parkin

First of all, thanks for playing through Entrusted with the Other Secret.

I must be doing something wrong with this arc . The first person who played it thought it was the best arc they had ever played. The second gave me 4 stars and some suggestions, which I acted on... and it seems to be going downhill

To go through your specifics...

[ QUOTE ]

only the minima typos I noted above


[/ QUOTE ]

I'll fix those forthwith.

[ QUOTE ]

it was easy enough (maybe too easy in places)


[/ QUOTE ]

Definately something that has gone in that direction since the start. The first complaint was too hard; now it's too easy (I think so too). I'll see what the I15 changes can do to help me here. On the other hand, all (non challange) missions on heroic for a solo level 37 tanker are probably going to be fairly easy.

[ QUOTE ]

but it just didn’t seem to make much sense towards the end


[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, the plot on this one is soup-like. I'm starting to think this one may be for the knackers yard. It was always supposed to have an element of confusion in there; but it seems to be impeneterable (except that first player). I think more of the clues than I would like rely on an intimate knowledge of the Ouroboros plot.

[ QUOTE ]

but she wants me to go ahead back to that first assault and prevent it from happening


[/ QUOTE ]

I think you may have misunderstood something here; and I can see why. What she says is " head forward and make certain Time-Shift's assault doesn't happen" by which I mean "check that our meddling in time has resulted in the assault having never happening in the first place. What you should find is an empty field." In other words this is (she thinks) a simple scouting mission. I'll make some alterations.

As for the info in mission 4 not seeming to make sense; as you find it it's supposed to be 'proof' of things being the same as before. Re-reading it after the reveal should show it to be 'proof' things are totally different.

[ QUOTE ]

Coupled with tesseract's annoying attitude


[/ QUOTE ]
I'll tone it down... again. I'm starting to think that Tesseract may not have been the right choice here (Silos maybe?).

[ QUOTE ]

I’m still baffled about The Alpha, and why the Fifth were involved


[/ QUOTE ]
The Alpha's final speaking incarnation should have been The Omega; some kind of AE glitch seems to have reset this at some point. I have only 2 specified instances of this mob in the arc; so I can only assume the third spawned randomly. The Alpha is the 'standard' time-lock boss. He has the same bearing as meeting a Huntsman in an Arachnos base, or a chief soldier in a rikti mission.

As for the Fifth column, they are patsy's. The device is simply in their base. Why the fifth and not crey/anyone else? Because then the person who is trying cause all the problems in Ouroboros wouldn't have sent you to try and remove it (one of the actual Ouroboros arcs).

[ QUOTE ]

Clubbor’s my favourite unique custom of the weekend


[/ QUOTE ]
If you liked him you should check out Force Multiplier in mission 4 of A Deal with Destiny ID: 61748 (not asking for a review, however it is 95% less confusing than this one).

[ QUOTE ]

OK, I've updated the first arc a bit, but the big news is I've re-published the second arc, which is now #241496.

[/ QUOTE ]

I will have a look, and maybe post a short re-review.

Originally Posted in Yet Another I'll Play Yours If You Play Mine (Frozen Northman)
Spanks For The Memories
by @Spatch
Arc ID: 21144

I rated this arc * * *

Good Points: Spanky Lore!, Frost Cartel mobs.
Bad Points: A bit too challenging, Ruladak Map, plot holes, not enough lead up to ending.

Spanky. Spanky Rabinowitz. Just for his name he gets above Statesman on the best mayor paragon ever had. Good ol' Spanky. I wish the lore badge Researcher was called Spanky instead. He's the possibly dirty ex-mayor of paragon, but under whom the city prospered. Look at the crime figures now State's is in charge! Vote zombie Spanky for mayor!

Anyway - the arc...

[Spoilers]

Allison Rabinowitz is the granddaughter of Spanky; she want's you to investigate his past because it would get her into trouble at work. Spanky has been dead for years (he born 1878), so she send you to Paragon City records to check on his past. The CoT are there looking for his records too. Why? Well they do have a good reason, but that's for later. Why now - just as I'm going to the City Records department years after anything interesting has happened involving Spanky? No reason that I can tell. Unless the crime riddled paragon city has put in place a ticket system on major city building whereby villain groups must wait til their alloted time to assault them.

Allison afterwards is shocked by the CoT presence and in order to learn more sends you to find the Frost family (big gangster family from Spanky's era). Errm, not say some CoT to get info on this hot lead? No? Did you send the CoT to investigate too, Allison?

Anyway the Frost family are pretty cool, and a reasonable challange for my IO'ed up 32 BS/Regen scrapper. They are a bit of dead end but add some to the Spanky lore; a fine side mission.

When you come back, who would believe it but the CoT have been nicking some Spanky stuff from his old office collection! If only we had the opportunity to do something about this earlier! Anyway - you chase them down, get the map, and learn that Spanky's soul is still "around" in the possession of the "Soul Stealers". These Stealers are the enemy of the Thorns, and right Bad Mo Fo's.

The stealer boss (Soul Seductress) sends me to the hospital twice in a couple of fights that last all of 5 seconds each. Extreme level attacks are fun! I rub myself down in purples and take her down. Her speech and info text indicate "The siren calls of this evil enticer are nigh irresistable.(sic)" and "Oh darling, look into my eyes.....you do not wish to hurt me." but has no kind of mind control power. Just FIRE! I suppose fire is seductive...

Anyway you also find a map of Dark Astoria. While she's decyphering it she sends you off to fight some Soul Demons who are covering Moth Cemetary in their evil burny flappyness. "Funny, you've never seen them here before." Yes it is funny. Why now? Ah the same reason the thorns were in the warehouse! Because of stuff - and things!

When you get back Allison has remembered she can see and read. "Here, on the map, a cave entrance marked by my great grandfather's handwriting." Oh didn't think that was important did you before I went to fight those holidaying demons? Fair enough. I'll head off to hell then...

