the attack. Jade-Star, whom he has a history with.

Mission 2
Turbo Starr is gonna have the virus examined by someone he knows. Meanwhile, an informant of his says that there's Crey activity at a warehouse in Brickstown. Turbo thinks we should check it out.

- Right off the bat, the circumstance that leads you to the warehouse is way too random. Crey in a warehouse in Brickstown? NO! You don't say?
- Again, Turbo Starr is an ally.
- While in the warehouse, you find and crack a safe that yields several shipping manifests for Crey heavy weaponry. On it is also mentioned "JS". I have the same problem here as I did with the virus in Mission 1... you're assuming my hero knows how to crack a safe. I can tell you, Capt Tremendous does not.
- You run into Lord Nemesis, spouting on as he does. From what he says you get the idea that a much vaster plot is underway. My biggest problem here is that the writer didn't use a Fake Nemesis... or a representative of Nemesis... he used the real Lord Nemesis. The guy that's been pulling strings and running plots for-ev-er. Then, I'm lucky enough to come across him in a warehouse and apprehend him? I don't buy it.
- Countess Crey is also there. I also have a problem with her being there, but not as big a one as with Nemesis. My gripe with CC is her dialogue. She says stuff like "Oh, now you are making me mad." It just feels forced.
- The underlying story here is that the villains seem to be trying to negotiate some deal amongst themselves.

After the mission, Turbo tells you more about how he feels about Jade-Star.

Mission 3
In this one you head to a warehouse that is a known Carnival of Shadows hangout to try to find out more about what's going on, and where Jade-Star is. If I remember correctly, you got the address from coordinates on the manifest you found in the Crey warehouse in Mission 2.

- Again, Turbo Starr is an ally.
- In the mission there are Carnival of Shadows, Freaks, and Council. Obviously, still pushing the idea that villain groups are getting together.
- In the mission you fight Vanessa DeVore. At one point she says something like "If I tell you what I know will you stop beating on me?" While doing so, Malta and "Omega Force" attack her to shut her up before she tells you anything. My problem here is, like Countess Crey, the dialog for Vanessa seems really off. She says stuff like "I just got my nails done and you're gonna make me ruin them by punching you...", "You just messed up my hair...", and "Oh you are so asking for it..." I don't remember DeVore being a quaffed valley-girl from 1987. I think the author is trying to interject some comedy, but it just feels misplaced and forced.
- Another issue... who in the blue-hell is Omega Force? If they're being set up as something important later, then the mystery needs to be pushed. That's flushed away when you exit the mission and Turbo says something like "Boy, Omega Force is doing a great job".

You get a clue that forcefully tries to get you to believe what the Malta guy says to you. He basically tells you that there are other evils in the world and to find them, you should look in a mirror.

Mission 4
You find out that the Council is occupying an old 5th Column base, and you head there to look for Jade-Star. I don't remember where you get the base location from... it might be the Malta guy. Again, more dialogue from Turbo to really cram down your throat, the idea that you have no choice but to trust the Maltas. He also says that the base should be lightly guarded, but when you get there the entry text says that the place is "crawling with" Council.

- Again, Turbo Starr is an ally.
- 10 feet into the map I was attacked by members of "The Red Hand". Who? There needs to be something early in the mission that explains who these guys are. Maybe upon finding Turbo have him say something. NOTE: I may just not be remembering that happening. If it did, then forget this bullet exists.
- I HATE 5th Column/Council maps, especially when I'm dragging an ally around. After the 10th "Hey waitup!", I left his silly butt behind.
- The map is that one with the big, multilevel area at the end. A fine choice since the EBs didn't spawn up top on the catwalk.
- You fight Nosferatu. Not bad alone, but he spawned VERY close to the other EB. Somehow the other guy didn't join the fight, but if I had to back-peddle off of Nosferatu, I woulda backed right into the other guy and a bad time woulda ensued.
- Nosferatu mentions something like "The plans are already in motion and can't be stopped..." I'm sorry, but I just don't buy all of these top-shelf baddies doing the self-sacrifice-thing and buying into whatever is going on.
- After Nosferatu, you fight Bonedog, a Thugs/Rad. None of my characters would be afraid of anyone named Bonedog. I know the author didn't create the character, but that doesn't mean you have to use him...
- Also, Bonedog's dialog is torturous. All he says is stuff like "Boy, I'm gonna be in trouble..." The only benefit of the dialogue is that it made me want to defeat him faster.
- After defeating him, Bonedog tells you that Jade-star is being held by Torque Starr, Turbo Starr's nemesis. He also tells you where you can find her.

