mistformsquirrel

If I'm not too late and it's not a conflict for an arc to have been submitted to the contest as well... I'd really appreciate it if you'd check out A Warrior's Friend - ID 335212 >.<

Any feedback would be welcome hehe <^_^>; it doesn't seem to get many plays for some reason, so I'm kinda at a loss for how to make it better.

Thank you very much for the review Aisynia! <^_^> I was wondering about how Full Auto would work out >.<; it doesn't hurt any of my characters very much... but even my blaster has about 30% resist to S/L (which I always forget I have ><)

It is meant to be a bit tough; but I don't want it to be frustratingly tough >.< that's the tricky part really, figuring out how tough is too tough.

Part 2 is in fact in the works <,< But it's been sorta heavily delayed due to several things. Once the contest is done though, I'll get back to it in earnest (well and maybe before that even!). This is liable to be a trilogy, but it may go on beyond even that, depending on where the war takes us. (Once I've gotten your anonymous seargent's story told, I may move on to other sections of the war)

RE: Spoilered section:

(Sorry this is long <T_T> Some of this requires explanation of in-universe tech, so you're getting a chunk of my story bible here)

-----------------------------------------

Some of this is sadly just the limits on the format <;_;> I'll address what I can and the 'why', but I also want to admit freely that some of these are me intentionally invoking Fridge Logic - basically putting things out there that make the story playable in this format; but aren't as consistent as I'd prefer (and thus I'm relying on your suspension of disbelief to get you through the story before you notice "Wait a sec...")

1) The press-ganged workers:

Originally, this arc had no less than 3 Penal Officer mobs, including the Lt. Commander. Combined, their pets gave you the feel of slave workers forced to fight you... unfortunately, they can be quite a challenge on their own, and if you inadvertently end up fighting 2 at once... it gets icky fast.

I tried nerfing them several ways, and it always made fighting the Lt. Commander less satisfying. (Due to space issues, he uses the same file as the generic Penal Officers, much as the first battle with Lt. Andrea uses a default female Iron Guard)

Working in a one-off slave mob didn't work well either for a number of reasons; space being the limiting factor - I had to decide if making a one-off would be worth the space; I decided it wasn't not just because it would only get used in the one mission; but also because said workers would end up all being identical. Given that they aren't armored or anything, differentiated slaves would feel most important to me to make them look 'right' >< and sadly it's just not possible with current space limitations.

2) Why did Earth send only one ship?

There's two answers for this, one author-based reason, and one in-story reason:

The first is simple playability - It's far easier to tell a story about you fighting your way through a space ship if you stay on one ship. It also makes the linchpin of the whole thing very, very clear. If I'd included say, a flotilla with the Wellington, you'd end up with a different bit of Fridge Logic *or* a need for Wellington to have some kind of crazy abilities beyond just being a 'big damn ship'.

Including a fleet would necessitate explaining why the Wellington's destruction is key to the whole thing - even being a monstrous battleship, I have a tough time imagining the Terrans fleeing at it's loss unless the Martians (who generally have fewer ships anyway) were pretty much un-hurt by the battle up to that point.

It also eliminates the need to talk about those other ships - because that would mean adding yet more walls of text to an already text heavy arc >.> Which eats up space, and the character limit that could be used to confer additional dramatic tension to your personal situation.

Now from an in-story perspective:

The Terran Coalition is something of a cross between the colonial powers of the 17th and 18th centuries, as well as some of the megalomania of the fascists of the 1930s-40s. (There is however no racism against humans present - this is a century where genuine aliens exist; and it becomes a lot harder to have a prejudice against someone who looks generally like you, but with a different color skin; than say... a guy with tentacles coming out of his face. >.> Still, the general mentality is there - "We take what we want" is practically an un-written motto.)

You know how Hitler was fond of impractical super-weapons? Think of it in those terms. The Terran Coalition leadership at the highest levels are people who's military ranks are invariably purchased. (If you look up the practice of buying commissions, it's a historical precedent that's actually older than most merit-based promotional systems)

So these people, who are generally relatively ignorant of battlefield reality, and when ordering new weapons they tend to go for the truly grandiose. Things that are visually impressive, ludicrously powerful... and that are expensive enough an entire fleet of light cruisers could have been bought instead.

Sending the Wellington alone was meant to be something like a less-nasty Death Star attack. The idea being to show that the Terran Coalition has weapons so powerful that one ship can conquer a planet, and thus forcing their other colonies and former colonies to get back in line. At least, that's their logic.

And to be fair, the Wellington really is a powerful, massive ship that has some of the best technology available to humans. It's impractical largely for economic reasons, but it is a functional ship.

3) Where's the Martian fleet?

This coincides with the above answer on both points. From a gameplay and story perspective it's just simpler if I keep it as a David against Goliath battle (where you are the sling stone); rather than trying to depict a fleet action in a game that can't handle it well.

(Though if we ever get a space zone...)

Story-wise; Mars broke away from Terra in a short but brutal war some 30 years ago. Neither side was happy with the resolution - Terra of course didn't want to lose a profitable colony - especially so close to home. Mars on the other hand had initially hoped to overthrow the whole thing, essentially making it an internal revolution rather than a breakaway.

Needless to say, tensions have been high pretty much the entire time. Mars and Terra both have other colonies however - and unfortunately for Mars, all of it's colonies are outside the solar system. Much like the Cold War in real life, both sides have to do a lot of 'Show the flag' type missions - showing their people in the colonies that they're there, showing the other side that they won't hesitate to retaliate, etc...

