PsychoPez

Last mission everything spawned alright for me.

Maybe it's just because I'm a jerkass, but I never really felt like I was doing anything bad. Spoilers incoming, for those who haven't read.

There were two potentially evil things I though the player had to do. Kidnap Dominatrix as bait, and remove Anti-Matter's hope of being cured. I felt a bit pang of guilt as I fighting Dominatrix (Hey, I left your dimension peacefully), but not so much, as she was talking about taking out a resistance cell right before I fought her.

The other thing seemed to come out of now where. Looking back, I can see the hints, Posi and Dark Watcher dropped a few hints about being trapped in armor, but nothing from Anti-Matter himself. I guess if I knew going in the last mission that I was going to destroy his hope of becoming free, it'd feel a bit more 'evil for the greater good', as it was, seeing that bit was almost a non issue.

I'd suggest maybe during the Anit-Matter fight, sneaking a line in there about "Domi, I've almost fixed myself, soon we can be together for real" (ANd if it's there, forgive me). The other would be to have the player realize they may need to delete everything Anti-Matter's worked on. I never connected his hope to fix himself and destroying his databases until it was too late, and it didn't really feel like 'evil for the greater good'. If I knew going in that everything, personal journals, personal projects, etc, it might make the choice hit home a bit more.

So I added one minor detail in the 4th mission end dialog, to give a bit more justification for the act of destroying these things. Something along the lines of: "If it works for baby Rikti, there's no reason it couldn't work on human babies as well."

Going to work on adding patrols in mission 2.

I use a text editor called TextPad. I've configured it to open up my save files and not have to worry about any of the stupid formatting issues Word Processors like MS Word put in.

TextPad has a spell check, so it allows me to write the arc in game (And I find I can get into the voice of each of the actors in an arc if I'm in game), close the game, run spell check and edit the save file that way, then load it back into the game.

Thanks for the play and the review, I already submitted this arc to the wise Dr. Aeon a week ago, but I'm taking all of the constructive comments, including yours, and looking to polish out the rough edges. Just want to comment on one thing...

Also, I try to hint that if you don't want to do the deed in mission 5, you can just wait it out. Would it be improved if I added an ooc line saying that you as a player have the option of waiting it out if you can't finish the task?

Hmm, if there was a way that clicking an object would fail the mission (Would activate the teleport, icly) or destroying the objects would pass the mission (doing the deed), that would give more control to the player...

Some replys to Twelfth.

I mentioned earlier I used an emp/rad defender solo to test the missions, like I do to test most of my missions. I don't have bosses spawning, so cosmic burst will take care of most problem mezzers. So if I was able to go through it multiple times on the lowest setting, I thought it solo-friendly. I'm new to creating and tagging AE stuff though, and if my definition of solo-friendly isn't correct, then my bad and I'll change it.

The Fastborn are just recoloured Rikti Mages. So they're seen elsewhere in the game, no power alteration done to them.

I didn't see too much problem with Midnighters having a Rikti in their club. All of humanity, including the Midnighters, were nearly ruined by the First Rikti War. We saw them all as monsters. We all know now there are layers to the Rikti (A concede that this entire arc revolves around), and that some Rikti are good Rikti (Are these the good Russians, or the bad Russians? Are these the good Rikti, or the bad Rikti?)

Plus, the Midnighters seem to be one of the best examples of "Knowledge Is Power" types, and what better way to get information on the Midnighter's natural enemies (Bad Rikti) than a good Rikti?

This also, maybe in a more subtle way, tries to strike home that not all Rikti are monsters. In my mind, the Rikti work best when viewed through a human filter. In the RWZ arcs the scout Rikti seems very curious, very gadgety, he is painted with human emotions. Having a 'scholar' Rikti kind of slams home that same point as well.

As to the combatless mission I generally get sick of "Go check this info out" missions where you go there and "Oh no, the library/office is under attack." Sometimes getting info is just getting info, and there are a few Easter Eggs in the non-required glowies that provide a small emotional peak before the valley of mission 5 occurs.

I do like the idea for patrols giving the place a more populated feel though, never thought about that...maybe their text could be one Midnighter "Why do we trust a Rikti in these sacred halls?" "They're not all bad, and what better way to learn about them" or some such text to address that concern.

Mission Four, you said you weren't feeling evil by this point. The intent was not to. The way I approached the challenge was not for a good hero to just be evil, but for the good hero to do something bad, for the greater good. For mission five to work, I had to build up to it, give background and details so completing the mission was a valid choice, as well as failing the mission. Mission one has you recover stolen goods, but you don't find out for sure that they were being used for civilians until mission 3 or 4.

Mission Five. Heh, it's weird, I'm getting extreme feedback on this. Some people had no problem doing the deed, given what they saw happening earlier. Better one life now than hundreds later. Some people had your reaction, They're Children. It's a non-issue, some things you just don't do.

