Tubbius

Murders in the RWZ Morgue: 5 stars!
Ran it on Tubbius, again. He's my go-to guy for AE arc reviews, it seems. Santa can be in all kinds of situations when he wants to be.

I love the idea of a one-off murder mystery. Adding a peculiar lil' already spoiled twist at the end was a splendid touch. Also, it has a cute Planet of the Apes reference that is, perhaps, not quite befitting a Rikti diplomat, but it's funny nonetheless. The author took special care to build both suspense and compassion for the misguided monkey.

If there were one thing that could be adjusted, it would be the amount of backtracking looking for clues as they're found. It doesn't matter a LOT on this small of a map, and I know it's out of the creator's control, but if the player doesn't know the level or isn't paying total attention to non-glowie objects as he/she finds them, this takes up a little more time to run through.

Well done!

Edit: If I remember right, in "Rue Morgue," weren't the murders done by a monkey? I've got everything Poe wrote, but Brit Lit's my bag, not American, so I can't honestly remember how that one ends short of rereading it.

Thankee thankee! I've not played against a lot of Carnies; I just wanted a fun excuse to have Waddle in a third arc that was fun to write. I'll take these comments into consideration! I'll let you know if a PENGUIN part 4 is in the works eventually.

A Clone of Your Own?

Overall, an enjoyable, quick romp through a lot of Freaks.

I ran Tubbius through this one, too, so he and his pet Planty are getting some money and tickets by being in this club.

Mission 1: Easy enough overall, with the clones being pretty simple to take down. I like the idea of color-swapping on the clones; the white and black is a nice touch!

Mission 2: Linear map makes this easy to follow and easy to run. Good job overall, here.

Mission 3: I figured out easily enough that Mephit was going to betray me; I didn't expect it would happen on going for his computer! Getting double-tapped for about 400 damage was painful; thank goodness for Healing Aura. This fight did take a good deal longer than anything else in the mission; it wasn't terribly painful except for when the EB got off a few shots. I figure if I were on something that couldn't drop so many holds and immobilizes I'd be in some serious trouble, though.

The sudden change up at the end to exploring the good stuff Mephit might have done does indeed feel a little out of place; it IS mentioned as you open the last filing cabinet in the third mission, but it's not really hinted at throughout the arc, unless I'm missing it.

Global positive: I love the lil' comments when you get to click the glowies! "I, J, K, L, M" has to take the cake.

Good overall--great for a fun, quick stomp, as noted above.

"When 0-star ratings were removed?" Come again?

Yay! A new member in the club.

Breaking the Barrier (And Putting it Back Together)
Arc 347029

The funny thing is that according to the lil' check mark, I've run this one before!

Overall, a great arc for a level 50 plant/empath/ice to run through with his pet fly trap.

Mission 1: Well-written intro, especially if you haven't run the prior arc (which I can't remember having done, off hand). The author makes great use of informative, constant clue information to keep the gamers filled in.

Rularuu are always great fun. Having played more than enough DOOM back in the day, I get a smile out of seeing those wonderful Cacodemon knock-offs floating around on here. They're not too hard; in fact, for this level setting, they're remarkably easy for Tubby to take on.

Good use of objective chaining (a tricky feat!) and good use of speech between characters.

Mission 2: Minor typo in the send off text: "coordinate with with other heroes"

Love the Guard Bot. The comparison to a big, metal puppy, above, is certainly apt. To be honest, I kept waiting for him to ambush me. I'm glad he didn't!

One minor thing: was there a clue on the Pumicite's rescue? I didn't see one, if there was?

Mission 3: Good variety of helper characters. It's always nice to feel like a one-toon army. However, the helpers did briefly get lost; I had to run back for two of them once.

Mission 4: LOVE the rescues of random people and the random items! More folks need to do this sort of thing!

Mission 5: I rebooted the system as the last objective, and it finished the mission with a single scientist rescue remaining? Am I missing something?

A great romp of an arc that's not too tough and a lot of fun to blitz. Well done!

On a not entirely related note, can we do something about getting the obvious farms cleaned out? Hit a normal 4-star search some time. The first page or two is almost exclusively farms. I'm not trying to say this just to get one of my arcs onto page 1 of the 4-star list. . . but sheesh.

And, yes, revisiting Hall of Fame would be nice. I had a tough time keeping "Hammer and Sickle of Paragon City" at 5 stars for about 110 ratings. After that, it fluctuated up and down until it hit around 135-140. Now that it's dipped to 4 stars and is sitting around 140 ratings, it's not gotten a single new play outside SG members in MONTHS. How do they expect arcs to stay at a 5-star average for, what, 1000 plays to get Hall of Fame status?

Just played Another Nemesis Plot.

Here's the breakdown (in the infamous red ink pen of doom in my notes, as I'm an English teacher, myself).