So most of Mars' ships (as well as most of Terra's) are out in the colonies at the start of this.

Mars being relatively undefended is a combination of lack of manpower (Mars has fewer ships, part of why the shipyards on Deimos and Phobos are so important); and also an error in judgment. 30 years of relative (if tense) peace, and the assumption that any attack would be presaged by a build up of enemy ships basically left Mars with the belief that they'd be able to see an attack coming. Sending a single ship that had been in Earth's orbit for months before this kinda caught everyone off guard.

4) Boarding Torpedoes and Range:

It's an issue of maximum effective range really, that and the fact that boarding torpedoes are a little different than standard torpedoes.

A boarding torpedo is much, much larger than an ordinary torpedo, and caries an entire squad of marines and their equipment. Needless to say that means a bigger engine and more fuel. What made it risky and less-than ideal in this case is that at the range they were firing, the torpedoes had to coast most of the way; saving their remaining fuel for last-minute course corrections.

Trying the same trick with ordinary torpedoes would be rather fruitless though, because whereas the manned torpedoes lost guidance at the last second due to crossing the Wellington's shields; an explosive torpedo* would have detonated against the shield. That'd be fine in standard combat of course, where pulse cannons and other things can help damage the shield and eventually knock it down; at this range though it'd just be a waste of ammo, as by the time another volley was fired, it'd be back to full power.

As for why the Wellington isn't doing the same to the Vallis - this is a risky trick. By firing the torpedoes at this distance, there's the possibility that many will simply miss altogether as they don't have enough fuel to make necessary course corrections at the last second; not to mention the potential of boarding torpeodes getting scrambled at the last second.

Unlike the Vallis, the Wellington isn't in a desperate situation. The Terran Coalition isn't nice generally; but they don't want to waste marines (who aren't easy to train and wear expensive equipment) on an attack that's rather unnecessary. Especially since ideally their Marine compliment would likely be securing ground positions post-space battle if things had gone according to plan.

It also probably isn't clear in the story, but many of the torpedoes did miss**. There's just enough fuel left at the tail end of their flight to alter course - a miscalculation means you're stuck waiting to see if someone's going to come get you or not. Like I said, this was kind of desperation move - a step far outside of standard tactics. (Ideally, boarding torpedoes are meant to be used at relatively close ranges after you've blown down an opponent's shields and crippled other areas - typically the goal is to make the ship surrender so you can capture and refit it after battle. After all, building new ships is more expensive than re-fitting captured ones.)


5) Why didn't the Wellington just blow the torpedoes up?

They did, a few. There's ECM systems at play however, which makes targeting a boarding torpedo that isn't actively thrusting a little tricky. (There's no heat signature to follow, and the engine trail is non-existent while the thrusters aren't on, so the only way to track is by the metal in the hull, and all the while your sensors are competing with an ECM suite. Of course once you get close enough, and once the thrusters kick in for that last course correction, it becomes easier - so a few torpedoes would have been destroyed. But you weren't in a position to see it happen really)

Of course the biggest reason is simple gameplay; it'd be a real short story if your torpedo blew up on the way in eh? <,< (I didn't want to end up with a situation where it was just you all by yourself/with just your one squad going "DOOM" on the Terrans. I wanted to make sure the player would encounter at least some soldiers from their own side. So that necessitated at least a good number of boarding torps actually landing)

As for the tactic itself - it's been done; but it's not exactly common by any stretch. It's kind of like in Star Trek where a situation pops up where this weeks Negative Space Wedgie isn't responding to any normal technique. So you jury-rig something on the fly, or come up with an unconventional or dangerous plan out of desperation.

To a captain, ordering an attack like this is practically like ordering their marines to commit suicide (and as Sheas notes at the end - very few of them come back at the end). So, it's been done, but I could probably count the instances on one hand, and the number of 'successes' is... well less.

6) Atmosphere -

This is a blatant handwave on my part >.> I honestly didn't want to cut away from the action to mention something a lot of people won't pick up on. The handwave is basically that there are forcefield projectors throughout the ship, capable of sealing breached areas off. It's never mentioned though, since like I said, I didn't want to distract from the actual story for a technical thing >.>

----

I hope that explains some of it <^_^> I wish I could put it all in-game and make these explanations easily available <;_;> but there's neither the space nor a good way to do it without it interrupting the narrative. (Ideally I'd do it like Mass Effect, with it's encyclopedia system where, as you encounter new things, they show up in the encyclopedia.)

I admit I've been tempted to, and maybe someday actually will, make an "Academy" program who's sole purpose is to explain the universe, including history and tech. That said, it'd probably bore most folks <;_;> so IF I do it, it'll be only if I have extra architect slots I'm not using.

*Boarding torpedoes have countermeasures to deal with shielding; though as the story shows it's still a risky proposition, as even if it doesn't smash you on the way in, it can fry all your electronics. As for the obvious followup "Why don't they put countermeasures in regular torpedoes" - There's a few reasons, but the simplest is cost. Boarding torpedoes can afford to be expensive because their payload is also expensive. (They also tend to be recoverable after a successful engagement) - Normal torpedoes... not so much.

** This is part of what I was trying to indicate with Corporal Redding's first report to you. Basically the situation is chaotic - some torpedoes missed, most got scrambled and didn't hit their assigned areas.

Congo Rats to the author <^_^> I haven't played this either as I'm not much for villainy; but it's always good to see someone recognized.

Ooooh...

Eurgh <;_;> I had something like that happen earlier. All I wanted was to change a little bit of text <x.x>; I had to log out and back in.