This map is a PITA. Its the Ruladak Caves. Against some fracking annoying mobs (the worst offender being the mob spelt like Acquiesce, who short circuits you at the first opportunity). The final mob is an EB Fire Melee/Fire Armor. Firey Embrace and Build Up + Greater fire sword = dead. Also Healing flames makes the fight last forever, then I eventually lose when one of the aforementioned hits lands.

I'm going to say this in bold and caps as it's not the first time it's annoyed me. ONLY PUT REQUIRED FIRE ARMOR EBS/AVS IN YOUR ARC IF YOU WANT SOLO FIRE BASED CHARACTERS TO RAGE QUIT. AE should have that warning too.

I laughed at the contact's text when I spoke to her after my fourth defeat. "Don't quit now." How did she know??

Anyway through dogged perseverance I get through and 'save' spanky. Who tells me some stuff. Hmmn. SPOILER Apparently he sold his soul to the Soul Stealers to stop the whole of Paragon turning into Dark Astoria. So therefore he will not leave.
If you are going to drop something like that in an arc, it needs some leadup. How do these stelers have the capacity to do that or stop that? How did Spanky know? It's an annoying end, instead of a sad end as it makes no sense.

This arc scraped 3 stars based upon it's Spanky references. Some background on the stealers may push it to a solid 3, re-writing the whole of mission 5 may make it a 4.

In short some extra Spanky lore if you love that guy, but bring fire tank for the last mob.

Let's cut to the chase, Fluorescent. You feel one of your arcs (or that of a friend) deserves to be HoF or DC. Which one? Let the people decide if it should be HoF.

My word of the week is Heresy. I did a search for heresy and found two strange facts. 1 all the heresy arcs were short, the longest being 2 missions. The second, less strange, fact was that all the arcs related to Warhamster 40k. If you are unfamilar with the 40k universe, it's a dark and edgy future - so dark and edgy some have said it's painted itself black and stuck itself on a spike. In most other universes the totalitarian mass murdering heartless Imperium would be the bad guys.

The funkiest bit of 40k history has a bloke named Horus try and destroy the Emperor. Heresy I hear you shout! And so does the author of my first 2 reviews...

Horus Heresy part 1: Enemy at the Gates
by @Asha Kaye
Arc ID: 203670
&
Horus Heresy part 2: The Emperor's Shield
by @Asha Kaye
Arc ID: 207710

I rated arc 1 * * *
I rated arc 2 * * *

Good points: Good looking custom mobs, fun to fight at the head of an armored column, short.
Bad points: No background info on most mobs, a little easy (given the help), could do more with the material.

This author acknowledges GW as owner of the characters within the arcs. Not sure how that will go down with the CoX team...

Anyway as I was saying in the 40k universe the horus heresy was bascially the biggest event ever. Two (or more) near gods having a fight with all the massed power of humanity and the warp behind them; with the future of the universe hanging in the balance. Enter CoX and AE, capable of putting you anywhere in that fight to fight along side either side in a climactic battle...

Or fight your way to, then kill a 'nobody' boss (arc 1); and protect a shiled generator (at least that mission could be viewed as turning the battle).

That aside the mobs look great, both the Imperials (your side) and the Traitors (theirs). Pretty soon you are leading half a dozen space marines, including Rogal Dorn (demi-god/EB) against some unfortunate cultits. Now those cultits are hard; but not against that many allies. Fighting more warp demons or actual enemy Marines (i.e. remove the minions from the main group, and use those to guard objectives at the start) would make these two missions even more fun.

In short a passable diversion from the standard CoX universe.

Next is
The Heresy
by @Abscission
Arc ID: 208459

I rated this *

Good points: Short, fair final fight.
Bad points: Everything else.

This arc claims to be "the time where war went to the next level", and the loose assosciation to 40k is the contact "The blood angel" who sadly looks nothing like that.

Instead of describing the mission's text; here it is in full...

[ QUOTE ]

try to live

you lived (this is the sendoff message)

you lived (return message)


[/ QUOTE ]

Gripping stuff. The enemy are sky raiders; though the final custom boss was almost memorable.

In short see above.

Finally...
Paragon Heresy
by @Midrealm Dragon
Arc ID: 57462
Description: Help the Imperium cleanse this city!!

I guess they ran out of virus bombs.

I rated this * * *

Good bits: Good looking custom mobs, fair challange.
Bad bits: Not a lot going on, needs more chatter, typo's.

Ork's have invaded paragon city. You must defeat them. That about it for plot. Mission 1 has you defeat the first warboss, mission 2 has you defeat the second.

The contact is a man of few words, but does threaten to shoot me; so that's nice. The mobs are very Orky looking with their ragged looking equipment and brutish appearance. The mission could use more orky banter as you go through and only the first Ork Warboss got a speaking part. It was a fun fight so it got a third star, but otherwise would be down at 2.

In short some orks need a killin, and maybe you are the entity to do it!

Arranged in alphabetical order for fairness and ease of use:
<ul type="square">[*]Altoholic_Monkey -- Indies (1 mission) | Sequels (2-3 missions) | Epics (4-5 missions)[*]Beach_Lifeguard[*]Bubbawheat | (In Character) [*]DeviousMe (QPQ) (no longer accepting submissions)[*]Dragonslay[*]Frozen_Northman (QPQ)[*]Glazius (read first post for conditions)[*]HolyEvilAoD (no longer accepting submissions)[*]Jophiel[*]Lazarus (QPQ)[*]LaserJesus[*]Misho[*]Parkin (read first post for conditions)[*]Peacemoon (QPQ)[*]PoliceWoman (QPQ) | Reviews of arcs written by other Reviewers[*]ridiculous_girl (QPQ)[*]SteelSky[*]Stomphoof (QPQ)[*]Talen_Lee[*]theHedoren (QPQ)[*]Venture[*]Wrong Number (Humor Arcs, QPQ)[/list]
EU reviewers
<ul type="square">[*]Col.Blitzkrieger (no longer accepting submissions)[*]Leese[*]Master_Zaprobo (In character)[/list]
Review sites
<ul type="square">[*]City of Guides - Mission Architect[*]CoH Mission Review[*]Mission Architect Advanced Search Site[/list]
Note: QPQ = quid pro quo: Play and rate/give feedback to the reviewer first in order to get a review on your arc, some are more lenient on this than others. Also, tends to have a shorter queue.

