Shagster
-
Posts
408 -
Joined
-
Quote:Get back in your bag, you darn cat!Originally Posted by The_Cheshire_Cat
Man, I guess the cat's out of the bag now then, huh?
And not just your smile, all of you!
-
My votes for Best DO Range Arc:
1st: Cutthroat Competition #10171 @Frozen Northman
2nd: Ctrl + Alt + Reset #137561 @Bubbawheat
so many arcs yet to play before I can vote all categories...
this has been neat so far. 20+ arcs played, and the quality is obviously way above average compared to hitting the random button. Makes my MA time much more enjoyable than usual, even though I'm looking at things with a critical eye, considering my votes as I play. -
Hopefully better now.
-
Quote:Hm. The minimum level should already be 22. Unless something went horribly wrong last time I edited the arc.Originally Posted by GrinningSpade
I would consider making the minimum level at least 22 a good idea. After all you need to be able to fight a hard AV (or EB at smart settings) and that is quite a challenge for someone in their DO and TO stage.
Darnit. If I weren't at work, I'd check that right now. -
Quote:Whoops! My bad!Originally Posted by Thor's Assassin
Very cool work from Jean here Shagster though i'll agree with Bayani here. Would be easier to see em as thumbs or smaller sizes at first glance.
That's what I get for posting stuff in the wee hours of the morning...
I had posted the IMG links to the links Jean had sent me for his photobucket page. They looked fine on my monitor at the time, but that's my super-wide COH gaming monitor.
I'll have to get smaller versions and post those up on MY photobucket page and change the IMG links.
That will have to wait until I get home from work though....
Sorry all. Didn't mean to post super-large like that... Mea Culpa. -
Well deserved recognition!
I really liked this arc when I played it.
Big Congrats! -
Bit of a warning, perhaps.
Apparently, several people were playing "Escalation" in a team to evaluate it for Player Award voting, and the AV in final spawned as +4 levels to the team when difficulty was at +0.
Clearly, not intended, and part of that strange AV-level spawning bug that I hope the Devs fix soon.
Just to be forwarned, watch out if playing on a team, if the difficulty goes wonky.
And, everyone should check out the player awards voting thread. I'm having a blast playing through all these great arcs so I can decide who to vote for:
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=195353
One change I'm considering making is the minimum level for the arc. Currently, I have it set to 22, as a way of saying "Probably shouldn't try this arc until you have SOs". Might change it to level 32, to say "Probably shouldn't try this arc until you have the Tier 9 in your primary". -
looks like a few people from here ran into a +4 AV in my arc, so thought I should make a quick response, in case anyone reading this thread is about to mark my arc as "never play" because of that.
Quote:Glad you liked the arc overall.Originally Posted by Irresponsible
Escalation #6143 @FemFury--4/5 Stars. A very fun arc.
[snip]
Also found this arc impossible to finish with full team of mid to low level toons (Super Sk'ed to 26) because the boss showed up as a +4 AV when the team leader's difficulty was set to +0 and a lot of us were still on TO or DO enhancements. When I later soloed it the final boss was only a +1 EB (which is what my difficulty was set too) and so while very hard was just barely doable for my un-purpled out level 50 PB and I wouldn't want her to be any weaker because of what an enjoyable challenge it was. So I don't know what if anything can be done about this.
I'm quite distressed to hear that your team ran into the final boss as a +4 AV. Clearly, NOT working as intended. I shake my fist in frustration that the Devs have this difficulty bug still in the system, and it made her spawn 4 levels too high.
As you noted, I don't really want to downgrade her, as the AV/EB classification really is the best place for her to be for a suitable challenge for the last mission after all the story buildup. I can only hope the Devs fix the level-spawning bug on AVs before too many people try the arc on teams.
I'm really sorry that your entire team ran into this roadblock. Not the best first impression of a arc, I'm sure.