Eh?! <@.@> Test Mode is where all my screenies were taken for the contest. It definitely worked for me >< <;_;> I can't imagine why it wouldn't work.

There, all done <x.x>

I hope the don't mind I had to re-send one entry <;_;> I kinda goofed and missed one of the one-mob villain group files. Oh well, if I blew it I blew it eh? Hopefully not though >.<

Finally got my original arc, A Super Team is Born, back up and running - with of course, a few improvements!

Arc ID: 336185
Title: A Super Team is Born
Re-Published: 10/08/2009
Status: Final
Genre: Super Sentai/Light Comedy



Description: Ninja Catpeople Turbo is a brand new team of heroes in Paragon City... they don't quite seem to have their footing just yet...

More detailed explanation:

The arc is essentially a Power Rangers spoof following a team of costumed catpeople as they try to learn the ropes of heroing in Paragon City. There is however, a sinister plot afoot... one involving some truly bizarre creatures - the Spikies.

The arc has a little drama, a little comedy, but mostly it's just me reminiscing over a show I watched as a kid <,< It was launched originally back when I14 was in beta, and was dropped some time before I quit for a long break. Now that I'm back, and given some of the new improvements in the Architect system; I've fixed a couple issues that simply weren't managable before, and tuned a few other things as well (mostly from old requests made way-back-when)

Major changes:

[Spoiler Warning]

1) Enhanced Spikey now actually looks and acts different than the Blue Spikey. Whatever happened while I was away gave me extra space. As a warning, he may be a little extra tough compared to what I want - I'll need other people playing the arc to tell me where they feel the difficulty should be.

2) Fixed several patrols that were mixed Crey/Spikies that had dialogue that wouldn't make sense coming from that individual. (Example, Spikies talking normally, or Crey saying "Oodlefoodle!")

3) Robo-Bat has a new costume. I wasn't feeling the red and gold Goldar pastiche costume when I came back; so I adapted him to look more like an actual scientist. On the one hand, I like it better this way... but at the same point I admit, it feels less Super Sentai this way. (I mean this is the genre that gave us Starfish Hitler for crying out loud...) So I'm interested in people's reaction to the more conservatively dressed Robobat.

4) Robo-Bat is now just an EB rather than an AV/EB - This is largely because of the next change...

5) All the Felis' were dropped from Bosses to Lts. - which more accurately reflects their neophyte level of training. The exception is Red once she takes her helmet off later in the arc, as by then she's more experienced and becoming a genuine super hero. The Robo-Bat fight could be a little too tough with the weaker Felises though; so I nerfed him a bit.

- Extra Big Spoiler!! -

6) Sadly, the final ambush of the arc with all the Felises coming to help you during the Robo Bat fight had to be dumped. I *hated* doing this; but the vagaries of ally-ambushes are such that sometimes they didnt' show up at all, other times multiples would show up - and worse it just gets more complicated with the new difficulty settings.

Instead all of the Felises are now available on the map somewhere. You'll have to find them yourself; and I intentionally did *NOT* give it away by putting them in the map nav thing.

I'm hoping at a later date we'll see an actual Ally Ambush function and I can restore this to it's original format; which was to me, the crowning moment of the arc.

7) Fixed a few text bits. Re-wrote a little bit of Green's dialogue particularly - I wanted to make her a little more cheerfully brutal. Blue no longer stands up and pukes and then just stands there - unfortunately he won't *stay* unconscious no matter what I do... so for immersions sake the best I can suggest is, after rescuing Blue in the first mission, just keep going while he's laying down. Hopefully someday there'll be a way to fix this. Until then though I'll just have to make due.


----

As per usual, constructive criticism very welcome! Thanks for playing!

I now have a really tough decision ><; Gah!

Do we know if it's possible to enter one arc in more than one category? I know we can't enter multiple arcs in a single category; but what about the other way around?


Above Mars is, imo, my best work thus far (though I'm quite fond of the other two as well) - and I think the Terran Coalition may actually beat out my re-built Battle Maiden warriors for well-made enemy groups... but if I do that then I lose my entry for Best Original Story ><

Not like I'm gonna win, but I'm damn well going to put my best stuff forward at any rate <,<

Yeargh <>.<>

Me!

Above Mars Part 1 - The Wellington - 159769; Category - Best Original Story

A Warrior's Friend - 335212 - Best Enemy Group

A Super Team Is Born - 336185 - Best Hero Arc

--

I have to try eh? Won't know if I don't! Not getting my hopes up either though <,<

(Cides, it gave me an excuse to polish them after coming back and put them back up >.> That's gotta be worth something right?)

My only disappointment with it is that it'll make it harder to get feedback before the MA contest deadline.

I'm really trying to polish all 3 of my old arcs up to a glimmering shine... but if no one plays them I can't get feedback.

But ahh well, it's not a huge deal.

