Supafunkadunka

I've joined in the last year but for the exact opposite reason. I had been away from CoH for 2+ years because I had gotten terminally bored with it, then when I got back I had seen just how much they had done in that time to improve things and have been hooked ever since.

The game isn't dying, it's finally getting great.

Champions Online, however, looks like the last hour of "Titanic". Time to let go, Jack.

One of the things I love about CoH is Knockback. My kids and I get a kick out of watching people fly into walls, down stairs, over railings and off cliffs - who wouldn't? That being said, I was thinking of making a purely KB maxed alt. Yes, I realize no one will ever team with me, but that is a small price to pay for my own amusement.

So what powers would be best for this? Energy/Energy is an obvious choice, but is there something better? What about power pools with KB? The goal is to have as many powers as possible with KB, and to slot them with copious amounts of KB boosters. I'm looking for a big, dramatic, bodies-flying-everywhere awesomeness. Red or blueside, doesn't matter.

I will start accepting criticism about my country from Americans when they can consistantly find us on a map.

MAKE SYRUP, NOT WAR!

FYI, after counting things up it was pretty much an even split between Mac and GvR, so I arbitrarily went with GvR. My initial thoughts are:

COSTUME PACKS: Decent. Not fantastic, but a few pieces I could see using. That said, getting two full sets is always helpful.

JET PACK: Meh. The 30 second limit makes it less useful than I had hoped, but I'm sure it will help out a little. Really, Ninja Run is so full of awesome that it nerfs the utility of the jet pack somewhat.

POCKET D TELEPORT: Most of the areas I can access via Pocket D I can already do via Ourobous, but it opens up a few more options for me which should help to get around. This will be very handy during holiday events at least, and is good for quick vault access.

POCKET D VIP: Always nice to get behind a closed door, and quick access to a tailor is fantastic for a costume ***** like me.

I think Father Xmas hit the nail pretty much on the head. I left the game for almost 2 years because I got tired of running through office buildings and caves that looked pretty much the same doing exactly the same things. Some zones aren't fantastically distinct either, but a lot of that is constrained by the fact that all cities tend to look like alike to a great degree. They've done a good job trying to make them distinct, but it's nothing compared to the freedom a more fantastical setting (ie: WoW) allows.

All MMOs are repetitive by nature, but the ones I enjoy the most are the ones which find creative ways to break this up. I think WoW's instanced dungeon/raid system blows the pants off CoH's TF in this area. TFs to me just feel like a series of regular missions with a higher difficulty and some unique content. The WoW instances feel like a totally different animal - large, unique maps, bosses that feel like bosses, greater need for strategy, unique rewards, etc.

I think getting together groups for some of the more unique content like TFs is hit or miss as well. I've been "meh" about WoW for awhile now, but I do have to give kudos to Blizzard for the new cross-server dungeon queue, as it makes accessing the best content of the game easier. CoH can't exactly copy the cross-server element, but I've always been surprised that they didn't have a LFG system for TFs and EB missions and such.

My personal experience with CoH has been that I tend to create new alts and power them up to level 20 or so having a great time, and then by the time I grind out to the 30s I get bored and start another. Part of this is because I prefer to solo - which takes a long time once you get up to those levels. Groups are obviously a faster way to level but I hate them. You wind up with 7-8 players spamming damage en masse against a million mobs in a confined area and missing 90% of the actual mission content in the confusion. I've had many times where we got to the EB or whatever and I didn't even notice him - just another face in the crowd. Rinse and repeat until you level. Faster, but less fun. Personal opinion.

You could always thumb your nose at political correctness and call her "Sword Broad"

Firstly, thanks all for the advice! Looks like so far it's down to GvE or Mac, but I'll hold off on my final decision until I get home tonight. Either way, the goal is to get them all eventually... I just need to pace myself. I've got 2 kids and a lazy ex-wife to feed!

Female knights in France have been traditionally referred to as "chevalière", which is an option.

If you want to really get historical, there is a story of a woman who was granted the equivalent title of "knight" after helping to defend a city in 1472. She was named "Jeanne Hachette", which is superficially similar to the current name.

Or you could just go with "Lady Guinevere" as a twist on the King Arthur legend.

Women in England who are knighted are currently referred to as "Dame", so that could be an option - ie: "Dame Daring", "Dame Defiant" or something similarly hokey.

So I've got a few bucks I want to drop for a new booster set, but have no clue which I want. I already have MA, Magic and Science, so basically we are talking one of the following:

1) Cyborg - Robot-y goodness and self-destruct.
2) Mac Pack - Valkyrie set + Mission teleporter.
3) Good vs Evil - Mission D teleport + Jump Pack + Costume sets
4) Wedding - Surprisingly useful costume sets.

