Tangler

Assault on Aru Prime
ID: 174586
Morality: Villainous (technically, more on that)
Tags: Non-canon story, Rule the world, Sci-fi
Author: @Aisynia

Assault on Aru Prime is what appears to be a “holodeck” style arc, which now that I come to think about it is one of the few arcs that actually treats AE as it was intended (all those “a glitch in AE suddenly means it wants to kill you” arcs don’t count). The arc is set in the far future, where mankind has since mastered the secret to interstellar travel. Rather than fulfilling the Star Trek dream of holding hands and frolicking with ladies of a green persuasion however, mankind has instead opted to go for the pillaging and all round seal-clubbing route, and it’s here where your character steps in with their alternate ego, a highly regarded “commander” of the 8th Fleet, and who is what the science people call a “Meta Sapient Ranger”.

The arc starts with you having being summoned by Admiral Ayala, who leads the entire 8th Fleet. It would seem that Earth’s invasion on the Azeri Alliance is going poorly, but their spies on the neutral planet of Aru Prime have discovered that the Arusians have unearthed a piece of ancient technology that could turn the tide of the battle in a big way. Your character will be beaming down posing as an ambassador, though in truth you’ll be there to try and steal the artefact as well as their superior shield technology while you’re there.


Aru Prime is a peaceful, neutral planet, so really this shouldn’t be too hard-


Ow, filthy neutrals!


Okay, I don’t think this “ambassador” guise is working.

Assault on Aru Prime is a curious arc: it basically portrays humans as bastards, with Admiral Ayala exemplifying this characteristic by being a little too proud with the chaos she sows. It’s certainly not a story you haven’t seen before, popularised by the classic Twilight Zone and seen more recently in films such as Avatar and District 9. What it does have that separates them however is the strength of this medium, and that is to allow the character (or should I say player in this case) to interact and have a direct response to what they witness around them.

On to the more technical side of this review, I found it odd how despite being a “commander” I don’t actually have any subordinates, or even my own ship. I initially thought the Azeri and the Arusians were one of the same until halfway through the arc. It’s a common problem I always have whenever authors throw in made up names and terminologies and assume I’ll somehow remember them, and it didn’t help that both races’ names began with the letter “a”.

The Earth soldiers are recycled Malta troops that look to be mostly Sappers. This worked out quite well as to not only offering futuristic looking weapons, but also allies that didn’t killsteal which was a nice bonus. The Azeri seemed to mostly consist of Robotics users, which can get a bit old. The reasons why they can only beam my character past the planet’s shields felt contrived, the Admiral should add a reason why she couldn’t say, use the teleporters to deliver the bombardment that way then, or at the very least send in a ground invasion. I feel that the main part of the arc that could use more work is the ending. It wraps up the tale, but I feel like I should be getting more closure after everything that’s happened.

Final Word: Assault on Aru Prime teaches us the horrors of mankind, or the joys of seal-clubbing. Just pick whichever one suits your character best. 4/5 Stars

Ah, I was wondering who it was hovering over me as you was also starred, I was a bit busy just then sorry.

Hey AP, I haven't had a try of this arc yet, but about the Warriors boss part is there enough room just to add a custom Warriors boss?

Yep, though new submissions are closed for now - until I at least get rid of the backlog.

I've considered transferring to the NA servers too, but I don't consider my current situation dire enough to abandon my vast IO/salvage storage in my SG, and vet respecs. I don't really have a problem getting a team for the common TFs anyway, though normal teaming villain-side is oftentimes capricious, with days where no one wants to team, and days where I get several invites when I'm too busy to actually accept.

As Dante has mentioned, Union is apparently the place to be if you're looking for RP, I certainly see them hanging around the bars in Pocket D when I transit through there, and they were all relaxing at the ski lodge at the time too. There's a gothic themed RP group whose members I frequently see running around too.

I have both Defiant Events and Sals on my channels, and I will say that Sals is noticeably more active when it comes to TF/SFs being run, so if you're looking for public TF teams, I will say Union is the better choice too.

The Tangled Weave
ID: 338575
Morality: Villainous
Tags: Ideal for Teams, Complex Mechanics, Canon Related
Author: @FredrikSvanberg

The Tangled Weave is part one of a series of alternative story paths for VEATs, paralleling the official one with arcs set during different levelling brackets for different stages of your VEATs life. For the first arc at least, this is actually set before the first canon VEAT arc and even before the regular story, as your villain plays a role in setting the wheel in motion for the events that later fresh-faced villains will face upon entering Mercy.


Join Arachnos, visit exotic locations (within Mercy) and meet exotic people (to brutalise)!


Yikes, and now I'm wondering if a ghost would need a toilet.


Ha, what a bunch of suckers indeed. I’m doing this against my will!

There are some nice use of flavour text and mechanics within this arc, and it’s most noticeable in the very first mission where you enter an Arachnos complex and witness a rather humorous office like atmosphere in the base. I had to remind myself that I was playing a VEAT, so naturally that had to be SOME bases that actually don’t shoot me on sight, and even treat me as a fellow grunt in the hole. It’s an area that is never explored in the official content, and one I would definitely like to see more stuff of, if not an entire arc (think TROOPS).