One change I'm considering making is the minimum level for the arc. Currently, I have it set to 22, as a way of saying "Probably shouldn't try this arc until you have SOs". Might change it to level 32, to say "Probably shouldn't try this arc until you have the Tier 9 in your primary".
Thanks, Eva.Quote:Originally Posted by Eva Destruction
AVs are spawning at weird levels all over, although this is the first time I've heard of one spawning at +4 for a team set to +0. There's nothing the author can do about it.
Well, from my earlier testing, she can be beat by SO teams if she's not spawning at obscenely high levels. Unless you get really unlucky in how the team matches up with her (all smashing/lethal damage teams will have trouble with her Invulnerability resists, for example). But, you judged the arc based on what you played, so that's fair, and I accept the criticism. I knew I was taking a chance with the high-difficulty fight at the end.Quote:Originally Posted by GrinningSpade
Escalation #6143 @FemFury
Great idea and rather funny. It ended in us not being able to defeat her in the end. I fear that the endboss is just to much for SO range teams to take down and that is defeating the purpose of this category. So it didn't make my cut.
***
Again, my apologies to everyone on the team who ran into this crazy overpowered situation. Unbeatable fights and "killer GM syndrome" aren't fun, and not what I intended.
Sorry if this is a minor thread derailment. I just feel really bad that I contributed to the frustration of an uncompletable arc by an entire team of dedicated MA players. -
Time to get some votes in!
First, I want to thank Bubbawheat for setting this all up. If nothing else, I've been playing a lot of MA lately, and thanks to this list, it's all been way-above-average quality stuff. This is the type of research I love to do!
Votes:
Best Epic Level Arc (40-50)
1st: One Million Eyes #71933 @minimalist
2nd: A Warrior's Journey: the Flower Knight Task Force #260285 @PW
Best SO Level Arc (25-40)
Abstaining, since I've got an arc in this category.
No way I can make a decision between my own arc and several of my favorite examples of well-written arcs which are also nominated here.
Best Short Arc (1-3 missions)
1st: Celebrity Kidnapping #1388 @PW
2nd: Forget the Rose, Send Me the Thorns #8925 @Hydrophidian
Best use of Mechanics
1st: The Beating Heart of Astoria: A Play in Five Acts #170547 @The Cheshire Cat
2nd: Grim Riddles #1396 @Mantid
(this was a really tough category to decide. I was wishing I could split my points and include MacGuffin Delivery Service and Next War on Drugs too. Every nominee in this category was strong.)
Now, and lot more arcs to play before I can make an informed decision on the other categories. I hope my work schedule is merciful this week! -
I've often gotten commissions from Jean Sinclair for other things, but I finally got a bunch of sketches of my CoH / CoV characters.
Jean's DA page: http://jeansinclaird9arts.deviantart.com/
all characters from Justice Server.
quick access to all these pics on DA in this journal: http://shag49931.deviantart.com/journal/28005012/
Agent Aegis
Dr. Continuum
FemFury
Inferna Inquisitra
Mindstress
Satarma Baxt
-
Gratz to the winners!
May the publicity leave you basking in many plays and ratings, and shower you in tickets! -
Quote:Hm. what will be the restrictions on which arcs can be entered each year?Originally Posted by The_Cheshire_Cat
#1, #4, very much #7
Though with a few simple re-writes, I think I could get Tomorrownauts to hit all 7. I know what I'm entering next year!
to be eligible for the 2010 Architect Awards, will an arc have to have a publication date after the entry deadline for the 2009 Awards? or will it be more open than that?
I'm thinking it might be like the Academy Awards. must be "released" during the covered "year". -
let's see.
Yep. I did #2 and #6. Big time. -
Quote:Originally Posted by Gaderath
Grats Mekk
Justice's Wrong Number also was nominated, "Best Original Story" Grats to Wrong as well
Justice's FemFury was nominated under "Best Hero Arc", too.
Gratz to Mekk and Wrong Number! Well deserved. -
So, "Teen Phalanx Forevever!" and "Escalation" are up against each other both in the official awards under "Best Hero Arc" and in the Player awards under "Best SO range arc".
