SupaFreak

Arc
"Terra Mystica: The Nexus"
Author: @Lord of Storms
Heroic (40-54)
Missions: 4

Solo
Level 50(+1) Spines/Ninjitsu Stalker
+0/x8/Bosses Off/AVs Off

Overall: 4.51 / Rated: 5

Story: 4.83
Logic: 5.00
Details: 4.75
Dialogue: 4.75

Action: 4.91
Immersion: 5.00
Flow: 4.75
Cast: 5.00

Technical: 4.83
Presentation: 4.75
Found everything extemely easy to read and reference, tho some navigation seemed a bit confusing in some areas.
Maps: 5.00
Balance: 4.75

Rewards: 3.50

What can I say, I highly recommend this arc and the author is a pretty cool cat to boot.

Arc
"Crime is Art and Art is Crime"
Author: @Twoflower
Heroic (35-54)
Missions: 3

Solo
Level 50(+1) Spines/Ninjitsu Stalker
+0/x2/Bosses Off/AVs Off

Overall: 4.12 / Rated: 5

Story: 4.83
Logic: 5.00
Details: 4.75
Dialogue: 4.75

Action: 4.83
Immersion: 4.75
Flow: 4.75
Cast: 5.00

Technical: 3.83
Presentation: 4.00
Lots of white tends to make everything blend together for me.
Maps: 5.00
Balance: 2.50
Felt some of the customs in missions 2 & 3 were a bit overpowered for their rewards.

Rewards: 3.00

Overall, a pretty solid, fun and interesting arc.

Arc
"Cracking Skulls"
Author: @Flame Kitten
Heroic (1-14)
Missions: 3

Solo
Level 50(+1) Ice/Energy Blaster
+0/x3/Bosses Off/AVs Off

Overall: 4.38 / Rated: 5

Story: 4.83
Logic: 5.00
Details: 4.75
Dialogue: 4.75

Action: 4.75
Immersion: 4.75
A good mix of unique encounters to keep me interested.
Flow: 4.50
Cast: 5.00

Technical: 4.41
Presentation: 4.00
While most formats were great, not sold that Nav was used to best of its ability.
Maps: 4.25
Not sold on mission 1s map being the best for that mission.
Balance: 5.00
Can't go too wrong when using Standard critters for the majority of missions. Customs were in-line and blended in with the standards so well, I had to do a double take.

Rewards: 3.50

Overall, a very solid arc for low level characters and new players.

Arc
"To Dream of Nothing"
Author: @Zaphir
Heroic (20-29)
Missions: 4

Solo
Level 50(+1) Illusion/Empathy Controller
Settings: +0/x6/Bosses Off/AVs Off

Overall: 3.75 / Rated: 5

Story: 3.83
Logic: 4.75
Solid basis, no inconsistencies found.
Details: 4.25
There's pleny of details throughout and at times I found myself needing to re-read.
Dialogue: 2.50
While the dialogue wasn't bad at all, the sheer amount during a few encounters requires a seperate NPC Chat tab to make sure you don't miss anything.

Action: 3.75
Immersion: 3.00
Aside from the required bosses and allies, there was little going on NPC-wise in the missions.
Flow: 3.75
Due to the white optional objectives mixing with white required and some chained objectives, found myself stopping a bit to figure out what to do next.
Cast: 4.50
The customs were pretty well done. Male ally most memorable.

Technical: 4.16
Presentation: 3.00
While I felt there was good use of paragraph breaks and italicizing(?), there was a bit too much white for me everywhere.
Maps: 4.50
Balance: 5.00
Can't go too wrong when using Standard critters for the majority of missions. Customs were in-line.

Rewards: 3.25

A very text-heavy and detailed arc that will require high dedication to reading to follow the story. Kinda felt in-mission NPC text could've been spread out some to unique encounters to lessen the burden on key encounters.

