Tangler

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- Could it work as a mid-arc flashback (you recall when...)

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That's an awesome concept, I'll need to remember that one.

But I'm fine accepting ANY reason, so long as there is one. As for fighting Malta and then suddenly getting depowered because the next group is Trolls, well, I'll forgive them as it's one of the limitations of MA, but I will still find it jarring.

I have no problem with low level arcs, in fact I have even heard people talk about the lack of low level arcs in MA.

Though one thing I do recommend is that your level range should try and be consistent. As in you're fighting at full strength, then suddenly fighting as a lvl 10 for no reason and then lvl 30, etc.

2 For 1 Custom Mobs

It's pretty well known that the AI has problems when it comes to weapon switching, you can use this to your advantage by giving some of your mobs one weapon powerset and one non-weapon powerset. Most of the time, mobs will stick to either using their weapon or non-weapon attacks giving the illusion of mob variety.

Keep in mind that if you were to pick for example a melee weapon set, then the 2nd choice has to be a non-weapon melee set, don't give them a mix of melee/ranged/assault sets.

The 'Empty Room' Trick

To do this you need to:
1) Add one final objective e.g. Defeat the boss
2) Add a destructible object that spawns when the final objective is completed, this preferably should be placed far away so the player won't see it.
3) Add a patrol that spawns when the you destroy the object, and fill in the max number of allowed patrols.

An alternate version of the empty room could be the surprise mass ambush, in which case just skip the destructible object, and have the patrols spawn the moment you complete a particular objective.

Escort That Betrays

If you want an escort that betrays, remember you need to set the escort to anything other than 'non-combat' while also flagging it for betray.

I just stumbled on an arc that is incredibly awesome and complete with the rocking of the socks, it's:

Love Is In The Error
ID: 26811
Lvl range 10-14
Villains

It's a humour arc about helping the lovesick sewage-horror Kraken in getting a date. Though my description really doesn't do it justice - just read the contact introduction dialogue and you will know what I mean.

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Now I reckon you could level from 1 - 50 without setting foot outside of the AE building. And that's a shame.

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On the plus side... travel powers are no longer mandatory.

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BTW - it is interesting to note how virtually all suggested arcs are CoV (with the notable exception of the new Faultline arcs).

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I think it just shows the dev writers improving over time. I liked the Malta arc with Indigo, but like a lot of the early stuff it suffers from being way too long.

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Would that be a Meat Doctor per chance?

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Ooh no, but there's an idea for a new char.

I'd also throw in Automatic Villainy , with Tech Naylor.

I see your point Dave, but I believe that assumes that by being an 'amateur' writer, they can't get access to similar training and experience a dev might have had. I'm sure there are a few people who have taken said seminars, books, and courses on creative writing, and people who gained other avenues of experience being hobbyist or even professional writers themselves, modders, dungeon masters, etc.

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Mind you they also have the ability to step outside limits imposed on us by the MA, so they do have additional tricks that we don't have.

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I'll concede that players won't be able to make an exact replica of ITF with the current MA system (but they certainly can capture the spirit), but there's no special dev trickery used to make Automatic Villainy.

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BTW - as an aside on this, if you rate average as being equivalent to dev-created arcs then what you are saying is that the 'average' score can only be attained by amateurs who manage to do the same level of content as the professional game developers.

I actually believe that the level of most dev arcs should be more like a 4 rating.. a 3 should be a solid amateur arc.

BTW2 - marking 3 as being the same level as dev-arcs would really help stop the devs getting to HoF standards.

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For your reference, my rough personal guide:

2 star - run of the mill paper/radio mish
3 star - most of the early hero arcs
4 star - Doc Buzzsaw or Seer Marion
5 star - Automatic Villainy with Tech Naylor, or the ITF

And I don't see why we shouldn't compare amateurs to professional devs. Doing the same level of content of say, a paper mish is something I can whip out in 5 minutes. When it comes to writing out a decent plot, we're pretty much on equal ground. The devs don't have any particular 'edge' to make them write more interesting arcs than what we could come up with ourselves.

So apparently the HoF req. are that you must have a 1000+ votes that must average out to 4+ rating. The incredible unlikeliness of ever getting that many votes aside, the devs have now just placed a standard as to arc ratings.