Also, some non-QPQ have more than one reviewer with some not accepting new submissions, check the most recent page for up-to-date information.

[/ QUOTE ]

This "stream of conciousness" review could be exactly the sort of feedback I need on Entrusted with the Other Secret (Arc ID 120462). Although it helps if you have played the Ouroboros 'task forces', you can probably get by with the knowledge that (minor spoilers)...

1: The Menders rarely time travel anywhere, and your alterations to time don't change the present to any appreciable degree.

2: Mender Tesseract is a b***h.

3: Mender Lazarus has you mess around with some computers in 5th column base (knowing this is hardly a requirement for the arc but should increase your enjoyment).

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
"Empathy and Energy Blaster (sorry Blastion), other than their incredibly unimaginative names, are really well written..."

[/ QUOTE ]
The reason I chose such simple (and cheesy if you insist)...

[/ QUOTE ]

I didn't say their names were 'cheesy' (Captain Superior's name is cheesy though ), just unimaginative. I'm not suggesting you change them, the simple names for simple times thing does work.

[ QUOTE ]
the goal was to make the player (and his/her character) get to know the NPC as a person... Family photographs in a lull in the battle show just how important that family is to the character

[/ QUOTE ]

True, but in a way that has been mocked since a 50's soldier talked about the farm he would buy when this war was over. The family picture and the "I'll hang it up when its all over" is basically them saying "You should care about me, as I'm about to die - but I don't know it." which invariably makes you not care because people (well me) don't like being dragged into feeling something. The mission pop-up in Arc 1, mission 2 does it well. As does their info text and her rescue clue from the same mission. Having Blastion try to convince Empathy to take the child and hide (or vice versa) would do a much better job here (and there are innumerable other ways too). It would also add to the whole "we are really screwed" motif the (first) arc does so well.

Anyway (short review)...

Arc Reviews 3: The Final Dimension
Arc ID: 123721
Saints and Sinners Part Two: Blood is Thicker than Wire
by @Arashi

Contact: Faith Rayner

I rated this * * * *

Good Bits: Well written, good custom mobs, interesting story, you find some stuff out.
Bad Bits: But not as much as I may have liked, not linked to part 1 enough.

This arc takes a huge sideways leap from the first arc. The missing technology seems to be largely forgotten as does the stolen files.

[ QUOTE ]
At the end of arc 1: "they got the files they were after and erased the rest. This Saint... It looks like he's just about to make a major push."

[/ QUOTE ]

Apparently the contact was wrong, as you are off an a standard (looking) missing persons case. Again it's well written, but I'm still not sure what a sin is (I really hope it poking badgers with spoons). There is some work done on converting people to the faith, and the contacts and plots are well written and thought out and the fights just as enjoyable.

This is a 4* on its own internal merits, but as part 2 I'd probably have given it 3* as it doesnt fulfil the promises of the first arc or expand on it a great deal.

In short some good fights and writing keep this story moving, but throw us some information!

Originally posted in I'll try yours if you'll try mine
The Consequences of War (Parts 1 and 2)
Author: Dalghryn
Arc ID: 212069 and 212073

I rated part one of this arc* * * * *
I rated part two of this arc* * *

Both Arcs
Good points: Emotive writing style, cohesive story, fair challange.
Bad points: Too much escorting hostages out.

1st Arc
Good Points: Like reliving the 1st Rikti war.
Bad points: ...

2nd Arc
Good Points: ...
Bad points: The same as part 1, shoots canon story and buries its body in a shallow grave, slightly cheesy at times.

The first rikti war is a great part of the CoX lore. Nearly all the various groups (hero and villain) in the game were radically changed by the war. Some of the best tales of sacrifice come from this part of 'history'. Sadly, we do not usually get to take part in this.

This arc changes that. You are playing a hero of some note just about 6 months into the Rikti war. If you look at that link, you now know this is around the time the Rikti assault numerous supergroups at the same time and cause heavy damage to them all. The supergroup you are newly-assigned to is "The SOLUS Collective" (your old super-group possibly deciding to protect the vital resources in the Bahamas during the assault). The author provides you with a handly link with info about SOLUS in case you want absolutely no surprises in the rest of the story.

The first arc has you gaining the trust in the group while putting your nether region on the line against incoming hordes of Rikti. The writer manages to (using the rest of the SG in the missions) convey the chaos of a war where heroes needed to be in three places at once - or the world ends; and also gets you feel something for the rest of the SOLUS collective. Except Billy Bad Boy who I wanted to poke in the eye with a sharp stick. Empathy and Energy Blaster (sorry Balstion), other than their incredibly unimaginative names, are really well written.

This arc is one horror after another before the final major horror; which I wont give entirely away but is even worse than the obvious one above. If you want fluffy bunnys and "Well done hero, you saved teh kitty from the tree!" and "They all lived happily ever after." go play another arc. This arc lives up to it's name and is suitably epic as befits the time.

Arc 2. Its arc 1. Basically the same thing in the same order. Get to know heroes, again, perform side mission while the rest of SOLUS go elsewhere, DOOOM!, then "costly revenge". The final mission has it's merits but it's after 4 missions that I could have done without.

Missions 1 and 2 made me actually angry. I was on the verge of 0*ing this simply because of those missions. Or, more specifically the raging travesty against canon (which is where this arc gets it whole story from, so should try and respect) within them.