Which is what I secretly wanted, if truth be told. There is no good choice. There also is no bad choice. What ever horrible act you do, there is some good out of it, either you stem a serious threat, as with 116k debt it is a threat, or you prove that some things are more important to humanity. Both are valid, noble things, but you can only get one. If you want, we can meet in game and I can skip to the last mission and fail it for you, the fail dialogue is the "You couldn't do that, that means you're not a monster. I'm not sure what I would have done if I were in your shoes, but I better start preparing for more severe Rikti attacks." type of thing.

As to the canonically of Rikti Civilians here on Earth Prime. I could justify it, everyone coming here from Rikti Earth were probably warriors, but given the global scale of the invasion, and how they set up (distant supply depots around the world with portals to Rikti Earth, all away from the battle lines), it's not hard to imagine convoys between the Rikti portals and these depots being run by blue collar Rikti. Plus, the division that occurred after the war, and Rikti having human emotions (as alluded throughout the arc) some would tire, flee, or just change their mind.

But none of that is listed in the arc. It's just assumed, and required for the arc. And it's a failure of the arc, I knew that going in. It's hard to get all that across plus build up to the end. It's weak writing, and I apologize. There isn't anything canonically that says there were Rikti civilians after the war.

My only defense is that, to my knowledge, there isn't anything that canonically says there were not Rikti civilians here after the war. We can fan wank back and forth, and unless a Red name descends to correct me, or there is something in canon I'm missing, then there's no real answer. I can just say it is, try and drop a hint or two, and leave the rest to the reader.

This arc was based on a short story I wrote years ago, basically the heroes are clearing out a Rikti mission and they find a Rikti nursery, unarmed Rikti mothers taking care of the baby Rikti, and the heroes' reaction to this scene. (It was right after I did the Omega Clearance arc for the first time). In my mind, for the past 4+ years since that arc, I've always seen the Rikti that were stranded here with a different eye. They're stranded on an alien land, hated, scrapping by underground. I place myself in that situation, and what I would do. Maybe if I can stay hidden well enough, if I'm not going home I'm going to try and live as well as I can. If I don't fight, I won't get noticed. If I stay hidden, the stupid general who I followed here and the stupid people I tried to kill and are trying to kill me will just ignore me, leave me be.

And maybe that hot female sergeant I always served with, who I'd never have a chance with back home, well, we're here, it's just our squad...maybe she has the same needs as me. She does have that awesome dimple in her head ridge I always found cute. ("Attractive: Dimple. Eyes: yours: highlight.")

I've had this image of the Rikti for so long, you reminded me just now that it's something that people may not, and probably not, share. That it's something I have to sell to the reader/player/user. I'm just not sure it's something I can put in without bogging down the rest of the arc.

At any rate, thanks for playing, I've already submitted this, so I'm not sure any changes will get in for the contest, but I'll have to run this through the ole internal editor to see if I can address any of these weaknesses without ruining what's already there...

Edit: BTW, I have no military background what so ever.

Need to run to work, more later. Just a quick comment.

I tested this solo, no difficulty ups with my empath, and had little problem with the fastborn. Then again, they were lieuts, so I could stun lock them with cosmic burst and total focus. They are recolored Rikti Magi, btw, found in a few arcs and during War Zone raids. I didn't alter any mob's powers, just recolored some for some variance.

This is my first arc, and I thought solo had the assumption of no higher difficulty settings. (Lieuts instead of bosses, etc...). If solo is meant just as one person, regardless of settings, I can remove that, cause yeah, Rikti Magi are tough if you can't mez them.



And thanks for testing...lots of good things to chew over, maybe I can reply in more detail during lunch.

Thanks all!

UV - fixed up that grammar, thanks for the catch.
Tangler - the reveal is meant to show up at any point. I tried to put enough detail in so the reveal wouldn't come out of left field, but not 'confirm' it until the end. I took the suggestion to add formatting, tried to keep with 'Vanguard' colors for that, thanks as well. Haven't changed the small format yet, I colored and smalled it to denote emoting of some sort, so I'll need to still do something for emoting.

Played through, couldn't finish the last mission, so I don't know what the last dialogue was. (Explain more below).

My thoughts: mission spoilers inbound.


Mission by Mission

Mission 1
- In the accept dialogue, there's this line, "You've stopped enough of them". Stopped enough what? The context sound like I've stopped enough police warehouses, that line didn't make sense.
- Pre-mission clue, Facemaker and new identity. While I love the idea of that, that you're in deep cover with a new look and identity, I'm really not, as I have the same costume I always wear. If this were the only time I had to suspend belief, I could live with it, as it is a sweet idea why I could do all the 'evil' stuff, but there are a few other times, and it sadly adds up.
- At first, I didn't like the 'we won't be meeting again' line, but I warmed to it.