Arc
"Cat: It's What's For Dinner"
Author: @Interface
Villainous (1/41/45-54)
Missions: 4

Solo
Level 50(+1) Spines/Ninjitsu Stalker
Settings: +0/x1/Bosses Off/AVs Off

Overall: 3.58 / Rated: 5

Story: 4.16
Logic: 4.50
This is a comedy arc, so I can't put too much stock into logic here but felt the "good guys" group shoulda been renamed or customized to match the different dimension?
Details: 3.75
Some parts felt a bit rushed. No bio at all for Contact.
Dialogue: 4.25
Some worked really well for me, some didn't.

Action: 3.66
Immersion: 2.50
For the map sizes, felt there were way too many system encounters and/or default animations.
Flow: 3.75
Offset by some searching and back-peddling, but not so bad when maps are small.
Cast: 4.75
Lots of fun and well-done customs. Only the minor presence of the "standard good guys" mentioned above brought this down some.

Technical: 4.00
Presentation: 3.00
Personal preference here... but biggest offset for me is that I'm not a fan of the limited system colors, especially when multiple NPC interaction is present.
Maps: 4.50
Balance: 4.50
2 Bosses in mission 3 with status protection not much fun for me.

Rewards: 2.50

For me, the strength of this arc lies in the slap-stick comedy present and the custom critters. There was also an optional ending, which was somewhat clever how it was pulled off. At this time it still feels a little unpolished to me, but feel free to judge for yourself.

Arc
"A Warrior's Journey - The Flower Knight Task Force"
Author: @PW
(Heroic 45-54)
Missions: 5

Stats
Settings: +0/x8 on "All-Dark" Action Force
Running Time: 70 minutes

Team
Level 50 (+1) Dark Miasma/Dark Blast Defender
Level 50 Fire Blast/Dark Miasma Corruptor
Level 32 Dark Melee/Energy Aura Brute
Level 16 Dark Blast/Darkness Manipulation Blaster

Solo Review - 12/21/11

Overall: 4.40 / Rated: 5

Story: 4.66
Logic: 5.00
Solid basis, no inconsistencies found.
Details: 4.75
Very little re-reading needed, as everything is pretty straight-forward.
Dialogue: 4.25
I came across two in-mission NPC dialogues I felt were a little odd, but otherwise very well done.

Action: 4.25
Immersion: 3.75
Mission 4 to me was lacking. Copycat patrols based on dialogue and aside from objectives, felt kinda bland.
Flow: 4.25
There was a bit of searching required on the two outdoor maps, slowing down the action... but that's somewhat expected on outdoor maps.
Cast: 4.75
Customs were very well done, but on reuse of stock characters in alternate dimension I felt a custom critter would've been more personalized. Specifically on mission 3 and half of 5.

Technical: 4.66
Presentation: 4.50
Very little to complain about here, just my personal preference in some areas.
Maps: 4.50
While all missions had a good map category to set the atmosphere, I'm not so sure the size of the third map goes with a team setting. I may be being too critical on this aspect.
Balance: 5.00
All combat encounters were in line with official encounters.

Rewards: 4.00
Rated in accordance with "recommended for teams", the only real elements keeping the rating down were amount of encounters on map 1 and size of map 3.

*reserved for listing of top recommended arcs overall and per category*

Listing of characters available for play-thru (w/max settings)

Incarnates (Advanced)
Ice/Axe Tanker (+0/x8)
Ice/Energy Blaster (+0/x1) <--single target build
Ill/Emp Controller (+0/x8)
Merc/TA Mastermind (+0/x8)
Mind/Kin Controller (+0/x8)
Dark/Dark Defender (+0/x6)
Elec/Psy Dominator (+0/x8)
FF/Elec Defender (+0/x8)
DP/Traps Defender (+0/x8)
Spines/Nin Stalker (+0/x8)
Ice/Earth Dominator (+0/x8)
Plant/Storm Controller (+0/x8)

Incarnates (Basic)
Thugs/Pain Mastermind (+0/x6)
Crab Spider (+0/x8)
Night Widow (+0/x1)
Kat/DA Scrapper (+0/x4)
Claws/SR Scrapper (+0/x1)
SS/Invuln Tanker (+0/x1)
Rad/Rad Corruptor (-1/x1)
Peacebringer (+0/x3)
Warshade (+0/x3)
Mace/Shield Brute (+0/x4)
Energy/Elec Brute (+0/x3)

