TeChameleon

*shrug*

Just finished trying the redside SF. Four Masterminds and a Brute- Bots/FF, Bots/Pain, Bots/Dark, Merc/Poison?, and Fire/Fire.

Managed to wade through the ambushes (lots and lots and lots and lots of ambushes >.&lt, and proceeded to pound on Reichsie. For more than an hour. With no visible results other than his health yo-yoing between 50 and 75%. Oh- and currently, the MM power whacks a great chunk out of his resists- apparently knocks them down to about 6%. Didn't help much, though, he just kept on phasing :/

*sigh*

*shrug*

I may be in North America, but I work graveyard shift. This is my 'primetime' too, but, frankly, it's Monday.

Maintenance happens.

Actually, I was thinking about doing it the other way around- first two are escorts, last one is a hostage (although that would screw up my clues, grr...). Because, honestly, I just have a hard time feeling right in-story about patting some emotionally-traumatized kid on the head and telling 'em "Here you go, now troddle along through the demon-infested ruins of your school, I'm sure you'll be fine >.>"

Thanks for the runthrough and quick review, Bubba- thinking I may see about making the second Mother Mayhem fight optional, since she's got a perfectly good reason for being there, but you probably shlouldn't have to fight her... maybe a glowie you have to collect from behind her or some such.

And if I can figure out a way to eliminate the backtracking from mission one, it's gone. Unfortunately, the last-kid-as-chained-objective is the only way I can make sure he goes out last, since the spawning points are so erratic, and he's got plot-critical info that you really shouldn'y find out until the end of the mission >.<

For 'best' name..?

Hmm. It's a three-way contest with me. I think Tempus Fugitive, my time-travelling Warshade takes simply by virtue of being the oldest (the others are Fortunata Cookie, my... er, Fortunata , and Archimedes' Lever, my Grav/Kin Controller)

Hrm... y'know, I'm not sure I'm comfortable with the size-changing being a booster-exclusive. Up 'til now, I've enjoyed and bought the booster packs without batting an eye, but the super-tailor just doesn't seem like a comfortable fit. Not sure what it is- probably that it's a long-requested QoL feature, rather than just some sweet costume pieces and a handy, but ultimately irrelevant, long-recharge power.

[ QUOTE ]
Still alive.

[/ QUOTE ]
... and now I have that damn song stuck in my head.

Thanks a lot, Talen

[ QUOTE ]
And Chameleon, if you laugh at me I'll shove a Warburg nuke up your nose.

[/ QUOTE ]
That's some fairly precise aim from halfway around the world >.>

And while your winters may not become any colder, I think if you visited me in, oh, say, February (which is winter on the right-side-up half of the world ), you would fairly quickly find yourself agreeing that your winters don't suck quite as much as you think they do.

-40 Celsius is such a fun temperature >.>

I didn't say you weren't allowed to complain- just that I would laugh at you if you did

Yah- should be interesting, and I also (being Canadian) have no trouble with either 'u's turning up in places that Americans are unaccustomed to or metric measurements.

... although if anybody South of Norway complains about their winters, I'm going to laugh at them

Ta much for the review, and thanks for catching those typoes- yeh, some of /Hide's dialogue was, indeed, typoes, not just his speech patterns (it shouldn't have been "interetin'", for one >.O).

Looks like the first mission needs a bit of re-working... might be a while before I can do it, but it's a good spot to start.

The EB ally is there so that the HVAS isn't a brick wall, mostly- he's not terribly high-damage (Grav/Kin), but he's sturdy enough to tank the final enemy for you.

Can't use Auto Turrets for my 'bot crew (and I don't think they're supposed to have any kind of AI, anyways). The Titans-on-Malta seemed like a logical consequence of what we know about the Titans ("A Titan Named Joe"), and even if you don't know that tidbit, watching Malta get butchered horribly is always a rewarding pastime

Also, if Crimson is very definitely in China (which the clue was intended to establish), then who was it that /Hide sent you to talk to a mission or so ago? Hmm... maybe I should throw Crimson in as an ally, rather than the Arachnos... I'll have to think on that a bit, it would probably make that clue more of a "...!?!" moment.

The PPD Quantums are there as reps of the PPD, not the Peacebringers (covered by /Hide's dialogue before you go in).

As to the ending, I did try to make sure that there were a fair number of hints that something wasn't quite kosher with /Hide; and you were up against a highly intelligent baddie; at least, that's how I was trying to write it, so maybe you wouldn't get a clean win- you did stop the titular Robot Uprising, though (maybe I should emphasize that a bit more... hmm...).

Also, once I have some more slots (and maybe a bit more time, yeesh >.&lt, I'm planning on writing a sequel to this one.

So, lesse (this may wind up waiting for i15, just so I can hit it all at once, rather than having to do it piecemeal and fight with the sharp space limitations)-
<ul type="square">[*]rework the intro text.[*]fix the first mission[*]get the typoes[*]replace the Reflections with their intended Rogue Robot counterparts[*]clarify that you most definitely saw Crimson, but apparently he's in China[/list]That sounding like a decent starting list of fixes?