Like others, I'll still largely be in MA because well... that's where I tend to have fun. Older content isn't bad; but good player made content regularly outstrips it for me. (Probably cause I've done the dev-made content so many times <T_T>)

Arcs reviewed in this thread so far (in no particular order):

*Note - Author names aren't going to be easy to find for arcs that have been pulled down in the meantime; so arcs I can't find anymore will be listed along with "Down" without an author name unless I remember that name. (Only applicable to reviews I pulled straight out of the MA with no input in this thread. People in this thread, if I can't remember their in-game name, I'll just PM)

-

The Battle for Happily Ever After - 42241 - Status: Up - Author: @Celtic Cupcake

Dungeoneering I, II and III - 26173, 50500, 92401 - Status: All Down - Author: <;_;> Don't Remember; started with an N (Yah, like that helps)

Dungeoncleaners - 125715 - Status: Up - Author: @Pep Cat

Tale of the Feywarden - 98286 - Status: Up - Author: @Iron General

War Against the Undying One Part 1-3 - 91044, 98754, 139463 - Status: Up - Author @WillT

The Tanhauser Gate - 96322 - Status: Up - Author: @Aisynia

Into the Dwarven Halls - 68903 - Status: Up - Author: @Harimau Garang



Heh, it's not as long a list as I'd thought! But then the's 2 big 3-parters in there, so that accounts for a lot <^_^>

Sure sure! I'll post up a list of ID/Name/Number today!

The Dungeoneering arcs may have been pulled down in the meantime though, sadly - those arcs were from the dawn of the Architect system; and it's possible the author decided they wanted to use the slots for something else.

Still, I'll do my best hunting for them and the others. (I'll list "Still Up" or "Down" next to each arc when I put the list up - so people can know what's actually still playable.)

I think I'll give Clash of the Gods a go later >.> it sounds interesting! (It's a shame it's so hard to find good arcs <;_;> I mean they're *there* - it's just finding them is hard <@.@>)

As for reviewing here... <^_^> Either of the arcs in my sig would be greatly helpful to me <,< I think you might have actually played them before; but I've done some work on them since I came back and could use some feedback on the changes - especially A Warrior's Friend, which has seen a fair few modifications. It's still the same basic arc; but the third map is wholly different, the ally group looks different and has more mobs, the enemy group has slightly more variety as well.

*edit*

I feel like a moron for forgetting <,<

Feel free to be spoiler-tastic - just mark anything with (((SPOILER))) tags if you feel it's warranted. That said, neither of my arcs have much in the way of major twists. They're based more on being examples of a given genre played straight really >.> Above Mars being Military Sci-Fi, and A Warrior's Friend being a fusion of Heroic Fantasy and Superheroism. So there's not a ton to spoil I don't think <,<

As for level ranges:

Above Mars is a bit tough for some, so I personally recommend 40+; however the difficulty varies a great deal my person; and my recent nerfs on some of the mobs may have made it easy enough that even a lower level could take it without trouble. So bring whatever you feel like, just let me know how you find the difficulty curve so I can tune it >.> (I played it several times with a blaster and a scrapper both, as I don't play other ATs often)

A Warrior's Friend is a bit easier, but it can still be tricky at times; and there is an EB/AV involved as well - so be aware of that. I rate it at about 30+ to get the absolute best experience; but I've beaten it with a level 15 scrapper (though it was tricky).

Either one again is fine <^_^>

*currently working on Clash of the Gods*

New Review!

Arc ID 68903
Title: Into the Dwarven Halls

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Alrighty, so on Airheads recommendation I took a shot at this arc. It's a short one, so the review is going to be equally short:


First and foremost - the story is not great. It's not that the plot in itself is horrible (it's actually kinda an interesting idea) - From what I gathered, there are several clans of extra-dimensional dwarves who were formerly enslaved by the Circle of Thorns. You, apparently, have saved them at some point.

This is where the first problem comes in: I did? When? Understandably I was a little confused at first, and even went hunting to see if this was a sequel... but if it is, the original work is long gone. That's unfortunate because saving a society of enslaved dwarves would be a fantastic romp if done right! <^_^>

Still, it's a reasonable, if awkward backdrop.

The leader of one clan of the newly freed dwarves has come to you with dire news; that one of the clans you saved is so enraged at the Circle that they will do anything to obliterate them once and for all. So blind by rage are they that they have comitted to summoning a mighty demon with which to crush the Circle. Unfortunately the ensuing battle would probably destroy Paragon too.

Again, the plot itself is decent... but the writing leaves much to be desired. It doesn't feel like a great deal of effort was put into composing the text itself. Dialogue isn't bad; but the actual narrative is often questionable. It's possible that the author isn't a native English speaker; but I can't really award extra points for that.

So you end up with a work where, the plot is fun - not perhaps hugely original, but enjoyable - but the writing itself makes that... bland.

On the upshot the enemy designs are fun. Not perfect; but they fit the "Evil Dwarves with Black Magic" theme quite well. I wish they'd have varied their hair colors a bit though, as just going with red hair on top of red and black clothes and armor was a bit much. (Then again, your contect has blue hair on top of blue and black armor, so maybe that's actually a plot point that simply isn't explained? Or maybe someone just liked the "Copy Colors" function >.>)

Now that the negative is out of the way:

I still had fun. I'm not sure I can give you an entirely rational reason for this, because there's a lot to not like in this arc... but the costume designs are just good enough, and the premise is just "Typical Fantasy" enough...

Hrmm... Perhaps the best explanation is to steal and rephrase something from Howard Taylor:

"I wanted mindless, barely-edited action with a side of high-fantasy, and Into the Dwarven Halls delivered it all in a greasy cardboard box."

That's pretty much what this arc boils down to - a decent but not stellar execution of a reasonable but not great idea that still can be a lot of fun if you feel like a good Diablo hack-and-slash outing.

So I recommend it, but only for those who don't mind putting their brains in the "off" position for an hour or so.

Oh, and watch for the Necros <o.@> Those guys are jerks.