I ran this on Tubbius, a Santa Claus lookalike who's a level 50 Plant/Empath/Ice Controller. MrCaptainMan there knows him well! Hi, MCM!

General Notes:
* Pro: I didn't have to pop an inspiration until Mission 3. The difficulty ramped up considerably in the final room of that mission, though. Missions 4 and 5 were also considerably simple runs.
* Pro: The basic premise of a story involving a hero's journey to epicness is here. It's a little rough overall, though.
* Con: There are numerous spelling, capitalization, and punctuation typos throughout the arc, particularly on the name of the group "Nemesis."
* Con: It feels a little like there's too much trying to happen here with the various enemy groups. A little more on this later.
* Con: I'm thinking the final mission might be bugged. I found Statesman and Recluse, and I found the Flier, and I eliminated everyone ELSE but the fire it wouldn't let me attack. . . but I never found the boss. I had to drop the mission. MAYBE it's something about how everything spawns on the map?

Mission 1:
* Pros (Overall): Simple and easy to run first mission. Straightforward. Tubby and his pet Planty had no problems. A fun, easygoing beat 'em up.
* Cons (Spawns): The computers, Statesman, and the boss all spawn a bit out of order; this might be able to be better controlled with a little more careful map selection and placement. For instance, the third computer spawned first, then the first, then the second, then the boss, and THEN Statesman.
* Cons (Clues): After playing through up to later missions, I understand your attempt to tie the power sources back in. At this point, though, the clue on the first computer--about the parts specifically lacking a power source--seems a bit out of place, especially if you're dealing with characters who might not have the technical background needed to know or care about such information. Also, the mission contact seems to overlook this apparently crucial detail (a detail explored more, to an extent, in mission 2 with the mention of the steam-powered, compact power sources.)

Mission 2:
* Pros (Overall): Another short mission that's straightforward and simple. Nemesis goons aren't too hard overall.
* Cons (Intro text): Statesman's help is mentioned explicitly in the intro text, but Statesman himself never makes another appearance until Mission 5, at which point he's captive. This is slightly misleading.
* Cons (Overall, but tied to Mission 1 Clue): There's nothing obviously tied to the Rikti in this mission. They're mentioned in one of the Mission 1 Clues, and they come up again later when power sources are again discussed (in terms of flying equipment), but they're generally very minimal. PERHAPS eliminating the Rikti segment altogether can help you focus more strongly on the already reasonably well-woven Council and Nemesis subsets.

Mission 3:
* Pros (Overall): A VERY fun map initially, and very different from most else in the game. Very linear, meaning objective placement should be a snap. A definite challenge for even an experienced player once you're in the big room.
* Cons (Overall): No range or Flight? You're facing a VERY big drawback in the last, big room with all the Pop-Up Guns, the bosses, and the catwalks. Luckily, Tubbius flies, and he has plenty of ranged options, but I can see a Scrapper or Tank having a beast of a time with this. Also, even with Flight, I had a couple times where I had to turn that off to control myself better, at which times I was knocked off the catwalks, leading to triggering 3 of the bosses all at one go! Very dangerous. Tubby was in serious trouble for a few moments before I could get back upright and mobile.

Mission 4:
* Pros (Allies): Mastermind buddies make all things easier!
* Pros (Overall): Another straightforward throwdown.
* Cons (Allies): I honestly don't know what the other ally does. There were Ninja everywhere!
* Cons (Background Lore): I know we can create our own stories with this, but the idea of challenging Lord Recluse one on one without prior preparation seems to fly in the face of COV's entire setup where your villain builds up over time and is ultimately deemed worthy to even scrape for the high muckamucks. Maybe I'm reading too much into this.
* Cons (Clues): No Clues given on Rescues.

Mission 5:
* Pros (Overall): Pretty linear despite the sprawling map choice. You can choose to go down and forward. Spawns are few and far between, so it's easy to focus on one group or target at a time. You can safely circle around and find Recluse and Statesman first if you like.
* Cons (Overall): Potentially bugged spawns or map selection. See notes at the top of this post. Map fails to display, probably a result of the map choice in particular. Also, Statesman has trouble, especially, navigating the rocks.
* Cons (Intro text): Dark purple text can be crazy hard to read at first, a problem made all the more apparent by this being crucial storyline info.
* Cons (Arachnos Flier): A potential stray shot will rain unholy amounts of PAIN down on you fast and will potentially slaughter the helpers.
* Cons (Background Lore): Having troops with containment fields capture Recluse and Statesman simultaneously really doesn't speak well for their respective power levels. Maybe this can be tweaked to use the combat animations where they're pretending to duke it out with someone when you run up?

Here's hoping that gives you a good go at feedback, sir! Overall, I gave it 4 stars: I see potential here, and it's trying to get that "epic" feel by showcasing the character over Recluse and Statesman in the long run, but it's not QUITE connecting all the dots directly. Keep going! You can definitely do this!

Two arcs a month. I reckon I'm in, as it's nothing super elaborate.

