Ramification TM

I've been very pleased with Ice StormSummoning/Mercs. With the SS you can move things out of melee range and the debuffs are strong. Also stuff like tornado will crowd control.

Thanks again for all your help Bubba. I will also feedback your ARC because one good turn deserves another.

With your help I think I've improved on my ARC quite a bit.

All references to Highwing were taken out and replaced with more suitable descriptions.

Added 3 more custom enemies which completely changed the dynamics of 'Crush'. Really pumped up the atmosphere.

Steelthread and Darkhosis have been slightly pumped up in power.

Level range changed to - 20-54

Tried to make some of the writing a bit smoother. It's difficult and when I start to correct some things I remember why I wrote it that way in the beginning. Because of the text limits. Pretty much at the max and having to sum up entire ideas into a sentence isn't easy. Sure we've all experienced the same thing.

Mission 4 I really wish I had a solution to make it better. My original idea was an escort/betrayal where you didn't have to get strung out finding 3 objectives. Due to the bug I had to turn Darkhosis into an ally then betray. It got complicated when I really wanted to keep it simple.

My COH lore phalacies will just have to be forgiven I've only been playing 7-8 weeks now and just hit 50(hero) today. Started in Praetoria on top of it all. My only other character is a lvl 20 villain.

Lot of my time has been spent in MA as well. I've tried to stay away from getting too lore heavy in my ARCS. The odd relations in my story The Vengeful Heart aren't meant to be taken to heart. pun pun!

With MA also we only have so many choices. You want to use a spaceship you can use Arachnos or pretend a tech lab is a ships interior I suppose. My point I guess is that we don't have many choices, like you know, and if a story has an Arachnos symbol then it's something we just live with.

If anyone has a better idea on how to end my ARC 'The Vengeful Heart' I am all ears. Being as objective as possible- I really like the story. While the ending I don't think is bad considering DEV ARCS in game have left me searching for items on big maps. Not that I like those ARCS but there's many ARCS ingame that are in far worse condition than my last mission.

Ohhh I thought you meant there was a way to see your total plays including those that didn't rate your ARC.

Yeah I've seen that of course. I was looking around for some tiny number.

Noooooooooooo

The title of your ARC is perfect as it is right now. It's fun as hell to say and memorable. Just reading the title makes you want to play it and it goes with the story.

Only thing I might tamper with is just so it rolls off the tongue better. Maybe like- "Have a Blap! Blap! Blappity Day!"

Drop the kids change to Blappity, lol.

Anyway I love the original name. Just saying Blap is fun. Blap Blap Blap!

No problem man! Really appreciate the feedback you gave me on my ARC too! Already made a few changes on the things you mentioned.

Just let me know after you update Sinister Song. Be happy to run through it again. I was also very tired last night and hope I did a decent job of giving you a second pair of eyes.

Hey Bubb!

Thanks for talking with me last night. Your feedback is so very much appreciated.

Sorry if I was a bit distracted. I scrolled back throgh MA Arc Finder chat and saw you were talking to me, lol. Very sorry. While you were talking with me Ash was giving me feedback and I was giving him feedback on his ARC. Didn't even realize you were doing my ARC until you commented.

Going to go on Twitter and look you up since you said you were tweeting the run through.

Anyway just wanted to say thanks again.

A few things I hope to explain. You commented that the sentence 'It seems even villains have their own version of sidekicks. Wasn't needed. That sentence is to let you know Steelthread's relation to Darkhosis.

As you follow the story it's meant to show that Darkhosis and Steelthread were close.

Off to twitter

Just went to twitter that's great how you give the live feedback!

LOL- Why are you hung up on Highwing? If my memory is correct. He is only mentioned in a brief description of Bowstar. It is only there to give depth. There is an entire first story which involves Highwing. It was called Sidekicks Forever which I unpublished to redo it entirely. It's like a prequel to the Vengeful Heart. When I was writing The Vengeful Heart I purposely left the Highwing reference in the description so I could tie it in later. Also just for more backstory.

Highwing is dead so he couldn't make an appearance =) Killed by Bowstar herself in Sidekicks Forever! I know you're not suppose to know all that though. Highwing was Bowstar's older brother who'd been brainwashed into becoming a villain. He was also much older than Bowstar and your first sidekick. Who'd grown up into a hero but as mentioned earlier became a villain due to mind control.

Last map. Using The Fab was a hard decision but it has an atmosphere that I was unable to find in another map. You're SO right that finding an object on that map sucks. So I added 2 escort quests to help find the objects. This way a person has 2 chances instead of one to locate things more easily.