I'd say that PoliceWoman and and I should file the paperwork to register as "Friendly Arch-Rivals", but I don't think I'm in her league.
-
Excuse my good mood, as it appears that "Escalation" caught the eye of someone on the Dev's judging team.
from the announcement of nominees:
Quote:Can I resort to the cliche that "it's an honor to be nominated" ?Best Hero Story
Teen Phalanx Forever! - 67335 - PW
The Most Important Thing - 266877 - Aisynia
Escalation - 6143 - FemFury
And in all seriousness, being put in the same category as PW's Teen Phalanx arc is quite the compliment. I think I have to go check out Aisynia's arc, haven't played it yet, and see what I'm up against. Not to mention, check out a good arc, since clearly the nominating committee has good taste.....
-
as PoliceWoman said, time to get a lottery ticket!
Arc #5909, Amazon-Avatars.
(my other arc may be the better liked, and maybe that's the one I should get played by a Dev. but, Amazon-Avatars might be more likely still be able to be improved, so I could use the feedback from another source.) -
Quote:The Arcies?Originally Posted by Bubbawheat
Airhead also suggested that the awards should have a nickname. Any thoughts/suggestions on what to call them?
-
Quote:That's a very good point.Originally Posted by The_Cheshire_Cat
I don't know if that's really necessary, but one thing that would be nice is if authors could see the rating breakdown of their arcs. If an arc has a 3-4 star average because it gets a lot of 5s and 4s and has only a couple 1s dragging it down that's no big deal, but if most of the ratings are in the 3s and 4s then you know there's room for improvement.
Being able to see the breakdown would make the rating a better, more fine-tuned feedback tool.
ratings of 1,1,1,5,5,5 and 3,3,3,3,3,3 are both 6 plays and average to 3 stars, but probably mean very different things about the arc's quality and the opinions of players -
Quote:True. 4 stars seems to be a point things gravitate towards.Originally Posted by The_Cheshire_Cat
Everything is stuck at 4 stars after a certain number of plays, don't feel too discouraged about it :P
4 stars and 200+ plays generally means "Most people rated 5 stars and a few jerks who rated 1 are dragging down the average"
Although, I'm very impressed by a few good arcs that seem to hold that 5-star rating (Seems I always see PW's Teen Phalanx Forever at the top of the non-hall-of-fame pile, and good for her, well deserved)
Sometimes, I wonder if the rating system should calculate the mean, median, and mode of all the ratings so far, and use the highest.
but, as you note, 4-stars is far from discouraging. Personally, I focus on the individual feedback tells and reviews, rather than the big aggregate rating. -
Some flattering recognition that made me feel really good about this arc.
In this thread about "favorite arcs", Escalation got listed as a "favorite" (played 3 or more times), by both PoliceWoman and Venture:
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=193260
And it's a neat thread idea in general. If there's an arc you've played 3 or more times, go post your favorite on it! And big thanks to PoliceWoman and Venture for the mention!
And then, we have the nominations for the 2009 Player Awards, in this thread:
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=193739
Where PoliceWoman nominates "Escalation" for "Best SO Range Arc".
which is incredibly gratifying to hear from such a prolific reveiwer!
Looking at the competition in that category (Including PW's own "Teen Phalanx Forever!" and the incredibly mood-creating "Astoria in D Minor" by @The Chesire Cat), I think I'm gonna get my butt kicked in the judging. But this is certainly a case where "it's an honor just to be nominated" isn't just a cliche', it's a heartfelt sentiment. Quite happy to be in such illustrious company. -
Posting a lot about this arc, mostly because a little inspired by "Escalation" just hitting 200 plays! Yay! (still stuck solidly at 4 stars, so I guess that verdict is in from the general MA playerbase)
A little while back, I added a URL to the debriefing and souvenir text.
This URL leads to a piece of art of I commissioned referencing the "Escalation" arc.