Mission 5
Turbo Starr and you set off to rescue Jade-Star. There's a weird bit of text here... I forget if Turbo says it or if it's in the mission entry popup... but it says something like "... even though she may probably already be dead..." It should be either "... even though she may already be dead..." or "... though she's probably already dead..."

- Again, Turbo Starr is an ally.
- Upon entering, I immediately feel that the map choice is bad.
It's an Arachnos map, full of "The Red Hand" guys. It's not the map itself, it's all of the Arachnos banners hanging all over the place. If Torque Starr is as bad as I'm supposed to feel that he is, he should have his own digs... not be squatting.
- Kill baddies... find Jade-Star... defeat Torque Starr. Nice and simple.

Afterward, you start to wonder if the scientist that gave you info on the virus lied or not about it's origins as Long Bow bases are protected against viruses. This clue seems to come outa nowhere.

Also, Turbo Starr tells you that he and Jade-Star are getting married.

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Observations and Suggestions

Over all I can tell that the writer put a lot of time and thought into the arc. However, imo there's a couple of problems...

General
- The whole arc is schizophrenic. It is really difficult to write a big story like this, and often the theme is lost somewhere. Is it a love story, a conspiracy story, a mystery, an origin story...? It tries to do too much.
SUGGESTION - Split it into 2 arcs. As is, the primary story of Turbo looking for his lost chick is muddled and distracted from by the subplot. Also, the subplot becomes nothing more than "Oh look, more super-evil doing... something." I think I see what you're laying the ground work for... but it just ends up being frustrating. Both parts of the plaot suffer for it. If it was 2 separate arcs, one to find a lost love in danger and one to investigate a series of suspicious events, I think each could be great.

- Mission exit popups. Every time you exit you get "Great job!" and such. It made me feel like I was 5 years old.
SUGGESTION - Lose all the mission success popups. They don't do anything for the story at all.

- Personal/Friend's characters can get you into a lot of trouble unless you make them feel really original to the story. To be perfectly blunt, I didn't care about Turbo, Jade, Bonedog, or Torque at all because you couldn't spend enough time getting me to care since you had the subplot to push. As is, the people who already know these characters will like it while the rest of us are "meh".
SUGGESTION - See my above comment about splitting this into 2 arcs. In the love story arc, you could spend all the time you need developing these characters as they should be.

Specific
- In mission 1, the "you find a virus" thing is forced.
SUGGESTION - Leave the console in, but move the virus clue to one of the Long Bow being rescued. "I have to get to the medic. Please guard this report until after the attack." and have the wounded guy give you a system diagnostic showing the virus infection.

- In Mission 2, the safe is the same as the virus from Mission 1.
SUGGESTION - Find the shipping manifest on one of the defeated Crey.

- Mission 2, there needs to be a better reason to go check out the warehouse. It's way too coincidental.
SUGGESTION - write more

- Mission 2, THE Lord Nemesis being in the mission and being captured dramatically undercuts his place in the canon. He is a global threat with immense influence. treating him otherwise loses you credibility with players that are familiar with the character.
SUGGESTION - Fake Nemesis, or other Nemesis representative.

- Mission 3, DeVore's dialogue is really immersion-breaking.
SUGGESTION - Change it to be more in-line with the canon.

- Mission 3, Who is Omega Force?
SUGGESTION - Upon returning to Turbo, we need more on Omega Force. If not info, then you need to push the mystery while not making them a focus. "And who were those Omega Force guys? I'm glad they helped-out with DeVore and all, but we should probably find out more about them. We can worry about that later, though. First we have to rescue Jade..."