Kalinda speaks in very short, single-statement sentences at the start of the arc, which I thought to be kind of odd, especially when she speaks much more naturally in the latter half of the arc.

There is a peace treaty going on with Kalinda and the Snakes, one that I found to be confusing. This is mainly because in the middle of the arc, Kalinda decides to shelter some homeless snakes in an abandoned lab – one that Kalinda will later send villains to clean out in her canon arc. There’s no mention of the truce being broken by the end of this arc, and officially the snakes invaded the lab by force. I guess you could say Kalinda will have lied to the future villains, but I find that to be a bit of a forced leap on the player’s part.

The above critiques are pretty minor however, and are easily fixable. My main problem with the arc is that the individual missions are tied together loosely at best, which is harder to fix. All the missions are based around the concept of “Hey, remember this event? *wink* *wink*” which is neat, but they all add up to Kalinda just telling you to “go there, do this”, and I thought one of the reasons why you would create an alternative Mercy arc is to get away from that in the first place?

Final Word: Overall, The Tangled Weave is a decent story alternative for VEATs. 3/5 Stars

Hey Lazarus, I'd appreciate it if you can give me your thoughts on my arc: A Penny For Your Thoughts (348691).

Hey PW, if it's okay with you I would also like to throw Mercytown (6017) onto your queue as well.

Update:

• Krylov has been switched from /poison to a max powered /SR. This should make him a bit less squishy, and Quickness will mean he'll have less problems keeping up with sprinting PCs. Initially I thought it was a bit of an odd choice, but seeing Krylov strike a pose as he turns on his mez prot was oddly fitting.

• A Penny For Your Thoughts got a DC! This is both very awesome and funny at the same time, as A) I didn't think this arc would get a DC since it has lost out on the Dr. Aeon Challenge, and B) this was actually the arc I was planning to shop around for reviews the most, to see if the arc needed any more tweaking. Due to the DC "lock", I'm going to avoid making any changes to the arc now unless there's a bug, but I'll still seek out feedback as knowing what people liked/disliked about it can go towards improving my future and current arcs.

I'll be starting up reviews on the 2nd batch soon, in the mean time here's a quick update on changes to the format for this next session:

Times are tougher than they once was in MA when it comes to getting your arcs in played. In recognition to the current climate, I will be bumping up the score I give in-game. Anything that I liked (so a 3.5 stars or higher) will get a 5 stars in-game, anything that I think needs more work (2.5-3 stars) will get a 4, and anything lower than that I won't rate in-game.

On a lighter note, playing all those heroic arcs have caused Luminyx, my unofficial reviewing char to have a dual personality, and so she will now alternate to a more appropriate costume depending on what arc she's on.*



*Actually I tell a lie: she was always supposed to be a kind of dualistic entity, it's just that only recently I actually bothered to work on her costume.

Wow, after a long day moving and unpacking, this was one heck of a surprise to find the moment I got my internet back up. Thanks to Dr. Aeon for DC'ing it, everyone who took the time to play it and for helping me fine-tune it, and to everyone saying grats!

Changes made:

Mercytown:

• Bunch of lines and plot point tweaks, as per suggestion I fleshed out some of Krylov's dialogue were it got a bit terse at times.
• Krylov no longer makes a direct reference to sea monkeys as it's a trademark, instead he calls them "sea chimpies".
• The M2 map has been shrunk down, to a size more fitting for the mission content.
• The joke computer logs have been replaced with more informative ones that relate to the story.
• Vivi has been changed to a stock npc model. Her old custom model was an artefact back when this arc originally had a noir bent, and her model just seems out of place with the current story.
• One of the jokes in M3 has been tweaked so as to not bang on the 4th wall.
• M4 now has more crazies.
• The objective list in M5 has now been significantly cleaned up. A more detailed list of objectives is instead given in a clue at the start or the mission, which is referred to on the objective window.
• As per suggestion, I've given Krlyov a plasma rifle as to be more fitting to his background.
• Some of the Coralax in M5 have been recoloured to display their significance.
• The title has been shortened down to just Mercytown.

A Penny For Your Thoughts:

• Any mention about "doing evil for the greater good" has been replaced, now it's more about "doing whichever you think is the most good."
• As per suggestion, Penny now refers to the Clockwork King as "CK", this was changed as "Kingy" can be felt as a bit *too* familiar of a nickname, of which I agree.

Edit: What I thought would be a quick update on Mercytown turned out to be several days worth of spare time, apologies to a few players who experienced a jumbled arc while I was in the middle of my long edit. :/

Having just given my arcs another tweaking, I'm going to start seeking out more reviews and commentary for my arcs. I thought now is as good an excuse as any to have my own arc thread.

I'll list my currently posted arcs here, along with links to reviews, in-game feedback and a log for changes I will make to the arcs. If anyone wants to post comments about my arcs here, they are definitely more than welcome to.