1: Circle of Thorns fought the Rikti as hard as, if not harder (thanks to their heavy use of magic which Rikti were weak against), the heroes. Playing them as helpers of the Rikti turned a fine villain group with diverse goals into evil for evil's sake bad guys.
2: The carnival of shadows were good guys in the rikti war. Some of them went with the alpha team to the rikti home world (where they probably all instantly died thanks to having no Psi link back home). Having them as heartless fiends who torture heroes who want to fight the rikti again turns them into simple 'baddies'.
3: The 5th column only resurfaced after the rikti war was over, probably thinking that the rest of the world was too weak to fight them off.

As for the cheese in the second arc, I refer mostly to one of the heroes I save showing me a picture of their family in a lull in the fight and another stating that "This is their last day on the force." . You can probably guess what happens to them. It's fine to have cheese like that in an many an arc, but it snaps you out of the seriousness which is this story's strongest point.

These two arcs remind me of the Highlander films. Highlander was awesome, and Highlander Two taught us there was truth to the tag line in Highlander. "There can be only one".

In short a great insight into the CoX history that makes you feel the horror of the day, in this SINGLE arc.

I Am Critic, Hear Me Roar
The Revenge of Dr. Marcovici
by @Sneekers (AKA Beach_Lifeguard)
Arc ID: 161797

I rated this arc * * * * *
I also rated this arc * * * * (well part M of it)
I previously rated this arc * * *

Good Bits: Branching, the end, engaging story.
Bad Bits: Final villain fight has no zombies, I miss the original mission 3.

First off a few confessions.
1: I have a plan to destroy the onion industry, and take over the world. Its a slow burner.
2: I played this arc once before, a long time ago. It had potential then but was half finished. I liked the mission 3 'suicide mission' idea, but I can see why it was got rid of.
3: I was asked to review this arc by DeviousMe.

So onto the arc. Or should I say arcs. The author has used up all three of their slots on this arc to allow you make a choice at the end of mission 4, then play one or the other of the followup arcs. It's a great idea and worth one of the stars of the first arc.

I'm not going to go into too much detail but the whole arc is essentially your character walking into a trap. Unlike most other arcs that try to do this, the trap is not sprung by surprise (which always leaves me shouting "Of course its a trap." as you click accept) but instead baited so you must enter. For example mission 1 has the Freakshow ask for you by name to try and rescue some hostages. It OBVIOUSLY a trap, but as a hero what else are you going to do? (On a side note to the author, has the relevance of mission 1 been toned down? It's not mentioned in the mission 4 clue).

Similarly mission 3 has you contacted, again personally, to defuse a building full of bombs. This mission used to be defuse 80 bombs in 5 mins. Or certain death as it's known. Its now very doable, so doable I didn't need to leave the first room (Accidently - I missed a bomb). I'm glad I did though as some interesting clues are in the rest of that mission.

It turns out someone has a personal reason to be your characters nemesis, and is working a clever angle to destroy you (though you can probably work that out from the first mission where they ask for you by name). The build up is excellent to the moral choice.

There is a threat against you, and a threat against someone else. I chose the selfish looking option to thwart the villain before he could complete his plan against me. Not because I wanted to survive, but because if I didn't the villain could just do it again to another hero. The contact seemed oblivious to that possibility, but at least the villain noticed it.

The story also uses some canon plot to tie you in that probably 95% of heroes actually did, which I think is an excellent bit of arc writing.

In short if you want to play an arc that has evolved into something beautiful - this is that arc.

I just played "Have a Blap, Blap, Blappy Day Kids!"

Title: Plan Bee
Arc ID: 102224
Creator’s Global Name: @ObsidianDevil
Mission Count: 1
Notes – This arc contains some really tough fights (2EB's, 2AV's). There is help provided but it was designed as comedy-challange-"task force in a single mission". Also while technically only 1 mission there are a lot of objectives in there so I did your longer arc (and I'm morally opposed to Death to Disco).

The Return of the Tremon
by @Boomerang
Arc ID: 148625
Description: VACANT...a coalition of disparate villainous groups controlled by the alien Tremons, have started to come to public attention. [Prequel is: #101255]

Contact: Rikti Computer

I rated this * * * * *

Good Bits: Somehow got that group to work, subtle humor, challenging enemies, good plot.
Bad Bits: Why that contact?

This arc was more than a little odd. Possibly some of that is because it was part 2 of a story. I decided "Prequel" meant I didn't need to play the first half (like you don't need to see The Phantom Menace to enjoy Star Wars, or should that be "shouldn't see"...). I did play the start of the first arc (too many defeat alls), but it didn't explain my main question "Why an I listening to a rikti computer?"

I decided I dug it up in the garden and started listening to it.

This arc has you working with the Rikti computer to stop VACANT from enabling a full scale Tremon invasion. The VACANT group, despite it's awful name, gets a star for this arc. Ignoring the custom mobs, this group contains the following enemy groups...

Soldiers of Rularuu
Axis America
5th Column
Council
Arachnos
Crey
Nemesis Bots
Freakshow
Werewolves
Vanguard
Longbow (Sort of)

At first I thought that they had added a random button to the villain group generator... BUT IT MAKES SENSE!
By the end anyway. Possibly even complete sense if you decide to read the clues a certain way. The Tremon themselves are a good fight, and look suitably "Star Trek" alien (i.e. jumpsuit and funny forehead).

The regular WTF of the plot is what puts this at 5*'s for me, so I do not want to say too much more about it. There was also usually one or two parts of each mission that put a smile on my face, so it gets a * for humor too.

This arc isn't perfect, it has a couple of possible logical flaws - and a few intangiable things about the writing. But if I cannot quite say what isn't right, and the arc was great fun, had me say Cool more than once and laugh a few times then I think it deserves it's 5 stars.

In short this arc should be played, if only to make sense of the villain group. Then stay for the humor and plot.