- Mission 4, Bonedog.
SUGGESTION - No Bonedog for a couple of reasons. 1 - Squishies might have a tough time with a Thugs/Rad. 2 - His name is Bonedog.

- Mission 5, the Arachnos map is a bad choice since it undercuts the villain's credibility. A real threat would have his own place... one not covered with Arachnos banners.
SUGGESTION - Another map.

I rated the arc 3 stars as is. A lot of effort on the author's part is evident, but as I said earlier, I think it tries to do too much and the theme suffers. The author is obviously going for the "first book that lays the groundwork for a series" thing, but without fleshing out some of the info it doesn't work. With some changes I can see it being a 4-5 star, and would happily play it again and re-rate it.

I'll admit that I love the AE. Not for farming, but for player-content.

Everytime I see "AE team forming. Send tell" I always ask "What level please?" When I get back "L50" and I'm on a lowbie, I just reply "No thx. I'm too low." 9 outa 10 times "It auto SKs you" comes back.

When will people learn that an SKed toon with 3 unslotted powers is still gonna get murdered?

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equally annoying? Stand in one spot, turn on an 'offensive' PBAoE aura power like Icicles or Hot Feet or Choking Cloud and then see how many emotes work for you. Completely kills wonderful setups for screenshots, such as my Fire/Rad Controller standing at the middle of her Hot Feet/Choking Cloud auras doing the 'jugglefire' emote while her Fire Imps dance around slapping a bunch of random mobs twisted up by the AoE hold and locked down with Fire Cages.

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No reason that Icicles or Choking Cloud shouldn't work with emotes. I will need to make a small change to Hot Feet though...I've been trying to fix these 'offensive' toggles as I find them so that they don't put you into a permanent combat state while active.

I'm actually a bit puzzled because most emotes should now work even while in combat mode. There should even be a number of emotes that work while in shield combat mode.

Have you tried in Issue 15?

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I dunno, but shields (as in the Shield power set) and emotes, especially Costume Change emotes = me being an unhappy camper.

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I noticed that my Shielder goes into the standing position rather than staying in "ready to fight", after toggling on his powers. Maybe they were trying to get that to happen since a lot of Shielders complained about it, and something else went wacky because of it...

My female Rad/Rad deffender, MutaJenn.

Love my L50 Inv/EM, Capt Tremendous. Part cool, part cheese, tough as heck, hits like a truck, & is 100% fun.

I also have a L38 Stone/Stone that I enjoyed in the 20's, but I just can't bring myself to play anymore. She's about to be deleted and rerolled as an SD/Axe. That should be hella-fun.

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Not cool with the white-knighting, dude who decided to go to bat for me.

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Noted, and accepted.

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Question:

Does the description say there are AV/EBs, or are you strictly relying on the player to see that "Defeat Boss" is part of the missions?

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I believe the terminal will say Arch Villain. Not entirely sure though.

[ QUOTE ]
No sense in getting bent outa shape over it.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm not bent out of shape. I just disagree with his overall rating and his reasons for reaching it, which I am entitled to do.

[/ QUOTE ]

True, of course.

[ QUOTE ]
Bottom line, this "reviewer" (and I use that term loosely) griefed this arc unfairly. It is a good story with some depth to it, which is more than can be said for a lot of the other crappy farm arcs with clones of Ronald McDonald and Pee Wee Herman for fast XP gain.

To give an arc a 1 star rating for using a Longbow minon NPC instead of a Longbow Lt. and quibbling over grammar and map usage is just plain stupid. The story will make sense to anyone with more than 2 brain cells.

[/ QUOTE ]

You do realize what you're doing, right? You're being that person that calls someone dumb because they don't like the same movie you like. You're acting like a Twilight fan. YES I SAID IT ;P

Look, if the guy wanted to grief it he wouldn't have finished it. He woulda stopped in mission 2 and 1-star'ed, and not bothered to right a review. Calling him a griefer because he didn't like it is childish.