Thanks again for the review- I'd like to get this one up to snuff before I get distracted by other projects (like the half-finished villain arc I'm working on sporadically, or the sequel to this one).

*shrug*

As far as I'm concerned, the only 'required build' for anything in City of Heroes/Villains is one with a competent player behind it, or else one who is willing to learn from a competent player.

Case in point, Guardian's recent All-Blaster ITF (man, do I wish I hadn't been working that night &gt;.&lt.

[ QUOTE ]
I'm not really surprised. I have the effect that whenever I'm not in the room yelling at people they forget I exist. Possibly why I'm so blatantly acerbic.

[/ QUOTE ]
Or, maybe, I'm just really really bad with names. I had one person I worked with daily for more than a year whose name I never learned, despite hearing it every day or so &gt;.&lt;

That and I've submitted my various arcs to as many reviewers as I can manage, since I figure that's a) a way to tighten up the arc and bang the dings out of it, and b) it's good exposure

And I'm not saying you have to be enthusiastic- I'm just counselling patience; as I commented, there are tens of thousands of arcs out there; odds are that there's going to be at least a few dozen that you genuinely enjoy- and if you can find those, then I'm thinking that the excercise would have been worthwhile. Maybe I'm unduly optimistic, but, well, that's my opinion

[ QUOTE ]
That would be why I have that review thread, why I have used it, and why I have sent you, yes you, personally, advice on improving your arc after holding it up for public scrutiny and attention.

[/ QUOTE ]
*blinks*

... you know, I had totally forgotten that? (or rather, hadn't connected your name to it. Sorry, it's been a long night) Believe it or not, the advice was useful, appreciated, and, for the most part, I tried to apply it (such as I agreed with, anyways, since at the end of the day, it's still the story that I'm trying to tell).

I'd agree, at least on general principles, on the farming-plague-thing, although that's decreased somewhat, and at least it's reduced the spam on PI

But I maintain that there are things on the AE that you'll like; I'm just fervently hoping that the search function will be refined to the point where it's actually useful for searching for things. And then, maybe, you'll find your elusive 'good AE content'. Because it is out there.

They're still on the list because they're broken, not because they're banned; basically, one of the patches invalidated the arc for one reason or another, and the authour either hasn't found out yet, or hasn't had time to fix it.

... I could be wrong about this, but Talen, the short form of what you seem to be saying about AE is that you can't be bothered to sort through the Sturgeon effect to find the stuff you enjoy, and want somebody else to do it for you.

*shrug*

Even if we assume Sturgeon was a starry-eyed optimist, and bang it down to "99% of everything (on the AE) is crap", that still leaves that 1%. Last number I remember hearing from the devs was, what, 20,000 arcs? That still leaves around 200 arcs that are at least as good as anything else in the game, or roughly double the amount of dev-created content we've got, give or take.

So, making it so there's triple the amount of good content in a single stroke is somehow a bad thing, now (admittedly, the Search tool is, not to put too fine a point on it, pathetically worthless)?

Let's face it, Talen, there is some quite good content on the AE (by the law of averages, if nothing else). All you have to do is get off your backside and find it (the Stories and Lore segment of the forums is an alright starting place). Alternatively, of course, you could stay on the forums and slag off everyone who ever dared so much as think about setting foot in those ugly glass buildings, because everybody knows that their very existence taints the game.

[ QUOTE ]
The triggers have never worked "correctly" for me. Not once. There's nothing wrong with coding for the system as it is, instead of the system as you wish it was.

[/ QUOTE ]
I've had it happen for me juuuuuuust often enough to give me false hope :/

[ QUOTE ]
I think you can give the boss fights priority by ordering them higher in the list of objectives. 's why I said that.

[/ QUOTE ]
*shakes head* They're at the top of the priority list right now. I think it's just the map.

[ QUOTE ]
I can actually usually handle diff 2 or 3 pretty early on, depending on whether the AT suits itself to locking down a small number or blowing up a large number. Making them bosses will ensure you don't get a giant unexpected meatwall when a friend tags along to play, among other things.

[/ QUOTE ]
I've found I can burn them down at a comfortable pace even with just two people- all I'm really trying to avoid there is the whole "Hey, look, an objecti... wait, it's dead, oh well." bit, which is what happens when I make 'em Bosses.

Take care of yourself, Back, best of luck with things- hope the baby and the missus don't worry too much in your absence!

Thanks for the run, Glazius.

[ QUOTE ]
That little throwaway line about Numina making anti-undead devices gets under the skin like a burr, as does BAB's little bit where he takes himself out of the action.

[/ QUOTE ]
I guess I need to clarify that it wasn't Numina that made the anti-Undead stuff (and you're not the first to make that mistake); the Baron gave you that after you stomped him. It's just oozing with such nasty black magic that the average person's going to be reluctant to even touch the scroll, much less cast it (assuming they're able to in the first place).