[ QUOTE ]
The rest of the missions are you being thrown at the latest bit of action, rather than building on any information you find in your previous steps.
[ QUOTE ]
I was hoping the missions would build on each other fairly well,

[/ QUOTE ]


[/ QUOTE ]

It isn't that you do not get information in the missions. It's that the next mission isn't led to by you going on the last mission. Mission 2 has no lead up as mission 1 was just a getting to know your allies thing. Mission 3 has a pilot find the enemy base. Mission 4 has a techie find a singal source. Had nobody done mission 2, the base would still have been found. And the strange signal could have been found without any of the preceeding missions. It would be really easy to link to each next mission using the clues you find in the previous one.

Now onto another review...

Name: Sings like an Angel while the Devil Plays along
ID: 53641
Author: @Taxibot Sara2.0 (Aka Wicked_Wendy)
Wrong Number's Ha Ha Hut (humor arc reviews)

I rated this * *

Good Bits: Complete, only 1 mission.
Bad Bits: High perception mobs, not my kind of humor.

This mission has you working for a detective to rescue a singer before she is forced to sign a contract with a slightly villainous record producer.

Given the board this was posted on I was expecting a pretty humorous arc. I found one or two parts of the arc where I thought 'I can see how that could be funny', but that was all. Maybe I'm missing some subtle comedy elements or something.

The mobs in this mission are almost all high perception mobs (SR and Willpower) which meant slow going throughout the mission. The custom mobs were interesting for a while, and they all do seem to have good reasons for their powers. They arent a real challange, except for the final boss - but by then I wanted out.

The story was coherent and made sense, but offered nothing overly startling there. The mission has some atmosphere thanks to the chatter from the bosses. Those two points are why it wasn't a one star.

In short a standard mission with a 'hillbilly' accent. Its likely that if you do get the comedy in this arc you will rate it much higher than me.

[ QUOTE ]

And that's a real challenge. You don't want to give too much away, but at the same time you want to say enough to build interest. I feel like I'm trying to write the teaser for a TV show like Lost.

[/ QUOTE ]

I can see what you mean. How to point out that the arc is an intelligent story with moral implications and not just a 5th column beat down without giving the game away could be tough. I've no idea how to do this, and you cannot just put pretty people on a beach with a monster, like Lost can.


Now another disparate arc.
The Unfortunate Case of Jonathan Matthew Hoag (Part 1)
by @Chao
Arc ID: 125432
Description: What is happening to Mr. Hoag and why are such disparate groups interested in his fate?

I rated this * * * *

Good bits: Scary, good writing style.
Bad bits: A love of defeat alls, part 2 does not exist.

I mentioned a while ago that when I play an unrated arc I get a rush... sliced bread... drama... plot... comedy... balance... Well this arc is a lot nearer that arc. Its got no comedy at all, and the story could use a little push but the drama and balance are spot on and the plot is pretty good.

This arc is written in a Lovecraftian style and borrows some of the mythos for its plot but weaves it into the COX universe.

Mission 1 was pretty normal (execpt the contact which I'll get to later) you rescue a vaguely fishy guy who escapes before you can do anything. Mission 2 also moves along the standard CoX plotline until the end. You open crate, and get and ambush. Foolishly I decide to examine the attacker's bios (1lt 3 minions). By the time the screen opens I'm dead. These cultists are hard. The mission is over so I cannot have another go at them. They leave me scared. Good work @Chao (is that meant to sound like a sneeze?)

These cultits are sparingly used in the rest of the arc, which keeps that level of fear. What if I find a large group around the corner? And the rest of details of the arc also add a sense of worry. Most missions (not the first) start with a 'Go to this peacable place, some bad guys may be there'. The contact is a drop point, so you never meet your actual contact, usually a good sign that there will be a betrayal at somepoint. Does it happen here? Play and find out. Even the allies in the missions are clearly dodgy. This left me with a feeling that I didn't know what would happen next.

My main criticsm of this arc is around mission 4, and it's defeat all (missions 3 and 5 are also defeat all but are small). I see no really good reason for a defeat all, and it broke up the arc's pacing.

Other than that this arc is a 5* arc, based almost solely on its atmosphere. The lack of part 2 is an annoyance as the plot has just really started getting moving at the point it ends.

In short a must for Lovecraft fans, and others should have a go too.

Originally posted in...Bubbawheat's weekly reviews!
Ashley Porter and the Gorilla War
Author @suedenim
Arc ID: 130809

I rated this * * * *

Good bits: My kind of humor, challenging foes, quick.
Bad bits: A few of the troops had no info text, ending was maybe too much of a surprise, led by the nose.

I'm a big fan of badly made B movie flicks, classics like Quatermass or more recent efforts like Razorback (or as I like to call it "Pig on rails") or Carnosaur. So it shouldn't be much of a surprise I liked this arc.

This arc sees you as 'a mystery man' in 1941 helping "an elite independent all-girl aviation and commando force" fight nazi controlled "Uzbek Lowland Gorillas". It's a nice change to be put in the place of another character in these arcs rather than being your usual hero/villain.

Your contact is the variably excellent Ashley Porter AKA Lady Blackhorse. I say variably as when you fight her in the training ground of mission 1 she's one tough broad. In mission 4, as an ally, she spams web grenade. On the up side she does stay funny throughout the whole arc, mostly thanks to her irrelevant animal metaphor spouting grandpappy.

Mission 1 is an interesting experiment, which I eventually decided was a bit of a wash with its positives and negatives. The idea here is that they want to see what you are made of before they take you on the mission, but you can exit whenever you like by clicking the glowie. Its a great idea to get to know your allies before you fight alongside them, but the named allies you bond with (aka set on fire) mostly do not appear in the rest of the arc. It would also be useful to know in advance the order and names of the people you are looking for as they are pretty similar looking.

The rest of the missions are you being thrown at the latest bit of action, rather than building on any information you find in your previous steps. At least all the missions are funny. The final mission is a total surprise; and its worth noting that there are very few ways to get one up on Nazi controlled primates and the climax doesn't quite do it.