[ QUOTE ]
The point I was getting at was that a person can see that there are bosses in each mission, so if they are typically unable to defeat a boss under normal circumstances, they should find a team. I also believe that if I can do this solo with few problems on a variety of ATs, so can anyone else. I'm no better or more skilled a player than the next person. With some ATs (tanks and scrappers) it is much easier to solo than with squishies. Yet I am able to complete it (albeit with a lot more finesse in terms of pulling and aggro avoidance) with a blaster and even my EMP defender. Others should be able to as well. As you well know, some ATs are better suited for soloing than others.

[/ QUOTE ]

Question:

Does the description say there are AV/EBs, or are you strictly relying on the player to see that "Defeat Boss" is part of the missions?

And, as far as the reviewer missing the point of something or not reviewing correctly, all I can say is that we don't get to pick our critics or how they critique. At least he didn't just stroll into the thread with "Meh... sucks.", and that was it. He gave you feed back in his way and I think you just need to take it for what you think it's worth. No sense in getting bent outa shape over it.

[ QUOTE ]
AVs are meant to be tough. It is just a preference, but I prefer a challenge as do most others I team with on a regular basis. Just as a suggestion, but when you read the mission details at the MA terminal and saw that each mission contains a Boss, perhaps you might consider teaming? I can solo this arc with no real difficulties on my tank. If the EBs/AVs are too much for you alone, find a team.


[/ QUOTE ]

Don't get all bent outa shape here, but I quoted the above statement to point out that YOU decided to start a public thread about your arc, and requested feedback. The "challenge" that you and your friends enjoy has no impact on how other people will receive your arc, and the fact that you can solo it on your Tank (which I'm sure is purpled-out since I know you) shold not be a measuring stick for what other people can and cannot do in a mission.

Right now my MA/SD is L38 and kicks much butt. I don't have a guide or anything, but I can offer some random advice, in no particular order:

- End use is pretty heavy. If you can afford a Miracle Unique it'll help A LOT
- Also, get a Steadfast +Def as soon as you can
- Use IO sets to soft-cap Melee Defense first, then Ranged and AoE
- 6-slot Gaussian's in Focused Chi. It gives you + to all 3 positions, end, damage, and health.
- Dragon's Tail and Air Sup are great mitigation, as well as decent damage especially with baddies in melee range for Against All Odds and after Focus Chi
- Shield Charge is... it's so... beautiful...
- Boxing let's you 6 slot Razzle Dazzle for +Melee and +AoE defense
- I've decided to go without Heal Self and rely on Regen and Inspirations to heal since the build id so tight. Hasn't been too bad.

Hmmm... that's all I got for now. Enjoy

[ QUOTE ]
SO can we get a guide for it yet! Need help with my slots for my natural-non travel powered build!

[/ QUOTE ]

That's what I'm working on too, but he's only L38 at the moment. When I'm done maybe I'll write up what I did with him. I'm kinda bad at guides though because I tend to go with my gut rather than min/max.

In the "Canon Fodder" thread, Manticore posted:

[ QUOTE ]
I consulted with Ray Snyder, the dev who plays Blue Steel, and he informed me that Blue Steel is a Martial Arts, Shield Defense Scrapper...

[/ QUOTE ]

Cool! I thought I had the only one, hehe. SD/SS Tanker seems to be a much more popular choice for a weapon-less, "natural" character.

[ QUOTE ]
Horror to Puzzles/Riddles

Horror
--------
Astoria in D Minor (41565) -- Heroic
Dark Dreams (3615)
D!E COUNT DADDY MACULA D!E! (10619) -- Heroic (1970's Action/Horror)
Don't Play With The Dead (31813) -- Neutral
The Amulet of J'gara (1709) -- Heroic
Project: Perilous - Into the Chthonian Pit (#3586) - Neutral (Unless you happen to be a mad cultist, in which case, go nuts!)
Small Fears -- Heroic
Lights, Camera, Scream! (#68627) - 3 Mission arc that get's you into the B-Horror film circuit.
Duality --Heroic -- 84105
Hunting the Hunters --Villainous -- 93362 - Help a vampire find out who is hunting his people
Creepy Crawlers - Arc ID: 82553 (Lv 41 - 52, a short, solo-friendly ghost story. Best played alone.)
I Will Dance On Your Grave - Arc ID 92630 – Any level, no EBs or AVs, Voodoo, Necromancy
Movie Monster Madness.. - 102058
Something Comes to Yarmouth(58812) - Heroic, levels 25+ (masearch link)
The Zombie Apocalypse Task Force: Something wicked this way comes.
The Children of Astoria (217499)
*