Done by Rob Banbury, aka Bambs79, the same guy who did the promo poster.
The idea is, it's an "easter egg", sorta like those "end screens" they had on old-style video games, a single static image that was a "reward" for finishing the game.
Being an end-screen, it is a spoiler for one of the major plot "developments" of the arc, so I won't post a direct link here. Not that it's particularly well-hidden if the curious want to find it.
Of course, if you've run the arc before, feel free to PM me or send me a tell in the game, and I'll send you the URL. -
Well, been a while since I posted, but here's some "recent" comments.
[Tell] @Shocking Arua: Feedback on Architect Mission Escalation: Hey great story arc it was very intersting. I just loved the ending it was hard but not impossible. Can't wait to try some of your other arc's.
[Tell] 2009-08-04 18: 31:34 Message From @jdice : Feedback on Architect Mission Escalation: lot's of fun ty
[Tell] 2009-08-04 18: 32:35 Message From @jdice : 6143 was some fun ty
[Tell] @Majoram: Feedback on Architect Mission Escalation: It was good, but not great.
[Tell] 2009-08-13 17: 38:31 Message From @Cai : Feedback on Architect Mission Escalation: I liked this arc much better than the Amazon one. Nice job on the arc. Definitely had that Syndrome feel from The Incredibles where he kept building a better robot, but a nice twist having it be the actual villain. Overall fun. Feel free to try my arcs on @Cai, but just a warning they can be a bit tough. Arc 1613 and 258384
[Tell] 2009-08-13 21: 04:05 Message From @Happy KillMore : Feedback on Architect Mission Escalation: Good story, but the first map is a bit big for having to hunt the boss multiple times.
[Tell] 2009-08-15 00: 55:15 Message From @sdhealer : Feedback on Architect Mission Amazon-Avatars: nice story arc
[Tell] 2009-08-15 09: 05:54 Message From @TXGB324 : Feedback on Architect Mission Escalation: A fun arc with a fun villain - you're right about the team though, I just couldn't manage to kill her last form solo. Might want to edit down her comments a bit in the 1st mission - big wall of text sometimes when you go in for a fight.
[Tell] 2009-09-02 19: 28:35 Message From @M I Abrahms : Feedback on Architect Mission Escalation: Well thought out story, if moderately predicable. Leaves me wonder if Dr. Lation is an actual character. Reviewed for AEntertainment Tonight, Sep 10
[Tell] 2009-10-07 13: 16:07 Message From @Striker One : Feedback on Architect Mission Escalation: Nice campaign. Seriously.
thanks to all players and special thanks to those who left feedback! -
This is really cool.
Hotrod5 on DeviantArt played Arc #6143 and was inspired to make some 3D poser style art about their character in the arc.
the pictures are a little spoiler-iffic for one plot point, since they are from Mission 5.
here are the links:
http://hotrod5.deviantart.com/art/Co...tion-139975118
and
http://hotrod5.deviantart.com/art/Co...n-02-140207035
Very neat. Thanks Hotrod5! -
I submitted "Escalation", #6143 under "Best Heroic"
Submitted "Amazon-Avatars" #5909 under "In-Canon"
I couldn't find that many great screenshots, I stink at "setting up a shot" both with real photography and virtual. So, I might not "grab" the judges that way.
I'm quite interested in seeing who wins this. Might tell us a lot about what the Devs are looking for in arcs.
Scanning through Tahlanna's Rotten Tomatoes list, it's really hitting home there's a lot of very well written arcs out there. It will be good to see someone get some recognition for their hard work.
Part of me is rooting for some of those well known 'highly reviewed' arcs to win, as some of them are among my personal favorites so far, and there's some active members of the MA community who deserve recognition. On the other hand, it might also be neat if the Devs found a previously unknown gem that I'd never heard of before and could then play. Maybe from someone who didn't have the time or inclination for "online social promotion", but wrote a really great arc and submitted it for this.