The Hound

The best I can understand this is that Bane Spiders are specially conditioned or whatnot mentally, meaning there is some sort of Bane Spider mental network much like the Seers. However, unlike the Seers, Bane Spiders seem to break off from this network alot more frequently and easily, sometimes even massing into full-on rebel groups which I think involves Phipps' arc in some way.

That's how I understand it. I've probably gotten a few things wrong too.

This is a very sad loss. Poor Nielsen. Atleast he died in the least traumatic way possible.

Farewell ol' comedic master! May you be making whatever is on the other side wet itself with laughter

Murder in the RWZ Morgue

I loved this mission, I really really did. Usually I'm more prone to stories that are stretched out over two or three missions but you pulled this off perfectly. I liked the idea that Longbow were only using the whole investigation to get some dirt on Vanguard, and the paranoid Vanguard troops still present in the base. In the end, I was expecting the suspect to be a Rikti, but... I was pleasantly, if a little weirdly, surprised.

Well done Fredrik! This arc gets five stars from me!

A Clone of Your Own? Review.

Mission One: A'ight. Liking this so far. Dr. Mephit's quite fun, I especially got a chuckle out of his opening line in the Mission Acceptance text. Although I was hoping for a bit of a better introduction rather then just going straight into the thick of message. That's not enough to detract from the story though! So let's move on.

Nice use of the doppelgangers, liked the 'l33t' touch to their names even if I did have to take two seconds out to read them properly.

Mission one ends, and Dr. Mephit unleashes some more of his stereotype humour! On to mission two!

Mission Two: So the smart Freak who designed those clones is still out there, and he still has what he needs to clone my evil mastermind! That ain't gonna fly. It's off to the sewer lab to beat 'em in! After fighting through a handful of Freaks, I reach the end room where the Freaks seem to be haggling over a mirror... oh wait, that's just my clone! A friendly clone, too. After I rescue him, I move on to the '5mart 1' who is... German? I couldn't quite place the accent.

After beating him down, I found the lab equipment which was just around the corner. Easy enough to destroy. I liked the sudden wave of confusion that came over the Freaks here too. On to Mission Threeee!!

Mission Three: As it turns out, Mephit still has his research and it's up to me to stop him from potentially coming after everyone with an army of clones!

The mobs in this mission are known as 'Mephit's Experiments' and from what I've seen consist of renamed Banished Pantheon minions and lieutenant ranked Mephit Clones. After a short while, I come across Mephit himself... though he doesn't seem all that interested in attacking me. So, I've found Mephit, and then I come across both his notes and the German/Russian/Accent of an unknown nature Freak, who has had his name changed to Wily Freak. Apparently he's leading a group into Mephit's lab to recover the notes! Can't let that happen.

So after defeating the Freaks and destroying his notes, Dr. Mephit turns against me. This makes me think that if he was going to turn against me anyway, why not do it from the start? Oh well, li'l nitpick, not enough to get me to thumb the arc right down. After defeating Mephit I come across the last of my clones; he has all my powers and my devilishly good looks and, therefore, was an easy fight. It's easy to kill a Mastermind before he gets all his pets out.


All in all, an enjoyable arc! I liked Dr. Mephit and the... well, let's call him the foreign Freak. Lovely use of the doppelganger system like someone else said and some good humour in there too. Five stars!

How on earth did I miss this? Sign me up Mr. Bubbawheat!

Arc ID: 469020
Arc Name: Spawning Chaos
Morality: Villainous
Length: Five Missions
Groups: Freakshow, Vanguard, Cage Consortium, Longbow
Description: The next Freaklympics is rolling around and you've got some free time. Form a band of loyal Freaks to cut, shoot, blast and smash your way to first place!

I'll get around to reviewing A Clone of Your Own as soon as I can.

A strange urge to wear unusually large glasses?

I remembered thirteen. I would have gotten more if I had remembered to spell Colosseum and Responsibility right.

Why is it when I see the information for that I think of this?

Strangely enough, neither Marchand nor Scott will give you any prompts for undercover missions unless you're introduced to both contacts, like Mr. G and Interrogator Kang in Imperial City for Loyalists. So you have to accept both missions from Marchand to get his undercover prompts. You don't have to go and meet both contacts, but you do have to accept the mission from Marchand/Scott to get the undercover dialogue.

Try that and see if it works.

Oooh, I like this thread!

Definitely Rikti armour, maybe changed a little to fit our characters' bulk. (or lack of)

Circle robes, the ones that come all the way down to the feet. I'm not even talking about the belt or the shoulder pieces or even the weird hats, just those down-to-the-feet robes.

And, lastly, a 'proper' trench coat that I've seen Dark Watcher, Protean, and those Syndicate Strikers wear. The ones with the collar sticking up.

1. Are you male or female?
Male.

2. What ATs do you mostly play, and for what reason(s)?
Scrappers, Brutes, Dominators, and Masterminds. Mostly because I find these particularly fun to play.

3. Redside, blueside, purpleside, or any combination of the above?
Lotsa Purpleside, with a bit of redside chucked in.

4. What are your favorite story arcs?
I'd have to say Leonard Silman's arc as my most favourite. Running up on them would be the arcs of Hatchet, Mr. G, Ricochet, and Neuron.