All in all this is arc is a lot like a B-movie with comedy. If the story felt slightly more interactive, or the ending been something slightly different I'd have rated this 5 *'s.

In short one of the most amusing arcs I've played.

An Army of One
Author @Stormherald (aka MrOsterman)
Arc ID: 204987

I rated this arc * * *

"A SFMA with disparate villian groups."

Good Bits: Interesting and good looking custom group, final EB's speech.
Bad Bits: Telegraphed mystery and twist, some shaky continuity, 5th Column?

Mr Osterman once again snuck in with the word of the &lt;ITFH&gt;. I feel his claim of disparate groups could have been more accurate but I'll let it go.

I'll try not to add too many spoilers to this arc in my review as the description does a reasonable job of giving them. This seems to be something a lot of authors do in mystery arcs and I cannot fathom it. Another thing many authors do is use the 5th Column the current paragon city without batting an eyelid. I know they are just better than the Council but going up against them in mission 1 in this arc made me wonder why the contact wasn't taking their presence as a serious issue.

That aside, this mission starts as a serious version of the Footsteps Initiative (possibly the best arc on MA) and you helping the new hero Kismet. Or is she Kit Karma? Zoey Kid's hero name seems to alter mid way through the arc which is more than a little confusing. Zoey fits well into the arc, other than this, and is a balanced ally when she's with you.

This arc has the 5th Column threaten her family, and then has you try to deal with the consequences of that. Or I wish it did. The real answer to the mystery hit me in the face right at the start of mission 2. I then spent the next 2 missions feeling like I had duct tape over my character's mouth as my contact continued to get me to investigate. After the 'reveal' it has my character head off to the location I'd have gone to, if I knew it existed, as mission 2.

The custom group is worth a mention as it's the real focus of this arc. They are nicely balanced and look good. The Bald Eagle Brigade are very similar to MASK, GI Joe or The Watchmen in their outlook, and their origin is a great one.

This arc has everything it needs to be a 5* arc; but needs some more care taken in putting those pieces together.

In short an arc with a lot of potential and good moral to the story, but not quite there yet.

Saints and Sinners Part One: The Order of Steel
Author @Arashi
Arc ID: 118104
Originally posed in...
Arc Reviews 3: The Final Dimension[/b]
and
I Am Critic, Hear Me Roar[/b]

I rated this arc * * * *

Good bits: Well written, good custom mobs, interesting story, boss fight.
Bad bits: Maybe a little too much unknown for 1/3 of the way through the story, so much failure.

Contact: Meg Mason (actually 'Hologram Contact')

I wondered for some time on this arc if I should 5 * it or not. Eventually a philosophical question brought me down on the side of 4. What is a sin?
You see the enemy in this is "The Order of Steel", who call you a sinner an awful lot. The Order of Steel are power armoured devotees of some "Saint" out stealing technology for some reason - and that is about all you know about them by the end. I know it's part 1 of 3 but I feel I should know a little bit more about them after 5 missons. They could at least try and convert me a bit?

The story is well written and has you following them around on their various exploits just too late to be much use (except one mission which is a partial success). You do fail in new and interesting ways so it doesn't get too old; but for one of them, at least, you feel like shouting "It's a trap" at the contact (sorry, couldn't resist).

The mob's are tough enough to be fun, especially the last one. Even with my two allies it was a tough fight, and they died before the fight was over (a mark of a necessary/not overpowered ally).

I will be going back and playing part 2, and maybe 3 if the plot keeps moving in part 2.

In short a good start to a story based arc, but with so little learned can we be certain it's going somewhere?

My word of the &lt;insert time frame here&gt; is "disparate". Currently 2 on the list.

I have a few ideas for an arc, and was wondering which one people would rather play.

1: Crisis of Infinite Marmots (V)
Johnny Sonata's last gig was interrupted by a "no good bum" and he wants you to kill "that jerk". Sometimes, however, things aren't that simple. Travel the world, and beyond, to try put an end to Captain Marmot.

2: Life is a Carnival (H)
A 'simple' task against the Carnival of Shadows leaves you with a certain sympathy for those masked maidens. I mean, really, most people aren't using those souls and it's so much more fun their way. Can you find a way out? Do you even want to?

3: Phalanx of Freedom/Freedom Earth (H)
Praetorian Earth has set its sights on an alternate world where crime is almost non-existant, and they need your help. Have you finally found a powerful dimension Primal Earth can ally with? After all they seem to be itching to repay your favor by helping to eradicate crime over here.

I've started writing them all, but got distracted by shiny things. Which one do you think I should focus on?

[ QUOTE ]

I can't use "conquer the world" since that cannot succeed


[/ QUOTE ]

Why not? - its MA. The world doesn't have to end the way you came in like most dev arcs.

One thing I have always wanted to do was rob Wentworths.

Finally. The last Regal arc.

Regal Group
Author: @Lowell
Arc ID: 51235

I rated this arc * * * *

Good Bits: Lots of Custom mobs, challange.
Bad bits: Slapdash, weak plot.

As I look over the content of this mission again I start to wonder how I ended up giving this 4 *'s. I'm usually pretty forgiving on spelling but this arc is full of mistakes. Half the custom mobs do not have info text and those that do don't even manage an entire sentence. The story does hang just about together, but is nothing to write home about. Then I remember; it has found the right level of challange to be fun.

The author likes their ambushes, and they do quickly become expected; but the normal custom mobs seemed to be designed to nearly take me down on their own. And boy are there a lot of custom mobs. I didn't think it was possible to get that many into the file. I counted 13 different custom mobs on my run through, many only appearing in a single mission. Some of them are fairly similar (3 different Mace/* Worker mobs in mission 1), and most are minion level; but almost all offer a challange. They aren't even big mezzers so it shouldn't only be a scrapper challange.