The reason you are collecting the object 'Bowstar's Bow'. Due to bugs I had to make Darkhosis follow you around instead of my original plans. The situation is like you're wanting to find out more about Bowstar's death. In the way a person would want to know more about a loved ones death. But the more Darkhosis talks the more angry you get. A build up to a conclusion was my intent. Also you're taking away evidence and acting as judge/jury which I thought might strengthen the vigilante you'd become. When you take him to the transport that's like your final decision to cross the line completely. But before you are allowed to even make a decision Darkhosis attacks.

Can't wait for the servers to go back up- you've given me some great ideas.

Feedback-


M1 sendoff-
This paragraph here:

This thing I've been chasing, he finally made a mistake. He just stole some equipment from an Arachnos lab and escaped via the tunnel systems adjacent to those beneath Mercy Isle.

That first sentence seems a bit awkward to me. First calling it a thing then a he. Seems like it could use some elaboration. Maybe sprinkle some tidbits of clues.

Like instead of some equipment- maybe a teaser as to what type of equipment.

M1 still busy dialogue seems like a placeholder.

M1 when you first rescue Psi the grammar seems to be missing a period. The sentence scrolled away before I could take proper note. Think it was something like 'One something' Needed a period after the One.

M1 allow player to exit without finding the exit.

M1 return- I'd elaborate more. Elaborate a bit more and have it tie in with the M2 intro.

M2 intro- Looks awesome- Here you have elaborated very nicely.

M2 Navigation-
I was lost to be honest. Search for clues is a bit too vague for dummies like me, lol. Relay that they need to search for 3 clues or clarify the objective.

M2- I think it'd be perfect to have all the clues up front then the final objective at the end. That way it flows and you don't have to back track.

M2 return-
I think it's a missed opprotunity to not use as much of the 1000 characters as possible =)

M3 intro- EXCELLENT. Although I would replace some of the He's with the actual character's name. Just to add some variety since you have several sentences starting with He.

M3 sendoff- perfect

M3- great mission.

M3 return- think another place you could flesh out more. But it works in the situation.

M4 intro- there's a typo and when I tried to copy and paste it closed the dialogue rofl. Anyway it's the Close to mind sentence. Think you meant close to my mind.

M4 sendoff- Your best writing.

M4 Navigation- Generator singular should read something like Destroy last generator. It currectly just says Generator.

M4 return looks really good.

M5- everything about it is perfect to me! Very good conclusion.

Only thing which may be a bug is Psi didn't help me fight the last boss at all. Probably set on defensive and if they take 0 damage they just stand around.

Overall very good story! I really loved your custom characters. Very good choice of colors. The creature in mission 1 was my favorite!

Hope my feedback helps!

Well I'm in- emails been sent -

Title:
The Vengeful Heart

ARC ID#:
454861

Wrote it specifically for the contest. Think it came out pretty good and hope you guys enjoy.

Well I finally feel like my entry is ready. I don't think there's anything left that I can do to improve it any further. Think I've caught all the spelling grammar errors. Had to use contractions and rephrase entire paragraphs to make them fit in the word limits. With the bugs and things within MA we all know it can be a challenge within itself.

My missions are bug free as possible. I test them thoroughly and if there's an impassable bug then I rewrite the mission. Many mission rewrites were done in the production of this ARC. This doesn't mean a new bug could rear its head of course. All text was run through a spelling/grammar checker which are as accurate as a cross eyed sharpshooter.

The story is called 'The Vengeful Heart'. It is about a hero who through a series of circumstances finds himself becoming more of a vigilante than a hero. His actions might even be considered villainous to some.

I wrote the story specifically for this challenge. Normally this wouldn't be the sort of material I'd write. Honestly I feel it came out better than expected. They say if you don't write comedy for a challenge then you're shooting yourself in the foot. Probably true but I chose not to write a comedic entry. Tried to give this a darker feel like some of the darker comic books.

It only lists 1 custom group in MA. Another bug- but there's 4 custom groups and in upwards of 20 custom characters. All original designs. No elite bosses or AV's as this is a contest and more about the story. The enemies are challenging but I feel well balanced. The only custom powers are on the bosses which had to be done to stop a bug.

Your main enemy is an alien by the name of Darkhosis. He is the leader of an organization known as Crush. They are a collection of alien villains in search of wealth and power by any means necessary.

The Crush group I tried to make very unique. Think of them as aliens with obvious martial arts/military influences. They are thieving scavengers whose technology is a conglomeration of all they've stolen.

Author: @Jinkobi
ARC Title: 'The Vengeful Heart'
ARC ID: 454861
Length: 4 Missions

Designed for SOLO play. Doing it as a team wouldn't make sense. Any level can complete my arc and have tested it on level 7-45 but it is best experienced 30-50.

Morality-Due to the contest I really didn't know how to judge this. You are meant to start as a hero and are a vigilante by the end. Suggested alignment is heroic since you start as a hero.