50s
AR/Devices Blaster (+0/x1)

Pre-50s (+0/x1 max)
Fire/Sonic Corruptor
DB/Energy Stalker
BR/Poison Corruptor
Elec/Fire Scrapper
Stone/Ice Tanker
Fire/Therm Controller
Grav/Time Controller
Earth/Thorn Dominator

And so I've decided now it's time to continue my A/E missteps here in a ratings & reviews thread because:

• I can
• I have an "annoyance" standard to uphold
• Threads, like arcs and plagues, are easily avoided if you don't go near those possessing them

If you're "whacked in the head" enough to actually like or want my feedback, simply do one of the following:

• Play one of my creations and rate/comment - being nice helps
• Submit a creation to "AEction Force" - pending its survival
• Join the Arc Club (by Bubbawheat) - as long as I am welcome there

Play Requests? It's the same as door-sitting to me and I'm don't drive down one-way streets. Get active and do one of the 3 above!

Character / Settings Request? If you'd like a specific character of mine to run your creation, see my list below and lemme know.

Genres? Any, whether story-focused or rewards-focused... so don't sweat that.

Replays? Upon further edit welcome, but please don't expect it immediately.

That being said, this is the format I'll be using and I'll avoid giving away any spoilers:

Overall: This rating is the average of the Story, Action, Technical & Rewards categories below.

Story: This rating is the average of the Logic, Details & Dialogue categories below.
Logic: Reflects how well I felt the story stayed believable and consistent.
Details: Reflects how easy I felt the details were to comprehend and read.
Dialogue: Reflects how I felt Contact & NPC dialogue was used for the genre.

Action: This rating is the average of Immersion, Flow & Cast below.
Immersion: Reflects how I felt details were used to capture the setting. There enough unique encounters to be more than a radio/paper mission?
Flow: Reflects how I felt the action flowed. Was there too much down-time searching and back-tracking to meet requirements?
Cast: Reflects how memorable I felt the NPCs and enemies were. If custom critters present, were they as good as standard?

Technical: This rating is the average of Presentation, Maps & Balance below.
Presentation: Reflects how well I felt use of paragraphs, colors, clues, pop-ups and other elements were.
Maps: Reflects how well I felt the choice of maps were based on level range, recommended team-size and amount of objectives.
Balance: Reflects how balanced I felt the encounters were for the level range and recommended team-size. Was I needing to constantly use Inspirations to keep up?

Rewards: A single rating sum reflecting my assessment of the level of in-game rewards.

My Policy on in-game Ratings:
Who am I to discourage authors who put forth effort with a less than 5 star rating and possibly push them down the list? It may discourage them or those who like their style from finding their creation and trying it out. Is it a flawed approach and misleading to those who go off ratings? Yup, but I feel when you're dealing with a flawed ratings system there's no need to be a flawyer (my word). I'm just 1 audience member in this game and I'd rather see this community grow than fade into oblivion. Therefore, until things change, I only award 5 stars. If the author is curious what they can do to appease this 1 audience member, I hope my ratings per category reflect what I felt needs improving to get me to "spread the word" about their creation.

I'm all for more Co-Op... our characters are loyal only to themselves and their cause... not some horde, alliance, empire, rebellion or whatever.

From what I've seen and experienced... Co-Op content is the most favored content in City.

Will take a look into these over the Christmas weekend, I hope.

*strongarms Holiday wishes unto all!*

Didn't see anyone in RWZ on the 22nd and since I had unexpected company, I didn't push the promotion. Will try again next week.

Speaking of Customs Bug....

Custom Critter Scales are not saving when going to republish... I'm needing to go through and re-load Costume Files each time.

My attitude right now is that I'm done with iTrials and will just advance the remainder of my 50s in Dark Astoria when it comes out, no matter how slow the progress.

Why?

Because I feel the community are turning on each other and I don't want to take part in it.

There's no tolerance for 50s or (+1)s present in my experience on the new iTrials and when the lower tier Incarnates are present... I never felt that was the reason (whether I was the lower tier or not) we failed.

Even if it was because some players were too low that we failed, I'd rather go through the growing pains and make friends than outcast potential future participants, but that's me.