I'm really torn here. Self-destruct looks like fun, but I don't know how much I'd use it. Mission teleport seems more useful, but it has a 2 hour cooldown. Mission D teleport might be useful - certainly until one gets Orobous (sp.). I can see fun ideas for all the costume sets.

Anyhow - for those of you with some or all of the above, any opinions? SPEND MY MONEY!

Thanks for the review!

A fair grade and some excellent points. Some of the things you mentioned I think perhaps there was some confusion or misunderstanding on, but instead of listing them I will take that as a nudge to maybe make it more clear. If you missed it while doing a review, then someone not taking that level of interest certainly would.

Looking forward to fixing this one up!

I had only ever tested it solo, so I would be curious to see how Clan Destiny #349053 works with a full group. Any suggestions which might help would be appreciated!

If you have a chance, I'd love a review of Clan Destiny #349053. Thanks!

Couldn't get Clan Destiny in there due to technical issues I'm too sleepy to correct, but here's my character submission - McGrimm!

McGrimm is the boss of the 1st mission in Clan Destiny (#349053). I needed to throw in a Freakshow mini-boss but didn't like the standards and this just kind of hit me in a burst of inspiration. He was a throwaway who I've grown so attached to I want to cameo him in more arcs, which is a good sign. Hope you like him too. The bio pretty much says it all.

At the risk of of sounding like the n00biest n00b in n00bville, how do I join the SG exactly? I was going to send an email, but can't until lvl 10. I am traditionally anti-social and am thus fairly clueless about the SG, chat and messaging systems.

Okay before I get into my next review, an admission: I quit an arc today. I started with Lord Recluse's Regrettable Morning After (#192771), in which LR has a massive hangover and you have to help him. Sounded like fun, accepted the first mission, entered the map and BAM. Seven soldiers, all of whom spammed me with web grenades. I was at 1/3 health before I could even get past the doorway, made it a few feet, threw a punch, and then more web grenades.

Anyhow, I bailed and never looked back. There is a moral in there somewhere, but I'm still not taking Web Grenade off my Clan Destiny minions, because I'm a ***** like that.

Anyhow, undaunted I continued and tried:

The Council's Good Graces
#1571
by @HolyEvilAoD

This is apparently the first of a multi-arc story, which was clearly noted but I didn't realize until afterward. My contact is a Council member named Alberto Galdi, who is a recruiter sizing me up for Council potential. For mission one, he wants me to wipe out everyone at a particular location and collect any information I find. Vague, but okay sure.

Off I go and right off the bat I'm confused because it's a base full of Council. Hmmmm. Anyhow, I beat up a bunch of Council types and rummage though enough glowies to discover that a number of quantum weapon shipments are being made to a particular base, which I suppose is relevant.

I also have to defeat the Warehouse Manager for some reason, who is apparently a marial arts master. I dunno man - I've worked in a warehouse before and all my managers were fat and lazy. They were more "round" than "roundhouse", but I digress.

Back to the contact, who notes that these guys were traitors. He sends me to the base the weapons are being shipped to, noting that if he sent Council investigators it would be "too obvious". Maybe he could have sent them in with fake moustaches!

Anyhow, off to the base I go. I need to find evidence, which is a pain because it's one of those underground cave/base things with stairs and rooms all over the place. The following two screenshots illustrate why I hate these maps so:




Anyhow, I find them after much running around. I find Archon Newman and as I beat him up, he keeps making lame postal related jokes (ie: "My instructions are DO NOT BEND!"). Afterwards I find a photo of him in a postal uniform with a 5th Column guy whose face is concealed by a helmet (making me automatically assume it's the contact). I guess Nazis and postal workers have a lot in common after all... and I thought the lady behind me in line at the post office was just being dramatic! Oh yeah, and the weapons are shipped somewhere or something - I wasn't paying attention.

So back to the contact, who figures out that the guy in the photo is Archon Brimley, who was a 5th Column guy who is now stockpiling quantum weapons on the side. I'm sent to take him out and hopefully find out why. This is yet another boring mission on a crappy cave/base map fighting the same old Council mobs. Actually, there were one or two Rogue Council guys there, who are I guess vampires or something. Anyhow, the only COOL part is I levelled up and got Thunder Strike before entering. I love Thunder Strike. Here's me about to lay down the thunder!



So yadda yadda, kill to the boss and beat him. He takes a cyanide pill before I can question him though. Back to contact and that's it - arc over. I knew it was part one, but come on... this was kind of an abrupt place to leave off. I didn't find out what the quantum weapons were about, or who these guys worked for, or who the Rogue Council were... it just kinda ended. Meh.

I gave it 3 stars, probably because eating my children's Ferrero Rocher's put me in a good mood.