Large-Scale Crisis
--------
Alpha and Omega (60015) -- Heroic
Is it Live or is it Memory-X - Arc ID #70210 - Heroic
This Is War, Part I - the Revenge of Hro'Dtohz -- Neutral
Win the Past, Own the Future - Heroic
A Warrior's Friend - Heroic
The Clockwork War -- Heroic (18672)
Flight of the Valkyries - Precursor (20272) -- Neutral
War of the Worlds - The Anakim Invasion - Part 1, Neutral (15006)
War of the Worlds - The Anakim Invasion - Part 2, The Terran Revolt, Neutral (46711)
Bleed the Freak - Arc ID #6919 - Heroic
The All-Seeing Eye - Arc ID #57352 - Heroic [SFMA, Soloable, No EB/AVs, Auto-SK to 30/41)
The End of the World for Fun and Profit - ID 231802 - Heroic, recommended for Level 30 and up. 4 missions with a "Standard" strength EB at the end.
*

Magic
--------
The Magical Miss Fitz (5079) -- Heroic
Chains of Blood (5492) -- Heroic
A Deal with Destiny -- Heroic
The Broken Chain (82378) -- heroic
Croatoa's Great War: The Parfait Family Reunion -- Neutral -- 71880
Rex is Missing! - Heroic - 51702
The Tannhäuser Gate (Arc 96322)
I Will Dance On Your Grave - Arc ID 92630 – Any level, no EBs or AVs, Voodoo, Necromancy
Deal with The Devil's Pawn Heroic (#113615)
A Dream of Awakenings - #132616. Heroic. 4 missions. Level 30+ recommended.
The Shadow Rune of the Warlocks (124319).
*

Military
--------
Redoubt Operations #1: Fires over Kalago -- Heroic
Red Typhoon (Arc 4912) -- Heroic
Whitehawks (113811) -- Heroic
Axis and Allies -- Villainous (1379)
Vanguard AQUA (58475) -- Neutral
Wings of Deception, 101926
*

Misc. Adventure
--------
Impossible Kung Fu Mission -- Nuetral (111367)
The Portal Bandits (3326) -- Heroic
A Glitch in the Wyre- Arc 73197-- Neutral (Fun for both the good kids and the bad kids too!)
The Council Cargo - Arc ID: 36951 (Heroic, Lv 26 - 31, solo or team)
Hero Therapy! (TM) - 119228
The Second Coming of the Mega Mech - Heroic (122274)
*

Mutant
---------
The Legion of Mutants vs. the Iron Agents - (200364), Neutral
*

Mystery
--------
Blowback (18575) -- Heroic
Dream Paper -- Heroic (13030)
Dream Paper 2: Restless Sleep -- Heroic (16797)
Dream Paper 3: Broken Dreams -- Heroic (13064)
Hunter of Beasts: It begins with a riot... Arc ID: 110465 - Heroic
Females for Hire - Neutral (Heroic and/or Mercenary motivations) (110723)
The Fireside Poet - #189439. Heroic. 5 missions, but a fast run. Levels 1-14.
*

Mythology
--------
Atlantis Attacks! -- Neutral (30898) -- Click for Promotional Poster
The Seelie War -- Heroic
The Unseelie War -- Villainous
The Seeds of Yggdrasil[b/] -- heroic
Tales of Cimerora, volume 1 : Of feathers and fur -- Heroic
The Aegis Affair - Heroic - **** - 16376
Witches and Warriors (53006)- Heroic
Rites of the Maenads (61159) - Heroic
The Parable of the Fruit Salad -- Heroic -- 65369
The Eye of Balor (88176) - Heroic
Madness And The Minotaur - Neutral - 90124
The Four Treasures of the Tuatha De Danaan - #164100 - Heroic
*