Sad thing is, there's no motivation for that iAttitude to be reversed as I see the system progressing unless something is done to reward or encourage allowing the lower tier Incarnates to join.

Maybe if the iTrials scaled the enemy difficulty based on the League's "cumulative threat rating" and "iPower swapping" was inactive while on a league (or ability to rejoin last event)... maybe things would be different.

Part of the problem this week is the Winter Event kicking off, maybe.

To Ameros -> Yea, switched it to weekly thing since most likely there's only going to be between 3-5 missions for the most part which translates to less than an hour and looking at my list... I have over 30 themes laid out. If I kept it bi-weekly it would take over a year to circulate them if there's interest. I appreciate you posting it on Guardian Facebook.

To Shadow Ravenwolf -> Boogedy, Boogedy! Hope to see you around.

To Kheldarn -> Very much enjoyed having you and would very much like to see you join again on these.


I've actually received more interest from Authors than I anticipated, which is good. I know how much time and effort most of them pour into their creations. I'm at like 200 hours on what I've got done and laid out to be completed myself.

A good portion of the arcs I've played are really, really fun and would like to help display their creations in a fun, rewarding and interactive manner.

I know I do my best to join others events (Hami, Mothership, TFs, Trials, SG celebrations, Arena, etc), hoping I can get just a handful to join me on these once in a while as a change of pace.

That is all...

Curious if there's a time-frame when we'll have Time Manipulation, Beam Rifle, Street Justice or Titan Weapons available for our Custom Critters, if any. Didn't notice any updates on Beta and wondering if we'll see a powerset update before Staff Fighting, Darkness Affinity, Dark Control and Dark Assault are added to the list of missing powersets for our creations. Thanx.

Okay, I think the new mechanic for Titan Weapons is a great idea and hints that it'll be applied to Stalkers "Assassin Strike" powers...

If Detention Field worked like Phase Shift (toggle with active time limit), I'm sure it would be a bit more useful and desirable.

Speaking of which... since one of my favorite and most powerful characters is a FF/Elec Defender...

Who else passes on Repulsion Field and Repulsion Bomb? I've just never found either of these power desirable to take over... well, anything.

Played "Cat: It's What's For Dinner" by Interface

For Reference Reasons:
Character: Level 50(+1) Spines/Ninjitsu Stalker (Fully IOed)
Settings: +0/x1/Bosses Off/AVs Off

Overall: 3.58 / Rated: 5 (it's my policy*)

Story: 4.16
Logic: 4.50
Details: 3.75
Dialogue: 4.25

Action: 3.66
Immersion: 2.50
Flow: 3.75
Cast: 4.75

Technical: 4.00
Presentation: 3.00
Maps: 4.50
Balance: 4.50

Rewards: 2.50

General Notes (without Spoilers)
What I didn't like:
1) I am a HUGE fan of comedy and do appreciate slapstick comedies, but the basis of this parody is bordering on Lohan... errr... horror. I've personally come across 4 parodies pertaining to this item of lore now.
2) Enemy group should be customized or renamed to match their dimensional leaders.
3) I feel use of additional colors not in the limited selection list would be nice here, but that's my personal preference.

What I did like:
1) The sense of humor. There were a few points in the dialogue that I grinned.
2) No continuous white walls of text.
3) Costumes of custom dimensional counterparts.
4) Optional ending.

*My Policy:
Who am I to discourage authors who put forth effort with a less than 5 star rating and possibly push them down the list? It may discourage them or those who like their style from finding their creation and trying it out. Is it a flawed approach and misleading to those who go off ratings? Yup, but I feel when you're dealing with a flawed ratings system there's no need to be a flawyer(my word). I'm just 1 audience member in this game and I'd rather see this community grow than fade into oblivion. If the author is curious what they can do to appease this 1 audience member, I hope my ratings per category reflect what I felt needs improving to get me to "spread the word" about their creation.

Curious why so little to no response on this.

Me?
A/E?
PERC?
Other?

Just trying to bring variety, and would like feedback.

Thanx Ankylosaur. I do feel it's an underused capability authors have to customize the presentation of their creations. I need to update the other images below it sometime and possibly add more.