Okay, finally beat the whole thing hehe <^_^> My 50 cleaned it out pretty easily hehe <>_<>


So - here's my personal opinions now that I've done the whole thing <^_^>


Pros:

Neat idea - especially once you realize the whole Spider Clan = Arachnos thing. Already mentioned that before; but still, good ideas count for a lot imo <^_^>

Costume design is again, quite good <^.^>m I think Samurai Fusionette is my favorite of the lot really.

Fairly good map choices. It's a shame we don't have more options for outdoor/fantasy type maps, but I guess that's not TOO surprising given the medium <,< so good job making do with what's available <^_^>b


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Quibbles I have (Please don't be intimidated by the size of this section <,< I'm just wordy, the problems are themselves very minor):

I finally figured out what's bugging me about Flower Knight's connection to the whole thing >.<

It's the beginning dialogue you get from her when you start the arc - there's a line (I think the first in the third paragraph) where she mentions something about her ancestor spirit talking to her in dreams and that thus this must be important. The way it's written, it unintentionally gives the vibe that the ancestor spirit is the one sending the dreams <,< Which if you think about it, a Korean ancestor spirit on Earth having a connection to an alternate-Earth based on Feudal Japan... feels odd. (Especially depending on when said ancestor spirit is from - there were a couple rather nasty wars between the two.)

That and the ending when Flower Knight decides to stay... feels odd for a similar reason. I mean it's not like it doesn't happen in fiction or anything; it just has a funny vibe due to the nature of Flower Knight's ancestor spirit.

But again, I'm picky about stuff like this and it's just a vibe I get <,< so it's not a huge deal or anything.

For completely unrelated reasons (just from a pure narrative perspective) - Flower Knight staying behind at the end just seemed... a bit forced. She'd only been there the one time; whereas in fiction usually when someone stays on an alternate world, it's because they've spent a fair bit of time there or have a personal connection to someone/something there. For Flower Knight... I dunno, I don't see one of those things.

Dreams are one thing; but leaving *everything* behind like that tends to require something deep, ya know? Like a love interest, or having spent enough time on that world that it has itself kinda become 'home'.

I guess it just feels sudden and slightly disjointed. Obviously some of that could just be the limits of the medium <.< but if I were to make a suggestion, it'd be adding some extra form of connection between Flower Knight and Perogan. A person would be easiest; it'd just require her showing up in Perogan a bit sooner perhaps. (It could be "off camera" - like "You go here and do X, I'll go over there and do Y")

The third and most minor issue is with General Mako and Black Scorpion:

Both of these guys could, if you can spare the space, really use helmetless costumes. There's a reason heroes* in fiction often go helmetless even if it's illogical for what they're doing. It's because being able to see the person makes it easier to make a connection with that person - be it love or hate. Seeing them helmeted, they really just look like vaguely different Daimyo bosses; which given their positions of power and influence... feels wrong to me.

Recluse/Kumo of course works out a bit differently since we always see him helmeted in-game. The helmet is practically his 'face'. But Mako and Scorpion - we know what they look like, ya know? Obviously you'd probably have to invent a more human head for Mako; but that's certainly doable I'd think.

Course that might not be possible given space limitations; but if it is it's something I think you might want to look into >.> it'd enhance the last battle a bit.


-------------

Despite those quibbles, I had fun with it. The ninja ambushes were particularly fun at times <,< just because well... 'Suddenly ninjas! Thousands of them!' It made me giggle while kicking tail. <._.> (Nobody says that in-game, for anyone else reading; I just have the settings tuned so that I get spawns for 4 people at one level below my own >.> thus ambushes tend to be 8+ mobs at a time <,<)

It's also just flat nice to have a decent Samurai arc to play <._.> These things are not common!

Anyways, thumbs up <^-^>b despite the flaws

While I personally don't have much trouble coming up with names, I see no reason why one could not continue to create 'unique' names if a system similar to CO's was implemented.

Frankly when I started playing CO, I was concerned I'd see dozens and dozens of the same names... it never happened. It ended up being a worry looking for a problem that didn't exist in any measurable quantity. Keeping in mind too that in CO, you're all on one big server* - that means that as I travel through the game I come across players who would, in CoH, be permanently locked away from me by virtue of being on another server. So such a system in CoH would be even less likely to run into this problem.

What it does do - and the reason I enjoy it; is allow people to simply enjoy the game without needing to jump through hoops. If, for example, you come up with a character, and a name strikes your fancy - be it outlandish or simple - you WILL get it. There's no running around with a phrase above your head if you don't want one. That's trickier here, and unnecessarily so. Keep in mind that some people *want* to be "Brick Guy" - why shouldn't they be? Why should your opinion of how 'common' or 'stupid' their name mean anything?

Heck, look at the big name super-heroes in comic books... "Batman" - Really? Bat-Man? Spider-Man? Dark-Hawk? Most comic book names are simple and evocative for a reason. They're either an attention grabber, a descriptor, or both. (In most cases, I'm not a huge comic fan so certainly there are edge cases I don't know of.)

Basically what I'm saying is - common names are not bad. Simple is not bad. Neither is complex, wordy, or highbrow. They're just preferences. The idea that people should have to 'be more creative' when playing a game... well it's a bit absurd. Some people will be creative of course - I pride myself on it, even. Not everyone is me though, nor should they be. If someone wants to make "Electric Chick" - hey, who am I to say no?

I guess the argument against 'common' or 'simple' names - which exist across the super-hero spectrum for a darn good reason... well it strikes me as silly. Actually I should say it strikes me more as trying to defend something that doesn't need defending. CoH is a fantastic game - that doesn't mean there aren't parts that are downright archaic and could use an update. It feels almost like a reflexive reaction, rather than a genuine observation of how such a change might actually work out; and I don't think that's generally wise.