Oh, total aside: On my lunch-hour I mapped out a sort of origin arc for Supafunkadunka which I'm going to try and do. Working out the levels is the big challenge now, as the guys I want to use from a story perspective are all over the map from a level perspective. Anyhow, I may pester you all for advice on that front, so keep your eyes peeled.

Stay funky.

I've created new characters on Triumph for this:

Marie Curie Clone - RAD/DEV Blaster - Hero

Baron Von Badguy - GRAV/ELEC Dominator - Villain

I'll work on getting them up to lvl 10 and sign on. My Global is @Soberguy

Congrats to Minimalist! I'm definately going to check this one out. As a side note, why is that despite all this alien technology permeating the city everyone still uses the old-timey cameras? Every time I see one I want to exclaim "WHAT A SCOOP!"

As for the choice issue, I don't think it needed to be explained better in the rules. If you frame your choice such that the player can get out of doing the evil act, then it only meets the contest criteria when they opt to do so. Basically, if you can play an arc and NOT do something evil for the greater good, then it doesn't meet the requirements.

This (assumedly) doesn't mean that ALL arcs involving a choice were tossed out the window. My arc featured a choice, but it was essentially between two evils. Which was for the greater good I left to the player, but in both instances they were being forced to do evil. I know there were at least a few others who framed their choices like that, so I'm thinking these were probably considered.

I had a ton of fun on this contest and want to take a second to thank Dr. Aeon for setting it up, as well as everyone who helped out with reviews and mutual tweaking (that sounded dirtier than I intended). Even though the contest is over, I'm keeping my arc up and am thinking of writing a sequel once I'm 100% happy with the first.

All valid points re: the ID, but if that's the take an author is going to use in their arc, they need to really hammer home why this is so vital. The vast majority of people playing these arcs (myself included) haven't read nearly enough backstory to just intrinsically understand that. My main complaint was that - no matter WHAT the mission goal is - the player needs to feel like what he/she is doing is commensurate to the reward. I didn't get that from Quid Pro Quo and it diminished what was an otherwise excellent arc.

Hehheh - well ok, maybe not 4 years, but you get my point

Finally! My random process spat out an actual fic. Actual in that it was written by someone who posts here and who actually wants feedback. As always SPOILERS ABOUND. Be ye warned.

Quid Pro Quo
#82369
by @Hertz

So the contact is Lazlo, a fellow ex-con looking to help you out by procuring a fake ID for you, which apparently you need. In exchange for arranging this, he wants you to bust into Arachnos headquarters and expunge his criminal record, because I guess the spiders are helping the RIP with their I.T. services. At this point I'm thinking, "I could leave my house right now and get a fake ID inside of 3 hours for $100 Cdn. Why would someone take on Arachnos for one?", but more on this later.

I bust into Arachnos and fight a few groups of 2 or 3. Eventually I find a Vahzilok being held by Arachnos for no particular reason. After beating his captors he runs off and I get a clue indicating that the Vaz are always looking for fresh bodies. Hmmm, what a curiously random piece of information, I wonder if that will become relevant later on!

Continuing I eventually round a corner to see about 9-10 Arachnos in close proximity. Fresh off my Longbow-kicking experience in the last arc, I boldy leap into the fray! Aaaaaannnnnd...



I made it eventually and wiped Lazlo's record clean as a whistle.

So back I go to claim my outrageously over-valued fake ID. Lazlo tells me it's not ready yet, but before he hands it over he wants me to do another job for him. He wants revenge on the cop that put him in prison, so he wants me to attack the police station and beat him up... and while I'm there, check to make sure his record is really expunged. This tells me two things, 1) that Lazlo is REALLY paranoid about his record and 2) my fake ID is apparently encrusted in rare diamonds, because I can't think of any other reason I'd attak a police station to get one.

Anyhow, logic aside, I head to the police station. I beat up a bunch of cops, including the guy Lazlo wanted, AND made absolutely 100% sure his record was expunged. All it shows is his name and last known address.

So now I come back to claim my superwickedawesomemegatremendous fake ID which is TOTALLY worth all the felonies I'm piling up to get it. Sadly, Lazlo now informs me that his supplier jacked up the price, so now I have to PAY FOR IT. Clearly, I haven't done enough so he sends me to ROB A BANK to pay for the ID.