Now onto the main meat of the post:

A Penny For Your Thoughts
#348691
Morality: Heroic
Missions: 4
Tags: Drama, Non-canon
Description: As all of the city's Clockwork suddenly fall inert, Penelope Yin has a bad feeling as to the fate of her reluctantly accepted guardian brain-in-a-jar, the Clockwork King. A speculative short-arc on the Clockwork King.
Additional Commentary: This was originally written for the Dr. Aeon Challenge: "write an arc where a hero must do evil for the greater good". With the challenge long past, I've taken out references to the challenge which some players felt didn't fit perfectly well. The arc has now been tweaked so it's more about personal beliefs which I think is a more natural fit now. The original thread can be found here.

Awards
Dev's Choice!

Reviews

Supafunkadunka: 4/5
"Very good story. Started off as kind of a fluff comedy piece and then flipped around in Mission 3 to become darker and more personal - though somehow it didn't seem so abrupt."

twelfth - 5/5
"Mechanically sound and reasonably sophisticated. Fun, quick, and presents a slightly different tone to story arcs than most."

Sister_Twelve:
"Overall, this is a superior story that suffers from very little."

Bubbawheat:
"I really enjoyed the storytelling and mechanics in this arc. There's tons of flavor throughout this arc..."

AEntertainment Tonight: 4.5/5 & 5/5


Mercytown
#6017
Morality: Villainous
Missions: 5
Tags: Comedy, Horror (light)
Description: Ancient forces stir within the waters of Mercy, will you be able defy an underwater cult, steal an aeons lost tome, all the while enduring the inane ramblings of a mad scientist? This arc is designed for lvl 1s in mind.
Additional Commentary: This arc was originally written as a film noir/Cthulu arc, where the title would have made a whole lot more sense then.

Awards
2009 Player's Choice Awards: 2nd place, best TO category.

Reviews

Aisynia: 4/5
"If you are looking for a low level arc with a strong story and a bit of foreboding and comedy on the side, definitely check it out."

Lazarus: 4/5
"Pretty amusing and Doctor Krylov is made of win."

The_Cheshire_Cat: 3/5
"I was kind of on the fence about the rating on this one, on the one hand it was technically strong and the contact writing was well done, but on the other hand..."

Venture: 5/5
"Lovecraftian comedy is something you don't see a lot of, but the architect pulls it off."

AEntertainment Tonight: 4/5 & 5/5

Coulomb2: 5/5
"I found this one to be a fun, top notch arc!"

anachrodragon: 5/5
"The mobs are good lowbie fodder (and better than Snakes!), the missions are short and to the point, the story comes together well, and it feels appropriately villainous."

MrCaptainMan: 4/5
"The opener was really good, the Coralax are a great mob group to fight, and Dimitri is an amusing contact with great dialogue."

Eva Destruction:
"Overall an amusing take on the Lovecraftian homage which you kind of expect when you deal with the Coralax."

PoliceWoman: 5/5
"This was a fun low level adventure with good characterization, lots of fun throwaway bits and references, and was well balanced for lowbies."

Might Makes Right: The One With Tin Hats
#5213
Morality: Villainous
Missions: 5
Tags: Canon-related, Comedy, Drama
Description: An otherwise routine theft tumbles you through the sinister world of black masks, shape-shifting politicians, and 50s greasers. This is an intro arc to Malta, redside.
Additional Commentary: When it came to giving this arc an update along with the rest of my arcs, I realised that there was just so many things I wanted to change that I would be re-writing a lot of it. What this means is that this arc will be the first on the chopping block when I need another slot for an arc, or if I ever get around to doing the remake. So if you're curious about my first big attempt at arc writing (and I do hold a fondness for this arc because of all the crazy ideas I got to play around with it) then go ahead and check it out--this arc won't stick around forever.

Reviews

Col_Blitzkrieger: 5/5
"Overall, a brilliant arc, I have to say it's one of the best I've played since i14 came out, if not THE best."

GlaziusF: 3/5
"Probably a pretty good arc when it launched, but with I16 some aspects of it need a second look."

Aisynia: 5/5
"The overall narrative was interesting and kept me engaged, a true sense of connection and rising action between missions and the idea that you are indeed out there executing a plan."

There doesn't seem to be an official thread for this, so I'll start one here. Here's the article if you haven't read it already.

Nothing new for those already in the MA community, though I'm kinda surprised the author didn't contact certain authors like PW, Twoflower and Venture for their comments. I would have thought those posters would have been more 'in the know' on the previous and current flow of the MA community, and could have offered some interesting insight.

I've just finished making some minor tweaks on my arc A Penny For Your Thoughts #348691, it'd be great to hear what you think about it.

Great to see that you're back Sister Twelve, I've always found your reviews to be particularly interesting to read.

Well I can't wait until you fill up the archives so I can have a listen to them.

Grats Bubbawheat, a well deserved entry.

Times are tough for everyone in AE right now. My advice is to request a review from one of the reviewers/MA teams.

That's a very snazzy cover, gj on Projectionist for that one. I especially like how CK looks angry despite just being a brain with two eyeballs.

Seldom makes some good points. As for myself I don't really have much to add to this conversation that I haven't already repeated ad nauseam somewhere else.

That said, while this topic has been discussed to death it's still worth talking about, if only to tell the devs that yes, people still want AE to be fixed and haven't forgotten about it.