Ingame description:
You are a hero torn between right and wrong. There are times when one must make choices. With thoughts of revenge filling your mind. When do you cross the line from Hero to Vigilante? Dr. Aeon's Third Challenge contest entry. Entered: October 4th, 2010


Final notes:
In mission 4 due to the random spawning of objects. I added 2 Optional escort quests. Finding the objects a bit hard to find even right under my nose this allows you to mark it with the optional escort. The escorts don't have to be completed to finish the mission but they do add another layer to the story.

As a new player to the game 6 weeks now and a big chunk of that time spent in the AE building. Here's my perspective.

Just from what I've seen all the things mentioned are important. Weeding out old arcs, bugs where you have to rewrite entire stories because escort/betrayal/randomness of spawns etc... All of these things are important.

To me it seems the Devs have abandoned MA because they were working on GR and the expansion. To just show how little MA was on there mind there isn't even an AE building anywhere in GR.

Maybe they feel like we authors are just such a minority it doesn't matter- I don't know.

As an outsider just coming in what seems like the most glaring problem is lack of reason to do MA. The ticket system, badges, and all those things are great- but something is lacking. There needs to be a very nice reward or something for finishing 100 different players ARC's or something along those lines.

It needs an infusion of blood and some dev love without a doubt. I've released 2 ARC's and have a total of 4 ratings. And 2 of those I know were Wrong Number because she's super cool and supports new authors.

Sucks to not have anybody play your stuff- I think everybody feels that. Which brings me full circle as to WHY people would play MA verses regular missions. Because they need a motivating factor! Put a decent carrot on a stick in MA then watch it come back to life.

This contest is exactly what AE needs... In fact I wish there were MORE maybe even with lesser rewards just to stimulate the interest level.

The mission design tools of course need some love. Really don't even get me started. Having to rewrite your story and make concessions right and left are just the way things are right now. We all want a better and less buggy tool not to mention more ARC slots obviously.

But there is a time and place for everything. Attacking Doc here while the man's trying to hold a contest and do something positive just seem very unecessary. I'm sure he's aware of the problems. A contest thread is not the place to vent it out.

My only complaint is what Doc is asking for doesn't seem very specific. I mean I get the overall idea it's just a bit conviluded. Still giving it a stab on what I 'think' he's asking for here. Going to really suck though if my story got disqualified for not understanding what's being asked for.

I couldn't agree more and with the current requirements there will NEVER be another Hall of Famer. Not because there isn't excellent work worthy of being in the HOF. There just will never be enough people voting and playing to EVER get that many votes.

This game has such an awesome tool in the AE building and so many people still have no clue what is happening in there.

Some people spend countless hour on ARC's that are amazing but don't even get 1 rating. Do you know how disappointing that can be? It really discourages you from ever putting your heart and soul into ARC's when you feel like nobody ever plays them. When I get just 1 rating I am motivated to create more content.

Would be great for players new and old to revamp the entire AE experience. So much could be done by NCsoft to showcase this amazing tool.

First lower the requirements for HOF where they are now is just repulsive. Second weeding out ARC's that are just people messing around. The ARC's people have spent tons of hours on are mixed with people just testing/playing around on how AE works.

There needs to be rewards for playing AE that goes beyond farming tickets. Badges, badges, badges. One of the easiest things that could be added to motivate people. Maybe a You played 100 player created mission badge or the like. Costume pieces, ANYTHING, it doesn't have to be monetary.

Would it kill NCsoft to hold a contest for the AE? I mean what an EXCELLENT tool there for a contest. Just holding some sort of contest for best ARC or something would add so much heat to AE the building might catch fire.

Anyway I hope one day NCsoft hears us quiet developers of AE content. We're here and would like the opprotunity to share our work with others. yet we are buried among missions people have just created for farming. It's completely discouraging.

Just wanted to say I added color to the mission and that REALLY brought things to life.

So just letting everyone know I did some improvements and any more advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks for all the feedback!

Some things I had to make concessions on such as the witch's hat. I do not have that costume piece and I guess I need to buy the magic pack to access that. I intend on buying every pack and bought a couple this month. Will buy a couple of more next month etc... until I have them all.

As for colored text that will definetely be fixed!

The mission is meant to be easy. Really even designed for a kid to even handle. It's meant to be played with Arch Villain ON hence the need for 3 boss allies to help you. Like going to a haunted house was my main goal. Actually that was my first idea but thought it'd be too boring

Also thanks for the ratings! It opened up the mobile AE for me and that was awesome!

Rereading the feedback- 3 elite bosses guarding. I'm trying to figure out where that is- the kids are guarded by regular mobs. The first Superguy is guarded by regular mobs and once you have Stuporman- The Credible Bulk spawns with 2 Elite Bosses which are dialed down a ton. Stuporman can handle them both and you should have him before the first Elite Boss spawns.