If anyone caught my ratings thread on the test boards, they may have known that I was pretty strict when it came to giving out those stars, but now instead of using the entire spectrum to rate arcs I now have to give:

5/5 - for those that I want to be HoF
4/5 - for those that I would not object if they were to get a HoF
3/5 or lower - ...everything else.

This is a pretty big deal to me, since in my mind a 3/5 was a good arc/marmite, but this system now means I have effectively doomed those arcs to obscurity by not giving them a 5/5, as well as making it pretty gosh-darn easy for malicious players to deny authors any merit.

I suppose my issue isn't that HoF has incredibly high standards in itself, but because it is the ONLY dev recognised standard we have for rating and judging, I now have to artificially inflate my ratings if I want to give author's any real props for their work in-game (the recognition and extra publish space, etc).

We really, really need more ways to get the message out to players about good arcs - IN-GAME - that do not fall into the 'well, it has lots of 5 stars' category. Tags, public awards, favourites, suggested arcs, community groups, seriously anything. Player's are dipping in blind to try a lot of these arcs and getting exactly what you would expect, and this just isn't going to go down well for all those players returning to try out this issue, only to play 5 'Go. Kil. Skulz.' arcs and call it a day.

That sounds rather odd to me, I have never had a problem inviting someone while I was in the middle of an arc, and I've been invited to teams before that were halfway through one.

Anyone seeing me running my char Fr34K T4nG1eR can probably take a fair stab at my preference. Though there's a delicious cookie in it for those who can tell me specifically what kind of mob.

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The problem with giving a rating is that you cannot change the rating. So if the person improved his arc it is still stuck at that low rating you give it. Even if it is no longer valid.

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I'm pretty sure that's not the case, I have had someone bump a previous rating of 4 to 5 and saw my star average increased in turn.

As for the rating gank thing, I never really thought about it, heck I even write down exactly what stars I gave them in my comments like 'all in all well made, but it doesn't go beyond anything I could get from a paper mission - 2/5'.

I may or may not have been victim to it for one of my arcs, but it's hard to tell when you're not even sure if the player had some genuine issues with the arc and the comments system doesn't work all the time.

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Arc ID: 24950 - Issues in Oz! Rescue the Lollipop Guild, locate nerve, heart, and brains, save the yellow brick road, defeat the Wicked Witch and liberate Oz!

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Searching on enemy group names in appropriate level ranges can help find some.

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That's a good point, and I've been using the MA to level some of my chars too. MA is a definite buff villainside as an alternate levelling path.

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After receiving a "good, but there are spelling errors - 4/5" rate on my arc (and as everyone knows, getting a 4 as your 4th vote is a death sentence for the arc with the current mission browser )

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Actually that's news to me, care to elaborate?

Also I think I played that arc on test Alvan, don't really recall any errors at the time, but I did it with a team so wasn't looking at it too hard either. I'd say so long as it isn't glaringly wrong it wouldn't be an issue for most people.

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I cite this

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Bah, beaten to the punch.

Thanks, I'll have to throw down some faceless promotion and concur with PRAF about my arc being being recommended too. The idea of my arc was basically an alternative to Burke and Kalinda, getting you through Mercy and move on to PO, ID is 6017.

I'd also recommened Twisted Tales - Part One - Storyland in Danger! ID: 12937 which was done by Arctic Princess, it's lvl range is around 5-15.

Gah, I missed the party! I just came back after a rather long day, and logged on to test doing a few arcs while thinking 'huh, where IS everyone...?'

I'm playing a lvl 18 Nin/PD, and today I just noticed that my Jounin pet isn't cycling his attacks properly. After he gets his first upgrade he'll either cycle through Gambler's Cut and Sting of the Wasp or just Soaring Dragon, but never together for one particular encounter.

I thought it was the +rech from Enforced Morale confusing the Jounin on how to handle his attack chain at first, but nope a freshly summoned Jounin who's never been touched by that power still can't cycle his attacks properly.

Anyone else have this problem? The poor fella was working fine a few days ago when I last played my MM. :/

Global handle/name
@Frija
Supergroup
Order of Discord
Vilains available
Night Lash - Mind/Thorns/BS Dom
Fr34K T4nG1eR - Melee/Damage and Defence buff/-Res Debuff Bane Spider
Hamidon Raid Channel member
No

I also have a Fire/Kin Corr I'm building up, will post him up to if he makes to 50 in time.