Nemesis Plots
--------
Brass Reaver: Part 1 -- Neutral
The Handbag Plot -- Heroicish -- 36414
Rise and Fall of the Iron General -- Heroic -- 142200
*

Player-Chosen Outcome
--------
Hunting the Dark Dragon -- Heroic
Playing Gods -- Heroic (51106)
Time's Maelstrom -- Heroic #147296
*

Public Domain Characters/Literature
--------
The Praetorian Invasion of the Land of Oz - Heroic (Contains at least one AV on each mission. Last mission has 3 (but with two helper EBs)
*

Puzzles/Riddles
--------
Grim Riddles (#1396) - Heroic
*

Sci-Fi
--------
Above Mars - Part 1: The Wellington -- Neutral (13215)
Adventures of the Space Marines -- Neutral
Adventures of the Space Marines 2 -- Neutral
The Adventures of the United Earth Rangers -- Neutral (29549)
The Continuing Adventures of the United Earth Rangers -- Neutral (70237)
The Final Nemesis
The Fracturing of Time -- Heroic (171031)
The Knights of Rularuu -- Heroic (75386)
Reach for the Stars -- Neutral (78904)
Spaced Invaders --Heroic(56856)
That Mysterious Buzzing Sound - 12774
The Nemesis Theory - 171203 - Villainous
The Balance of Power - 26931 - Neutral
Welcome to Donut World - 1233 heroic
City of the Apes - 171184 Heroic
Assault on Aru Prime (Arc 173115 - EVIL.. VERY EVIL)
Ctrl + Alt + Reset! -- Neutral (137561)
*

Un-themed Survival/AV/Time Challenges
--------
The Meatgrinder -- Neutral
*

[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
But...but...I read it on the internet! It must be true!

[/ QUOTE ]

Everything you have been told is a lie.

[/ QUOTE ]

including this statement.

[/ QUOTE ]

And the cake.

The Fireside Poet - #189439
Heroic
5 missions, but a fast run.
Levels 1-14
Currently at 58 plays

Thanks for consideration

For your L8 Blaster:

#189439
The Fireside Poet
L1-14
5 missions, but a fast run
Mostly Skulls with 1 custom Boss at the end

Thanks

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

For your L12 Blaster:

#189439
The Fireside Poet
L1-14
5 missions, but a fast run
Mostly Skulls with 1 custom Boss at the end

Thanks,

[/ QUOTE ]

Ran with my lvl 12 Shield/Mace Tanker on Challenge level 1. I really enjoyed this arc, it could use a little improving and had a few errors, minor ones sent through feedback. But worth mentioning that I rated it 5 stars. It starts out with a simple break-in with the Skulls, but instead of a rescue, it becomes a salvage operation. The description in the first couple missions were a little greusome, I don't remember if there's a warning in the description, but you should make a note if you haven't. I'm not going to go into too many details because it's rather late. But the mystery is pretty well laid out with a good hook in the first mission with an early twist and a good setup of the antagonist. The second mission has a bit of comic relief to ease the tension. The third mission is a good rising action, adding a new plot arc. The fourth mission had a couple too many objects in my opinion, I think it rings clear enough with 2-4. And the final mission wraps everything up nicely story-wise. Although from a mission-design standpoint, it seems a little flat. I couldn't offer any suggestions to improve based on the current story though.

As far as suggestions, I really liked the poetry references, although they were very scattered. Four of the names were: Wordsworth, Eliot, Whitman, and Dayton (once or twice Drayton). D(r)ayton is not a very well known poet compared to the other three. At least I'd never heard of either one of them. Also you start out with direct quotes from poetry from Elizabeth Barrett Browning and one of Shakespeare's Sonnets, but that drops off later. I would like to see a couple more quotes thrown in, although I think you might want to do a bit more research and tie in the poetry quotes with the names you're using in the arc as well. Although I really loved the writing of the Fireside Poet when you start quoting him directly, it's very well written.

I absolutely enjoyed this arc. It was tremendously well written, had a distinct voice, a great mystery, and some interesting characters. It's right up with "The Missing" as one of the best mystery arcs I've played so far. period. 5 stars.