My donation to the arc pile?

Arc ID: 351727
Arc Title: Hammer and Sickle of Paragon City
Factions: 5th Column and Council
Morality: Heroic
Length: 5 Missions
Level Range: 30-54
Description: Two former Soviet agents turned heroes, American Hammer and New York Sickle, have gone missing on what should have been a routine clearing of a 5th Column base. Find out what happened to them, and help your heroic contacts stop a plot by the 5th Column to unleash chemical warfare on the Council.
Warning: Contains an Elite Boss in mission 5.

Wait a minute. Someone said "making your 50s more powerful?" Come again?

6) Hammer and Sickle of Paragon City (351727): Two former Soviet agents turned heroes, American Hammer and New York Sickle, have gone missing on what should have been a routine clearing of a 5th Column base. Find out what happened to them, learn how Toxin of the 5th Column ties into everything, and help your heroic contacts stop a plot by the 5th Column to unleash chemical warfare on the Council. Guest appearance by Manuel Pistola! 5 missions. Levels 30-54. 5th Column and Council. Contains an Elite Boss.

As of October 4, 2010, this arc has seen some considerable edits to tighten the story. One is that I've worked to trim down the number of villain groups mentioned (from 3 to 2, eliminating the Crey and editing Toxin's backstory to focus strictly on a Council attack gone wrong). The other is, by extension of the first, a better incorporation of the chemical weapons subplot.

Give it a shot!

Played and rated! Awesome fun, Wrong Number!

Welcome back, Coulomb! Glad to see you in business again!

And now, a request. You graciously completed PENGUIN and PENGUIN Part 2: Waddle's Revenge on your other thread. Why not finish the trilogy with PENGUIN Part 3: Waddle to the Big Top (arc 402239)?

I'd love to see what you have to say about the latest adventure of Waddle.

So--CAN you use an existing arc, or do you have to submit one that's brand new? I'm not seeing a straight answer on this off hand?

Hi there, folks.

Avatea, I think, had a post a few months ago talking about folks who had been given extra veteran badges as part of a bug.

I had this link saved for some time, but I can't seem to find it at the moment.

My question is this: about a year and a half ago--shortly before my 9 month vet rewards--one of my numerous characters became bugged in such a fashion, receiving vet rewards all the way up through 42 months.

I've been making sure not to use these extra rewards before I would correctly have access to them, just in case, but, if I remember, the thread I can't find right now said something along the lines of it being OK to use them, as they'd rather not penalize folks regarding the issue.

Am I right or wrong about this, and can anyone point me to the thread in question?

Thanks!

Just wanted to say that I enjoy this thread. Keep finding good arcs, and keep posting them!

Many thanks! That's what I wanted to know: if I needed to respec out of Equip Thugs or leave it and run both. Thanks for your help!

I've just recently hit a high enough level to take Upgrade Equipment on my Thugs/Traps MM. My question is this. . . .

Does Upgrade Equipment overwrite Equip Thugs, or if you use both on one side of goons, do they get ALL of the listed powers for both Upgrade Equipment and Equip Thugs?

Likewise, the other way around. Does Equip Thugs overwrite Upgrade Equipment if applied afterward?

That is all.

Thank you.

. . . .

What they said.

I've got 7 of 8 active right now. I had an 8th, but I deleted it at one point and incorporated some elements from it into tweaks of my other arcs. I'd like to write more, but I'm at that point of "I can't do anything else past this eighth one, and I don't have a SUPER AWESOME STORY to tell at the moment, so I guess I'll wait for now until I get an idea."

I'll give it a shot soon, I think. Are there any AVs or EBs or anything?

Maybe it's my older than dirt PC that's never quite liked COV anyway.

Maybe it's the extra load of people all over the servers since Going Rogue hit a few days ago.

But I've been having serious issues logging and zoning into Port Oakes of all places since GR went live.

It especially seems to kick me out whenever I'm zoning in through or around the base portal.

I can get into pretty much every other zone in the game just fine. No problems in COH or GR areas at all. I can get in and out of Cap Au Diable, a much busier zone than Oakes, like it's nothing. Port Oakes, though, hates me.

Anyone else experiencing anything of the same? I'm on Justice, where Port Oakes is pretty much DEAD, and I'm facing this.

Any help out there?

Thank you, ArrowRose! I'm glad someone found PENGUIN! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

So, take, for instance, one arc of mine (out of several) that has two separate Empath allies on it. Only ONE of them will be able to heal, and that's depending on which one you find first, and the other one will only be able to use his attack powers?

Sigh. Guess I get to rewrite/rework. . . hmmm. A slight reworking to one arc that I'd rather not do, and a possible junk-shot to my other arc that has about four or five different allies per mission. Sad Tubby.

WOO! Back up into the 5-star areas. Congratulations.

MCM! Are you going to go back and continue your arc reviews? And welcome back, by the way.