I arrive at the bank to find that the recession really HAS hit the banking industry pretty hard:



After some confusion, I realize that I've actually decided to stick it to Lazlo and kidnap his family to make sure I get my fake ID. Given the ridiculous escalation of stakes over this crappy ID, this actually seems perfectly logical. Anyhow, I'm at the Skulls hideout. I find his daughter quickly enough, who thankfully is in the hands of two very dependable babysitters:



I kidnap her, then go back for Lazlo's wife. Obviously, once I go back to Lazlo he's changed his tune and says he's going to personally go get that ID ASAP! Clearly though, the stakes have not been raised nearly enough here. I mean, attacking the governing militia, then raiding a police station, then kidnapping? Peanuts. We're talking a FAKE ID here! To make sure Lazlo hurries, I apparently decide to give his family to the Vaz for safe-keeping, seeing as they are always looking for fresh bodies. HEY, THAT INFO WAS IMPORTANT AFTER ALL!

It's never really indicated what the next mission is. There doesnt seem to be anything left to do exactly, but I hit "accept" anyhow. I find myself in a sewer where apparently I need to negotiate with the Vaz about giving them Lazlo's family. Once I get it, it's full of Skulls - Lazlo has sent his goons looking for his family. Now I need to rescue the Vaz boss from the Skulls so I can sell him the wife and daughter. Evil seems even evil-er when it's uneccessarily complicated!



So I save the Vaz, make the deal and head back to Lazlo, eagerly anticipating my new fake ID! Of course, Lazlo doesn't give it to me. Seems I've beaten up all his goons, so he wants ME to go get his family from the Vaz and then we'll make an exchange. I have a vision of my shiny new fake ID locked into a metal case handcuffed to Lazlo's wrist until we meet in an abandoned warehouse somewhere. Ooh, maybe Robocop will bust up the meeting like in Robocop 2!

As it turns out, the Vaz haven't been the best hosts to their guests. I found a few of them swapping beauty secrets with Lazlo's wife:



His daughter was similarly zombified. Understandable, Lazlo is pretty upset about the whole thing and I have to beat his sorrow out of him. Really, it was for his own good. Finally, after destroying the entire man's family and committing a city-wide orgy of violence, I get my beloved fake ID and the arc ends.

I gave it three stars with the asterisk noting that it could have easily been a 4 or 5 star arc. If my villain were doing all this for a briefcase full of diamonds or the identity of my mother's killer or the antidote to some slow-acting poison which was slowly wearing me down, then this arc would have been awesome. It was well written otherwise, with great details and intriguing twists and turns. It was very creative and - more importantly - unique. In the end though, the fake ID thing just made it silly, and ruined the whole "dark downward spiral of evil" vibe.

I would think it would be determined by number of arcs created in total. That would be tough to determine though. An author with say only one arc posted 3 weeks ago may have made 30 arcs prior to that over the last 4 years that we simply never heard of before.

I know I'M new, because I've only made 2 arcs in my entire life. Of course, there is no way of verifying this independantly - at least not that I'm aware of. Am I wrong on that?

Okay, back at it! Today's spin on the Wheel of Awful landed on:

A Little Problem...
#36196
by @SamuelH73

The contact is a City Councilman who wants to hire you. Apparently some snoopy reporter has some damaging evidence against him and is poised to ruin his career. He wants you to steal the evidence, along with a few other things to make it look like a random robbery. He also notes that, being Saturday, this is a good time to go as the office is closed for the weekend. Apparently, news doesn't occur on weekends in the Rogue Isles. Also, the paper hires Longbow guards to watch the place. This is another sucky part of being in Longbow, and may be as boring an assignment as "Reservoir Sewer Guard" from arc #203920. Longbow: Be All You Can Be!

So I go to the office, bust some Longbow and get the evidence I need. When I return, he's so grateful that he not only pays me, but tips me off about another councilman who is secretly working with Longbow. I don't quite know how politics works under Lord Recluse, but I suppose this counts as a corruption scandal in the Isles. To make matters worse, they have a super secret base right in the city which he gives you the address to so you can blow it up! Of course, I could have found it by simply following home one of those shmucks who guard the newspaper building on Saturdays, but I digress.

So off to beat up Longbow again. First room I see this and groan:



They're like RATS in here. Of course, I felt better once I remembered that 1) Longbow are pansies and 2) My Fury will build really well in here. So anyhow, punch punch punch bomb bomb bomb mission over. Ta-da.

So back I go and I tell the contact that apparently I want to kick the Longbow-loving councilman's butt. I don't know why, but okay. He tells me he's already in Arachnos custody. "Oh well," I think to myself, "that's it then. He's getting whats coming to him and I can go have a latte." Nope. Apparently I decide to break into an Arachnos base and stop them from punishing the traitor so that I can kidnap him and punish him myself. Riiiiight. This arc has more plot holes than Michael Bay could explode a dozen helicopters through.

Anyhow, I fight the spiders for no reason and free the traitor, who promptly runs for the exit, I guess meaning I don't even get to kill him. End of arc. Oy.

I gave it two stars, if for no other reason that the author was trying and his spelling was okay. I also hit level 6. Hooray for Build Up!