*took a few screenshots, will edit in some links tomorrow or so.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks for all the kind words. I'm glad you enjoyed it

To address a couple of your points:

- When selecting names for the characters, several popped into my head but I completely locked-up when trying to think of a name for the second victim. A quick google later and I found Drayton. Definitely not as known as the others, but it was a good-sounding name so I decided to go with it. I may change it.

- Fixed the Drayton-Dayton oops-es.

- The intro to the arc mentions "Horror, sadness, and revenge." You're the first person to mention that I should add more about the violent nature of the arc's events in the intro. Good suggestion, thank you.

- I htink the reason that the clickies in mission 3 feel like a lot is because the player knows what's going on after the first one. Being a hero though, I figured that the character would be compelled to check all of them "just in case". I've gotten this remark a few times though, so I guess I need to balance motivation with game-play a bit more. I've dropped the total number to 4, each with a 3 second interaction time instead of 4.

- I agree about mission 5 in that it's much more straight forward than the others (well, except for mission 2 maybe). But the story just evolved that way. At that point you know everything about Poet's plans so there aren't anymore twists to be had.

Thanks for the review, and being my 50th play

[ QUOTE ]
The Fireside Poet - Rated Five Stars

Played from just shy of lvl 7 to just shy of lvl 8. As always, using my DB/Regen scrapper.

Let me start by saying that I think this arc has been reviewed here before and, if so, it shows because this was a pretty tight arc. My main criteria for any arc are two questions: "Is it interesting enough to keep me going?" and "Is it challenging without being an exercise in frustration?" To the first question, it was a "Yes" with enough interesting plot turns to make me want to find out what happens. To the second question, it was another "yes". Because this arc uses only Skulls, it doesn't suffer the risk of Custom Critter breakdown.

The main thrust of the plot is that you're sent to investigate a Skull break-in job and learn that they've moved from their usual petty crimes of shaking down pedestrians and trying to break into streetlight poles into darker and more sinister crimes. Naturally, this has all involved upset including (as you learn) even some of the Skulls. Someone's leaving poetry clues as well. It turns out that the Fireside Poet is hiring the Skulls as muscle as he works towards his own goals. The MA synopsis promises "horror, sadness and revenge" and it delivers.

Most of the plot and clues worked well. I was slightly startled at the end of the first mission (wasn't expecting that!) and loved the concept of the Icarus plot. I was appropriately manipulated into feeling empathy for the villain even as I knew he had to go down.

My few issues with the plot were that I didn't know if the potry was supposed to mean anything to me or if it was just throw-away verse for mission flavor. I didn't attempt to write it down or construct the couple parts together so, at the end, I didn't know if I had missed anything or not. Beyond that, my only gripe was the airfield office being another standard law firm/stock broker/city council/whatever office. I guess that couldn't really be helped since there may not be a more appropriate map but... well, I don't know what could have been done better there with the tools provided so no points docked. Just took me a little out of the moment. Also, maybe a little flavor text injected into mission #2 would have been nice; it was largely silent.

Beyond that, this was an obviously polished bit of arc-work that I'd happily recommend not only to anyone with a lowbie to level but to anyone looking for a good story oriented MA adventure. I should have kept better track of my run time but I think it was between 60-90 minutes for the entire arc.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks for the kind words Let me address a few things...

- As to the poetry clues, they do have meaning but it's VERY abstract unless you sit down after playing the whole thing and go back and analyze it line by line in relation to the villain and his thought processes. That's why the poetry is not central to the story at all. You can react just like the contact does ("Friggin' poetry?"), and you'd be fine.

- I like your idea of adding flavor text to some of the Skulls in mission 2. Hadn't thought of it because it's designed to be a very straight-up gang hang-out, but a little "Hey, what are you doing in our place?" type stuff couldn't hurt.

- I would have liked another map for the air field office, too. Gotta work with what we're given, hehe.

- I'm pleased to hear that you didn't expect the ending to mission 1. Everybody who's played it has had the same reaction, and I think it serves to get a player invested in the "What the hell is going on?" feeling early on.

Thanks for playing and I'm glad you enjoyed it