I personally think CO's naming system is a distinct improvement for the MMO genre as a whole. Is it perfect? Nope. I'd love a way to (as someone else suggested) tie a face-name to a specific character so that when you type in that name in a /tell without the @gname afterward, you always get the right person.

But the arguments leveled against it here just do not hold much water. Your uniqueness will remain untouched under such a system - because either

A) The name really is quite unique, and thus esoteric enough it's highly unlikely anyone else will pick it up by coincidence.

B) The name wasn't actually unique, you just happened to snag it first. In which case you very likely have one of those 'common' names, and really don't have anything to complain about.

There's also this factor - Your costume and bio. This is where a person's creativity really gets expressed in this game. This is what genuinely defines who the character is, why they are, what they are. Two characters named "Fireball" may have 180 degree different origins with fundamentally different sources of power.

This is where you're uniqueness really comes from. If your name is neat, but your costume is crap and you have no bio - you aren't all that unique. You may like it - which is entirely fine - but again it leaves the 'uniqueness' argument hanging in the wind.

--- TL;DR ---

- Most of the worries expressed here seem unfounded and reflexive and do not match what I've experienced under CO's naming system.

- Uniqueness is based on far more than a name. It's a combination of your name, costume, and bio. In other words - your name isn't unique; it's your *character* that is unique.

- Simple is not bad. Simple names are commonplace in comic books for a reason. Likewise complex is not necessarily good. There's a reason we have the phrase "Keep it Simple, Stupid" after all. (Of course to make absolutely clear what I'm saying, that doesn't mean complex names are at all bad - I use them myself a good bit after all. Nor am I calling anyone stupid that's just a recitation of the phrase.)

- If you love using a thesaurus to come up with unusual names - keep doing it! What, precisely, would be stopping you?

- Finally - The game is about fun. Expressing creativity can be enjoyable; but it is not the purpose of the game. As such, letting people have their fun, even if it's simple and 'uncreative' - if they're having fun that means they're putting money in the till; which means more longevity and development for the game.

*CO is one big server, however it's divided largely into small 100-person instances. Just the same, every time you zone, unless you studiously pick a specific instance every time, you wind up in a different instance. Over time you end up mingling with much of the game's populace. Obviously you'll never see everyone, but you'll eventually see more individual characters than you will on a typical CoH server just by virtue of how compact the game is.


Note: None of the above is addressed to any one individual. I'm just sharing my thoughts in-general.

I'll see if that one is still up <^-^>b thanks for the recommendation!

Glad you liked the new enemies <^-^>b

Hmm... I'll do a once over on Liung - I'm not sure I'll be able to fix it if it's an AI problem, but it's possible I goofed up and turned off a power somewhere >.<m Can't hurt to check at any rate!

Do let me know what you think Grinning Spade! <^.^> Like I said, there's a few changes, but overall it's very much the same arc. Hope you enjoy the changes!

Just played this today <^_^>

Sadly, I did not get to finish <;_;> Unfortunately the char I was playing just wasn't up to the last mission (I blame me, given that it is labeled a TF <.<) - so I didn't leave a star rating/comments in-game; but I wanted to stop by the forum and offer some opinions on what I did see:


1) The premise is very cool. I'm a huge samurai fan anyway >.> so the setting was an automatic win with me; and I especially dug the Arachnos-as-Samurai-clan thing. It wasn't perfect, but the concept was cool; and just trying new ideas is worth a lot of points in my book <^_^>

2) The costumes were also pretty darn good. Yes, they're 'simple' in that they just follow the "Add pieces labeled Samurai until complete" - but the colors worked well too.

I noticed (maybe a completely accidental) Legend of the 5 Rings influence too... the Hawk Clan look a LOT like the Crane clan... which is awesome imo <,< Likewise the Spider clan looked a fair bit like a cross between the Mantis Clan and Scorpion Clan - which also is cool <,<

Like I said, that may not even be intentional; but it's a cool homage if it is, and if it isn't, it's just good color choices <^-^>m

3) I was a little disappointed in the gunners though <;_;> I realize there's no real arquebus or musket to use, so using the Nemesis version made the best sense; but given the description, it sounds like they were still meant to pretty much be the 'real deal' - rather than like Nemesis' "old fashioned looking but very modern".

I admit, it'd reduce their xp award, but the gunners are only a small part of the force, so maybe dropping Burst altogether and just leaving them with Slug would work?

Just a personal opinion though <,< Obviously it's a minor thing, and not something easily addressed with this game.

4) My main gripe in an otherwise good arc... was Flower Knight herself.

Mostly because, at least from everything I got out of her dialogue - she seems to think she's Japanese or has some tie to Feudal period Japan >.< But she's Korean. Which obviously doesn't preclude the above - but given that her costume and weapon, at least from what little we know about her, seem to be based on Korea rather than Japan, it just feels... odd.

Of course there's plenty of perfectly reasonable explanations for it - she could just be a samurai fan like me <'x'>, or maybe you're retconning some of her origin, or even "Squirrel is a goofball and simply misunderstood everything" <,<

But that's the one thing that stuck out to me.

===

Despite that, I thought it was a great arc. I wish I could have finished it; but a level 18 scrapper just isn't up to it <,< However I'm going to try later with my level 50 katana scrapper and show those two-bit Spider clan jerks how it's done <^.~> Then I'll be able to give an accurate star rating/a more detailed review.