After The Credible Bulk is freed you have both Stuporman and him to help you free Thatman who is also guarded by 2 Elite Bosses.

The reason I put your allies as so tough is because you need 3 of them to take out 1 Arch Villain (The Stinky Pumpkin). I ran through it 20 or more times to get the right balance.

Really it goes back to it being kid friendly and available for levels 1-50. Since it's Halloween and a Halloween mission I didn't want to exclude anyone from the mission.

Well I'm not sure if it is kosher to advertise your stories here but I thought I'd give it a shot. You know how it goes you put a lot of time into your project and it never even gets a rating. Can be a bit depressing. I try/play/rate as many ARC's as possible in between creating my own stuff.

About me a little bit. I've been involved with helping create games since the early 90's. Even before that really if you count writing text adventures on the Atari 800.

From MUD's to Quake 2 mod work, some machinima, HL2 stuff. Even got into Computer Gaming World a couple of times (Now PC Gamer) for some of my mod work with LMCTF 2&3/Action Quake 2/Assault Quake 3.Taken a back seat in recent years due to various reasons. Mainly life and you don't get paid when you make games as a hobby.

The AE building is amazing to me. It's given me a great way to scratch my game creating itch without having to be obligated to some major project. I do my best to try and make my creations as professional as possible. The randomness and limitations of the mission generator prevents polishing to a high degree but that's just how it goes. It's a bit buggy and we have to live with that.

Now that I've rambled on I offer you to try my Halloween mission. It's only going to be around until Novemberish. Put in over 50 hours of work at the very least. It is short and will probably only take you 10-15 minutes to finish. This mission is just for some Halloween fun and designed for everybody despite skill/level/whatever.

The Halloween Weenies vs The Stinky Pumpkin ARC ID# 448348
It's not for farming it's to get you into the Halloween spirit. I'm 39 years old and it's still one of my favorite holidays. The story revolves around saving a bumbling super group who got in a bit over their head.

Well that's it for now. I also created another short mission Sidekicks Forever and while a lot of work went into it I plan on redoing it at some point since I've bought extra costume pieces/maps etc...

What I'm working on now will be my best work I hope. I've already put in a hundred hours on my latest creation and looks to be several hundred by the end.

I don't know how much interest is out there but I plan on creating missions and ARC's for fun. If nobody ever tries them then that's how it goes but I will continue to create them.

Thanks for listening.

Thanks for the warm welcome! Really appreciate it! I'm learning but still having a blast. The AE has had me sidetracked but I finally finished my mission building goals for now

Which bring me to this. I finished my Halloween themed Mission now available at the AE building. It's called 'Halloween Weenies! The Superguys vs The Stinky Pumpkin'. You can also find it by my chathandle @Jinkobi.

The mission can be long or short due to the randomness of the generator. Spent well over 50 hours on it so hope everyone gets to enjoy it. You'll notice it is a satire on some well known super type guys. Bit of comedy and definetly should get you into the Halloween spirit.

Spent lots of time testing/proof reading but nobody is perfect. If you see some typos just let me know. Also again hitting on the randomness of the mechanics. If the mission goes wrong due to the generator causing mobs to spawn to close together than just abandon and retry. Did my best to prevent as much as possible.

Hello Justice server!

Just wanted to say hi really. I am very new to COH/COV Only been playing for 3 weeks and have enjoyed myself very much. Not new to gaming by any means and have played WOW for many years. Beta test lots of games and been into gaming since the Atari 2600 days.

I'm still learning of course but that is half the fun for me. Up to level 36 so far but have been a bit sidetracked by the AE building. What an awesome feature to be able to create your own missions. If I knew this game had that I'd bought it long ago.

Really the point of this thread is to get to know a few of you guys and maybe answer some of my newb questions.

So far I've just been soloing missions. Am I doing things the hard way here? Should I be looking for a group and if so where do you exactly look for a group? Someone told me to hang out in Atlas Park, lol. Guess that is sound advice. Also have joined the N P C and Justice2010 channels as suggested yet i'm not able to speak in the channel so it's a bit pointless.

Also what the heck do I do with all this influence? lol. I've been working the auction house and really outside of enhancements, temporary weapons, and costume pieces I'm not sure what is there to buy to improve my guy?

BTW hope there isn't another Ramification running around. Seems the name is unavailable on all the servers but this is an old game. This is just a name I've used off and on since the early 90's and thought it fitting for a Superhero type . Have been involved with mod work for several games over the years.

If anyone is also interested I'm working on some missions and actually finished my first one. It's called Sidekicks Forever under my chat handle @Jinkobi. Just a short mission that I thought came out fairly well. *hint* Don't let Bowstar die. Hope to have a Halloween Comedy out by late September/Early October so stay tuned.

This has been my self indulgent rant! Thanks for listening and nice to meet you all.