5. What makes you like this game?
It's different from most MMO games out there these days. It's not a full-on fantasy setting and... well... I was drawn in by the promise to play as the bad guys.

6. What other games do you play?
The Left 4 Dead games, Team Fortress 2, big admirer of the Total War strategy titles too.

7. How long have you been playing?
About three years.

8. How many alts do you have, what is the average level range, and how many are level 50?
I only have 3 level 50's. Two villain, one hero. The rest of my alts are all between the level of 15-35.

9. Do you bother with softcaps, set bonuses, and all that numerical stuff? What difficulty settings to you normally use?
I never ever bothered to do anything enchancement wise in my three years of playing the game. I've got one slightly slotted Mastermind, but that's it. I usually just keep the difficulty settings at their default level, not too hard and not too easy. Just right.

Wow, looks like Ouroboros is going to get a real tackle. Suppose this means we'll finally find out who the Letter Writer is!

Um, may I just butt in, j-just for a second, please?

Going back to something Golden Girl said, which was that when Praetorians go over to Primal Earth the game forces you to lean towards the Resistance and heroism and all that...

That isn't actually true...

If you're a Loyalist, and whether or not you choose Paragon or the Isles, there are both little bits of information that say that, when the time comes, you can join up with Cole when he does decide to invade. One is in the Rogue Isles choice description, and the other is when you meet Cole on the other side of the Paragon portal.

Just thought I'd add that, because... y'know... it's there and I just thought it needed correcting as no one had addressed it...

*dashes off in smoke*

Boy, this thread got tackled by GG and then whacked right out of the stadium.

It should probably just all stop here, but I have a feeling it's not going to.

You're not alone! I got so into the Power and Crusader arcs with my first two characters that I didn't want to team at all. I had to turn down about eleven team invites on those characters because I didn't want to miss anything storywise.

An on-topic post for me.

When I first met the Emperor himself at the end of the Powers Arc, I loved it. Every second I was talking to him, every moment I was in his presence, I knew I had earned my place in Praetoria. GG just needs to warm up to Cole, he's no Tyrant, he's just stressed from work. Personally, I hope Cole teaches the Resistance and Primal Earth a first-class lesson in annihilation.

*sips Enriche, does the Praetorian Salute* All hail Emperor Cole!

"Did you hear about Doctor Desecrator?"

"Shh, we're not supposed to talk."

"I know, but, they say he's just... disappeared. Gone, vanished."

"Don't be silly; Doctor Desecrator? Gone? That guy had too much fun trying to take over the world. What possible reason could he have to just scoot off?"

"Well, I heard that his robots were last seen raiding Portal Corp HQ over on Peregrine. When the heroes arrived, they found no sign of any robots or the Doctor himself. But they did find that one of the portals had been recently used."

"You're kidding. Did it say where it was used to go to?"

"News says the coordinates were set to Upsilon Bet-"

"Shh! Archon's coming! Back straight, feet together!"

Overheard from a pair of Council soldiers on the Striga Isle docks.

Name: Olympics: Freak Style!
Arc ID: 438432
Morality: Villainous
Length: Very Long
Enemy Groups: Freakshow, Vanguard, Cage Consortium, Longbow
Description: The next Freaklympics are just around the corner. To pass the time, how about you form a band of loyal Freaks and cut, slash, smash and blast your way to first place?

This is an arc I've had on the backburner for a few months, I started writing it early 2010, then I just lost interest in the game as RL took up most of my time. After GR was released, I returned to writing it after my enthusiasm in the game and my fascination with how a group like the Freakshow operate was revitalised. Please give it a go if you have any spare time, I'll be very thankful!

Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal, probably the first was more perfect then the second.

Lecter escapes in both, but in Silence he helps Clarice graduate by giving her the means to catch Bill and at the same time scares the ever-loving daylights out of her by giving her a creepy phone call, leaving her with this face.

Excellent work on this, really! This blew me away! Infinity +rep for you!!

Cole really was an epic encounter, even if you were just talking to him. You feel that all those Syndicate you beat up, all those Destroyer secrets you uncovered, all those Resistance plots you foiled, at that moment it felt like it was all built up just to meet this one guy, but boy was doing those Power arcs worth it! Don't feel bad Divus, I think Cole has that effect on nearly everyone that has the opportunity that see's him these days.

And GG, you address him as "my lord" at first, but he remarks how great you've been and asks you to just call him Marcus. He's such a great guy!

I love them too, love every single mission I've come across in Praetoria.

I had one mission where I had to steal a cyber-brain from Anti-Matter at one stage, seemed simple enough, fought my way through his Clockwork, found the glowie, clicked it, and suddenly big red words flash up on my screen. 'ALERT' and I see the objective has changed from 'Get the brain' to 'Find a brain, ANY BRAIN!' and 'Get out before Anti-Matter arrives!' don't think I've ever been so exhilarated by a mission like that. Ever.

You betrayed the LAW! LAAAAAAAAAAW!!