Mission 2
- Phipps 'taking' the rifle. Nice. It's the little attentions to detail...
- "Going to have a look at this film" was the text on the bar as you clicked the glowie. Not if I don't want to. Another bit of forced part that adds up.
- Phipp's betrayal didn't work. When I killed Mr. Inquiry, it finished the mission, but that seemed ot trigger Phipp's betrayal. That's fine, knew he was gonna turn. But the line he said was, "I'll keep both." But I exited the mission without killing him, then in the outro text I'm giving the film to Indigo. It was a jarring line that didn't fit, broke the illusion of what I was doing if you will.

Mission 3
- Civilian Gym, working out. My character doesn't work out.
- "No, I won't do it" as the acceptance text. First, that's weird on a meta level, agreeing by saying I won't agree. Second, I really felt like my character wouldn't do it, regardless of what ever Indigo said. I had no reason to trust her word. I'll expand on this below, but at this point, if I didn't want to try and give you a review, I would have quit the arc right then and there.
- The goals in this mission just were weird and jumbled. I rescued Jackson before clicking the glowies, and before I rescued Vitale. It made Vitale's text when I rescued him rather odd.
- Punching Indigo, well, nice. Can't say I didn't like that.
- Maiden Justice. Hmm, I like the reveal, and how it now makes the arc fit into the challenge, but that's a pretty heavy blow against a staple character of the mythoes of the game.

Mission 4
- Really nice use of the mission dialogue as both dialogue and as stage setting, something different to spice things up.
- I hated Inquiry's dialogue in the last mission. Sure, I get that seeing the tape probably made him go off his rocker like that, but Indigo and I didn't go crazy from seeing the cursed tape, why did he? I didn't feel like I was beating up a hero to prevent a dark secret from getting out, I felt like I was silencing a madman, a villain. I can see what I think you were aiming for, but I much rather have fought the Inquiry from before, only this time having the truth for real on hand. I think making him go 'crazy' from the truth weakens him, and your arc. Fighting a sane Inquiry, only stronger knowing the truth at last, feels more in line with the challenge than the broken shell of the man he has become.
- 5 generators to power the Psi-McGuffin. Fair enough. Logically, if it takes 5 generators to power it, after destroying 1, logcially, doesn't it no longer have all the power it requires?
- I beat Inquiry before destroying the 5 generators. If he's arrested, is there any need to stop the generators?
- I beat Inquiry and blew up all 5 generators, but the mission didn't finish. I don't know if I had to defeat the mobs tied with them, so I just quit the arc at that point. Not sure what happened there, if I need to beat the spawns with the generators, would be nice to know. If not, not sure what happened there.


Overall impressions.

This never felt like a hero doing a villainous act for the greater good. This felt like a villain arc the entire way. I had no reason from the get go to agree to Indigo's suggestion to work under cover for something, and I need to have some sort of trust with Indigo for this arc to work.

Let me say that again, I need to trust Indigo for this arc to work. Indigo. The person I punch later in the mission. There's little buy in for the player or the character to go along with the arc, just Indigo's word that this is for the good. And that word gets very thin from the get go as you're fighting, framing, and destroying heroes.

If there were another mission, one that is just a normal mission from Indigo, where I come across some thing that requires me to go under cover, that invites me into the conspiracy. Maybe the player assists Inquiry halfway through this first mission, and he says he is looking for something, or, a psychic villain has read a stray thought about the tape, and while you defeat him in the first mission, reporting back to Indigo scares her, as this has gone from a normal run fighting you-know-who to something much, MUCH larger, with much more at stake, requiring you to do things for the larger good, then there is some personal buy in, rather than, "Here's some bad stuff, go do it, trust me!"

Also, it's very hard to stomach the thought that Maiden Justice was firebombing people without knowing why. Again, I think I see what you were doing, perhaps there was a reason why she was killing people like that, it mirrors your actions for the greater good. (And there has to be a reason she did it, if there isn't then just saying a hero was cold hearted like that is bad story telling, like I said, I never saw the last dialogue so I don't know for sure).

Don't mean to be so harsh, there's a great core idea in there, I think that it's just not fitting in the existing MA structure right now. There is some idiot ball handling in all arcs, I understand, but there seems to be too much here, and it distracts too much.

Hope you can smooth it out some more though!

Thanks to everyone who played this and gave feedback, it's been tweaked and polished a bit more. Loving the reasons people are giving for their actions in the last mission, I wish I had a way to tell how many people pass and fail that mission other than feedback...

Heya Virtue. I created my first MA arc (Info can be found here) and I'm looking for feedback. Spelling, grammar, as well as just how it handles overall from a story POV.

And I know a few of you here are interested in story telling and role playing... I'm looking for any sort of feedback, good or bad.