Also, BABs is kind of reluctant to just annihilate the spirits of his former friends- in fact, the suggestion pissed him right off; that's why he decided to get medieval on the Baron.

Also, once I'm able to scale BABs down, he'll be making a guest appearance on the final mission- that was the original plan, right up until I found out that I couldn't actually do that &gt;.&lt;

[ QUOTE ]
Getting pounded by six copies of the same identical battle dialogue, all of which also assumes I'm there to kick things off, kinda gets repetitive when I zone in or go up a floor.

[/ QUOTE ]
As far as I can tell, that's a bug- I have occasionally had the triggers work correctly, although it's the exception, not the rule. I'm a bit reluctant to rewrite all the dialogue to suit a glitch.

[ QUOTE ]
and I think they even manage to push the boss fights in the last two missions out of the rooms where they "should" happen. I fought all four bosses inside the little twisty tunnels in the last map, not the big open rooms.

[/ QUOTE ]
That's... well, not 'working as intended', really, but it doesn't seem to be a bug or anything, that's just where their spawn points seem to show up. Not sure why. ("You are in a maze of twisty passages, all alike")

[ QUOTE ]
The main "challenge" here is keeping up enough endurance to fire off the attacks to whittle down EB hit points. I don't see why you can't just make 'em bosses, with maybe just the Bonemason as an EB. Running out of gas in general is something that does happen a lot before 20, but the giant walls of hit points make it a little worse.

[/ QUOTE ]
Thus "Challenge Level 1 Recommended" in the intro text. I didn't really intend for anybody but the named guys to be bosses in this, and the majority of people (at least, that *I've* dealt with) don't seem to play on higher difficulties until later-game, so I designed towards that.

Anywho, thanks for the run- appreciate it.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
pst... take a peak at I16

[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry, but the info comes from Positron, so I don't believe it.

[/ QUOTE ]
... so, what, photoshopped rainbow imps? &gt;.&gt;

[/ QUOTE ]

I wouldn't put it past him. After his temper tantrum with MA, and his [censored] with pulling badges, and just being a big jerk, I've lost all respect, faith, and trust for Matt Miller. I no longer believe anything he says.

[/ QUOTE ]
You know, people keep talking about his MA 'temper tantrum'... and I honestly can't see it. Never could. And yes, I've read the posts in question. As to the badges... *shrug*

And I say this as someone with more than 600 badges on my main, including some of the more irritating-to-get MA ones. I get why they're making the decision, although I'm sad to lose some of the titles- they were hilariously awesome.

Did someone say "Horror Themed"?

Small Fears (#12285) should fit the bill quite nicely; I'd recommend playing it on a higher-level character, though, since that's what it's balanced around.

May want to pack some breakfrees for the last mission- thanks to that stupid, stupid, stupid decision to force confuses on anybody foolish enough to use Mind Control or Illusion Control mobs, the difficulty can be a bit wonky currently (i.e. it may not bother you in the slightest, or it may drive you mad. *sigh*)

... isn't i16 supposed to be concurrent with Going Rogue (which as a boxed expansion is likely to feature a fairly respectable amount of gameplay content)?

And content you don't like or won't use is still content &gt;.&gt;

(for the record, I'm mildly excited at best about tint-changing of powers; I probably won't be using it much, I don't think... although I see no reason to piss all over the people that are excited about it &gt;.&gt

Hero content is rather older than Villain content, for the most part; Striga and Croatoa present snappier writing than much of the rest of the Blueside arcs, although there are some 'old school' arcs that are excellent.

Operation World Wide Red, while it's occasionally clunky gameplay-wise (whee, Malta, Malta, and more Malta!), the writing has got some real zing to it. The Rikti War Zone storyline is also excellent, and actually builds off Faultline's story- even if you've already run it redside, it's worth another look. Lesse... other great arcs... the Freaklympics is just an absolute blast to play through, both for the writing and the play... I rather like the Tsoo Coup, but your mileage may vary on that one- I just like the Tsoo

You're pretty close to being in range for the Mercedes Sheldon arcs (in the Midnight Club, level 25 to start, I think?), although I don't recall playing through that one- it's just new enough that I figured it was worth a mention, since much of the newer stuff tends to be more tightly-written.

The Mysterious General Z is close to your range, and a good arc, writing-wise, although it's all Sky Raiders, all the time, and thus kind of boring gameplay wise :/

Ubelmann the Unknown is also decidedly cool, and I think it's in your range as well (although piles upon piles of Council tends to pall after a while for me).

Anyways, I'm sure that others will be able to point you to some of blueside's good stuff- hopefully this helps a bit! (oh, and you can find out who gives out those arcs and how to get them via Paragonwiki)

Hey... looks like Panda and me might actually be able to make it next week. Nice!

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
pst... take a peak at I16

[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry, but the info comes from Positron, so I don't believe it.

[/ QUOTE ]
... so, what, photoshopped rainbow imps? &gt;.&gt;

And yeh, the Heavy issue got fixed a while back.