The plot as it is has you following a group of "technology for sale" villains called Regal; because the contact is too lazy to do it himself. The contact, by the way, is LOWELL. Regal have managed to steal or replicate tech from Malta, Vanguard, Council and Longbow (in addition to the 13 custom mobs) which gives a very varied enemy group to fight. There are AV's and EB's and a single ally in mission 4 who isn't overpowered for the task at hand (I tried the fight alone, and died - then tried it again with the ally and succeeded).

Anyone who likes all the edges rounded will be disappointed by this arc. The &lt;group&gt; for each enemy is out of place (for example &lt;Vanguard Ambush&gt; or &lt;Lowells Captors&gt, their info text is patchy, the story is not well linked together by the contact and probably 100 other things.

In short a challenging fight against a varied foe, but little else.

Regalists declare war on Project Vigilance
By @Tilt
Arc ID: 125388

I rated this arc * *

Good bits : Some nice custom mobs, somewhat of a challange.
Bad Bits : Almost no story, defeat all.

This arc was unplayed when I found it. I get that slight rush when playing an unrated arc. This arc could be the best thing since sliced bread, with a plot to rival a great novel, comedy that stand-ups would kill for and the perfect balance of playability of challange.

As you can probably tell by the rating that wasn't this arc. This single mission arc is about a war between two SG's. TThe contact (Fire Director) is the SG leader of Project Vigilance. "The Great FD" greets you to tell you he isn't there, he's gone to fight the Regalists, because they started it.

The mobs in the mission are pretty cool looking and seem to be PvP related (for example Spiker), and if they were tuned up just a little bit could be a nice challange mission. There is an EB to fight who is quite a challange, especially with the fair proportion of Empathy and Cold Domination allies hanging around. The arc probably would have got three *'s if I didn't have to defeat everyone; as I do hate having to look behind every box for the one I missed.

So in short a reasonable challange in a mission, if only it wasn't defeat all.

...I kinda hope the Author uses my first paragraph in an advert for the mission.

----

I was going to review the last regal arc as aswell tonight - but its proving to be a challange.

It's entirely possible to use water in various forms to create some entirely awesome technology. In terms of power you could use water fusion to power robots or the explosion it creates to propel your projectiles; no doubt some left over material would appear as steam.

In terms of data storage and computation, water molecules are polar and can be persuaded to form crystals. This allows you to use water as the basis of a computer more powerful than one you can currently make out of silicon and metal.

Water may not be the best material for this purpose by our base technological standards. But that may explain why Nemesis tech hasn't been adopted by the rest of the world - it's too much of a hassle to make in even a remotely cost effective manner.

The reason that it's possible in a comic or sci-fi setting to use any technology you like as the basis for any group is that if you really put your mind to it; it is probably possible.

As for time travel, anyone who does use it as an "I win button" gets eaten by a dog before they started it. Or lives in an egg, which can hardly be called winning.

This arc is also being reviewed as part of my word of the week reviews. The cunning MrOsterman added the word to his arc for this very purpose, sneaky devil . There are 2 more regal arcs out there right now which I'll review before setting a new word. If a lot of arc's 'appear' I'll review them if the word seems to fit into the arc; otherwise maybe not.

American Welcome
Author: @Stormherald (MrOsterman)
Arc ID: 177925

I rated this * * * *

Good Bits: Nice little mystery, interesting allies, good use of in mission speech.
Bad Bits: Overpowered allies, description maybe gives a bit too much away, unknown contact.

I'll try and keep any real spoilers out of this review as the mystery element of this arc is it's best quality, which may make my review a little vague sounding. Sadly the author does put some small spoilers in the description of the arc (which I had handily forgotten, having slept between pressing play and Mission 1) which I suggest you not read should you decide to play it based upon my review. The story did put enough clues in place for me to work out what is going on next, but not so many as I worked it all out too far ahead.

This arc starts with an attack on a school by the Circle of Thorns. The contact, Bob Dodge, wants you to make sure the staff get out before anyone gets their soul eaten. He probably shouldn't have worried though. The Superintendent is an ex-hero and probably more than a match for the rest of the COT there. However I decided to run off on my own and had a good battle with the final custom boss.

The Superintendent is the first of the overpowered allies, and mission 5 has 3 of them following you around at Boss level. I'd suggest, at least for the last mission, reducing them down to Lt level to give the combat some level of challenge. Their presence does makes sense at all times, and they do look good. All of the custom mobs are "Costumed" supers that look the part and the author writes their lines very well. I particularly like the interrogation in mission 2 - probably worth one of those stars.

My main criticism of this arc is the contact. Who is Bob Dodge? He has no backstory that I can discern, no reason to know what he knows (also no obvious reason not to), no overly interesting quirks or anything like that. Giving this guy a bit of an introduction would help a lot, or alternatively use an existing CoX contact.

The only other thing I will say about this arc, after thinking it all through again, is that you should read everything. I personally do it all the time; but checking all the info text and "in mission speech" as well as the clues and contact text will go a long way to improving your enjoyment of this arc.

In short a well paced mystery with subtle clues and interesting missions, and Bob Dodge (whoever he is).

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The Kim Kellerman thing. To be blunt, there isn't a Mirror Spirit in the MA.

There is in issue 15....

[/ QUOTE ]

Thank you very much Venture. This is excellent news. I haven't logged in to look at Issue 15 yet, so had no idea.

--Rad

[/ QUOTE ]

I should have a look there and see what new stuff turned up.

I had figured out that she was probably supposed to be Mirror Sprit. The ? in her name made me wonder (some kind of plot twist) and then her info text said she was Kim Kellerman. A simple change of info text to something like "Though she looks like Kim Kellerman, something about the way she moves reminds you of Mirror Spirit", or just a custom mob that looks a bit like MS would sort that out. I'm a bit of a stickler for info text in story based missions.

And now another "Regal" review...

Longbow Gauntlet
Author: @Onyx Weaver
ID: 8067

I rated this *

Good Bits: Promising description, short.
Bad Bits: Total let down - could have been a standard paper mission, contact text.