Basically consider this a 'first impressions' kinda deal <^.^> with the first impressions being "Generally Positive".

As promised, I am back and reviving this thread! <^_^>

Sorry it took so long all; I just had to get away from the game for awhile <x_x> (Lotsa reasons, some personal, many of them simply being "I played way too damn much!") - But now I'm back and ready to get back to reviewing your fantasy-themed arcs!

I'm going to check over the list for arcs that haven't been reviewed yet; but I imagine given the time frame the list is fairly out of date; so I'm just going to start a new queue if anyone has something new to submit.

As per always in this thread:

1) If I don't like the arc enough to give it at least a mild recommendation, I won't post a review here (instead I'll send you a PM with suggestions) - I'm not a particularly harsh person though <,< this doesn't really happen much (In fact I'm not sure it's happened at all yet)

2) This thread is specifically for fantasy-themed arcs. That means swords and sorcery (or just swords, or just sorcery) - mostly set in alternate worlds; though history is fine, as is modern fantasy if it goes far enough.

3) I'm playing this all with my lowbie scrapper, who is at present level 18. I'll be cautious about judging 'too difficult' given that I don't even have SO's yet; but just be aware of what I'm playing when you read my comments.

4) I make absolutely no promises on how fast I'll get through these. Life just doesn't allow for a clockwork schedule, and really I want this to stay fun for all involved - so basically I may do 3 reviews in one day, or I may not do any for a week. Don't feel like I'm leaving you out if it takes awhile to get to your arc <^_^> It *will* get done; eventually.

Anyway, with that out of the way -

Kerpow! The Lily Knight Project is back in action >.>m

(I'm hoping this isn't considered Thread Necromancy, since I actually just continuing on with something; but if it is I'll start a new thread. Hopefully not though!)

Hello all~ <^-^> Just came back from hiatus - some might remember me, most probably don't but that's okay <,< - at any rate, this is a thread for me to get feedback on my arcs.

I figure it makes more sense to keep em all in one thread instead of trying to keep track of multiple threads; hopefully it'll be easier for people to give feedback this way too - but if not I can revert to the older method.

Anyway, on to the point - The arcs!

A quick warning: All my arcs are very story-driven. That means if you don't want to read a lot of text, you'll probably miss out on a few things. Basically just be warned that everything is set up to tell a story, rather than just be a 'blast through'. Likewise they're also a bit on the long side. So if you sit down to play one, it'll probably take ~45 minutes, give or take depending on character, settings, team size and reading speed.

Just a forewarning so you don't get into anything you'll regret <^_^>b

*Updated with Pictures*

Arc ID 159769
Title: Above Mars Part 1: The Wellington
Originally Published: 5/09/2009*
Status: Seeking Feedback
Genre: Sci-Fi





Description - The Terran Coalition seeks to reclaim it's Martian colony with a massive warship, the TNS Wellington. Can you destroy the behemoth from within?

More detailed explanation:

This arc is explicitly designed to be completely unrelated to CoH in any way, shape, or form. It's essentially a game within a game.

As such, you'll find no references to traditional CoH canon at all - instead you're dealing with a war between the Terran Coalition and the Martian Republic. The former being something of an interplanetary empire, the latter being a one-planet breakaway faction that fought a war of independence against the Coalition about ~30 years previous to the current timeline.

You're character is, for the duration, a sergeant in the Martian Naval Marine Corps and given the nigh impossible task of blowing up a huge warship from the inside. It's a somewhat experimental arc for that reason - I had to use a fair number of stage directions in the text to give the impression of moving through the ship and the like.

As for the Part 1 bit in the title: The goal was originally to have a trilogy, which I still plan to do, it's just taken far, far longer than anticipated <x,x> So yes, there's a reason for the Part 1 - it's not just a word-salad title <'x'>

*Actually it was originally published even earlier than this, but I made a few mistakes post-Beta for I14 and it had to be re-published later. Only reason this is relevant is that Architect has been updated since this was published, and while I did give it a good couple passes since coming back, I really need feedback on if you feel there are features added that I've not noticed/am not using to the fullest.

Basically if there's something architect can do that I'm not aware of, that would help this arc >.> please let me know! There's only so much I can figure out just scanning things over.

Changes since most recent update:

Biggest changes are:

1) Added a few new mobs thanks to the extra space allowed by the new compression method. Mostly this just allows me to add a male Auxiliary Marine and a female Tactical Marine; but it also let me add a male Iron Guard Marine boss and a brand new Lieutenant type; the Lance Corporal.

The Lance Corporal is basically a blaster type enemy like the Tactical Marines - but with more options at their disposal. The big thing about this addition though is that it dilutes the number of Marine Sergeants you'll fight; which could cause the biggest complaint of the arc "Being buried in bots."

So now, while it can still happen once in awhile, it'll be far less common.

2) The third mission, has seen the removal of most of the Penal Officer spawns. Some may still spawn if you're running in a group; but solo you should only encounter the one at the end. I also re-vamped their powers a bit, dropping Enforcers for Gang War.

While initially that might seem like a dubious choice; the hoped-for is that because the individual members of a Gang War are so weak, a good AoE or two should drop them all, letting you focus on the boss. The other advantage being that unlike the enforcers, they actually look a bit more like the overworked slaves they're meant to portray. (Enforcers are just a little too 'dangerous' looking for that.)