It's designed for Dr. Aeon's contest, so hopefully it will be a little What The Hell, Hero feel to it.

There's already been one play-through with a lot of spelling and grammar corrected, as well as inconsistencies with the term Enclave and Conclave cleared up. It is now more polished for your viewing pleasure.

The great and wise Aeon's challenge has gotten me off my butt to try this MA crafting out.

Arc Name: When The Bough Breaks
Arc ID: # 345863
Faction: Hero
Creator: @PsychoPez
Difficulty Level: Made to be soloed at any level. No custom enemy powers (custom Rikti colors though), there are certain bosses that may be tough if solo and they aren't lieuts.
Faction: Rikti, of the normal colored and custom colored variety.
Synopsis: Vanguard Captain Epillito has a special mission that needs completed to combat the constant Rikti Restructurist threat.
Estimated Time To Play: 30-45 minutes, 5 missions, all small maps.

It's in a public beta form, in that I've spent a good part of the weekend going through the text and the tool, and should be more than playable, but I cannot guarantee it 100% error free. Grammar, spelling, or plot comments would be welcome.

I've heard the endurance cost is more than sprint, can anyone confirm?

Buying this when I get home, looks sweet!

When people start complaining about something good, I'm simply reminded of what the wise sages known as the Refreshments once said, "Everybody knows that the world is full of stupid people."

Truer words have never been spoken.

Loving that the dev team sliced a bit of time to do this for us, thanks guys.

Anyways, let's meet at the mission, we can divvy up there. Soon blasters will have pistols, so they'll take the pesos.

Yeah, that seems fair.

RE: Day Jobs

Maybe it's because I've always been a cup half full type of guy...

But I'm not going to be logged into my characters every hour of every day. I need to sleep, need to go to work, need to do other things besides be in the game.

And when I'm not able to be playing, I'm badging.

Granted, I'm taking a slightly different direction with my day job badges, trying to get them all to 99.9% to then earn them all in one day (Currently just under 75% of time needed for all the current day job badges, with only one earned, Patroller. Just reminded that I have a link to my progress in my sig...)

But I hardly see it as a penalty. If I were able to be on 24/7, maybe then I'd see it differently. But as is, it's just more efficient badging. Work towards badges in a non-farming when I'm playing, work towards badges in a non-farming way when I'm not playing.


RE: Badge Grinding.

I earned Isolator on my I0 created badger when it was only available in RV. Would I go through that again if I had to, no, I'd use flashback. Does flashback take anything away from RV-only Isolator? Nope. I know I did it the so called hard way. At times it was a grind, at times it was fun, skirting my solo empath around a PvP zone. (Also, with a PBU-Forted Heavy earning easy inf towards my inf badges and Pillbox badges).

There's no wrong way to enjoy badging, or better put, there's no singular correct way. Badge in a way that you enjoy. If you want to wait to see if the count will go down, and/or that you'll earn it naturally, there you go. If you have the need to farm out all the damage taken badges at level 1, there you go.

I don't think the people who feel the day job badges discourages playing their characters are wrong; they just feel differently about their badges than I do. I'll eventually get them all, and I'm making a game out of getting them all. I could have had 15 of the 22 day badges by now, which means 7 of the accolades as well. A bunch of people think what I'm doing is stupid, but it's challenging and fun for me.

I'd say just get your badges how you want to get them, in the manner that you'd like. (Hmm, I wonder how many badges you could earn in alphabetical order...given that some badges are prereqs for others, what is the least amount of blocking badges for an alphabetical order earning of them? Hmmm....)

Smersh, nice job! You're going to have a great, geeky kid!

View this link for a preview of this Monday's Big Bang Theory.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSvsMxfu2c4

...is that a CoH shirt? I know Wil wearing a Fruit F**ker shirt is already awesome enough, but a CoH shirt as well.

Captain Sweatpants even?

Why is that sad?

I took a look at some of the arcs that I've played, and some of my own, and I felt mine were just not up to snuff.

Many in my sg felt the same way.

Just because the entirety of the pbase isn't crashing the mail servers with Terabytes of submissions doesn't mean it's a failure.

Minor spoiler for some of the arcs below.












I've done BillWill's (never heard of the guy before yesterday) and Kurtz's last night. Both of them had the contact, story wise, not technical issue, unable to actually be contacted at some point, rather a narrator or a force that wasn't the contact gave the mission info.

Both used the same color text to denote narrator or "the contact isn't talking here" during the contact text. Is this something that the MA community has aggreed upon and the guest authors just used it? Yeah, I though both arcs were a bit cliche, but having a community standard for, 'The contact isn't talking here' may be the best thing to come out of this, if it wasn't something agreed upon already.

I turned off xp and ran MA missions.

Just to buck the trend.