The full description on this arc is “Longbow agents stand between you and your prize, a safe with a secret formula for demon summoning seized from the Circle of Thorns. Your job? To navigate the gauntlet of Longbow agents as it becomes increasingly difficult and grab that formula! Regalion wants that spell back, though. Get it first!”. Based on that I was expecting a challange; to defeat the toughest that longbow has to offer while fighting the most annoying of COT mobs by the end.

Sadly it wasn't to be. There is an office map, with a COT/Longbow battle or two - and a safe. You click the safe - the end.

As for the story. You just read it. I have no idea who Regalion is, except for a named CoT boss; and that link is how I found that out. Kalinda (the contact) basically says "You read the description, go do it. You should bring friends." and "Well done." (its better written and doesn't break the 4th wall; but adds nothing else).

In short a paper mission.

Originally posted in The Sequels : 2-3 Missions Only Arc Reviews
The Internet is for Crime
Author: BadJuJu (Aka @DK242-B)
ID: 53385

I rated this arc * * *

Good: Funny in places, 'contact' text well written.
Bad: Mediocre and long(ish) middle mission, maybe a bit too much like the TV arc.

The contact for this arc is the Computer. The description for this arc was "Listen to the computer. The computer is your friend." so I was hoping for the Paranoia Computer. I was disappointed (though I was called a Commie at one point so that helped) when I found that the contact was a Computer, in a similar way to the Television or Radio.

The writing style is a lot like the style used by the Television, and that is no bad thing. It has you reading a blog that tells you about problems going on in the world. Problems from the point of view of Computer. One such 'problem' is a raid on a set of computer pirates. This mission is eaisly the best, with most of the most amusing elements found here. It also pokes fun simultaeneously at the pirates and RIAA, and starts to look like some good social satire.

Mission 2 is drag. It's the most 'serious' mission, and has some nice custom mobs in it. Sadly this mission falls right into the middle ground. It isn't funny enough to get any marks that way, it's not hard enough to get any marks for challange, there is no 'in mission' story and it has a fair number of objectives on an outdoor map. The contact's lead up to the mission is pretty good, but other than that - I'd remove it.

Mission 3 gets back into the swing of things, having a very funny lead up (well to me anyway) - and the boss in mission is also quite funny (though does anyone get the reference of "Taste vanilla rain!" in relation to computing, or ice). Sadly he's the only speaking role in the final mission, and it feels a little empty other than him.

This arc was very close to getting 4 *'s, entirely removing mission 2 would certainly have done it as would have a little more going on in mission 3. There is great potential here, I may well be keeping a look out for more @DK242-B arcs.

In short an amusing arc (especially if you liked the TV), that simply needs a boost in the middle to make it a very good arc indeed.

[ QUOTE ]
Arc Name: Entrusted with the Other Secret


[/ QUOTE ]
Thanks for playing this arc.

[ QUOTE ]

By the end of “Other Secret”, I was thoroughly in the dark... I’m still not sure exactly what happened.


[/ QUOTE ]

Definately the biggest criticism I get on the arc, I'm definately going to have to think on how to improve on the whole getting the story across.

[ QUOTE ]
“drive” may be a mis-use

[/ QUOTE ]
I'd intended it to be a sort of secondary hard drive on the machine that just sends E-mails using the existing hardware on there.

[ QUOTE ]

Odd phrases and awkward grammar runs rampant throughout the text...


[/ QUOTE ]
I should have paid more attention in english class. This is the second biggest criticsm I get, and I wish I knew where to start solving it. Reads ok to me

[ QUOTE ]

Some smaller things:


[/ QUOTE ]
Will sort these out.

[ QUOTE ]

Didn’t Tesseract say that Menders were temporarily barred from interfering? If so, why does she appear in this mission?


[/ QUOTE ]
Its the future Tesseract. I think this is causing so much confusion I'll ditch it though.

[ QUOTE ]

“corruption”...
I never understood who started the distortions to begin with...
And what is the purpose of Tesseract’s drive?


[/ QUOTE ]
The 'story order' (I cannot think of a better term here without using the word "time" which is pretty meaningless here) goes something like this...

1: Traitor Menders (clues to their identity do exist in the story) start to use their access to the Pillars to collapse the past into a single future where the Coming Storm wins eaisly.

2: Tesseract works out a way to stop these traitors, by blocking all Menders from accessing sensitive sections of time. She knows that the charismatic Mender Time-Shift could eaisly be duped into attacking Ouroboros with his personal army of zealots (Time-Lock). She also needs someone to give Time-Shift the 'keys' and if they happen to die - so what? She chooses you.

3: The 'drive' containing enough information to persuade Time-Shift to hate Ouroboros and the technology to do something about it is placed in the 5th Column base in the past, before any traitors start ot act.

4: The traitors can no longer enact their plan, so Tesseract only sees that the Mender's access to time is limited by a future attack. An attack only you can stop, so she bring you in to help.

5: Mission 1 - You try and stop the attack but they have already managed to 'infect' the timestream, in other words you have no effect on time here.

6: Mission 2 - you go back to before you started the assault, but fail big time (thanks to some forethought by Time-Shift). Your only alteration to time here is that you now cannot access the same points that the other Menders cannot access.

7: Mission 3 - You (and Tesseract) remove the drive from the past, thus putting almost everything back to step 1. Except Tesseract thinks that she has found the problem - putting her off guard allowing the traitors to get even further than before.

8: Mission 4 - You travel forwards to a point much like step 1. Meanwhile Tess figures it all out again, when she sees what has happened to time. One part of this engineered collapse into a single future is that you are being wiped from history - back to the future style.

9: Mission 5 - You replace the drive, with the alteration that you will lock yourself out using the Pillars to break the lock down. Mender Tesseract is also on her guard, so you two will try to find out who the traitors are.

--
Anyway thanks again for playing it.