Still, this bit needs major feedback, as I can only judge what I personally enjoy - so if you find the new change terrible, please let me know! (Likewise, if you like it, also let me know)

3) I gave the Tactical and Auxiliary Marines "Full Auto". This may initially seem like a very bad idea; but because minion Full Auto is pretty weak, this actually reduces their DPS a little bit. It *might* cause a problem for Masterminds however - which is why I'm again asking specifically for feedback on this change.

The goal is to make the mobs do less damage over time; because one of the other big complaints in this arc was that the mobs hit very, very hard. (Largely thanks to spamming Slug as fast as it came up.)

I also nerfed the Auxiliary Marines healing - they can only Heal Other now; instead of using Healing Aura. The change is mainly because if you run on a setting that spawns many, many opponents, multiple heal auras can be absolutely mind-numbingly irritating. You still may run into a little trouble if you don't take out the Auxiliary Marines first though - so shoot those medics!

That's the list of major changes that have gone into this version. Suggestions for more are welcome!

I'll get back to work on the sequel after I've gotten the hang of the system again. (Patching is great for warming up!)


---

The other arc that I currently have up (which needs feedback even more!) is:

Arc ID 335212
Title: A Warrior's Friend
Re-Published: 10/05/2009
Status: Seeking Feedback
Genre: Alternate/Expanded-Canon CoH





Description: Help Infernal free Valkyrie from Battle Maiden and halt her sinister plot!

More detailed explanation:

This arc is much more traditional super-hero fare. Essentially, I took a faction we know very little about (Battle Maiden's clan on War Earth) and expanded them with additional mobs - then gave them a plot that felt (at least to me) very 'comic book'.

To sum it up with as few a spoilers as possible: Battle Maiden has found a way to potentially make herself much, much more powerful; and has sent her forces through the Praetorian's portals to our Earth. From there you'll have to follow her home to uncover her plot and defeat her.

The primary goal here was to expand what we know of Battle Maiden's troops and War Earth itself. Obviously it should go without saying that it's not genuine canon by any stretch >.> however I marked it as "Canon Related"; because it's definitely rooted in what we do know of these things. It just makes a much bigger deal of them than the game ever does.

This arc is what TV Tropes would call "Fanon"; basically how I think War Earth works. It's plausible to a point; but don't take it as gospel.

With 'Going Rogue' this idea may have to be treated as an alternate universe, rather than just expanded universe, depending on how much of War Earth we see in Praetoria.

Probably won't see a direct sequel as there's no meta-plot beyond this arc. Still, I like the faction enough they may get a return appearance later; if I get a positive response.

Changes from original publish:

This arc saw a relatively brief period of Live time shortly after I14 hit - however it was... well flawed; and there really wasn't a way I could fix those flaws the way the tools were. Not without making it feel dumpier than intended anyway.

Now however I've been able to make some fixes:

1) I was able to re-add a female archer to the Champions of Mourning (the lowest rung of Battle Maiden's clan troops). This gives 4 different Champions of mourning, 1 Male archer, 1 Male mace and shield wielder, 1 Female archer, and 1 female axe and shield wielder.

2) The third mission, which was loathed by all, has been modified a fair bit. The map is *MUCH* smaller now, making finding the objectives far simpler. I actually like the new map better too, as it fits the "labor camp" motif better than the other one. Sadly I still can't get the generic Slave prisoners to run when rescued; but I feel they add more to the atmosphere than detract at least.

3) Kawago, and his faction as a whole, have been expanded and ervamped. First off, instead of one generic male Tribesman, there's now a Male Tribal Warrior and a Female Tribal Warrior, both with war paint and clubs. There are also two Lieutenants for Kawago's faction, Male and Female Druids, who use a combination of Plant Control and Storm powers. I deliberately removed some of the more obnoxious Storm powers though, so when you encounter one, they shouldn't be blowing stuff all over the field.

Kawago himself has also had his power list altered to be less obnoxious; and his dialogue is (at least I hope) less generic.

4) Infernal will actually help fight in Mission 4, instead of standing around like a goon.


----

So there's that;

I do have a few specific feedback requests for A Warrior's Friend (though any feedback is good! These are areas I'm just especially concerned with);

1 - Costumes; how do you feel about Battle Maiden's clan's look? What about Kawago's clan?

I wanted to make each distinctive, with Kawago's troops being somewhat more primitive and earthy; while Battle Maiden's troops are somewhat more well organized and disciplined -though even the lower rung of her troops remain rather barbaric. (Which makes sense given the rather post-apocalyptic setting)

2 - Gameplay; I tried to get rid of the obnoxious features the original had, or at least make them require less backtracking. Did I succeed? Or is it still annoying to play?

3 - Story and Dialogue; I wanted this story to feel (pardon the overused term) "Epic"; in that it's kind of a super-hero take on post-apocalyptic Fantasy. Which is why everyone's lines are (rather intentionally) a bit hammy.

The question is: Does the ham add, or detract from the story?

Likewise, the story itself - the plot isn't meant to be super-deep; but is it relatively logical (in super-hero terms)? Or is it just ridiculous even given the conceit?

4 - Environments; I did my best to pick maps that fit the theme of each mission (which is of course normal); but I want to know - do you think I got the right ones? Are there maps that you feel suit a given location's description better?

The biggest concern I have is Mission 4, which uses the Salamancan barn map. It feels right on a lot of levels (especially since you can see some city in the distance) - but the glowing mushrooms kinda throw me off... I'm not sure that there's a better place though; so I'll leave it up to you all if it works or not.



---

Anyway, that's what's up right now - I appreciate any constructive feedback or play throughs I can get <^-^>b